Part of what defines the greatness of Augie Garrido -- besides the colorful rampages, besides the Zen, besides the victories, the championships -- is his ability to look his players in the eye and see greatness ready to emerge. He did it with Austin Wood in the Regional in 2009, letting him keep the ball past the point anyone thought it particularly prudent besides Wood and the coaching. He did it with Chance Wheeless in 2005, letting him bat with an injured shoulder. Any coach playing it by the book would have pulled the clearly injured Wheeless for a pinch-hitter after some poor swings earlier in the day. But when Wheeless told Garrido that he could get it done, the legendary Texas coach believed him. And this is what happened:
The rest, as they say, is history. Hint: it ended in a dogpile.