"When I got home and read the paper, it was kind of embarrassing," McGuire said. "People were saying, 'Boy, that must have been a tough break, getting stung by a bee.' I was thinking to myself, 'They must think I'm a real tough guy to let something like that keep me out of the Olympics.'
"Going 0 for 8 against the best team in the world left a lot of question marks in the coaches' minds. . . . I was bitter and upset at first, but you've got to do what you have to do. I would have loved to be in their plans, but I wasn't."
Team USA finished fourth at Barcelona, behind Cuba, Taiwan and Japan. Meanwhile, McGuire went to Alaska for another summer of collegiate competition.
"It was kind of hard to get motivated at first," he said. "One day you're thinking about playing in the Olympics and going to Barcelona with Carl Lewis and the Dream Team, then all of sudden you're back in the same place you were last year."
McGuire returned to UCLA, intent on leading the Bruins to the World Series. He was batting only .212 with one homer and three RBIs through nine games before going 13 for 20 with eight homers and 22 RBIs during a four-game stretch against Loyola Marymount and Arizona.
He has maintained that level throughout the season in what is generally regarded as the nation's best conference. "Against us, he's Lou Gehrig," USC Coach Mike Gillespie said. "He's workmanlike and unselfish, and he hits everything we throw up there."
McGuire will get his chance to follow in the footsteps of Karros and other Bruin alumni in the major leagues when the amateur draft is conducted June 3-5.
