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By Bill Koch
GoBEARCATS.com
CINCINNATI -- A few months from now, Ian Happ could be playing baseball in a small town in the low minor leagues with a lot of money in his pocket, beginning the process that he hopes will one day take him to the major leagues. Or he could be heading to a class in his major of finance at the University of Cincinnati.
Happ, a junior outfielder for UC, was a pre-season All-American who has been ranked by MLB.com as the 16th best prospect in June's First-Year Player Draft, so it's likely that he'll have the chance to turn pro after this season. But he's not thinking about the draft or about where he'll be this summer.
At least he's trying not to think about it.
"For me, it's a time to enjoy playing baseball, enjoy the team and try to win baseball games," Happ said. "The draft and the stuff after the season will work itself out."
But he admits that it's only natural for any college student to peer down the road at his future from time to time. He's no different in that regard.
"It's always something that you're looking at," Happ said. "It's your future. This is what you want to do for a long time. If you were saying that a finance major in the college of business wasn't looking at his job options in six months, then you'd be lying. So, yeah, it's something that you plan for, but what's important right now is winning baseball games."
That's something the Bearcats haven't done a lot of this spring, even with Happ anchoring the lineup. On a team building for the future with 22 freshmen, UC is 8-21 as it prepares to play at Indiana on Wednesday. As one of the best players in the American Athletic Conference, Happ is playing the role of a veteran standout trying to show the youngsters how it's done.
He remembers when he was a freshman and he looked to the older players for advice, so he tries to do the same for this current crop of rookies. If they ask questions, he's happy to answer. If he sees something that he believes might help them, he'll offer his advice
According to UC coach Ty Neal, he has plenty to offer.
"It's good for them to be around a guy that performs at a high level," Neal said. "If we have a freshman that hits around .250, strikes out a lot, and doesn't really do a whole lot to help the program, I don't want that freshman to walk away and say, `Hey, I hit .250 as a freshman. I had a good year.' To me, that's not a good season. Ian Happ hit .322 as a freshman. He stole 20 bases. Ian Happ had a good freshman year. That's the best way that he can and has helped this program."
Happ has hit .322 in each of his first two seasons. As a freshman, he hit six home runs with 36 runs batted in and 25 stolen bases. Last year, he hit five home runs with 27 RBIs and 19 steals. This year, playing center field and right field, he's hitting .400, with seven home runs, 22 RBIs and five steals.
He was a first-team All-AAC selection last year and was named the league's pre-season Player of the Year this year. He was also a first-team pre-season All-American, according to Baseball America and several other publications.
The secret of Happ's success, Neal said, is that, like most good hitters he goes to the plate for every at-bat with a plan.
"More than anything, it's understanding what you're trying to do and what pitches you're most likely going to get," Happ said. "It's a process, the experience of getting older, of seeing the game more. Coach Neal, he'll call pitches of the other team from the dugout and he's usually right. Guys that have been around the game a long time, they get experience. They know what's going to happen before it happens."
Happ also tries to make sure he gets the most from every at-bat, no matter what the situation is. That's one of the lessons he tries to impart to younger players.
"I think a lot of our older guys and even our younger guys now are starting to learn that you don't get your at-bats twice," Happ said. "You get your at-bat and it's over, so if you're down 10-0 and you give away an at-bat, you gave it away and you're not going to get it back."
Happ knew about the history of the UC program when he was recruited by former UC coach Brian Cleary out of Pittsburgh's Mt. Lebanon High School, where he hit .449 in four seasons. He knew that UC had produced major leaguers in recent years like Kevin Youkilis, Josh Harrison and Tony Campana, but he also knew the Bearcats haven't been to the NCAA Tournament since 1974.
What really sold him on UC, he said, was his campus visit. Happ is a finance major and a good student, so he wanted to attend a school that in addition to preparing him for a possible baseball career would provide him with a solid education.
"When I came to the school, I loved the campus," Happ said. "I loved this facility. It's an unbelievable stadium. Having everything underground and right here, that was big for me, and then the business school really was the last thing for me, the flexibility of the program, being able to play baseball and do everything I wanted to do."
One of the things he wanted to do was make enough of an impression to play professionally. It seems he's already done that. Neal would love to have Happ back for one more year, but he says they don't talk about the draft. It's still too early for that.
"It's a sensitive question," Neal said. "He and I haven't had that discussion yet."
Bill Koch covered UC Athletics for 27 years - 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer - before joining the staff of GoBEARCATS.com in January, 2015 as featured columnist. Follow him on Twitter @bkoch.