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   MIKE & MATT GEDMAN -
massachusetts minutemen
PING!BASEBALL PLAYER PROFILE
Thankfully, the rumors of the demise of University of Massachusetts baseball have been greatly exaggerated. Well, maybe not greatly exaggerated, but overstated nonetheless. A month ago it was widely circulated that the Minutemen baseball program, which dated all the way back to 1877 when Rutherford B. Hayes was sworn in as President, would be nixed due to budget deficit problems.  Fortunately however, the alma mater of former mustached MLB stars Jeff Reardon and Mike Flanagan has been given a reprieve. A couple of weeks ago UMass announced they were getting rid of skiing as a varsity sport, thus keeping baseball safe in Amherst for at least another season. Bad news for snow bunnies, but great news for fans of hardball.
The announcement seems to have had a positive effect on the team as the Minutemen are playing their best ball of the season. UMass won two games over Boston College, one of the best teams in the entire Northeast region, as well as recently swept conference rival St. Joseph's in a three game set. Leading the charge has been a pair of familiar names to residents of “The Bay State”. In the 80's Rich Gedman was an All Star catcher for the Boston Red Sox who helped the team reach the 1986 World Series. Now the Gedman name is back in New England sports pages as two of his sons are playing for the Minutemen. Mike Gedman was freshly minted as the UMass Athlete of the Week after he hit .500 (7-for-14), knocked in seven RBI and also pitched three scoreless innings of relief to pick up a save against Boston College . Matt Gedman is a starting infielder on the team as well as a goalie with the UMass hockey club.
The Brothers Gedman recently took some time to answer a few questions from Ping !Baseball which mercifully didn't include, “Any thoughts on where are you going to transfer to next season?”
PING!BASEBALL: What brought you to playing baseball at UMass?
Mike: Well I went to Le Moyne College my freshman year and it was a great experience. I got to be a part of a NCAA tournament regional at Texas A&M. However I chose to transfer after the season and the first place I looked was UMass because I knew Matty was going there. Coach Stone said he would give me a shot and I didn't have to look anywhere else I knew I wanted to go to UMass.
 Matt: When I was looking for schools, I wanted a place where I felt comfortable, and where I felt the coach was dedicated to me. Coach Stone came out to my school during the week and that made me feel like he really wanted me. I visited other schools, but I felt that UMass was my best fit, plus the opportunity to play hockey was important too. Even though I didn't get much playing time, it was a great experience, and I have no regrets doing that for two years.
PING!BASEBALL: Coach Stone, recently compiled his 600th win over his 27
year collegiate coaching career, the majority of which was at UMass. That's an awful lot of success coaching at a school in the northeast.
What makes him such an accomplished teacher, leader and mentor on
the diamond?
Mike: Coach is old school and he pushes us all year long in every aspect of being a student athlete. He stresses academics before baseball and holds all the players accountable for the actions. I'd love to see the kids from the warm weather schools come to Amherst in February and practice in Boyden Gym on Saturday morning for 5 and a half hours. They wouldn't last a week. Work ethic is what coach preaches, and even though there are times when you feel like you are on a track team in the end it's all worth it. I will take the lessons coach has taught me on how to be a better ball player but more importantly a better person and use them for the rest of my life.
Matt: He holds us accountable for our actions and asks us to work hard, show up on time and be dedicated to becoming better. If you don't work hard during practice or in the weight room he will get on you and you won't play until you pick up your intensity. He knows the game well and both played and coached it at a high level, so he knows what he wants and does everything he can to get the most out of his players. PING!BASEBALL: Despite the loss, how did it feel when the Minutemen played in Fenway
Park, The field where your father played and earned MLB All Star status,
when you played for the Beanpot Championship?
Mike: It's always great to play at Fenway there is a special feel to the park, you know so many great players have played there and it's also cool to go back to my dad's old office. Everyone on the team looks forward to playing there I just wish we had won like the year before.
 Matt: It was a thrilling experience to play at such a historical ballpark. The first few innings were a bit surreal, but once you get into the flow of the game its just another game. I couldn't imagine playing in front of 35,000 people every night though, that would be pretty nerve racking.
