1998 Diamond Dawgs Enjoy Return
April 01, 2023 | Baseball, Joel Coleman
Richard Lee, Matt Ginter and other Mississippi State legends reunited at Dudy Noble Field.
STARKVILLE – A constant line of Bulldog fans passed in front of tables near the right-field-line berm at Dudy Noble Field on Saturday. Seated on the other side of those tables were members of Mississippi State's unforgettable 1998 baseball team that earned one of the school's 12 College World Series appearances.
Smiles were many. Selfies and autographs were aplenty. A quarter-century since these particular Diamond Dawgs were making history, they were proud to be back making more memories for the fanbase that had fueled their success 25 years prior.
"It was a lot of fun," former slugging first baseman Richard Lee said of interacting with the MSU family. "Being gone for so long and still being remembered, it's really nice. It shows the kind of fans we have here."
Saturday served as a team reunion for the '98 bunch. Seventeen members of the squad returned to Starkville. Among them were Lee, Matt Ginter, Van Johnson, Barry Patton, Enrico Jones, Mark Freed, Jon Knott, Barry Walters, Rusty Thoms, Jeremy Jackson, Alan Leonard, Brad Freeman, Ryan McGrath, Kevin Donovan, Dustin Dabbs, Brian Compton and Brooks Bryan.
Head coach of the team, Pat McMahon – currently a part of the New York Yankees organization, also made an appearance via a special prerecorded video message that was shown in a pregame ceremony.
"It was good to see [McMahon] and hear from him and hear some of the same things he used to say back then," Lee said.
Yet the highlight of the day was undoubtedly just the chance for the guys of this team to reunite, recollect and discuss their exceptional season that'll live forever in the minds of the Maroon and White faithful.
"We didn't start out so great and we had some ups and downs," Ginter said of 1998. "We ended up sticking together and figuring it out. We came together and it's not how you start. It's how you end. We got better and were able to go to Texas A&M and pull out an upset in a regional at their place. Our team just wouldn't give up."
Indeed, Ginter and this group of Dawgs were a resilient bunch. They started off losing five of their first six Southeastern Conference games and 12 of their first 18.
Some teams might've folded. Not this one.
MSU responded by winning eight of its final 11 regular-season league games. The Bulldogs then won a couple of games at the SEC Tournament to punch a ticket to the regional in College Station where State earned victories over Washington, Rice and the host Aggies to get to Omaha.
"Going through struggling times with people, you learn to pull together," Lee said. "We always believed in each other, even through the bad times that year. It paid off at the end of the year.
"Going through everything we did with those guys, it built a bond that's lasted all these years."
And there they all were Saturday, back in the location they all became legendary. Lee, Ginter and the rest used the day to soak in as much as they could and enjoy being back at The Dude.
"Mississippi State baseball and the tradition of baseball here is second to none," Ginter said. "There are guys in the Lounge right now that fed me 25 years ago and they're still here. You won't find things like that anywhere else in the country."
No matter where these '98 guys go, in many ways, Mississippi State will always be a home.
"It's just a special place," Lee said. "The fans take the baseball serious and support you through thick and thin. It's just special. Most of us never experienced anything else like it in pro ball or anywhere else."