draft roundup

The first round and supplemental round of the 2008 MLB draft just finished up, and 19 Cape Leaguers have had their names called. That's 19 out of 46 picks.

First Round

5. San Francisco - Buster Posey - C - Florida State - Y-D '06 & '07
7. Cincinnati - Yonder Alonso - 1B - Miami - Brewster '07
8. Chi White Sox - Gordon Beckham - SS - Georgia - Y-D '07
9. Washington - Aaron Crow - RHP - Missouri - Falmouth '07
10. Houston - Jason Castro - C - Stanford - Y-D '07
11. Texas - Justin Smoak - 1B - South Carolina - Cotuit '06
13. St. Louis - Brett Wallace 1B/3B - Arizona State - Falmouth '06
17. Toronto - David Cooper - 1B - California - Brewster '07
18. NY Mets - Ike Davis - 1B - Arizona State - Wareham '07
20. Seattle - Josh Fields - RHP - Georgia - Y-D '06
21. Detroit - Ryan Perry - RHP - Arizona - Orleans '07
22. NY Mets - Reese Havens - SS - South Carolina - Cotuit '07
23. San Diego - Allan Dykstra - 1B - Wake Forest - Chatham '06 & '07
25. Colorado - Christian Friedrich - LHP - E. Kentucky - Falmouth '07

Supplemental First Round

31. Minnesota - Shooter Hunt - RHP - Tulane - Falmouth '06 & '07
37. San Francisco - Conor Gillaspie - 3B - Wichita St. - Falmouth '07
41. Chi Cubs - Ryan Flaherty - SS -Vanderbilt - Hyannis '06
43. Arizona - Wade Miley - LHP - SE Lousiana - Wareham '07
44. NY Yankees - Jeremy Bleich - LHP - Stanford - Wareham '06 & '07


I watched most of the coverage on ESPN2, and the Cape League got dozens of mentions. Peter Gammons, of course, had a lot of insight and mentioned that Crow, Friedrich and Hunt were all on the same Falmouth pitching staff. He also said that the Cape League is essentially professional-caliber baseball.

The best mention of the Cape came from Christian Friedrich. Karl Ravech was interviewing him over the phone and asked him about the Cape League playoff game where he struck out Buster Posey, Gordon Beckham and Jason Castro in succession. Ravech asked if Friedrich thought about it much. Friedrich said, "About once a day." He went on to say it was one of the best moments in baseball he's ever had. Pretty cool to hear that.

The draft continues today and tomorrow. Hundreds more Cape Leaguers will get the call, so I'll try to keep up with some of the notables.