Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ RockM Nation has a list of Mizzou in the 00's: Worst Moments of the Decade, which includes:

Baseball: Louisville 16, Mizzou 6 (2007). Tim Jamieson's program had established some serious momentum through the middle of the otherwise craptastic-for-Mizzou decade, and it all built up to this. A year after making the Super Regionals in California, Mizzou hosted their first ever NCAA Regional. They beat Louisville on Saturday night and only had to beat the Cardinals one more time to make the Super Regionals against an extremely beatable Oklahoma State team. The College World Series was within their grasp. Then, in front of a standing-room-only crowd, Louisville beat Mizzou on Sunday with a late-game home run. And the next day, they scored eight (EIGHT!) first-inning runs off of future first-rounder Aaron Crow, pitching on basically 2.5 days' rest, and coasted to a regional victory. Quite the kick in the balls.

Fathers, Sons and Baseball

My Dad has never been an avid baseball fan, but he has always been a casual fan of the game. He enjoyed pitching slow pitch softball on a church league years ago. He would watch a game on TV if one happened to be on and he happened to be sitting in front of the TV.

He came with me once to a Mizzou Tigers game at Simmons Field, and the thing that made the biggest impression on him was what he called the "horrible umpiring".

He was responsible, though, for the early formation of my love of baseball, just as is true of so many other sons and their fathers.

When I was just a kid - probably 5 or 6 years old, there was a semi-pro team that played in a ballpark a mile or so from our house in Sioux City, Iowa. On occasional summer evenings when my Mom was at work at the local hospital, Dad took my two brothers and I to watch these games. Having been a parent of young boys myself, I now know that part of his motivation had to do with finding some way way to keep us occupied when he was left to supervise us on his own.

I remember almost nothing about those games on the field. But what I remember is how we ran around the bleachers, ate hot dogs and popcorn, occasionally paused in our fun to watch a few minutes of baseball. We played around with whatever other kids happened to be there.

In later years, when I took my own son to games at Simmons Field, I let him have the run of the ballpark, enjoying the experience his own way. He learned, like I did, to simply enjoy the atmosphere of a ballgame.

I remember that at one of those games I first experienced a moment of wonder that has been repeated many times again in my life. I'm talking about that moment that you're at a ball game and the sun has set and night has advanced around the bases unmolested, almost without notice. But then you look out at the field and realize the backdrop is dark and the light towers are brilliant. The green grass glows in the lights - even the brown dirt of the basepaths takes on a surreal quality.

And the players in the their white uniforms stand lit like guardian angels over the perfect and brilliant diamond.

It took my breath away as a child. It still takes my breath away.

I learned this morning that my Dad, who is almost 82, has a malignant tumor growing at the back of his brain, and it is inoperable and incurable. No one wants to put a date on it, but he may not survive the 51 days between now and the beginning of another MU Baseball season.

Thank your fathers for passing on their love of the game, and for all the other invaluable things they have bequeathed to you.

Don't wait for the extra innings. They are rare.

Mizzou Baseball First Pitch Celebration

The Mizzou Baseball Team would like to extend a special invitation to the Sixth Annual Missouri Baseball First Pitch Celebration, on Jan. 15 at the Holiday Inn Select Executive Center.

As another season approaches, we would like to recognize the many players who have contributed to the program's success. Come celebrate the beginning of a new season with one of the nation's top college baseball programs.

The celebration will include a celebrity guest speaker, food and drinks, a look back at the history, as well as a look ahead to the upcoming season of Missouri Baseball. The event will also include one of the most anticipated silent auctions in the Midwest, featuring Collegiate and Professional memorabilia.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., with the festivities getting underway at 7 p.m. Admission in s $20.

For more information or to register for the event, click here.

Louisville Slugger Pre-Season All Americans

■ Collegiate Baseball has released its 2010 Pre-season Louisville Slugger All Americans. No Mizzou players made the list. 3 Big 12 players made the 1st team.

Mizzou Baseball: Non-Conference Opponents

■ College Baseball Today has a good Q&A with Jim Schlossnagle, coach of the TCU Frogs, a team on Mizzou's 2010 Schedule.

