MLBers share College World Series memories: 'Most fun I've had playing baseball'

TORONTO - You won't find a more enthusiastic ambassador for the College World Series than Dallas Braden.

You'll want to book the next flight to Omaha, Nebraska, seconds into speaking with the former major leaguer and A's analyst.

"It's the purest form of baseball and competition that we'll come across," Braden told theScore. "From Little League to the College World Series, love is still the first reason they take the field. I don't care if you never went to college. I don't care if you didn't play Little League. Get there and soak that up."

Braden spent one season at Texas Tech in 2004 but his team failed to get past the regionals. Still, he eventually found his way to Omaha. After his MLB career ended, Braden transitioned into broadcasting and called the Red Raiders' first College World Series game and home run.

"I was in the booth with Alex Cora, a University of Miami alum, and (Texas Tech) were playing Florida," Braden recalled. "I'm losing my mind internally - haven't said a word - and Alex is fist bumping because any time Florida's losing, he's happy about that.

"To call that game, call that home run, just being in the booth - it was an incredible feeling. I told the folks at ESPN: 'I don't need to see the inside of a big-league booth ever again. Send me to the College World Series, send me to the Little League World Series. Give me Williamsport and Omaha, and I'm good because I love it that much.'"

'Getting there is a big deal'

The 2025 College World Series begins Friday with Arizona, Arkansas, Coastal Carolina, Louisville, LSU, Murray State, Oregon State, and UCLA vying for the title.

The NCAA Division I baseball tournament doesn't get the same publicity as March Madness, but it's garnered more attention in recent years. The 64-team tournament is a grind, culminating each year in Omaha, where the final eight teams participate in a double-elimination bracket to decide a national champion.

"It's a bloodbath," Braden said. "You need a lot of good things to happen consecutively."

To illustrate how challenging it is to even reach the College World Series: not a single team that appeared in the tournament last season qualified for the final eight this year. The two top national seeds - Vanderbilt and Texas - were eliminated in the regionals, and only two of the top seven seeds are in Omaha this year.

"(The) difficulty just getting there, it's so hard to do," Philadelphia Phillies shortstop and NC State alum Trea Turner told me.

"I think every college player, all they think about is the College World Series and winning, but just getting there is a big deal. It's big for programs. It put us on the map and heightened our program."

Turner was originally selected in the 20th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2011 but opted to attend college. In his sophomore season, Turner helped lead the Wolfpack to only their second College World Series appearance, where they beat rival North Carolina in the opening game before eventually being eliminated by the Tar Heels.

"I remember everything being so important," Turner said. "That's kind of the first time you experience something like professional playoff baseball. It feels the same - you're in a bigger stadium, bigger setting, TV, and all that."

'Some of the most fun I've had playing baseball'

Blue Jays infielder Ernie Clement lights up when asked about the College World Series.

Sitting on the couch in the Toronto clubhouse next to teammate Daulton Varsho, Clement fired a light jab at his teammate when I asked him about his time with the 2015 national champion Virginia Cavaliers.

"Varsh, I don't know if you know, but I played in the College World Series," Clement joked.

Clement was part of a Cinderella Cavaliers team that knocked off Vanderbilt in the final to win the program's first and only national title. He was named to the All-Tournament team.

"It was awesome," Clement told me. "We had such a great group in 2015. It feels like so long ago, but it also feels like just the other day. It was some of the most fun I've had playing baseball."

The Cavaliers might not have even made it to Omaha if it wasn't for Clement's heroics in the super regionals, where he walked off Maryland.

"That was wild," Clement said. "I got body slammed into the infield dirt. I think I'm still suffering from a concussion."

Clement's time in Virginia was an important stop on his baseball journey. Two years after winning the College World Series, he was selected in the fourth round of the 2017 draft by Cleveland.

Despite the added exposure that comes with playing college baseball's marquee event, Clement said being drafted and playing in the majors wasn't even on his radar during his early years in Virginia.

"No, not at all," Clement said. "Honestly, I was just so into winning and helping the team back then that I didn't even think about the fact I would have a chance to even get drafted. I think it was more of me just being naive, but I just love hanging out with my teammates. I didn't really have to think about any of that, it kind of took care of itself."

For Braden, that team-first mentality Clement described is what he and so many others love about college baseball.

"You have freshmen, you have sophomores, you have kids that just love the game and want to win, and they'll do anything they need to win," Braden said. "You've got the best teammates going at that stage. If you want to enjoy baseball in its purest form, which is guys willing to do anything to win, that's where it happens."

'Bragging rights'

Big-league clubhouses keep tabs on the college tourney, even as the June grind hits. Turner said there's plenty of trash talk among Phillies players when former schools face off.

"We had a couple Clemson guys in here," Turner said. "There's definitely banter back and forth. There's bragging rights."

A's manager Mark Kotsay enjoyed one of the most decorated college careers of any player. He won the 1995 Golden Spikes Award and was the Most Outstanding Player of the College World Series with Cal State Fullerton when it won the national title.

Thirty years later, Kotsay still follows the college game closely. As Kotsay recently walked to his media availability in the visiting dugout at the Rogers Centre, he discussed the West Coast regionals with another reporter.

"When you look at the impact, I was 18 and 19 years old, in a College World Series environment - that was electric," Kotsay said. "Just to grow with that group of guys, go through those experiences, I think it really advanced my opportunity to have a professional career and understand what it took to go compete. This is a fun time of year for me."

While collegiate players are far from finished products, they're molded in their programs; they develop into who they become by going through integral moments as young men with their teammates in settings like the College World Series. That's why no matter how many years go by, the road to Omaha is followed closely by players who made that same journey.

"I love watching college baseball," Clement said. "The NCAA Tournament is some of the best baseball you can watch - it's very team oriented. And it takes me back to my college days. Anytime there's a college baseball game (on TV), I like to flip it on."