Month: June 2007

Lars Davis goes early in Amateur Draft

davis goes in the third round

This shouldn’t be a big surprise. University of Illinois catcher Lars Davis went in the 3rd round (102nd overall) of the First-Year Player draft yesterday. The lucky team is the Colorado Rockies.

I’ve probably said it before but I’ve never seen a college player exude professionalism the way Davis does. When he is playing, he simply establishes a presence on the field. If you’ve seen him play, you know what I mean. I hated for the Illini to lose him but if anyone is ready for pro ball, Lars Davis is.

Lars found out about his pick after practice up in Duluth, Minnesota where he with the Duluth Huskies. Fightingillini.com interviewed Davis and got his reaction to being drafted.

Similarities

Take a look a the similarities between former Illini Chris Robinson and Davis. Both were good hitting catchers in the Illinois baseball program. Both are Canadian-born. They were both chosen in the 3rd round. Robinson is now playing for the Tennessee Smokies, the Chicago Cubs’ AA team.

What next?

According to the rules, the Rockies have one year to to sign Davis to a pro contract. I’m sure it won’t take that long given Davis seems very excited about his prospects. Good luck to Lars!

Illinois alum Basak gets a call from the Big Apple

Former University of Illinois infielder Chris Basak, at age 28, got the call to the bigs. He is now on the New York Yankees’ active roster.

He did well in Spring Training and he can play all infield positions. That was pretty much what the Yankees needed.

“Obviously you’re hoping he can do the job,” Torre said. “In the spring, he just seemed to be very comfortable — not overwhelmed. Whether he hit very well or because he’s been around so long, he handled it very well. New York is unlike any other place when you have to do something like that.”

In 1999-2000, Basak hit for tasty averages (.393 and .329) while playing shortstop for the Illini.

Sum-sum-summertime

It’s summertime and the Illinois baseball season is over. However, fourteen of the Illini players are honing their skills in college summer leagues. There is a web page at fightingillini.com that lists the players and who they will be playing for. A bonus: the page includes links to the teams and leagues so you can … Continue reading “Sum-sum-summertime”

It’s summertime and the Illinois baseball season is over. However, fourteen of the Illini players are honing their skills in college summer leagues.

There is a web page at fightingillini.com that lists the players and who they will be playing for. A bonus: the page includes links to the teams and leagues so you can check in and see how they are doing.

As usual, the Northwoods League is big with the Illini. They claim seven of the Illinois players, including Big Ten Player of the Year Lars Davis who is playing waaayy north with the Duluth Huskies.

In the Coastal Plain League, the Fayettevile Swampdogs, another popular venue, draws three alas without Shawn Roof this year.

Finally, closer to home, the Chicago Suburban Baseball League, have four Illini. That one is close enough to maybe catch a game or two this summer.

If college summer baseball is your thing, you might want to check out Summer Ball, a web site dedicated to College Summer Leagues.

Good luck to the Illini this summer!

First-Year Player Draft is coming up. Are you ready?

Tomorrow is the first day of the First-Year Player Draft. Ok, David Price is going with the #1 pick. That we pretty much know. But what else do you need to know to keep up with the draft? Well, let’s get these handy links out: MLB Draft Central MLB Draft Tracker The Draft Tracker was … Continue reading “First-Year Player Draft is coming up. Are you ready?”

Tomorrow is the first day of the First-Year Player Draft. Ok, David Price is going with the #1 pick. That we pretty much know. But what else do you need to know to keep up with the draft?

Well, let’s get these handy links out:

MLB Draft Central

MLB Draft Tracker

The Draft Tracker was pretty cool last year with its search features etc. From a cursory look without it being it action, it looks even better this year. I plan to have this going wherever I am.

No doubt, MLB Baseball Channel will be covering this during the afternoon hours giving it the “CNN treatment”.

By the way, if you want listen to some good pre-analysis of the draft, check out Baseball Prospectus’ interviews with Kevin Goldstein. They’re so in depth that they separated them into a hitters episode and pitchers episode.

For that matter, The Baseball Analysts have pretty much been doing the Draft all this month. Check them out.

Lars Davis honored by All-American Second Team selection

Davis at the Big Ten tournament

University of Illinois catcher Lars Davis will have to make some more room on his mantle. He’s got another award coming.

Davis was named to the Louisville Slugger All-American Second Team. For those wondering, Buster Posey from Florida St was the catcher on the First Team.

Though he his a junior and Illini fans would hate to lose him, it is only reasonable to assume that the Big Ten Player of the Year will be testing the draft waters on June 7-8.

From an article on Canada.com:

ā€œIā€™d love to start a pro ball career, but worst-case scenario, I have no objections about going back to Illinois for another year,ā€ said Davis, who threw out a conference-high 24 base-runners on 84 steal attempts and sported a .972 fielding percentage.

Sounds like Davis is ready to catch some pro ball to me.

Good Luck Lars!

Bat-Girl Sasses No More

After three years, Twins blogger Batgirl is calling it quits. I’m not a Twins fan but I always made it over to Bat-girl.com every so often to read her stuff. She had a unique way of looking at the game of baseball. Apparently a lot of people liked it too. She had quite a following … Continue reading “Bat-Girl Sasses No More”

After three years, Twins blogger Batgirl is calling it quits.

I’m not a Twins fan but I always made it over to Bat-girl.com every so often to read her stuff. She had a unique way of looking at the game of baseball. Apparently a lot of people liked it too. She had quite a following among Twins fans and others. Her farewell posting has 472 comments at this time. That says a lot.

Her motto was “Less stats, More Sass” and she followed through. I wish her good luck in the future.