The Phone Call Greg Byrne Needs to Make to Save Alabama Baseball: All Things CW

Who could bring immediate credibility back to Alabama baseball? One name stands out, and could quickly rally the Crimson Tide fans.

Christopher Walsh | May 4, 2023

The shock and confusion surrounding the Alabama baseball program this season has been nothing short of stunning, culminating with Brad Bohannon being fired on Thursday morning. That it happened three days after reports raising questions about “suspicious wagering activity” surrounding Crimson Tide baseball games, with Ohio, New Jersey and Pennsylvania halting all bets, has given the athletic program another black eye when it already two this spring from recent controversies.

There's no way that Alabama won't be transparent on this, it simply has no choice this time, and athletic director Greg Byrne is known for moving quickly when necessary. The guess here is that in addition to damage control he's also having to talk with numerous attorneys and school/league officials before turning his attention to what's next, which will include hiring a new coach.

He's been here before. Bohannon was Byrne's first big hire, at least among coaches, at Alabama in 2018. He was well-regarded, already familiar with the league, and hired by the person who seems to have a knack for finding the next breakout success story. Few seemed to mind that Bohannon was an assistant at Auburn. Most of his previous 14 years as an assistant coach in the SEC was at Kentucky (2004-15).

To say Crimson Tide baseball was at a low point at the time would be an understatement. It was a disaster. Turnarounds in that sport can take time, and for years Alabama has been at a disadvantage due to fewer scholarships — although that drawback seems to be getting smaller in the changing landscape of college athletics.

But here we are again. Another scandal in the program, which has to play in a conference sporting a degree of difficulty of somewhere squarely between brutal and vicious. In times like these having a coach who the fans would quickly rally around could only help, and in that respect especially one name clearly stands out: David Joseph Magadan.

He's widely considered the best player in modern Crimson Tide history. Magadan is Alabama's only winner of the Golden Spikes Award and in 2010 became the Crimson Tide's second entry into the College Baseball Hall of Fame, joining Joe Sewell. He has name recognition, especially after a 16-year career as a Major League Baseball player, plus has a strong reputation as a coach, having been with five teams from 2003, most recently with the Colorado Rockies last season.

He's 61, the cousin and godson of former manager Lou Piniella, and he's available. Magadan left the Rockies after last season. His first wife is from Tuscaloosa .... and ... here's the kicker, he wanted the job before.

That might take a smoothing over to make this a possibility, but we all know how those things can be worked out. Plus, coming from a baseball family, Magadan knows as a well as anyone (maybe minus Sweet Lou) how baseball can be humbling game, yet something new is always around the corner. Case in point, when he moved from third base to first as a junior 1983, to make room for sophomore shortstop Craig Shipley, Magadan batted .535 with 114 hits and 95 RBIs, and had a slugging percentage of .829.

When the Boston Red Sox selected Magadan in the 12th round of the June 1980 amateur draft, he didn't sign, opting for Alabama. At the time, he was quoted as saying: “I wanted to go to a four-year school. I wasn’t heavily recruited. I got some letters from some schools that said they were interested, but not anything like Alabama. I decided that playing away from home at Alabama was the best chance for me to improve as a player, a student, and a person.”

He went on to set numerous school records, including a 27-game hitting streak in 1981, was twice named an All-American. Magadan also helped lead Alabama to the College World Series, where the Crimson Tide made the final game before running into Texas, with Roger Clemens. The infielder still hit .550 in the series.

Maybe it's time to bring him home.

See Also: