Sept. 6, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. –
More than 40 Monogram winners representing six decades of Notre Dame baseball took the field at Frank Eck Stadium for the annual baseball alumni game on Saturday, September 4.
“I am thrilled by the turnout this year,” Alumni Association Executive Director Chuck Lennon `61 said. “With the excitement surrounding our baseball program and the return of so many of our young alumni today, I can see this event getting even bigger in the coming years.”
Much of the alumni enthusiasm for the game can be attributed to the arrival of new Notre Dame head baseball coach Mik Aoki, who was on hand to take part in the festivities on Saturday. Aoki, the 20th head coach in program history, was hired on July 13.
“These alumni are the foundation of what this place is and what it can be,” Aoki said. I’m thrilled that so many of them came out. Alumni support is a big part of what makes Notre Dame so great.”
Included in the group of 2010 alumni game participants were members of both of Notre Dame’s squads that reached the College World Series (1957, 2002).
“It’s nice to get out here, have some fun, and see a bunch of guys I played with and meet some new guys too,” said Steve Sollman ’04, who was part of a key ninth-inning rally against Rice that helped propel the Irish into the College World Series in 2002.
Also in attendance at the game was Dick Nussbaum ’74, the first vice president of the Monogram Club who represented the Club at the event.
The alumni game began at 9:00 a.m. and concluded at 11:00 a.m., when Lennon gathered the participants together at home plate to thank them for attending and to recognize the career accomplishments of some of the alumni.
After the event, many of the participants headed to the Monogram Room to take part in the Club’s reception prior to the 3:30 p.m. football game against Purdue.
— ND —