well look who's here

Monday, May 19, 2008

well look who's here

I was perusing rosters today and noticed a very notable addition in Chatham.

USC's Grant Green, who excelled last year for Y-D, is now on the Chatham roster. Before that, he hadn't been on any Cape League roster, which I thought was strange. I chalked it up to the fact that Green to Team USA must have been a foregone conclusion. Maybe it's not or maybe this is a just-in-case measure on the part of Green and his USC coaches. Regardless, it could be a coup for Chatham if he actually comes.

Last summer, Green played all over the field for Y-D, both because he could, and because that lineup was tough to crack. Wherever he played, he hit the ball well, finishing with a .291 average and four home runs, some of the best numbers of any freshmen on the Cape. A shortstop by trade, Green was the only freshman position player on Baseball America's Cape League Top Prospects List.

This season for USC, Green has held on to that momentum. He leads the team with a .386 average. If Green does make it to the Cape, he will become, in my book, the top returning position player, just ahead of Blake Dean, Sean Ochinko and Josh Phegley.

Also of note, Green is now the second Trojan to switch Cape League teams, with Chatham as the destination. Brad Boxberger pitched last summer for Orleans, but is now on Chatham's roster. Two other Trojans -- Tom Milone and Kevin Couture -- played for Chatham last year and are on the roster again.

1 comment:

Rebirth5225 said...: Grant Green is definitely coming to Chatham. Hopefully Kyle Seager doesn't go to USA. We will have an excellent middle infield.
Brad Boxberger will come from Orleans and if you are a Trojan fan Tommy Malone stays a Trojan or will go pro if he gets drafted low/high $ enough. He is an excellent command pitcher. It would be great to get him back, but wish him the best if he doesn't.; May 20, 2008 at 9:30 PM

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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.

Monday, May 19, 2008