If the season started today, there’s a good chance that Lockwood and Gerrish would probably start the season in some sort of bullpen role. And we’re talking about Lockwood, two years ago - if it weren’t for Strasburg - would’ve been the pitcher of the year in the Mountain West after going 9-2 with a great ERA and Gerrish, who ended up being our No. 1 starter at the end of last year and beat Texas in the Super Regionals. That’s two-thirds of our starters from last year’s team.

. . .

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

■ The Ian Kinsler Question (bbta.com)

Let's shove all of the equivocations aside for a moment and cut right to the chase: as the active roster currently stands, Ian Kinsler (03) is the Texas Rangers' best player. He's a sensational talent, a success story of the highest magnitude for the amateur scouting department -- and, even more specifically, for Rangers crosschecker Mike Grouse -- and one of the single biggest reasons why Texas has clearly transitioned from "rebuilding" to "win-now" mode.

. . .

What is relevant is, of course, the widely held belief that Kinsler's adoption of a more pronounced uppercut swinging motion was a prime contributer to his offensive downfall in 2009, as well as Kinsler's insistence that no facet of his hitting mechanics had materially changed.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

Big 12

■ Not his true calling: It's a good thing Turner Gill gave up baseball (Lawrence Journal World)

When Turner Gill was named Kansas University’s new football coach, I told our desk people I thought we had an old black-and-white print of him in our photo files.

So I went to search one of the drawers in the large sports-department filing cabinet, found the G section, shuffled through some photos, and there it was — a picture of Gill playing shortstop for Nebraska in the early 1980s.

Here was one of the best quarterbacks in NU’s storied football history, and we had retained a picture of him playing baseball. Go figure.
. . .
When it comes to baseball, there are two categories of players — those who can hit, and those who can’t. And, like countless others before and after him, Gill fell into the latter category.

Gill played two summers for a Cleveland Indians farm team in Williamsport, Pa., home of the Little League World Series and, to be frank, hit like a little leaguer — .189 in 1987 and .195 in 1988.

New Radio Package for MU Sports

Mizzou has signed a new sports radio package for local broadcasts in the mid-Missouri. Features include:

• KFRU and KBXR will no longer be the official stations for MU Football and Basketball. KFRU has been the flagship station for those MU sports for many decades. (KFRU to stop broadcasting Tigers games , Columbia Daily Tribune)

• The Zimmer Radio Group now has the rights to local broadcast of Mizzou sports. KCMQ (96.7 FM), KTGR (1580 AM), KWOS (950 AM), KFAL (900AM) and KKCA (100.5 FM) will simulcast all football, men's basketball, coaches shows and daily shows starting with the 2010-11 season.

• In addition, for the first time in school history, all baseball and women's basketball games will be heard on AM and FM. KTGR (1580 AM) and KKCA (100.5 FM) will air all games, starting with the 2010 Mizzou baseball season.

Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll

The Collegiate Baseball Fabulous 40 Pre-season Rankings are out. big 12 rival Texas nabbed the #1 spot. Missouri received votes, but did not make the Top 40.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

Rules of the Game

■ SEC uses pitch clock to shorten ball games (SI.com)
The Southeastern Conference is taking its swing at picking up the pace during baseball games.

The league's athletic directors approved changes for the 2010 SEC tournament including a 20-second clock between pitches when the bases are empty and a 90-second limit between half innings, spokesman Chuck Dunlap said.

It's a move designed to make tournament games both more fan- and TV-friendly.

If it gets good reviews during the tournament, where games routinely drag on for 3-plus hours, it could be implemented for the 2011 regular season as well.

"I think it's going to be good for everyone involved,'' Dunlap said. "If it does pretty much guarantee games under 3 hours, I can promise you the TV networks will push very hard to keep it in place.''

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

MU in the Minors

■ For minor league hopefuls, baseball is only a summer job (St. Louis Globe Democrat)

At Balls-n-Strikes, Mantle’s hardly alone. Aaron Jaworowski (95-97) one of the co-owners of the company, played in the minors for both the Minnesota Twins and the New York Yankees. He can relate to the troubles that minor leaguers face in finding work, and states that at least 75 minor leaguers have been employed at one of the five area franchises since its founding.

