UN I V E R S I T Y D A I L Y K A N S A N
Monday, May 6, 1996
3B
Kansas catcher comes through in clutch
Meadows remembers both highs and lows in his baseball career
Matt Flickner / KANSAN
Kansas senior catcher Ted Meadows is one of two current Jaynawks who played in the 1993 College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
By Dan Gelston
Kansan sportswriter
It's a typical pregame scene at a Kansas baseball games this year.
Meadows has been a steady presence both on and off the field for the Jayhawks.
Kansas coach Bobby Randall hits ground balls as the team takes infield practice. With the crack of the bat and the pop of mitts is the constantly encouraging voice of senior catcher and team leader Ted Meadows.
'He, along with fellow senior Clay Baird, is Kansas' last link to its glory days when it had consecutive 40-win seasons and a 1993 trip to the College World Series.
Although Meadows redshirted the 1993 season, he looks back on those days with great fondness.
"That was the best time of my life," Meadows said. "I wasn't on the field, and that does hurt, but I was able to contribute in other ways. I was real supportive of my teammates and learned a lot from the way they played and carried themselves."
But regardless, if Meadows is on the bench or not, he always tried to spur on the team.
"I was always vocal," he said. "As a
senior, I think I'm able to speak out more and really state my opinions more so than in the past."
This year, Meadow has been a pillar for the Jayhawks as their starting catcher. He's hitting .297 with three home runs and 22 RBI, and he has started 39 games.
Meadows came to Kansas in 1992 and was schooled by then-Kansas coach Dave Bingham.
Meadows said he owed a lot to Bingham.
"I loved the guy, I really did," he said. "He brought me here, he took me under his wing and really taught me the right way to play college baseball."
But a broken jaw sidelined him for the season, and he played in just one game his freshman year. He redshirted 1993 but cracked the starting
lineup in 1994, appearing in 42 games.
He had a grand slam and two other hits in Kansas' 1994 Atlantic II Regional victory against Ohio State. That success carried into the next season when he hit .375 in the post-season, including game-winning RBI single in the top of the 12th inning against Oklahoma in the Big Eight Tournament.
"Those were games and series that I really enjoyed," Meadows said. "I think when you get to those types of games, it's just natural to raise your performance level."
The past two years have seen Kansas fall from the nation's elite. As the Jayhawks slumped at times, it would seem natural for a senior to start thinking about individual performances and professional baseball. But that isn't the case with Meadows.
"I care more about the team and the guys on the team than my own stats," he said. "I think that's really selfish to start worrying about that other stuff. It's all about the team."
That selfless attitude quickly became noticeable to Randall, who is in his first year as the Jayhawks coach.
"He's a champion in the truest sense of the word," Randall said. "When I saw him in the fall, I said to myself, 'I really like this guy.'
"I'll miss him greatly. He represented himself and the program in the highest way."
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