Quotes & Notes

■ The 2011 MU Baseball Media Guide is now available at mutigers.com. Available in Viewer Friendly Version and Printable PDF File.

■ Was that donated kidney an NCAA violation? (cbs.com)

As unsavory as it seems, the question must be asked -- did Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter break NCAA rules by donating a kidney to one of his players? . . .

■ Kendall Rogers makes his debut at PerfectGame.org, posting his PG Top 25 . 4 MU opponents make the list

■ What to do BEFORE your season starts (informedathlete.com, written by former Tiger Ryan Allen)

Taking care of business now will put you in good position to start the season and continuing to be disciplined and focused will help you through the ups & downs during the season. . .

Quotes & Notes (& Tweets)

■ 1,500 followers! Wohoo! We want 2,000 by March! Here's to getting off to a fast start in '11 & attracting more fans with every 'W'! #letsgo (@MUTigersBaseball)

■ And every college baesball tweeter is talking about Wake Forest baseball coach donates kidney to player
(USA Today)

With an undergraduate enrollment of fewer than 4,500 students, Wake Forest is one of the smallest schools to compete at the major college level. Wake's athletic department takes pride in the sense of family its modest size creates. That pride deepened Monday when baseball coach Tom Walter donated one of his kidneys to Demon Deacon freshman outfielder Kevin Jordan. Dr. Kenneth Newell, lead surgeon on the team that removed Walter's kidney, said both surgeries went "very well" and both are expected to make full recoveries.

11 Days to Opening Day

2011 College Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Last yr, MLB teams scored ~4.4 runs/gm. Cape Lg: 3.7 rpg. D1 schools: 6.5! Will be interesting to see how much that changes w/ new bats. (@collegesplits on twitter)

■ Night practice tonight in Devine Pavilion. Stites vs. Zastryzny. Practices have been awesome so far! Redemption in '11... (@MUTigerBaseball on twitter)

■ Big 12 Conferences announces 2011 FSN Baseball Television Schedule (big12sports.com)

6 games! Lots of games featuring teams from Texas. Maybe we should have jumped to the Big Ten after all.

■ Ty Cobb gives up baseball for basketball (sbnation.com)

Tip of the Cap 2010: Notable Quotables

Nattering Nabobs

A Tip of the Cap to the people who cover the Tigers and college baseball. This Blog would be more of a Blah if it weren't for the people out there in the traditional press, the websites, and the newer social networking sites that provide the content behind all the quotes and notes.

As I've made abundantly clear, for me baseball is about having fun. Because of that, I enjoy the media people who seem to have fun doing their job.

This year, a couple of nabobs nattered in a most entertaining and informative manner.

JJ Stankevitz

I write about the White Sox for Examiner.com, where I try to ground my analysis in advanced stats. I also cover the University of Missouri baseball team for MOV.com’s MizzouSpot blog, where I believe I’m one of the few writers covering a college baseball team who uses advanced stats (a big thanks goes out to Mike Rogers of BlessYouBoys.com for hooking me up with those numbers).
(http://comeyoumastersofwar.wordpress.com/)

KMOV.com, 4/16: I don't know if this has been pointed out already, but Kelly Fick easily has the best intro music of any player on the team—he comes out of the bullpen to the theme song from "Dexter." That's just outstanding.

KMOV.com, 3/25: Bottom 1—That was one of the ugliest innings I've seen a team have in a long time. Missouri scored seven times on just two hits—six walks and two hit batsmen were issued in the inning. UAPB starter Brad Tarter issued six of those in just 0.2 innings.

KMOV.com, 4/16: Aiding Tepesch has been some very good defense by Missouri today. Aaron Senne made a highlight-reel play to begin the top of the sixth, gloving a line drive on a short hop while doing a split. It looked kind of like a goalie gloving a puck that would've gone through the five-hole.

Eric Sorenson

Eschewing the normal journalistic road to sports writing, Eric has been an advertising copywriter for years. He admits that creative background has added to his unconventional approach to sports writing and is a main contributor to his unique style. (collegebaseballtoday.com)

■ An open letter to the NCAA Selection Committee (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

You must find another formula – ANY formula – to be considered besides the RPI.

