Feb. 16, 2016
Quick Slant is an array of brief insights and occasionally opinionated overviews of collegiate athletics in general and the Vanderbilt Commodores in particular.
The annual pre-season Baseball Dinner once again drew an enormous crowd of nearly 1,000 to Nashville’s ritzy Omni Hotel last weekend. The dinner is always highlighted by Coach Corbin’s detailed introduction of every member of his roster without the aid of any notes – introductions that include the first names of each player’s parents, majors and minors, hometowns/high schools and so on. It may not sound impressive but to hear Corbs provide details for 75 minutes on nearly 40 student-athletes is a treat that few coaches in the country could hope to duplicate.
One statistical take away from that dinner was this: 44 former Commodore players and 16 former staff members are currently employed by professional baseball. Sixty VandyBoys on the diamond, in the front offices, on video crews, coaching in pro dugouts…what an impact Vandy baseball is having on the sport!
Vanderbilt lost two fine men recently with the late January deaths of Herman “Buck” Watson, 82, who was a top lineman and 1955 Philadelphia Eagle draft choice and Rob Monaco, 54, who starred as a defensive lineman for George MacIntyre from 1981-84. Our condolences go to their families; they will be remembered.
Perry Wallace will be inducted into the School of Engineering Academy of Distinguished Alumni at a special event in April. A Nashville native, Wallace earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and engineering mathematics. He received a law degree from Columbia University in 1975.