Garrido apologizes for snub

OMAHA, Neb. — Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido said he came back to the site of the College World Series to set things right.

Garrido held a news conference Friday at Rosenblatt Stadium’s Hall of Fame room to talk about Texas’ failure to attend the runner-up awards ceremony after the Longhorns lost 3-2 to Cal State Fullerton last month in the series’ championship.

Questions were raised about Garrido’s and Texas’ sportsmanship.

Garrido, who has coached four teams to CWS titles, said he wanted the people of Omaha to know the incident did not reflect the character of his players or the University of Texas.

“I care a lot about how the players are perceived,” Garrido said. “They do have good manners, they are gentlemen and they are sportsmen.”

Garrido, who said he paid for the trip to Omaha himself, refused to go into details Friday about the incident. He has said he thought the awards ceremony was optional.

Garrido coached at Fullerton in 1992 when the Titans were runner-ups in the College World Series. He has said he didn’t remember taking part in a runner-up ceremony.

Garrido said he and the Longhorns meant no disrespect toward Fullerton, the city of Omaha or the College World Series, an event he said, “changes lives.”

“I’m apologizing for my role in the confusion and the distraction that it caused our players and Fullerton players and everyone else connected to this wonderful tournament,” Garrido said.

Garrido said for him, coming back to Omaha was a way of tying up lose ends that he felt lingered after Texas left Omaha.

“I think it’s the right thing to do for the right reason,” Garrido said.

Garrido was joined at the podium by Nebraska baseball coach Mike Anderson. Anderson refused to comment on the awards incident and said he attended Friday’s news conference strictly to support Garrido.

“He’s been a great mentor to me,” Anderson said. “He asked me if I’d come up and I said, ‘Sure.’ That’s owed to him because of the things he’s done for me in the past.”