Now would be a good time to use Boyd Nation’s ISR or the Jeff Sagarin rankings or the Warren Nolan computer rankings to be added to the formula. Make it a mixture of three or four services like the BCS (Good God, don’t tell me those mental midgets at college football do something better than college baseball does). That way, it will also make for a nice for a better balance when you average them out. Besides, the RPI is way too harsh on teams that are geographically isolated like New Mexico, Oregon State, Minnesota and Hawaii, for example.

■ Let's take the lid off this sucker (CollegeBaseballToday.com)

Before we get to the weekend’s preview, there’s a much-eagerly anticipated press announcement from Tiger Woods: “I am announcing here that I haven’t been truly forthcoming with my family or my fans… I am a closet stitch-head.”

Wow, who knew?

[Trrip Note: Click the link - you gotta see the accompanying photo]

Best Coverage of a Rival School

I've been impressed for the past few years by the coverage of the Nebraska Cornhuskers Baseball team at HuskerExtra.com, the NU Sports web page of the Lincoln Journal Star. So here's a Tip of the Cap to Husker Extra.

Anderson reaches key point in his career (May 21)

In the eyes of some Nebraska fans, Anderson always will be regarded as the “wrong hire” — which is flat-out unfair.

Thing is, scrutiny and expectations are more intense at Nebraska than at most schools. Anderson understands that. The Huskers created high expectations with consistent winning for most of the past dozen years. What’s more, Haymarket Park, a $29 million gem, creates lofty expectations, as does Lincoln’s proximity to Omaha, home of the College World Series.

“The great ones overcome it,” Anderson said. “The great teams we’ve had here and good teams we’ve had, it doesn’t become a factor. ... It’s just learning how to overcome it and to produce in light of it.”

Look at those Uniforms!!!!


In a season when Mizzou baseball seldom got mentioned in the national press or on national College Baseball websites, they got some surprising national attention because of their new faux-flannel road jerseys.

Under Armour goes back to the future (ESPN.com Page 2)

In this case, UA has come up with Legend Gray, a new throwback uniform fabric currently being worn for selected road games by Missouri, Texas Tech and Pepperdine. Although it looks like an old natural-fiber flannel fabric, full of texture and grain and a heathered tone, it's actually UA's standard double-knit polyester embedded with a pattern designed to simulate the look of flannel.

This all might seem like a lot of fuss over a gray fabric, but Missouri baseball coach Tim Jamieson says people have noticed. "Very seldom do you have other coaches comment on your uniforms, but each coach we've played has said something about this one," he says. "They want to feel it, they want to see what it's all about. It's amazing, because from a distance it looks like my old Little League uniform, or what major league teams wore in the 1960s."

Biggest story of the year

Without a doubt, the biggest story of the year in the media was the rumored realignment of conferences, and the possibility of Mizzou jumping from the Big 12 to the Big Ten. I've made my opinions on that topic pretty clear already (9 reasons why moving to the Big Ten would not be good for Mizzou Baseball), so I won't rant on about it again .

The best quotes about the topic, from a baseball point of view, came this past week at the Big 12 Tournament.

Conference realignment will force a road more travelled for baseball (NewsOK.com)

"As far as realignment, we're just a mosquito on top of the water, waiting for a fish to grab us,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. "Very few things are done because of baseball. It's about football. So I guess we're going to do what they tell us to do.”
. . .

"Don't think I haven't thought about it,” admitted Oklahoma coach Sunny Golloway. "When I first heard about it, the possibility of Nebraska and Missouri leaving, I started thinking, who could potentially be. ... right then, I stopped. I'm the baseball coach. We understand, we're a baseball program within the athletic department. We're proud of football. It's the program that drives (the athletic department). It's the engine. We understand that.

Day 4 of the 2010 Tip of the Cap Awards tomorrow: And the winners are . . .