These minor leaguers in turn educate a future generation of St. Louis baseball players. According to the company’s website, 121 former students of Balls-n-Strikes have been drafted—including high profile picks such as Jacob Turner and Max Scherzer (04-06). Instructors such as Mantle no doubt helped them tremendously, and it’s a process he greatly appreciates.

“Teaching and simply being around the kids, watching them truly enjoy every minute, makes me realize how fortunate I am to still be playing the same game today,” he says.
. . .

Brock Bond's (06-07) current activities are also discussed in the article.

Polls & Rankings

■ THE NCBWA has kicked off the early pre-season polls & rankings season by releasing their 2010 Pre-Season All Americans. There are no Missouri Tigers on the list. Not only that, but there is only one Big 12 player on the first team, plus 2 on the 2nd team and none on the 3rd team.

Summer Ball

■ Garrison McLagan has signed to play his summer ball with the Cowlitz Black Bears of the West Coast League, according to TDN.com. The Black Bears are coached by former Tiger Bryson Leblanc (05-06).

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

■ Scherzer relishing new start (Columbia tribune)

Max Scherzer is well aware of the irony. He was once a Tigers star and is expected to be a Tigers star again.

“I’ve gotten a lot of texts pointing that out,” said Scherzer, the former Missouri ace who last week was involved in a seven-player, three team deal that landed him in Detroit.

Mizzou to the Big 10? Not if you're a baseball fan

■ BoydsWorld.com has RPI numbers going back to 1997 for NCAA Baseball. Looking at the historic data, let's see how many teams were in the top 25 for each of those years, for both the Big 10 and the Big 12.

1997: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 1

1998: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 2

1999: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 3

2000: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 4

2001: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 1

2002: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 3

2003: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 4

2004: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 2

2005: Big 10, 0; Big 12: 3

2006: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 4

2007: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 3

2008: Big 10, 0; Big 12, 4

2009: Big 10, 1; Big 12, 4

■ Big 12 and Big 10 in the College World Series (going back to 1997, the beginning of the Big 12):

• CWS Champions: Big 12, 2 (Texas in 2002 and 2005); Big 10: 0

• The last Big 10 champion in the CWS: Ohio State, 1966

• Total Big 12 teams in the NCAA Tournament, 1997-2009: 73

• Total Big 10 teams in the NCAA Tournament, 1997-2009: 25

• Total Big 12 teams in the CWS, 1997-2009: 12

• Total Big 10 teams in the CWS, 1997-2009: 0

Mizzou to the Big Ten?

More on the expansion of the Big Ten, and how it could effect Missouri:

■ Big Ten evaluating expansion to 12 teams

The Big Ten might be getting bigger.

The league said Tuesday it will explore options over the next 12 to 18 months for expansion. Big Ten presidents and chancellors decided this month that the timing is right to study adding a 12th school.

The Big Ten also looked at expansion in 1993, 1998 and 2003. Penn State was the last team to join in 1990, and Notre Dame rejected an offer in 1999.

The league, whose offices are in suburban Chicago, said no action on expansion is expected soon. It said it hopes to gather information before engaging in formal discussions with any schools.
. . .

"About every five years the Big Ten Conference explores the possibility of expansion," Illinois athletic Ron Guenther said in an e-mail to the AP. "Any expansion of the conference would obviously have to be a good fit academically, geographically and financially. If the Big Ten does make a change, I hope it will be as successful as the addition of Penn State."

■ Big Ten will mull expansion plans (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

Missouri athletics director Mike Alden said Tuesday via e-mail that "there isn't really any story here for us" and noted Mizzou hasn't heard from other conferences.
Alden did not specify whether MU would be interested in joining the Big Ten. The conference said it would not engage "formal discussions with leaders of other institutions during the 12 to 18 months it will study the matter."
. . .
Longtime MU donor and former university curator Donald Walsworth said the only reason he could see joining the Big Ten is because of its television contract. But Walsworth doesn't believe that's compelling enough.

"I think Missouri is where it should be," he said. "Personally, I can't see it being an advantage to us. … I think our fans would just be livid."

