Turner Putting Time as a Titan to Good Use in San Jose

It was 1981, and Shane Turner was trying to decide whether to play college baseball at Cal State Fullerton, Arizona State or San Diego State.

“Well, those other two schools have very good baseball programs,” then-Titan Coach Augie Garrido told him. “But if you go to one of them, we’re going to beat you.”

Turner said it helped make up his mind to attend Fullerton.

Turner went on to play baseball for four years for Garrido and was the shortstop on Fullerton’s 1984 College World Series championship team. It marked the second of three national titles the Titans won under Garrido.

Turner said he learned a lot about the finer points of coaching baseball--as well as playing it--from Garrido. And Turner is putting it to good use as manager of the San Jose Giants in the California League.

“Playing for Garrido was a learning experience every day,” Turner said. “And we learned that the way to beat the other teams was to be fundamentally sound. Our focus was always on that. You didn’t play for him without learning the fundamentals.

“Those things I learned there affect the way I expect my team to play now. I’m a bad loser, but I especially don’t like to lose games when you beat yourself.”

Turner, 35, played professional baseball for 11 years after leaving Fullerton. He was a sixth-round draft pick of the New York Yankees and spent parts of three seasons in the major leagues, appearing in 18 games with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1988, four with the Baltimore Orioles in 1991, and 34 with the Seattle Mariners in 1992.

“I knew I wanted to stay in baseball as either a coach or manager when I quit playing,” Turner said. “I didn’t know for certain whether I wanted to do it on the college or pro level. But I knew a lot of people in professional baseball, so I decided to look there first.”

The San Francisco Giants hired him in 1996 as the hitting instructor for their short-season, rookie-league team in Bellingham, Wash. Turner took over as manager at midseason. He managed another Class-A team in Salem, Ore., last season before moving to the California League this year.

Turner is one of two former Titans managing in the California League. Tim Wallach took over at San Bernardino when the Dodgers promoted Mickey Hatcher to the parent club as hitting coach.

San Jose won the first-half championship this season with a 46-24 record, but several of Turner’s top players have been called up to double-A Shreveport for the season’s second half.

“This is the first time I’ve had a full-season team, so that’s been different,” he said. “It’s been a learning experience going with an 11-man pitching staff. In the rookie leagues, I never had fewer than 14 pitchers on the roster, and sometimes I had as many as 20.”

Turner said he tries to instill in his team the aggressive style of play he learned under Garrido.

“We always were ready to attack the other team’s weaknesses,” Turner said. “I remember the game against Miami in the 1984 World Series. We knew they had been having trouble handling bunts, and we must have put down six or seven in the first three innings, and it turned that game into a runaway.

“Another big thing I learned at Fullerton is that you have to give 100% no matter whether you’re ahead, 20-1, or losing, 20-1, and I emphasize that with my players now. Sometimes kids at this level think going 0 for 10 is the end of the world.”

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Tony Zuniga, an 11th-round draft pick by the Giants out of Rancho Santiago College two years ago, has given Turner’s team a lift this season since he took over at third base.

Zuniga is batting .276 with 56 runs batted in and eight home runs in 87 games.

“He’s been outstanding for us,” Turner said. “Tony didn’t start the season as a regular, but when we lost our third baseman to double A, he took over and has played some great defense, and is hitting the ball well. He has had a lot of big hits for us.

“I had Tony with me two years ago in the Northwest League, and he had a good year there, but he had an off-year last season in San Jose. He had only one hit in his first 42 at-bats and finished the year under .200. It was a matter of him proving himself to the organization again after that, but I didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t do it.”

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Jeremy Giambi, a standout on Cal State Fullerton’s 1995 College World Series championship team, was one of the hottest hitters in the minor leagues in the first half of the season, batting .372 with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs for the triple-A Omaha Royals. Giambi, however, has been on the injured list for the last three weeks with a strained hamstring.

Giambi was hurt trying to steal a base in the Pacific Coast League all-star game.

“It’s been a tough thing to deal with because I had really been feeling good all year until that happened,” Giambi said. “It’s been difficult sitting and watching, but I’m hoping I can get back in the lineup in the next week or so. They just didn’t want to take any chances rushing it.”

Giambi said he has continued taking batting practice, and has started jogging.

“I feel like I’m still swinging well, so I want to get back in the lineup as soon as I can,” he said “We have quite a bit of the season left and I’d like to be able to finish strong.”