Feb. 14, 2005

Players mean more than wins; Jacobs wins No. 500

By TOMMY HICKS
Mobile Register Sports Reporter

MOBILE, Ala. -- How did Mike Jacobs celebrate his 500th victory as head coach of the University of Mobile baseball team? He went out and started a new streak by picking up win No. 501 the same day.

"I told the guys, 'Let's start a new number,'" Jacobs said Sunday afternoon. And so they did. The only head coach in the program's history accepted a plaque from Craig Bogar, the school's athletics director, and Mike Blaylock, the vice president of campus affairs, then wrote out a new lineup card and sent the Rams back onto the field, just as he has since 1990 when he directed the first baseball game played by the school, then known as Mobile College.

The number that meant more to Jacobs on Saturday wasn't 500 or 501, it was six. That's the number of wins this year's team has collected in just seven games and against an early schedule of several nationally ranked teams.

" The funny thing about it is, before the season, I went in (Bogar's) office and he had a sign up that read) 5 to 500," Jacobs said, the sign referring to the number of wins Jacobs needed to reach the milestone. "It hadn't been that big a deal to me. I'm more interested in the next 53 we're going to play."

Not that Jacobs isn't pleased to get the milestone. He is. He said it is as much a compliment to his assistant coaches and all the players who have been through the program in this, his 16th season, as it is to the number of games he has won as head coach.

" When you stop to think about it, winning 500 games in one place is a nice accomplishment -- as long as it doesn't take you 30 years to do it."

Win No. 500 probably should have been collected last season, but last year's team didn't produce the kind of record past teams have mustered. "We probably didn't coach them well enough or get them as prepared as we should have," Jacobs said, shouldering the blame for the so-so year. And yet that season probably added to the appreciation of Saturday's 500th and 501st wins in a doubleheader sweep.

" We were 0-10 at one time," he said of last season's start. "That was a very humbling year for me."
As happens when such a milestone is reached, one takes a brief look back. Jacobs was a four-year player at South Alabama for Eddie Stanky, posting the best batting average on the team in 1976. He took some prep coaching jobs after college, including Evangel Christian. Prior to being named head coach at Mobile College, Jacobs had been head coach at UMS-Wright for four years where he led the team to the state
championship in 1988 and a runner-up finish in 1987.

When he arrived at Mobile, he also helped coach the softball team and he didn't have any experience in recruiting. An assistant coach with the men's basketball team at the time helped him learn the ropes of recruiting. Since that first season, 21 University of Mobile players have gone on to sign pro baseball contracts, including Joe Espada and J.C. Romero. Many more have gone on to become baseball coaches at different levels.

" The thing that amazes me about that first year is we had some kids take a chance on our program and on me," Jacobs said. "They came in there and battled and battled and we won some ball games."

The Rams are still winning ball games, and Jacobs is still the head coach, looking forward to the remainder of this season and what could be.

" I really like this team," he said. "I enjoy going to practice every day. We've got some good kids who have a passion for baseball and who work hard. That's the fun part of this job, being around the players. ...
That's what makes this job special -- the relationships that are formed. Five hundred wins is nice, but the relationships are what matter."