Current curator David Wasinger, who is based in St. Louis, said he didn't know enough to "have any feeling on the subject yet." But he said it did not come up in last week's regular meeting. Neither did any discussion of discontent with the Big 12.

He did not expect any movement to be driven by the board.

Mizzou to the Big Ten?

Over at Tigerboard.com there's a rather bizarre pair of posts that showed up this weekend, both promoting separate websites in favor of Mizzou switching to the Big 10.

• http://www.mizzou-bigten.com/ is a single page

• http://big10mizzou.blogspot.com/ is in a blog format, with more extensive arguments and the opportunity for readers to make comments

Both use the exact same banner masthead that pretty much rules out any expectation of lack of bias: Missouri + Big Ten Conference = Natural Fit

A natural fit unless, of course, you're a Baseball fan. The Big Ten is a 2nd-tier baseball conference at best. I'd rather be in the Missouri Valley than the Big 10, when it comes to baseball. But I'd really rather be in one of the top 2 or 3 baseball conferences in the NCAA: The Big 12.

I'm not too worried, though. I don't think there's much chance at all of this happening. No matter how many copy-cat websites people put on the interwebs.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

MU in the Minors

■ In Minors far from the show (Columbia Tribune), Matt Nestor profiles former Tiger Garrett Broshuis (02-04)

“Early on, I was worried about my career,” said the 27-year-old Broshuis. “Now, I’m not as worried, so I can be a little more honest about my opinions. If no one talks about these things, it won’t be brought to light.”

Broshuis, who is currently applying to go to law school, recently ventured outside the game, writing an opinion piece about the health care bill for USA Today.

■ Equal time: We posted a link to Cody Ehlers' craigslist ad for batting instruction the other day. Now we've stumbled upon a website for Hunter Mense (04-06), baseballhunter.com, advertising similar services.

My next adventure came in the form of college. I signed to go to Mizzou as a pitcher/outfielder but only ended up being an outfielder. My freshman year was definitely a learning experience. I played sparingly and when I did play I was pretty inconsistent. I was struggling against guys that I should have been succeeding against. With about a month left in the season I dove for a ball in the outfield and tore a ligament in my thumb and consequently I was done for the rest of the season. That following summer I played for the Hays Larks in the Jayhawk league. I was able to play every day and re-discover my game. My sophomore year was a much more successful year. We were selected for a regional at Cal State Fullerton and I was named to the All Big XII team. I also impressed enough people to be selected to try out for the collegiate national USA team.

Big 12 Opponents

■ Players eager to build on 2009 success (kansan.com)

Kansas returns most of its starters from a season ago. Led by standouts like Tony Thompson and junior pitcher T.J. Walz, the Jayhawks should have strong leadership that will be essential to the team’s success.

“We’ve got lots of older guys coming back that will help set a good example for the young guys,” Thompson said.

The team will have some big holes to fill, though — most notably the graduation of catcher Buck Afenir and departures of shortstop David Narodowski and pitcher Shaeffer Hall, who both passed up their senior seasons to play in the MLB.

Mizzou Baseball: 2010 Schedule

The MU Baseball office has posted the official 2010 schedule, which is not much changed from the 2010 schedule we previously posted here at SimmonsField.com.

The only change to the schedule is a match-up with Illinois at Busch Stadium in St. Louis, scheduled for April 7th at 7PM.

Now that it's official, we can take a look at that schedule and ask the question: How tough is MU's 2010 schedule?

Boyd Nation, at Boyd'sWorld.com, annually produces a list of Intended Schedule Strength, based on the final RPI or ISR numbers of each team on the upcoming schedule, averaged out to an intended average RPI.

Using that formula, and using the Boyd'sWorld.com final RPI numbers, I've compiled a list of the final 2009 RPIs of the teams on the tentative 2010 schedule, and averaged them out for an intended schedule strength of .540.

So what does that really mean, in terms we can understand? Two teams (UCLA and Sam Houston State) finished 2009 with an RPI of .540, placing in a tie for 70th place in Division 1 of the NCAA out of a total 300 teams.

