Todd Butler still clawing to find Wichita State baseball success

Wichita State’s baseball team is 10-19 and the third-year coach, Todd Butler, hasn’t been able to prove he’s up to the job.

The Shockers get routed with regularity and their once-vaunted pitching staff is a shambles with a 5.99 ERA, the highest since Gene Stephenson’s first year in 1978, when WSU valued anyone who could get the ball near the plate.

Attendance is woeful at Eck Stadium — a recent series against No. 8 TCU drew flies.

Nobody is demanding a return to the glory days, when the Shockers went to five College World Series from 1988-93. But something resembling quality baseball would be nice.

Don’t think Butler doesn’t understand the dilemma. He seemed like a great fit when he was hired to replaced the ousted Stephenson after the 2013 season.

Butler was a scrappy infielder at Oklahoma and how many scrappy infielders does Wichita State’s baseball legacy include?

He worked his way up as a coach to become the head man at McNeese State from 2001-03. He had most recently been an assistant at Alabama and Arkansas when Wichita State made the hire.

The Shockers gave him a seven-year deal worth $300,000 per, with some perks. It would cost WSU a pretty penny to part ways with Butler anytime soon, so you anti-Butler folks shouldn’t get your hopes up.

By the way, Butler’s hopes aren’t down.

“This is the greatest challenge in all my years as a coach,” he said. “I’ve never had a team below .500 until last year. And this year we’re 10-19 and I’m just trying to stick with our team, build our team and be a leader.”

Just when the Shockers appear to be making some progress, though, they get slapped down. They look good in a particular game for a while, only to become helpless as the bottom falls out.

Apathy is building. There isn’t much outrage, from what I can tell. Some people still grumble that Stephenson shouldn’t have been let go, but the bigger question is whether the right guy was hired to replace him.

“As far as what goes on, my concern is my team, my family and I block out the noise,” Butler said. “If I dealt with the noise out there, it’s something I would take out on my team. So I’m oblivious to anything that goes on other than sticking with this team and being the best leader I can be to help these guys get to a positive state.”

The most confusing aspect of the Shockers’ issues is the pitching. Brent Kemnitz, who spent 34 years with Stephenson, is still the pitching coach. You’d never know it from the results, though.

Wichita State’s pitching staff was regarded for decades as one of the best in college baseball. Has Kemnitz forgotten how to coach? I don’t think so. It’s a strange situation and one that needs to get rectified if the Shockers are to have any chance of returning to respectability, let alone glory.

Kemnitz was supposed to make this transition easier as a bridge from the past to the present and into the future. That bridge, though, is burning.

“I replaced a great coach in Gene Stephenson,” Butler said. “You’ve got to be a strong guy to come into a situation like this.”

I’m not sure how strong a guy you need to be to replace a legend like Stephenson. But you sure have to be one heck of a baseball coach.

Regardless of the pricy buyout attached to Butler’s contract, the fact that we’re already talking about the pricy buyout attached to Butler’s contract is a major negative.

Given the seriousness of the Shockers’ struggles, though, it’s a legitimate topic. There is considerable community pride attached to WSU baseball and that pride has been wounded. First, some believe, by the way Stephenson’s dismissal was orchestrated by then-athletic director Eric Sexton, for which Stephenson certainly gets a chunk of the blame. Second, most believe, by the way Butler has taken to the job.

It’s obvious that more than a few Wichita State baseball fans have jumped ship. I ran into a long-time Shocker baseball fan at the grocery store Sunday afternoon, while WSU’s game against TCU was in progress. He told me he had to leave Eck Stadium early because he couldn’t watch anymore.

It’s not an isolated incident of disgruntlement. Most fans who have hung on are doing so with apprehension. Or for dear life.

It gets back to Butler and the greatest challenge he has faced.

“I know that I’m the right guy,” he said. “I know this is an incredible challenge and I’m embracing the heck out of it. I’m checking my toughness right now. You have to have an empty stomach and you have to be hungry as heck. I want to be a good leader for our team and to be able to show strong character in tough times. We’re a long ways away and it’s a challenge. But why not? Why not?”

Butler’s tenacity and devotion are admirable. But the reasons “Why not?” are beginning to pile up. It’s up to him to provide reasons why, and sooner rather than later wouldn’t hurt.

This story was originally published April 7, 2016 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Todd Butler still clawing to find Wichita State baseball success."