Long-time announcer honored

FAYETTEVILLE — The Baum Stadium public address announcer’s booth will forever be named for Larry Shank.

Arkansas honored Shank, who died of cancer last July at 56 after serving as the Razorbacks’ P. A. announcer from 1990-2007, before Sunday’s game against Alabama. Athletic Director Jeff Long, former Arkansas Coach Norm DeBriyn and the team’s current Coach Dave Van Horn were among the speakers, and Shank’s son Andy also spoke of his father’s impact on the game experience at Baum Stadium and before its construction George Cole Field.

“Dad loved being at Baum whether it was 38 or 78 baseball degrees,” Andy Shank said, drawing applause from the crowd describing one of Shank’s signature announcements. “And when he said, ‘This is Baseball,’ it was a true description of his love for the game.”

Van Horn presented the family — Shank’s widow Karen, daughter Amanda, daughterin-law Brooke and son Andy — with a championship ring commemorating the Razorbacks’ 2007 SEC Western Division title. Long and DeBriyn also unveiled a plaque that will hang in the press box area.

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After the ceremony, DeBriyn recalled Shank’s early days in the booth when the Razorbacks never had a full-time P. A. announcer.

“[At the time ], Texas A&M was the place to be and their P. A. guy was great. So we sent Larry to A&M. He goes down there and when he came back he was jacked,” DeBriyn said. “And he just took it and ran with it. And the first time we played LSU, [former Tigers Coach ] Skip Bertman after hearing Larry said, ‘Where did you get this guy ?’ And that’s what people said all over. He just added so much.” Hitting his stride

Arkansas left fielder Casey Coon finished off a big weekend with the biggest hit of Sunday’s game. Leading off the eighth, he drove a 1-0 fastball of Alabama reliever Will Stroup deep to leftcenter on one hop at the warning track. Sean Jones pinch-ran and scored the game-winning run. “To me he’s been swinging the bat better than he has in two years,” hitting coach Todd Butler said of Coon, who had seven hits on the weekend and raised his season average to. 301 after entering Friday at. 267. “He’s been swinging the bat very well in [batting practice ] and I think his swing is better than it was a year ago. He just missed hitting that ball out of the yard.” Coon credited Butler for his return to old form as he’s played through injuries following a 71-RBI 2007 season for the Razorbacks. “He works with us day in and day out. He’s the best hitting coach I’ve ever worked with,” said Coon, who also thought he was close to hitting a home run in the eighth. “It’s a game of inches so if we would have gone in there just a centimeter that ball would have been out.”

Wilkins update Freshman first baseman Andy Wilkins plans to swing a bat for the first time in two weeks today in the batting cage. He’s missed the last 20 games recovering from a rib cage injury.

“We’re just going to see if he can swing without it hurting,” hitting coach Todd Butler said. “It’s been hurting every time he swings a bat.”