Tim Jamieson's Intended Schedule Strength has been moving slowly upward over the past few years. This year sees a dip of just .001, a statistical blip that shows the Tigers are maintaining their level:

2010: .540
2009: .541
2008: .537
2007: .534
2006: .532
2005: .528
2004: .528

Part of this steady rise to the current level is due to the overall gradual strengthening of the Big XII conference from top to bottom. But it also reflects a willingness to schedule multiple contests against teams like TCU, Boston College, Auburn - and that extra game against the Longhorns.

The final 2009 RPI for the teams on MU's 2010 schedule (and Missouri's) 2009 RPI for comparison. Multiple games in (parentheses); 2009 Regional participants marked with *:

.629 Texas (x4)*

.607 Texas Christian *

.586 Texas A&M (x3) *

.586 Oklahoma (x3) *

.578 Kansas State (x3)*

.575 Oklahoma State (x3)*

.570 Boston College *

.570 Baylor (x3)*

.568 Auburn

.567 Missouri *

.554 Kansas (x4)*

.553 Gonzaga (x2)*

.546 Xavier (x3)*

.545 Eastern Illinois

.543 Missouri State (x2)

.540 Illinois

.532 Florida Atlantic

.530 Texas Tech (x3)

.520 Nebraska (x3)

.519 Houston

.508 New Mexico State

.508 Washington

.490 Purdue (x2)

.440 Arkansas-Pine Bluff (x2)

.428 North Dakota (x4)

.418 Southern Illinois Edwardsville

.410 Western Illinois

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ Brock Bond (06-07) is among the Minor League players who will be included in the upcoming 2010 Topps Pro Debut Minor League Baseball Cards set.

■ Baseball America's John Manuel blogs about the Winter Meetings, and mentions spending time with a former Tiger

I got to meet Garrett Broshuis (02-04) and show him around yesterday, which was my treat. We were both impressed when A’s player personnel maven Billy Owens quoted his scouting report back to Garrett and remembered seeing him at the Big 12 tournament. Broshuis on the Giants’ Double-A roster, so he’s eligible for the Triple-A phase of the Rule 5.

Manuel also explains the upcoming Rule 5 Draft. (NOTE: Broshuis was not selected in the Rule 5 Draft this morning)

■ Speaking of which: Suitcase Chronicles: It's Raining Men is the latest blog entry from Brosh, who always has a point of view slightly outside the expected and usual:

I left the bar and walked up the steps to the press area. Here I found more men. Only a few female journalists scattered about. The whole place was a bratwurst fest that would've made any Oktoberfest proud.

The thought occurred to me that perhaps one needed a baseball background to perform most of these jobs. Then I thought about the number of front office posts filled by those without baseball skills. Baseball skills aren't always a prerequisite to perform certain front office jobs. The same could be said for journalists.

"Perhaps women simply don't want to work in baseball," I thought. So I began to look around for other signs of diversity. A few African-Americans; a couple of individuals of Asian descent . . . and that was it. The most shocking thing: almost no obvious Latinos.

■ If you live in the Tampa area and are looking for baseball hitting lessons from a former Tiger, check this out on CraigsList.com:

Hi my name is Cody Ehlers (01-04). Looking for hitting, fielding, or pitching lessons? I give lessons on Wednesdays and Sundays at Gaither High School's baseball field. I played first base in the Yankees farm system for 5 years, playing for two of those years in double A. I'm currently on a professional team in Chicago called the Lake County Fielders. My rate is $50 a lesson and all ages are welcome. Bundled and package deals are available. Email me for more information.

Mizzou Baseball Roster Notes: Neil Hugenberg, RHP

■ From ConnectTriStates.com:

Hannibal High alum Neil Hugenberg has made the Missouri Tiger Baseball roster as a walk-on. Tiger Assistant Evan Pratte tells KHQA that Neil still "has some work to do" this spring before securing a spot on the Traveling Squad, but that Neil has been some "very nice things" in his workouts. Not surprised a kid with a 93 mph fastball found a college home; but with Hugenberg's collection of skills, should a kid like this ever slip through the cracks as a walk-on?

■ The original report on KHQA:

With a fastball that clocked in the mid 90's and a sweeping, nearly unhittable curveball, Neal Hugenberg enjoyed a dominant, albeit injury-addled high school career at Hannibal.

Those same attributes are giving him a new lease on his baseball life.

