thank god that's over, etc.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

thank god that's over, etc.

The last early look is finally finished and posted below this. There is also a section on the sidebar with links to all of them. I'm pretty pleased with the whole project, mostly because I don't have to do any more of them. I enjoy learning about all the players and I will do it every year, but . . . I'm so lost in a sea of heights, weights, batting averages and draft results, that I'm pretty sure I got drafted at some point. And I hit eight home runs last year.

But anyway. Now that those are done, I'm going to be posting some more general preview stuff this week, leading up to John Wylde Night on Friday. Then, finally, we will have some baseball.

For now, a few random notes:

In doing the draft roundup stuff, I was surprised at how many 2008 Cape Leaguers got picked. Twenty seems like a lot to me. It should be interesting to see how the ones who come to the Cape end up doing. Sometimes, the added pressure can be a little too much.

There were a couple of draft-eligible guys who I was surprised didn't get called. Virginia's Andrew Carraway was one of the best pitchers in the ACC this year and Furman's Jay Jackson was a tremendous two-way player. Both are on the Hyannis roster, so at least them not getting drafted was good news for the Mets.

Speaking of Hyannis and the draft, Garrett Sherrill, who was on the Hyannis roster, is no longer on the roster. I'll take that to mean he's signing.

I watched the second game of the UC-Irvine-LSU Super Regional today, which featured several soon-to-be Cape Leaguers. D.J. LeMahieu looks like a real player, but the best story of the day was Sean Ochinko. The sophomore tore up the league last year for Y-D but struggled mightily this spring and lost the starting catcher's job. He came on late in this one and drove in the go-ahead run as the Tigers rallied from a 7-2 deficit to even the series.

The College World Series is filling up fast. Once everything is sorted out, I'll try to put something together figuring out which Cape Leaguers will be missing as a result. I can tell you this: I believe North Carolina has the most players on the Cape of any college team. Naturally, the Tar Heels are headed to Omaha.

The games against the military all-stars were this weekend, but I haven't seen anything on them. Wareham played a preseason game tonight, and they probably will have some info up since their web site is awesome.

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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.

Sunday, June 8, 2008