Washington State University Athletics - Official Athletics Site
A Hall of Fame look back at the 1976 baseball Cougs
The 1976 baseball Cougs just got their flowers, and it's about damn time.
That squad, the one that punched way above its weight and put Pullman on the map for something other than wheat and wind, is being honored with a Hall of Fame induction. You don't get a plaque like that for showing up. You get it for being the kind of team that makes a grown Coug get a little misty when you say "'76." They didn't just win games. They played the game the way it's supposed to be played on that dusty field: scrappy, smart, and unafraid of anyone.
If you want to feel the full weight of what that era meant, go find the speech Lee Blakeney gave when he went in. It's the kind of thing that reminds you why we still care about a baseball program that's had more valleys than peaks. He talks about the guys, the bus rides, the way the Palouse wind made every fly ball an adventure. It's worth your time.
This isn't a rewrite of history. It's a long-overdue nod to a group of guys who made Pullman proud when Pullman wasn't used to it. Go Cougs.