KHQA has confirmed that Hugenberg has successfully walked on to the nationally regarded Missouri Tiger Baseball team. Mizzou Assistant Evan Pratte confirmed Neal's place on the Tiger Roster, complimenting "Big Neal" on doing "a lot of impressive things" during his workouts. Pratte says Neal still has some work to do this spring before he cements a spot on the traveling roster, but the Tigers are weighing Hugenberg as a right-handed bullpen option.

■ He's back on top (Hannibal Courier-Post, April 30, 2009)

It has been a long year-and-a-half for Neil Hugenberg.

By his own admission, there was a time when the Hannibal senior pitcher did not think he would ever get to stare down a batter from the mound again.

Rewind to April 2, 2008. Hugenberg had been fighting what he would soon find out was an extra half of a vertebrae in his back that was causing him increasing amounts of pain. It became so bad at one point that he left the ’07-’08 basketball season in hopes of salvaging his baseball season.

“I would ice my back after each game,” Hugenberg said. “But, by halftime up at Borgia at the Thanksgiving Tournament, I just couldn’t go back out.”

Few would argue that he didn’t have good reason for doing so. Hugenberg’s skill on the mound had been affirmed just a year prior when he was named as an All-State pitcher, sporting a .48 ERA.

But after what the senior described as “the slowest double ever” against the Hickman Kewpies, it became clear that the sacrifice had been in vain.

“I went to put my hands on my knees and I couldn’t straighten back up,” he said. “It was just spazing out. I thought it was over.”
. . .
And Hugenberg has certainly made it look easy this season. In his past two starts, he has struck out a combined 31 batters – 17 against the Mexico Bulldogs and 14 against the Boonville Pirates. And with the district tournament right around the corner, Graham said he knows just who he will go to in those clutch situations.

“[Neil is] just that type of pitcher,” Graham said. “… Teams know that if Hugenberg is on the mound, it is going to be a battle. … He wants to be in those big games. As a pitcher, you’ve got to want the ball in the big situations and you’ve got to want to be the man for your team and that’s what Neil does.”

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

Commentary on the mega-trade that sent Max Scherzer (04-06) to the Detroit Tigers

■ Bernie's 5 minutes (St Louis Post-Dispatch)

This should be a beneficial move for Scherzer, who will like pitching roughly half his games at spacious Comerica Park in Detroit. Arizona’s home ballpark is a haven for hitters; Scherzer’s ERA on the road over the last two seasons is 3.67.

■ There may be all winners and no losers in this three-way trade (SI.com)

Right-hander Max Scherzer is a dynamite pitching talent who throws just about as hard as Edwin Jackson and whom some believe can almost immediately replicate what Jackson can.

■ Max Scherzer still needs a third pitch (Detroit News)

. . .But his problem is the lack of a third pitch, not unlike Jeremy Bonderman's missing piece: Scherzer's got that hard fastball and a slider -- that's either "dominant or mediocre," according to Baseball Prospectus' 2009 season preview -- but little else can be trusted.

Max Scherzer traded to the Detroit Tigers

■ St. Louis native Scherzer moved in biggest deal yet (St. Louis Post-Dispatch)

The first blockbuster deal of the winter will ship Detroit Tigers All-Star center fielder Curtis Granderson to the New York Yankees in a three-team swap that will also pry St. Louis native and former Mizzou All-American Max Scherzer (04-06) out of Arizona

■ D-Backs manager talks about Max Scherzer (Detroit News)

Diamondbacks manager A.J. Hinch sure wasn't going to spill the beans on the megadeal that apparently just got completed moments ago, but he was peppered with some questions about players reportedly involved.

Here's what he had to say about right-hander Max Scherzer, 25, one of the guys heading from Arizona to Detroit:

"Max's progression is good. Starting off in the bullpen when he first got up to the big leagues and getting through that year, last year he got up to 170 innings which, for a young starter, is a nice leap for him.

"We had tried really hard to get him to his inning totals. A year before, we sent him to the Arizona Fall League to increase his innings totals. So he went form somewhere in the 130s to 170 last year and had a very good year.

