Putting into words what Texas Tech’s senior first baseman Eric Gutierrez has meant the the Texas Tech baseball program can be tough.
“Too much man. I can’t, really.” Tech’s sophomore short stop Orlando Garcia said.
Number 12 , a player that will not soon be forgotten, but it wasn’t just his play of the field that defined him.
“You can learn so much from him, whether it’s his baseball abilities or just his character,” Tech’s junior right-handed pitcher Ryan Moseley said. “It just shows you what kind of guy it takes to be great, I guess.”
“More than anything, his makeup, his character,” Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said. “As good of a baseball player that he is, he’s a better guy.”
In his four years at Texas Tech, that same character lead him to strive for more. Raising the bar – and now the expectation has been set.
“I know that next year, or in a couple years, this team is going to be back,” Gutierrez said. “It’s going to be expected to be here every year, competing for national championships.”
“I hope that the example we set is something that people don’t forget about,” Tech senior catcher Tyler Floyd said.
“You know, some of these juniors and senior, some that are moving on from us, you know definitely set the standard here,” Tech sophomore center fielder Tanner Gardner said.
While six seniors played their final game in a Red Raider uniform, Eric Gutierrez stood out above the rest. Gute finishes top ten in nine different Texas Tech record book categories. The most impressive – playing 244 career games. Never missing one, and playing more than any ever to don the scarlet and black.
“You know, just coming to the ball park everyday, just wanting to get better, and it just shows you that you can’t take anything for granted,” Moseley said. “There is always someone out there working just as hard as you if not harder than you.”
“He’s been a starter for four year, and he hasn’t come off the field,” Tech junior right fielder Stephen Smith said. “He’s done a lot for this program and we’re going to miss him.”
“There is a guy that stepped on our campus from Mission, TX, and was a leader day one – and is still leading,” Tadlock said.
What Gutierrez represents are the few. The few who defy the odds. Making his way to Lubbock from Mission, TX. Because the Red Raiders were his only offer at any level, and now leaving as one of the few that we will never forget.
