By JOHN JAMES MARSHALL, Journal Sports
Jim Wells likes to tell the story of when Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench, then a teenager living in Oklahoma, was watching the New York Yankees play in the World Series and his father told him that Mickey Mantle was also from Oklahoma. “You mean a kid from Oklahoma could actually play in the World Series?” a fascinated Bench asked his father.
As Wells looks back on his time as a college baseball coach, he says he knows exactly how Bench felt. “You mean a kid from Bossier City could actually coach in the College World Series?” he says.
Yes he can.
And not just once. Or twice. Wells took Alabama to Omaha three times in the late 1990s and also served as a graduate assistant at LSU for two other CWS appearances.
“I have fond memories of going to Omaha,” Wells says. “Sometimes I look back and think, I was a part of that? It was kind of a blur. It happened fast. But very grateful to have the opportunity to do that.”
It certainly did happen fast.
In 1987, Wells was one year removed from coaching at Loyola Prep, where he took the Flyers to the state finals in two of the four years he served as head coach. As a graduate assistant in ’87, his main job was to take the LSU team to the Class AAA minor league game the day before.
Typical GA stuff.
But he also learned a valuable lesson at the end of that CWS, when Stanford’s Paul Carey hit a shocking opposite-field grand slam in the 10th inning off future No. 1 pick Ben McDonald to deny the Tigers a spot in the finals.
It was a gut-wrenching loss for the Tigers. When Carey hit the home run, Wells happened to be standing next to LSU head coach Skip Bertman, who immediately put his hand on Wells’ shoulder and said, “See, stuff like this really does happen.”
And stuff like that really did happen to Wells. He went back to the CWS in ’89 with the Tigers, but soon was on his way to his alma mater, Northwestern State, as a head coach (making two NCAA Regionals from 1990-94) before taking over at Alabama in 1995.
In his second season with the Crimson Tide, he found himself as a head coach at College World Series. His Alabama team was the No. 1 seed and preparing to play Oklahoma State, making its 17th CWS appearance.
Only 10 years earlier, he had been hitting fungos to 15-year-olds behind the Loyola gym on a makeshift practice field. “I have those thoughts now (of how far he had come) but it was such a blur,” he says. “You are always thinking about the next game or the next pitch. When you lose, you just think about going to recruit or get ready for summer camps. I wish I would have enjoyed it more.”
Wells took Alabama to Omaha in 1996, 1997 (also seeded No. 1) and 1999 and won the opening game in all three appearances.
The 1996 team lost its next two games and was eliminated, but the 1997 team took an interesting path. After beating Mississippi State 3-2, Alabama lost to Miami to fall into the loser’s bracket. After beating Mississippi State again, the Crimson Tide was faced with having to beat Miami (Fla.) twice to advance to the finals.
Which is exactly what happened.
Now, Wells had taken his team to the CWS finals. And who was over in the other dugout? Skip Bertman and the LSU Tigers. One game for it all.
But LSU had only played three games to get to that spot; Alabama had played five. “We threw a guy who I think had only thrown 11 innings all year,” Wells says. “I think by the end of the first inning, they had us by a touchdown.”
It was 6-0 after one inning, 9-0 after two and ended with a 13-6 LSU win.
In his final appearance in 1999, the fifth-seeded Tide made it to the semifinals before losing to Miami.
Wells finished his career at Alabama in 2009 with 625 wins (adding those at NSU, 817 overall). This year, the American Baseball Coaches Association inducted him into the Hall of Fame Class of 2024.
Alabama has not been back to the CWS since Wells retired.
“I dreamed of going to the College World Series, but I never thought I could do that,” Wells says. “Yeah, I was a lucky guy.”
Skip Bertman was right. Stuff like this really does happen.
Contact JJ at johnjamesmarshall@yahoo.com