"If you toss a start or two that imploded on him, he was a bonafide guy for us. And we like him. He's a guy that has room to grow and he took some steps forward this year."

Mizzou Baseball in the Majors

Max Scherzer (04-06) is a hot topic on the MLB Hot Stove, reportedly part of a deal in the works that could send Max to the Detroit Tigers. Or the Yankees. Or somewhere.

■ MLB.com: Three-way blockbuster getting close:

The D-backs were closing in on a blockbuster three-way trade with the Tigers and Yankees on Tuesday that would bring pitchers Edwin Jackson and Ian Kennedy to Arizona and send away pitchers Max Scherzer and Daniel Schlereth, according to sources.

The Yankees reportedly would receive center fielder Curtis Granderson and send left-hander Phil Coke and outfield prospect Austin Jackson to Detroit

■ MLBTradeRumors.com: Heyman tweets that an agreement has been reached, with only medicals pending. We'll do a fresh post once this trade is official.

■ ESPN.com's Winter Meetings Live says the deal is on the verge of being wrapped up

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Andreas Plackis shares his Top 5 Sports Movies on WeAreMizzou.blogspot.com. Apparently Hyena Fighting is a sport.

■ Garrett Broshuis (02-04)blogs about his Expectations for the Winter Meetings:

Mr. Selig will arrive riding an Indian elephant—perhaps sporting a flowing robe and giant turban, riding atop the elephant with back straight and arms crossed. Scantily clad, masked dancers will accompany him, and bongo drums and rhythmic chants will scream in the background. He’ll slide down the elephant’s tail, be fed grapes from the hand of a dancer, and pronounce the beginning of the games. All the while I’ll be eating a corndog.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ As reported here earlier, former Mizzou first baseman Cody Ehlers (01-04) was selected by the Lake County Fielders (Zion, IL) in the Northern League expansion draft. You might be interested to know that the owner of the Lake county Fielders is none other than Kevin Costner. From the lakecountybaseball.com home page:

“I've seen many opportunities over the years to be involved in baseball projects, but this one is really special. The location, the people involved, and the chance to offer families in Zion and the surrounding communities a quaint and affordable setting for minor league baseball means everything. Like that unforgettable movie line says, ‘This field, this game, is a part of our past. It reminds us of all that once was good, and what could be again.’ Play Ball!” ~ Kevin Costner, Owner

Mizzou Baseball 2010 Recruits

■ The Nueces County Record Star has a feature on the official signing ceremony for MU recruit Rob Zastryzny.

KU Baseball gets the national attention it deserves

That wonderful video featuring the Kansas Jayhawk baseball players that we posted here a couple of weeks ago has caught the attention of none other than Sports Illustrated. Check out SI's current Extra Mustard page, which highlights the KU vid as the Embarrassing Team Video of the Day.


What were they thinking?

Thanks to the vigilant fans at Tigerboard.com for the tip.

Mizzou Baseball in the Minors

■ Jayce Tingler (00-03) who had been managing for the Rangers in the Dominican Republic, has been promoted to manager of the Arizona Rookie League team with a coaching staff of Ryan O'Malley, Jose Jaimes, Hector Ortiz and Oscar Bernard. (texas.rangers.mlb.com)

Mizzou Baseball: Slow News Day

■ Did you know the Big 12 Missouri Tigers aren't the only Missouri Tigers Baseball team? There is also a Missouri Tigers Club Team.

Mizzou Baseball: Slow News Day

■ It's a slow news day (December is a slow news month), SO I find myself wandering the internet looking for anything of slight interest. Such as this Team Photo of the 1907 Missouri Tigers Baseball team. Gotta love the socks. And wouldn't you like to see Coach Jamieson decked out like the 1907 coach?

Compliance: NCAA Transfer Rules

■ From Rick Allen's InformedAthlete.com:

Sorry, you need to transfer to another school if you want to get playing time.

That's the last thing a player wants to hear from his coach. Yet, it happens more frequently than you might suspect. And it will happen more frequently now that the NCAA has reduced the number of players who can be on a Division I baseball roster.

Join us for our FREE teleseminar when we discuss the issue of transfers:

Day: Wednesday, December 2nd
Time: 7 PM, CDT

More Details and Free Registration