Now, we've had baseball for more than 20 years, but this encompasses the 20 years of Division I baseball. I was a student from 2000-03 and didn't miss a home game, came back after graduating from UWM and was the baseball contact for 2005. So, I have seen the bulk of these players and was eager to vote.
Without further ado, here is one man's ballot for the 20th Anniversary Team:
- Catcher: John Vanden Berg
- First Base: Chad Sadowski
- Second Base: Scott Gillitzer
- Third Base: Ben Stanczyk
- Shortstop: Matt Houk
- Outfield: Mike Goetz, Darin Haugom and Joe Nowicki
- DH: Zak Rivera
- Utility: Charlie Reschke
- Starting Pitchers: Quintin Oldenburg and Ben Stanczyk
- Relief Pitchers: Matt Freisleben and Jed Dolske
Notes: Sadowski is the only player nominated that is in the UWM Athletics Hall of Fame (2011) ... I voted for a lot of guys from the 2001 team. That team was awesome. They scored a ton of runs and were never out of games. Against UCSB in the NCAA Tournament, they were down 12-4 and tied the game ... I picked Stanczyk for both hitter and pitcher. He is the only player in league history named Pitcher and Player of the Year in the same season (probably their career) ... Houk is the only player in school history to later serve as head coach of a Division I women's volleyball team (South Dakota) ... I almost voted for Steve Guden for his performance in "Mr. 3000", but couldn't not vote for Reschke, one of our former student workers ... Rivera is another former student worker (Apologies to Aaron Sorenson, another hard worker) ... Freisleben remains one of my favorite players. He was a submarine pitcher and a nice guy.
There you have it. One guy's opinion. Now, be sure to go and vote for yourself... the less people who vote, the more my vote matters. That site again is here.
