The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1279712
8 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2020 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS ALUM MIKE MATHENY NABS 600TH WIN AS MLB MANAGER Mike Matheny has quite the baseball résumé. He was Michigan's 1991 team MVP and a co-captain, before he played 13 seasons in the majors, earning four Gold Gloves and setting the record for catchers with 252 consecutive games without an error. He has gone on to have immense suc- cess as a manager, becoming the first in league history to lead his first four clubs to the playoffs in 2012-15, including an appearance by his St. Louis Cardinals in the 2013 World Series. Now, the 49-year-old (he'll turn 50 Sept. 22) is in his first season managing the Kansas City Royals, and he picked up win No. 600 as a big league skipper with a 4-2 win over the Twins Aug. 15. His .552 (600-486) winning percentage ranks fourth among active managers. Through it all, Matheny has main- tained that he's most proud of the re- lationships built along the way, he told MGoBlue.com in early August. "It's always going to be about the people," Matheny said. "The game is 90 percent people and 10 percent baseball. It's the relationships. "I always tell people, 'As much as I enjoyed the game from the field, I enjoy it more from this seat.' A lot of it is that I allow myself to enjoy it more. It's not about me, actually, it's about the people I serve as an encourager, as a teacher, as a coach." MICHIGAN HOCKEY ANNOUNCES IMPRESSIVE INCOMING CLASS Head coach Mel Pearson and the Michigan hockey program announced the addition of a nine-member incoming freshman class for the 2020-21 season. The bunch is made up of forwards Thomas Bordeleau, Brendan Brisson, Josh Groll, Kent Johnson and Philippe Lapointe; defensemen Steve Holtz, Owen Power and Jacob Truscott; and goaltender Erik Portillo. U-M's haul is considered a top-three class nationally. Bordeleau spent the past two seasons playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program (USNTDP) and during the 2019-20 campaign appeared in 47 games and posted 16 goals and 30 assists. Brisson is fresh off of winning the USHL's Rookie of the Year award. He also earned first-team All-USHL honors last year, notching 24 goals and 35 assists with 18 multiple-point games in 59 appearances. Another with USHL experience is Groll, a 5-10, 180-pounder who tallied 17 goals and 25 assists in 41 games this past season. Johnson was named first-team All-BCHL and the Canadian Junior Hockey League's Top Forward of the Year in 2019-20, leading the league in scoring with 101 points in 52 tilts, play- ing for the Trail Smoke Eaters alongside teammate and fellow U-M signee Lapointe. Lapointe was a captain for the club and totaled 55 points in 36 games this past season. Holtz played last year in the BCHL, leading all league defense- men in scoring with 27 points. Power is the reigning USHL Defense- man of the Year and a first-team All-Star, while leading all defensemen with 40 points on the season for the Chicago Steel. Truscott spent two years with the USNTDP and logged 21 points in 47 games with the U-18 squad this past season. The 2019-20 USHL Goalie of the Year and a first-team all-league pick, Portillo was nabbed by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2019 NHL Draft with the 67th overall se- lection. He led the USHL in goals-against average (2.11) and was third in save per- centage (.915), while posting a season record of 19-5-1 last season. The Wolverines added a 10th mem- ber to the class Aug. 12, when they an- nounced highly touted forward Matt Be- niers, a former Harvard commit, would wind up in Ann Arbor. The projected first-round pick in next year's NHL Draft served as an assistant captain for the USNTDP last season and finished sec- ond on the squad with 41 points (18 goals, 23 assists) in 44 games. U-M ATHLETES MAKING AN IMPACT ON BIG TEN ANTI-HATE AND ANTI-RACISM COALITION This summer, the Big Ten announced the formation of its Anti-Hate And Anti-Racism Coalition, which includes student- athletes, coaches, athletic directors, chancellors, presidents and others from all 14 member institutions. Among U-M's 16 representatives are president Mark Schlissel, director of athletics Warde Manuel, head football coach Jim Harbaugh and head men's basketball coach Juwan Howard, along with a host of student-athletes, including women's bas- ketball junior forward Naz Hillmon and football redshirt junior linebacker Adam Shibley. Both Hillmon and Shibley are making a significant impact with their involvement on the coalition. They're participating in Zoom calls with hundreds of others across the conference, actively discussing ways to combat racism within collegiate athletics. "I think sports play a pivotal role in teaching that life lesson [of equality for all]," Shibley told MGoBlue.com. "It brings so many people together from different cultures, countries and ethnici- ties. This coalition will really tie into that." "You can't educate others until you're educated," Hillmon pointed out. "So we have to work on that while also holding one another accountable. We need to make sure that every- one in Big Ten athletics values the beliefs of this coalition, and combats racism and hate." The group is working on a number of further goals, including increasing the number of student-athletes that vote in this No- vember's general election and having student-athletes be the ones to set the example of anti-racism on Big Ten campuses. — Clayton Sayfie Former Michigan MVP and co-captain Mike Matheny played 13 years in the major leagues and is now in the midst of a successful career as a manager, first with the St. Louis Cardinals (2012-18) and currently with the Kansas City Royals. PHOTO BY JASON HANNA/KANSAS CITY ROYALS MAIZE AND BLUE NOTEBOOK