My wife is a SA native, and since the boys had a bye this week, I was forced to go to the In Laws for the weekend.
Perusing the paper Saturday morning, there was this front page article about Burbank HS recruiting players.
Allegations splitting fans at Burbank
Web Posted: 05/06/2006 12:00 AM CDT
David Flores and Dan McCarney
Express-News Staff Writers
Burbank High School baseball coach Rudy Vera should be savoring what possibly could be the most successful season of his career.
The Bulldogs, who are the seventh-ranked Class 4A team in the state, recently won their fourth-consecutive district championship.
They finished the regular season without a loss. They stand on the verge of making their ninth playoff appearance in 10 seasons.
Despite those achievements, Vera and the Bulldogs find themselves at the center of a controversy that has sparked an investigation into allegations of improprieties in the Burbank baseball program.
Nagging questions regarding the eligibility of four Mexican players who transferred to Burbank in January have cast a pall over their banner season.
Vera
Moreover, their arrival caused a rift within the close-knit Burbank fan base.
"This has nothing to do with these four players being from Mexico," said a Burbank parent who requested anonymity because her son still is on the team.
"That's not the problem at all. We're Mexican Americans. The problem is that the kids who were on the team already weren't treated fairly. We won before with our kids."
The University Interscholastic League, which governs extracurricular activities in Texas public schools, this week asked the San Antonio Independent School District to investigate the eligibility of the Mexican players after receiving an anonymous letter.
The letter claimed Vera recruited the four Mexican players — an allegation he vehemently denies.
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Baseball success, export is not uncommon for Monclova kids
"I'm not going to sacrifice my job just because you want to be at Burbank," Vera said. "I guarantee I never told them (players) anything. I never spoke to the parents."
There also are questions about the players' residency at a small apartment on the access road to Interstate 35, less than a mile from Burbank.
Local school districts set their own residency requirements. The SAISD requires proof of residency within the district boundaries, such as bills or a mortgage contract that includes a parent's name.
Burbank officials say they have the paperwork to show the four are legitimate transfers and eligible to play.
SAISD attendance auditors also have verified the players were living with their parents after making at least three random visits.
But doubts persist.
At a time when the Bulldogs should be focusing on the state playoffs, people inside and outside the Burbank community are questioning how the Mexican players wound up at the South Side campus.
The four players — juniors Guillermo De la Cerda, Said Lozano and Rudy De La Fuente and sophomore Luis Rodriguez — are from Monclova, Mexico. Each one entered the week with a batting average above .380.
All have played key roles on a team that will take a 25-1-2 record into the second round of the playoffs. (Burbank lost a warm-up game to New Braunfels earlier this week.)
The Bulldogs, who received a first-round bye, will play the winner between Gregory-Portland and Mission next week.
The four players' enrollment on Jan. 5 came less than a month after they played in a tournament in Eagle Pass with an offseason team comprised primarily of Bulldogs players.
Vera, 46, grew up in Eagle Pass. The border town is a point of entry to the United States for Monclova, roughly 150 miles to the southwest.
Vera said Friday the Mexican players were invited to play in the tournament by Gilbert Salas, a Burbank parent who organizes and coaches the offseason team. Salas' son, Alejandro, is a freshman starter at Burbank.
Edward A. Ornelas/Express-News
Four Burbank players and their families claim residency in one of the apartments of this four-plex on the South Side.
Under UIL rules, varsity coaches are prohibited from coaching their own teams in the offseason.
Vera said he watched the games at Eagle Pass on the weekend of Dec. 9-10. On Wednesday, Vera told the San Antonio Express-News he never had seen the four before their arrival at Burbank.
When asked to explain the discrepancy, Vera said Friday: "I guess I misunderstood" the question.
Salas said he initially met the four Mexican players at a tournament in San Antonio.
"I pick up kids from all over — Austin, Houston, wherever," Salas said.
Salas declined further comment.
Burbank officials wouldn't let the Express-News interview its players.
A parent whose son quit the Burbank team after the four Mexican players joined the squad expressed skepticism about Vera's comments.
"I believe it was all prearranged," said Raul "Roy" Zermeno, whose son, Raul Jr., was a senior pitcher and third baseman before leaving the team.
"You have four kids from the same town in Mexico show up in Eagle Pass and play for the Burbank team, and then show up here a month later.
"How is it that they weren't recruited?"
Another Burbank parent, Hector Raygoza, had a different opinion.
"I welcome the competition," said Raygoza, whose son Esteban starts at shortstop. "If the other players are better, so be it."
Even after building one of the South Side's most successful programs, Vera faced a challenge this spring.
With Burbank having graduated three all-district players, rival coaches anticipated a rare opportunity to compete for the district championship.
Those hopes quickly evaporated when the Bulldogs resumed their dominance with four new faces in the lineup.
"They were going to have to fight it out like everyone else," a District 29-4A coach said. "Then all of a sudden, he (Vera) rolls this team out."
The coach commented only on the condition his name not be used. He later said he had been ordered by a district official not to speak on this issue.
Questions immediately began to swirl. Who were these mystery players? Where did they come from? What was their background?
One coach went so far as to dig up records to figure out who was paying the bills at the players' apartment.
Vera's colleagues came to a consensus: Burbank is cheating.
Suspicion of cheating was less of a concern to others, including a smattering of Burbank fans who jeered Vera during an early season game.
"What about our players?" they reportedly yelled.
Yet, the newcomers played on, the victories piled up and another league title was won. Even with a formal investigation under way, some don't expect any wrongdoing will be uncovered.
"I'm beyond frustrated," the same 29-4A coach said. "I can't believe this is happening and nobody's done anything about it.
"I don't see how somebody can pull this off. If you want to live in an unrealistic world and believe that this is happening (legitimately), go ahead. But we all know the truth. It's not fair. That's the bottom line."
Vera has a different take on the controversy. The real reason the Bulldogs are under scrutiny, he said, isn't because they're cheating. It's because they win.
"I just think some of these coaches, they haven't won in a long time," said Vera, who is 231-138-7 in 15 seasons at Burbank.
"We've won (district) the last four years. We've been to the playoffs the last 14 years (actually nine of the past 10). It's an automatic thing. They have to pack up their uniforms, and we're still playing.
"It's pretty sad when you have to go watch a playoff game. I've had to do that (before). And it's an empty feeling.
"You want to get back to the playoffs. That's what you work for. You can never say you're happy when you lose."
Which is something Burbank has done little of recently — until the playoffs roll around.
Despite their regular trips to the postseason, the Bulldogs have advanced in only three of eight previous appearances under Vera.
Vera said those disappointments haven't caused him to lose his perspective.
"I'm going to get paid the same whether I win or lose," he said.
In the same breath, Vera said one of his primary goals is to reach the state tournament, a pinnacle he achieved as a player at Eagle Pass in the mid-1970s.
"Being there, you can't take that away," he said.
"I always tell myself, 'I can get back.' That's my goal. That's the drive I have."
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