PING!BASEBALL: Growing up were there any players, other than your father, who you
idolized and looked up to?
Mike: When I was little like everyone else I liked Ken Griffey Jr. He was the best player and he made everything look so easy. I also liked Mo Vaughn- he could just mash. But my all time favorite athlete was Cam Neely of the Boston Bruins. He could score but he would also drop the gloves.
Matt: I would say Ken Griffey Jr. and Carl Everett. Griffey because he had that sweet lefty swing and Everett because I loved the intensity he brought to the park everyday.
PING!BASEBALL: You are both multi talented, Matt is a goalie with the hockey team as well
a shortstop on the baseball team and Mike is a capable hitter as well as an impressive pitcher on the mound. Your mom and sister are also
athletics. Was playing sports a big part of growing up in the Gedman
household?
Mike: Of course, as kids all me and matty did was play sports. We were very competitive in everything we did whether it be basketball, hockey, wIffle ball, football, video games it didn't matter we wanted to beat each other and the games got real intense. However the women in the Gedman family are the best athletes. My sister is the best athlete in the family, she is a three sport captain field hockey, hockey and softball and she gets straight A'S in school. She can pretty much choose wherever she wants to go to play hockey in college. My mother went to Uconn to play both softball and basketball and she could strike out my dad - which not many wives of Major league players can say.
Matt: Of course, me and Mikey were always competing and battling with each other, which made us both better. My mother was a great softball and basketball player and my sister has grown into the best athlete in the family as a great hockey player as well as playing field hockey and softball. Everything we did was related to sports, whether it was playing in the backyard or watching on TV.
PING!BASEBALL: After growing up with your brother and having him around pretty much your
whole life, aren't you about sick of him by now and wished he played on the other side of the country? Mike: No way, I love the fact that I get to see him everyday, I thought after legion ball was over that I would never get to play with him again, but I thinks its awesome that I get to go to the park with him everyday.
Matt: No, I know we will miss this when we get older, it is nice having him around so if I have any questions or worries he is not too far away. Growing up we were very competitive, but we have become great friends and every success he has makes me proud of him and I almost take more joy in his successes then I do in mine. When we get older I am sure we will look back on these days as some of the best of our lives.
PING!BASEBALL: What has been your most memorable day as a baseball player so far it doesn't necessarily have to be a college game.
Mike: I would have to say this year when we beat BC at home. They are the best team in the Northeast but we have owned them lately. I was three for five with two homeruns, three RBI and I pitched three innings and gave up only one hit and got the save.
Matt: When we swept Saint Joe's. In the third game we were down 9-3 in the 8th and battled back and eventually won on a walk off two run homer in the tenth. We have a very close team this year, and after being 1-7 in conference, no one has quit and we are now 7-8 and in the playoff hunt. Everyone plays for each other, and there is a close bond with this group of guys.
PING!BASEBALL: What is the worst class you¹ve taken while in college?
Mike: I took compsci 100 class my freshman year at Le Moyne and it was on Wednesday nights from like 7-10, just brutal.
Matt: Probably my 8 AM Econ class with Nick Serino. One of us would always try to drag the other one out of bed and to class. It was a struggle getting there everyday, and once we were there it was another battle just staying awake, let alone taking notes.
PING!BASEBALL: Now if you weren't teammates and met up on the field with Mike pitching and Matt batting, what would be the end result? Mike: Well, I think I'd rather face the best hitter in the country than Matty, because I've pitched to him soo many times in the back yard and over the years in intersquads and talk to him about how to get left handers out all the time. So he knows me better than anyone, and I can never strike him out so im going to go with a bloop jam shot metal bat single just over our 5'2'' second baseman's head.
Matt: We have had some serious battles in the back yard over the years, so I know what he has, if he tried to drop down and threw me that loopy-get-me-over curve ball I would get a knock, but if he stuck with his cutter I would be in trouble, probably a ground-out to the right side. Who knows he might just drill me to send a message.
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