Boomer White
Players/BCAMC
Scott Clendenin
Texas A&M Baseball
2016 Texas A&M baseball preview: Boomer White shares his story
Note: See additional videos for details on BCAMC's Aggie Lead-Off event this weekend, as well as thoughts from Nick Banks, Kyle Simonds and Justin Seely before the 2016 season and preseason analysis from Scott Clendenin.
“This is a pitching staff that I don’t think I’ve ever seen and definitely haven’t been a part of. We had some really good ones at TCU, their numbers spoke for themselves. But top to bottom, we’ve got middle relievers, late relievers, starter, power arms, righties with sink, lefty match-ups. Hitting against this pitching squad, it is hard not to get down on yourself, but you have to know you aren't going to see many arms like this. If we can get good at-bats against these guys, it’ll be that much easier against other teams down the road.”
“My decision (to come to A&M) honestly goes back to when I was seven. I was raised the biggest A&M fan. I would cry when we’d lose to Texas and I have vivid memories through middle school and high school of A&M basketball, baseball and football. One of my godfathers, now I call him grandpa, lived next door and he was a former yell leader here. They all just put it on me. My dad was from Missouri, my mom didn't really have a school, so A&M was it. It all started there and the recruiting process just didn't go the way I wanted it to with A&M. I initially wanted to come here, but TCU made their way in there and they were the best choice at the time.
Location wise, it wasn't too close, wasn't too far. They had great coaches, great program, and as a catcher at the time, it was a place I could catch and had a great chance to start as a freshman. As time went on, I made my way down here and hung out with some buddies. I still had that Aggie in me, so I’d come to football games and get down here as much as I could. I just still loved the school and that’s where my heart is. During my sophomore year, sometime before the season started, I told my dad, ‘It’s not the baseball, I just don't really feel comfortable here. I’d do anything to be in the maroon and white whether that’s playing or not.’ It was something I had in my heart.”
“As the process went on (at TCU) and I was thinking about transferring, we kept playing well and I kept playing well. That made it harder because I was thinking, ‘Do I want to sacrifice this success to go to another school?’ But ultimately, I couldn't have made a better decision. I was called many names and questioned, which I totally understand. As our team continued into the postseason and I had a couple big hits and people started chanting my name was a blast, but it made it a lot harder. I knew people would be let down and wouldn't understand, there’s no reason they would. Nobody outside my family knew. I was holding it in. I think my dad may have told a family friend, but that is it. I didn't want anyone to have a reason to think I wouldn't do everything I could for TCU.”
“Omaha can change things. You become a lot more popular when you’re playing on ESPN everyday and all of TCU is rooting for that one team. You have a big hit or two and it became a lot harder, because you feel like you’re letting people down. We made the decision right before I went up to Cape Cod. It was an every day discussion. My dad would ask me, ‘What are you thinking today?’ ‘I think I wanna go. Like 60/40.’ Finally, he just said, ‘If you want to do this, you need to call them and ask for your release.’ So I had to call my head coach and I know he was on a high coming off a trip to the world series.
We had a great relationship and he didn't really understand, but my dad had told me, ‘Here’s what is going to go on. Expect this.’ I had an advisor through this who helped me out and helped me get prepared. I’m really big into faith and family, so we were constantly praying about it. We were always discussing things and telling ourselves to handle everything with a grain of salt. It can be hard to hold your tongue with how brutal social media can be. It was a process I hated but one that had to be done.”
“It was a blindside to TCU and my head coach. He didn't see it coming and there’s no reason he should have. I had to tell him, ‘Y’all have been fantastic to me and the team has been fantastic to me, but there is nothing y’all can do to make me want to be here instead of A&M.’ He was kind of lost for words, so it was worse than any break up. I had best friends at TCU that knew I wanted to go to A&M and they were a big part of it. They always told me that people who don't understand shouldn't be pressuring me into staying. Having people who didn't have a foot in the sports world really made it easier for me.”
“I knew all the three catchers A&M signed the year before me. I grew up with Cole Lankford, grew up with Mitchell Nau and played summer ball with Daniel Mengden. It shouldn't have played a part (in where I went) since I never played an inning at catcher, but at the time I wanted to play catcher so that wasn't the place for me. Turns out, most of them didn't end up playing much catcher anyway, but I didn’t know that at the time.”
“I ended up having to call coach Childress and I’d never talked to him before, but we knew who each other were because he had recruited one of my high school teammates that went to Stanford. He loved it and was like, ‘Heck yeah, we’ll take you.’ I had a good year before that. Even two, three months into the fall last year, Childress and the team would ask me, ‘So why’d you come here?’ I would tell them and they would laugh and say, ‘That’s not the reason, but you’ll tell me one day.’ I was honest with Childress and he was pretty cool about it. He was fired up, but he wouldn't show it.”
