Hall of Fame Spotlight: Baseball's 1983 College World Series Team

James Madison will welcome its newest class into the Athletics Hall of Fame on Saturday, January 28th. Tickets for the event are on sale now at JMUSports.com. As we approach induction day, JMUSports.com will feature members of the new class each week.

Today's article highlights the first 1983 JMU baseball team.

In 1983, JMU became the first team in program history and in the Commonwealth of Virginia to participate in the NCAA Division I College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska. Led by Hall of Fame Coach Brad Babcock, the team advanced to the CWS following a championship win in the NCAA Division I Eastern Regional.

JMU went 37-13 overall in the 1983 season and received an at-large bid to the Eastern Regional, where it defeated Delaware, the Citadel, William and Mary and South Carolina to advance to Omaha. At the CWS, in a field that included future Major Leaguers Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Barry Larkin, Pete Incaviglia, Dave Magadan and Chris Sabo, the Dukes faced two of the nation's top three teams, falling 12-0 to eventual champion Texas and 3-1 to Stanford.

During the careers of seniors from the 1983 team, the Dukes made three Eastern Regional appearances (1980, 1981, 1983) and won two Eastern College Athletic Conference South Tournament titles (1980, 1981). From 1980-1983, JMU compiled a record of 150 wins, 59 losses, two ties, and had a .717 winning percentage.

Honors earned by individual members of the 1983 CWS team included a 1983 All-East selection, four selections to the 1983 All-Tournament Team in the Eastern Regional and two selections to the 1983 All-ECAC South Team.

During their playing careers, individual seniors on the 1983 team set career records for plate appearances (849), hits (233), singles (179), bases on balls (163) and hit by pitches (10). Individual seniors also set single game records in at bats (7), runs (6) and stolen bases (4). One senior on the team has appeared in more NCAA Division I Regional tournament games (10) and recorded more at bats (43), hits (16) and runs (10) in regional tournament play than any other player in JMU history.

Nine Innings (or Questions) with 1983 Team Members

1. When you think about your time as a student-athlete at JMU, what highlights or memories stand out?

Steve Cullers: "The obvious answer is participating in the College World Series. But being the last team selected into the NCAA playoffs that year and sweeping our region (one of only two six-team regionals that year) was a very special time as well."

Mike Reeves: "Our team was very close; we did everything together. The best memories were road trips in the vans, May sessions, and playoffs."

Tom Sheridan (assistant coach): "I have a different perspective as I was a coach rather than a student-athlete during my time at JMU. From an athletics standpoint winning the East Regional and going to the College World Series in 1983 is my favorite memory. Time has put into context what that team was able to achieve and how unique and special a season that was."

2. What memories stand out about JMU as a university? (Outside of athletic competition)

Dave Pleasants: "How beautiful the campus was, especially The Quad. I lived in Ashby Hall for two years and it was awesome!"

Jeff Kidd: "As a freshman, I was playing basketball one day with a bunch of guys. Dr. Carrier was walking around the campus and asked us how things were going. One guy told him the basketball keeps rolling down the hill into the creek. The next day, a fence was at the end of the basketball court. I realized that day, I was at a special place."

Tony Marant: "The perfect size of the campus, the excellent food at D-Hall, the Quad, the proximity of classes to dorms, and that we were allowed to live on campus all four years."

3. What team rituals or traditions do you miss the most?

Steve Cullers: "I think back about how close we were as a team each year. We did everything together on and off the field. You never saw just one player by themselves on campus. I also enjoyed when Dr. Carrier would stop out at our practices, take his suit coat off and head out to SS to field some ground balls. Also, how much fun we had as teammates attending other JMU sporting events – both men's and women's sports."

Dave Pleasants: "Spitting tobacco on each other's shoes. Not sure that would fly today!"

4. What kept you motivated on a daily basis as a student-athlete?

Mike Reeves: "The chance of winning and improving in life and on the field."

Steve Cullers: "For me it was figuring out a way to become a better player each and every day. I often think back on how much I was able to grow as a player from walking on and making the team my freshman year to securing a starting role on the team the next three years."

Jeff Kidd: "As a walk-on, I tried each day to remember how fortunate I was to have be given a chance to play."

5. What was the most embarrassing moment for you as a student-athlete?

Jeff Urban: "Getting picked off after being inserted as a pinch runner."

Tony Marant: "My picture on ESPN for the College World Series."

Mike Reeves: "Striking out five times in a game, then reading about it in the Breeze the next day."

Jeff Kidd: "As the graduate assistant coach, I ran through a toll gate in Richmond, Va. The guys in the front van signaled for me to come through and I thought Coach Babcock had paid for both vans. As I started through, the gate came down. My van made it but the U-Haul I had behind the van broke the gate in half. Thirty-plus years later, I still hear about this on a regular basis."

6. How would you compare being a student-athlete in your time vs. today?

Tony Marant: "We were able to play more games in the fall, the current facilities may be better than ours and I really don't like the baseball field being off campus."

Jeff Urban: "We probably had more free time and less stress."

Steve Cullers: "By far it was the amount of time we spent together as teammates and how we did everything together. I really do not see that level of togetherness with teams these days."

Jeff Kidd: "If we stayed in a hotel, we slept three to a room with the freshman getting a pull-out cot to sleep on. If the place we were eating did not feed the coach and bus driver for free, we would pack up and go to another place that would."

7. How well have you stayed connected to JMU since your time as a student-athlete?

Jeff Kidd: "Since retiring from the military, I have stayed very connected with JMU. I presently have two sons (a junior and a freshman), both in the Honors College at JMU and members of the Marching Royal Dukes."

Steve Cullers: "It had been a little more difficult living up in Minnesota but social media has helped a lot over the past 10 years or so. We still try to come back to JMU on a regular basis for baseball team gatherings or homecomings."

8. What was your greatest achievement individually and as a team during your time at JMU?

Dave Pleasants: "Being the winning pitcher in the East Regional against William and Mary, and our trip the Omaha for the College World Series."

Jeff Kidd: "As a team, obviously the College World Series. As a student, I am proud to have earned my MBA while at JMU. As an athlete, I believe I still have more career at bats, hits, and runs scored in NCAA Division I Regional Tournament games than anyone in JMU history. Not bad for a walk-on who played golf at JMU his freshman year."

Tony Marant: "Hitting .401 as a freshman, playing in the Cape Cod League and of course, [being a part of the] 1983 team playing in the College World Series."

Jeff Urban: "The College World Series – any individual accomplishments paled compared to that."

9. What are you doing today in your professional career?

Steve Cullers: "I am in my 32^nd year at Xerox and my current position is account general manager in our graphic communications major accounts division. I am also an assistant varsity baseball coach at Cretin-Derham Hall High School."

Jeff Kidd: "I was a Colonel in the United States Air Force, serving as a hospital administrator. Since retiring, I teach golf lessons part-time."

Tony Marant: "[I've worked in] medical sales with Johnson & Johnson for over 20 years."

Dave Pleasants: "I have been a high school baseball coach and math teacher in Fairfax County for 24 years."

Mike Reeves: "I have been selling construction equipment for 31 years (same product) and love it still."

Tom Sheridan: "I retired from coaching after having been an assistant or head coach for 35 years in 2014. I currently work in the financial services industry with one of my former assistant coaches at the University of Mary Washington."

Jeff Urban: "I started my own sports media company."

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