baseball card: jason castro

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

baseball card: jason castro

Name: Jason Castro
Class: 2009
College: Stanford
Cape Team: Yarmouth-Dennis '07
Position: First Base/Catcher/Designated Hitter
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 215

Summer '07:
July 31 - Castro has been a major surprise on the Cape this summer, not because he came out of nowhere, but because he struggled mightily in the spring, hitting just .167 for Stanford. But he has turned things completely around on the Cape. He leads the league in hitting with a .373 average and he has four home runs.

Looking Back:
Before the rocky season in '07, Castro hit .283 with three home runs as a freshman. Last summer, he hit .286 in the Alaska League.

Links:
Scout's honor: Talking prospects with the folks who know (Cape Cod Times - July 29, 2007)

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as the fog settles in

The left-field sunset has faded. It is chilly now. You slip a sweatshirt on. The stat sheet you hold in your hands almost feels wet, the air is so damp. But the ink doesn't run. You can read it. That kid from LSU is still leading the league in home runs. That pitcher who they say throws 95 -- he's way up on the list in strikeouts.
The game is close, 3-2 through seven innings. You're staying till the end.
You look out at the field. Some fog has slipped in. It settles like smoke, just off the grass in front of the right fielder, like a cloud. When he runs through it to catch a fly ball, it looks almost magical, maybe even spiritual, like he's playing baseball in heaven.
Maybe he is.
The baseball is pure here. The players eager. The fans, maybe some of them don't know what they're seeing, maybe they just heard it was a fun night out, good for the family and everything -- but they know. They know somehow that this thing, this Cape League, is special.
Really, there's nothing like it.
I'm going to try and keep up.

Stop waxing poetic

The Cape Cod Baseball League is the top college summer league in the nation. Plenty of other leagues have cropped up of late, and some are having success, but the Cape League is still the model -- and the pinnacle. In 2006, 198 Major Leaguers had spent time in the Cape League.
The rosters are like a who's who of the best college baseball players. All the top prospects want to spend their summers on the Cape. The only better opportunity is Team USA. There are 10 teams in the league, divided into two divisions. Over the course of two months, they play 44 games. Scouts will watch many of them. They come because of the combination of talent and wood. Unlike college baseball, the Cape uses only wooden bats, providing an accurate picture of what players might do at the next level.
What else? Players live with host families. Some have part-time jobs (Jeff Bagwell worked at Friendly's). There's no admission charge at games. The level of baseball has been compared to Single A.
That should sum it up. If you have never experienced Cape League Baseball, you have missed out.

Tuesday, July 31, 2007