“Last year was a tough decision to go (to the Super Regional) my mom was actually begging me not to go. She was telling me, ‘Just don't get in a fight. You’re just going as a fan, you can’t get away with what you think you can.’ One of our high school friend’s actually flew us in on a helicopter, so I wasn't going to miss watching the baseball. I actually only watched the first two games because I had to be in Cape Cod. I left Sunday and caught the Sunday game with my host family in Cape Cod. Being at TCU, I was actually looking forward to it because most of the fans were really nice to me. I was wearing maroon, which was a little odd, but I was a regular fan. I was sitting with my friends, but I would look across the row and see a guy I used to talk to in Ft. Worth, so it was awkward. They didn't see me as a Horned Frog anymore.”
“We have a huge poster on our locker room door of TCU dog piling and we talk about it pretty much every day. We knew that we had enough talent where if we got by TCU, we could make a run at a national championship. That game haunts a lot of guys and from my standpoint, I couldn't do anything and it was weird because the team I would have been playing for, I didn't want to win. I was dying for A&M to get to the CWS. I was talking to them before the game and they knew I was rooting against them. Both teams really knew how to fight and you have to give credit where credit is due.”
“Some guys ask me (about going to Omaha) but not as many as you think. Every now and then they’ll ask, ‘How crazy was it for you?’ but they really want to know what it is like for themselves. Michael Barash has been as a freshman but you wouldn't really know it. But we both really want to get there in the maroon and white and we feel like we have the team to get there. It would be cool to get there for two different teams, because that doesn't really happen, but to get there for a team I’ve loved my whole life would mean more than doing it for a team I didn't really have those feelings for.”
“I think Michael Barash knows what he’s worth to us, so he comes to the ballpark every day and tries to impact us. I don’t think we appreciate it as much as we should every time, but it isn't just catching or hitting, it’s in the dugout pre-game, post-game. He’s there for us and we know we’ll count on him. Anything he hits, you can add .100 points to it because of all the other things he does.”
“Corbin just being himself made it easy on us all. Patrick and him bringing in the bubble machine allowed us to have fun and play well on the field. You add all those together and it is just a great time on the field. You don’t usually see a freshman make that kind of impact with his maturity, so know he claims that machine is his, which it is, but I’m excited to see the kind of impact he makes on the field.”
“We know that preseason rankings don’t matter, you have to go do it. I’ve seen one seed’s lose in the regional where you just run into a hot pitching staff for two games, get into a slump, things don’t go your way, and your season is over no matter how well you played up to that point. It doesn't matter where we are right now, we just want to go out and prove it.”
“Stepping out into Olsen will be really special. Last year, I got to hit batting practice before the games. When the fans started coming in, I had to take the uniform off, which sucked. But, I got to see it from a different perspective, but being on the field seeing 7,000/8,000 people come in, if I get the chance to start, that is going to be really moving.”
Key quotes from Boomer White interview
“With the season right around the corner, I try not to think about it all the time, because you want to work on the process. We’ve got stuff we need to work on here and there, but it’s coming on us really soon and people are starting to ask questions. ‘How are you going to be? Who are you playing first? What are you ranked’ All these questions. It’s hard get out of your head that it is less than a week away. For myself, I’ve been waiting so long to get on the field. There’s some hype around this team and I think we’re going to be great, but we’re just excited to play somebody in another uniform.”“This is a pitching staff that I don’t think I’ve ever seen and definitely haven’t been a part of. We had some really good ones at TCU, their numbers spoke for themselves. But top to bottom, we’ve got middle relievers, late relievers, starter, power arms, righties with sink, lefty match-ups. Hitting against this pitching squad, it is hard not to get down on yourself, but you have to know you aren't going to see many arms like this. If we can get good at-bats against these guys, it’ll be that much easier against other teams down the road.”
“My decision (to come to A&M) honestly goes back to when I was seven. I was raised the biggest A&M fan. I would cry when we’d lose to Texas and I have vivid memories through middle school and high school of A&M basketball, baseball and football. One of my godfathers, now I call him grandpa, lived next door and he was a former yell leader here. They all just put it on me. My dad was from Missouri, my mom didn't really have a school, so A&M was it. It all started there and the recruiting process just didn't go the way I wanted it to with A&M. I initially wanted to come here, but TCU made their way in there and they were the best choice at the time.
Location wise, it wasn't too close, wasn't too far. They had great coaches, great program, and as a catcher at the time, it was a place I could catch and had a great chance to start as a freshman. As time went on, I made my way down here and hung out with some buddies. I still had that Aggie in me, so I’d come to football games and get down here as much as I could. I just still loved the school and that’s where my heart is. During my sophomore year, sometime before the season started, I told my dad, ‘It’s not the baseball, I just don't really feel comfortable here. I’d do anything to be in the maroon and white whether that’s playing or not.’ It was something I had in my heart.”
“As the process went on (at TCU) and I was thinking about transferring, we kept playing well and I kept playing well. That made it harder because I was thinking, ‘Do I want to sacrifice this success to go to another school?’ But ultimately, I couldn't have made a better decision. I was called many names and questioned, which I totally understand. As our team continued into the postseason and I had a couple big hits and people started chanting my name was a blast, but it made it a lot harder. I knew people would be let down and wouldn't understand, there’s no reason they would. Nobody outside my family knew. I was holding it in. I think my dad may have told a family friend, but that is it. I didn't want anyone to have a reason to think I wouldn't do everything I could for TCU.”
