While I was on the plane today, I was watching a special on Mississippi State when Palmeiro, Brantley, Clark and Thigpen all played for then and how they were coasting through the playoffs. And then, they played UT and their starting pitcher got nailed on the ankle by a hit (went all the way into left field) and it was all downhill from there.
Both of those 3-run bombs were hit within about 5 seconds of each other. Altuve went first, and as he's rounding the bases, I look at the other screen and Melendez goes yard.
Ugh. That was a great MSU team and both teams were 2-0 in the CWS when that happened. UT had beaten Miami once already, and hadn't lost a game (double elimination all the way through back then) so only had to beat Miami (who eliminated MSU) 1 out of 2 to win it all. Lost 2-1 and 10-6. Finished 64-14 that year. Greg Swindell was the national Pitcher of the Year that year, Will Clark was the Player of the Year. Our starting CF and leadoff hitter this year, Doug Hodo III, is the son of the starting CF on that '83 team. They're family friends of my uncle in Boerne, so I know Very Important People too. Also, an overall #1 seed has not won the CWS since Miami in '99
Interesting narrative from the documentary. The game is on YouTube. Mississippi State got out of that inning unscathed and added more to their lead and got through the next inning. The hit off the ankle did not seem to really have much to do with it.
Cooper Hjerpe is pitching for Oregon State vs Auburn for those interested. He's off to a great start. I expect he'll be off the board by the time we pick, but he is my dream selection. Has really great stuff. Also picked up the save in the decisive game against Vanderbilt last week after pitching earlier in the series.
He looks good. I hope everyone gets a look at the "Thicc King", Auburn's Sonny DiChiara. He can ****ing rake. eta about Sonny: here's a good article and a video https://sportsspectrum.com/sport/ba...n-baseball-star-sonny-dichiara-faith-journey/ unrelated eta: I mentioned the 83 UT team in my last post...it was of course the 85 squad. I had Horn baseball on my mind...83 won the CWS, 84 lost the final to Fullerton, 85 lost the final to Miami
When I first saw him the first guy I thought of was Alejandro Kirk. I think Kirk's success will help him, as it shows that even "really fat guys" can still be great hitters.
5 of the current 6 teams going to Omaha are SEC, or soon to be SEC. Would have been 6 for 6 if Tennessee hadn't been upset. Auburn has a chance to gain one of the 2 spots left. The entire power dynamic of college sports is basically SEC vs. non SEC once OU and Texas move over.
Updated my top 30 and added some space for a few new draft picks. 30 Most Valuable Prospects 2022 Pre Draft 1 Korey Lee 2 Hunter Brown 3 Alex Santos II 4 Colin Barber 5 Pedro Leon 6 Draft pick ‘22 7 Luke Berryhill 8 Justin Dirden 9 Chase McDermott 10 Spencer Arrighetti 11 Forrest Whitley 12 Will Wagner 13 Draft pick ‘22 14 Logan Cerny 15 Valente Bellozo 16 Enmanuel Valdez 17 draft pick ‘22 18 Nerio Rodriguez 19 Yainer Diaz 20 Jimmy Endersby 21 Misael Tamarez 22 Adrian Chaidez 23 Kenni Gomez 24 Q Hamilton 25 draft pick ‘22 26 J Brewer 27 Elvis Garcia 28 Hector (Gaby) Nieves 29 Colt Gordon* 30 Geremy Guerrero* Almost Joe Perez Zack Mathews Justin Williams
Man you are extremely high on a few of those guys (although it’s hard to say without tiers or grades). How you could have Lee above Brown seems crazy. A lot of that list seems random unless you have been scouting the FCL lol.
It's not so much that I am high on the FCL guys as I am not high on a lot of the full season guys. I do my prospect lists on a table and could not figure out how to post it. It does include letter grades so I will go with them. A Lee A- Brown B Santos, Barber, Leon, Berryhill B- Dirdin, Arrighetti, McDermott, Whitley, Wagner, Cerny C+ Belozo, Valdez, Rodriguez, Diaz, Endersby, Tamarez, Chaidez, Gomez, Hamilton, Brewer C Garcia, Nieves, Guerrero*, Perez, Mathews, Williams
Graham and Bennett both look good for OU so far. ATM catcher Troy Claunch, grad transfer from Oregon State, has a ****ing rifle arm and is very good behind the plate. That's all I know about him other than what I just looked up 2021 All-PAC 12 First Team 2021 Buster Posey Award watch list 2022 Frisco Classic All-Tournament Team 2022 Buster Posey Award watch list
OU also has a freshman IF, Jackson Nicklaus (should be easy to remember), who is a player to watch. Sweet LH swing.
Claunch just threw another guy out (yes, it’s a blowout, I know, but he gets to flash that arm again). While not the biggest of power threats he’s a good contact hitter who uses the whole field. As you said Buck, he is very good behind the plate, and one of the more cerebral players in college baseball. I like Rushing’s bat much better, but Claunch seems like the more Astros-like prospect. Not getting my hopes up, but I can easily see the Astros selecting him. Also on that same A&M team is fellow PAC-12 grad transfer Jacob Palisch (lefty reliever from Stanford). At his best he reminds me of prime Tony Sipp. He’ll probably be picked in the 7th-10th. I will also talk about Dylan Rock, the best draft prospect on the team. You left him off the list of Top 5 round prospects to watch in the Supers, as he will probably go in the 2nd or 3rd. A grad transfer (see a theme here, LOL) from UTSA, he is on the older side, but got the chance to prove he could hit SEC pitchers and not just mash in the mid majors. He also takes his share of walks, and has been the Aggies’ clubhouse leader. He is also know to anger opposing fans at times, but that is part of his character. Whoever drafts him is drafting a spark plug, in more ways then one. As the resident Aggie, feel free to ask me any questions.
