Columnist Ron Kantowski: Accent of trees puts Stanford complex at top

Tuesday, June 8, 2004 | 9:01 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

After getting a look at Sunken Diamond on the Stanford campus, host site for the NCAA's Palo Alto regional, it became clear that UNLV does not need more runs and hits and fewer errors to compete with the nation's elite college baseball programs.

What the Rebels need are more trees.

That's right, trees. Such as the thick redwoods and eucalyptus trees that have transformed Stanford's home baseball park into something of a bucolic paradise.

Until this weekend, I thought the Stanford logo, a green redwood on a block red "S," was kind of silly. But it is those trees, indigenous to sleepy, upscale Palo Alto, that have enabled Stanford to proclaim Sunken Diamond as one of the most beautiful facilities in college baseball.

If you've never been there, the well manicured grounds call to mind a zoo, only without the smell and the screeching. I almost expected to find Jim Fowler working the ticket gate in a pith helmet and safari gear.

There are trees everywhere you look, including inside the stadium, where a grove of mature eucalyptus trees in the left field bullpen area provide sanctuary for closers and middle relievers.

So going to a Stanford baseball game is literally a shady deal.

Conversely, attending a UNLV baseball game is a good way to contract heat stroke by the third inning.

Other than the rent-a-tents that were erected in the stands for the recent Mountain West tournament to serve as hospitality areas, about the only shady spot at Wilson Stadium is Tony Gwynn's shadow, when San Diego State visits.

Around the horn

With his scrawny build, scraggly blond hair and surfer-dude image, Long Beach State's Jered Weaver looks more like a dropout from Mr. Hand's sixth-period history class at Ridgemont High, rather than college baseball's best pitcher, which he just might be. Weaver was on the board longer than anticipated at Monday's major league draft, as the Angels selected him with the 12th overall pick. ... The cream rises to the top in college baseball moreso than in the other sports. Of the 16 teams still playing, only two No. 3 seeds (Arizona and Tulane) are still playing. The rest are 1s and 2s. ... Once upon a time, the voices of UNLV basketball and football were Chick Hearn and Ross Porter, Vin Scully's longtime sidekick with the Dodgers. This year, they'll be Jon Sandler (basketball) and Channel 8 sports director Dave McCann (foot ball), a couple of veterans on the local broadcast scene. Sandler replaces Ken Korach, who has decided to concentrat! e on his full-time gig with the Oakland A's, while McCann steps in for Tim Neverett, who has moved to Denver to host a sports talk show. ... Pepperdine, coached by Las Vegas native Steve Rodriguez, upset Arizona State and made it to the championship round of the NCAA's Fullerton baseball regional before being whipped twice by the host Titans. ... While in San Francisco on Sunday, I spotted what appeared to be the Phoenix Suns' gorilla hop on a bicycle for the cycling segment of the Alcatraz Triathlon. In reality, it was just the very hairy actor/comedian Robin Williams . ... Based on her ninth-place performance at the U.S. Championships over the weekend and a recurring ankle injury, it would appear Las Vegan Tasha Schwikert is something of a long shot to return to the Olympics as a a member of the women's gymnastics team. But he r fate probably won't be decided at the June 24-27 Olympic trials in Anaheim, which are really nothing of the sort, at leas! t in gymnastics. On the women's side, the top two all-around gymnasts at the trials are guaranteed a spot at the "selection camp" at Martha and Bela Karolyi's Texas ranch July 13-18, where the Olympic team (six members and three alternates) will be chosen. So why not call that camp the trials and call the trials what it is, an exhibition with expensive tickets.