“Omaha can change things. You become a lot more popular when you’re playing on ESPN everyday and all of TCU is rooting for that one team. You have a big hit or two and it became a lot harder, because you feel like you’re letting people down. We made the decision right before I went up to Cape Cod. It was an every day discussion. My dad would ask me, ‘What are you thinking today?’ ‘I think I wanna go. Like 60/40.’ Finally, he just said, ‘If you want to do this, you need to call them and ask for your release.’ So I had to call my head coach and I know he was on a high coming off a trip to the world series.
We had a great relationship and he didn't really understand, but my dad had told me, ‘Here’s what is going to go on. Expect this.’ I had an advisor through this who helped me out and helped me get prepared. I’m really big into faith and family, so we were constantly praying about it. We were always discussing things and telling ourselves to handle everything with a grain of salt. It can be hard to hold your tongue with how brutal social media can be. It was a process I hated but one that had to be done.”
“It was a blindside to TCU and my head coach. He didn't see it coming and there’s no reason he should have. I had to tell him, ‘Y’all have been fantastic to me and the team has been fantastic to me, but there is nothing y’all can do to make me want to be here instead of A&M.’ He was kind of lost for words, so it was worse than any break up. I had best friends at TCU that knew I wanted to go to A&M and they were a big part of it. They always told me that people who don't understand shouldn't be pressuring me into staying. Having people who didn't have a foot in the sports world really made it easier for me.”
“I knew all the three catchers A&M signed the year before me. I grew up with Cole Lankford, grew up with Mitchell Nau and played summer ball with Daniel Mengden. It shouldn't have played a part (in where I went) since I never played an inning at catcher, but at the time I wanted to play catcher so that wasn't the place for me. Turns out, most of them didn't end up playing much catcher anyway, but I didn’t know that at the time.”
“I ended up having to call coach Childress and I’d never talked to him before, but we knew who each other were because he had recruited one of my high school teammates that went to Stanford. He loved it and was like, ‘Heck yeah, we’ll take you.’ I had a good year before that. Even two, three months into the fall last year, Childress and the team would ask me, ‘So why’d you come here?’ I would tell them and they would laugh and say, ‘That’s not the reason, but you’ll tell me one day.’ I was honest with Childress and he was pretty cool about it. He was fired up, but he wouldn't show it.”
“Last year was a tough decision to go (to the Super Regional) my mom was actually begging me not to go. She was telling me, ‘Just don't get in a fight. You’re just going as a fan, you can’t get away with what you think you can.’ One of our high school friend’s actually flew us in on a helicopter, so I wasn't going to miss watching the baseball. I actually only watched the first two games because I had to be in Cape Cod. I left Sunday and caught the Sunday game with my host family in Cape Cod. Being at TCU, I was actually looking forward to it because most of the fans were really nice to me. I was wearing maroon, which was a little odd, but I was a regular fan. I was sitting with my friends, but I would look across the row and see a guy I used to talk to in Ft. Worth, so it was awkward. They didn't see me as a Horned Frog anymore.”
“We have a huge poster on our locker room door of TCU dog piling and we talk about it pretty much every day. We knew that we had enough talent where if we got by TCU, we could make a run at a national championship. That game haunts a lot of guys and from my standpoint, I couldn't do anything and it was weird because the team I would have been playing for, I didn't want to win. I was dying for A&M to get to the CWS. I was talking to them before the game and they knew I was rooting against them. Both teams really knew how to fight and you have to give credit where credit is due.”
“Some guys ask me (about going to Omaha) but not as many as you think. Every now and then they’ll ask, ‘How crazy was it for you?’ but they really want to know what it is like for themselves. Michael Barash has been as a freshman but you wouldn't really know it. But we both really want to get there in the maroon and white and we feel like we have the team to get there. It would be cool to get there for two different teams, because that doesn't really happen, but to get there for a team I’ve loved my whole life would mean more than doing it for a team I didn't really have those feelings for.”
“I think Michael Barash knows what he’s worth to us, so he comes to the ballpark every day and tries to impact us. I don’t think we appreciate it as much as we should every time, but it isn't just catching or hitting, it’s in the dugout pre-game, post-game. He’s there for us and we know we’ll count on him. Anything he hits, you can add .100 points to it because of all the other things he does.”
“Corbin just being himself made it easy on us all. Patrick and him bringing in the bubble machine allowed us to have fun and play well on the field. You add all those together and it is just a great time on the field. You don’t usually see a freshman make that kind of impact with his maturity, so know he claims that machine is his, which it is, but I’m excited to see the kind of impact he makes on the field.”
“We know that preseason rankings don’t matter, you have to go do it. I’ve seen one seed’s lose in the regional where you just run into a hot pitching staff for two games, get into a slump, things don’t go your way, and your season is over no matter how well you played up to that point. It doesn't matter where we are right now, we just want to go out and prove it.”
“Stepping out into Olsen will be really special. Last year, I got to hit batting practice before the games. When the fans started coming in, I had to take the uniform off, which sucked. But, I got to see it from a different perspective, but being on the field seeing 7,000/8,000 people come in, if I get the chance to start, that is going to be really moving.”
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