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

For Your Weekend

■ Sugar, a baseball movie I reviewed earlier in the summer, was released on DVD this week. If you're looking for a good movie to rent for the holiday weekend, I highly recommend this one. Read the review.

2010 Schedule Update

■ Washington has released their 2010 schedule, and it shows them playing in the Tucson tournament on the opening weekend of the season, a tournament Mizzou is also reportedly playing in.

■ Auburn's 2010 Schedule is now posted, including the details of the Auburn Tournament the second week of the season (2/26-28). Auburn, Missouri, Boston College and Florida Atlantic are in that tournament, with MU faces Auburn on Saturday the 27th.

Draft

■ Always a Gamble (Baseball America)

It's a gamble when a first-round draft choice turns his back on pro ball. And rarely does the player hit the jackpot, at least in baseball.

When the deadline passed for players to sign out of this year's draft, there were only three first-round picks left unsigned—including Aaron Crow.
. . .
In the 20 years prior to 2009, there were just 16 first-round draft picks who did not sign. Rarely has the player benefited from his delay. Just nine of those 16 were selected in the first round a second time. Just three of them have appeared in more than 300 big league games

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ A fan sent me stats for new MU Tiger Kevin Mahler, a transfer from St. Louis Community College-Meramec:

3-2, 4.931 ERA, 10 G, 38-1/3 IP, 25 R, 21 ER, 40 H, 32 SO, 16 BB

■ Matt Hobbs joins baseball staff as pitching coach (USFDons.com)

Matt Hobbs (00-02) has accepted the open pitching coach position at the University of San Francisco, as announced by head coach Nino Giarratano today. Hobbs comes to the Hilltop from UC San Diego, where he held an associate head coaching position for three years.

"We are extremely excited to have Matt Hobbs as a pitching Coach/ recruiting coordinator at the University of San Francisco," said Giarratano. "Matt brings great success, knowledge, and great work habits to our program. Matt will continue to help the program rise."

"I feel really lucky to have the opportunity to come to the University of San Francisco and be a part of such a wonderful program and be around such a great coaching staff and student-athletes," Hobbs said. "I'm excited to be here and feel really grateful that Coach Giarratano thought I would be a good fit for the program."
. . .
Hobbs played Division I baseball at the University of Missouri, where he tallied 13 career victories and finished his career as the Big 12 record holder for consecutive strikeouts. He was drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2001 and the Kansas City Royals in 2002.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

Summer Ball

■ The Coppell Copperheads became champions of the Texas Collegiate League on Friday night (8/14) by sweeping the Victoria Generals in their 3-game championship series. The Copperheads rose from a 3rd place regular season finish to sweep back-to-back playoff series, first defeating the East Texas Pumpjacks (including Tigers Russell LaFleur, Brett Nicholas, David Rollins) before edging the #1 seed Generals (ranked 20th nationally). The Copperheads received solid contributions from RHP/SS Jeff Emens, who finished with a .308 BA (TCL top 10). Emens also led the league in OBP (.438) and had 3 saves and 25K in 23 innings of relief work.

Draft

■ Senne returns to Missouri to play ball (PostBulletin.com)

"I never heard back from them after their initial offer," Senne said. "I never called back and they never upped their offer."

Senne felt the contract was too low so the left-handed hitting and throwing outfielder will play a fourth season at Missouri. As a junior he batted .305 with six home runs and 43 RBIs in 62 games.

"I'm happy with the decision," Senne said. "I would have love to sign with them and they're a team I'd like to play for. But for what they were offering, I decided to go back for my senior season (at Missouri)."

■ Baseball America Draft Deadline Chat:

I believe Crow will sign in time to get his feet wet in the Arizona Fall League this offseason. And he'll be a nice pickup for the Royals.
. . .
A healthy Gibson is a steal at No. 22, and the Twins signed him for $1.85 million.

■ Waiting for the draft repairman (KansasCity.com)

Look, guys like Crow are not to be blamed for wanting the best deal possible in such an unsure game. The agents giving advice are only doing their job, helping amateurs hold their own against professionals. And the teams are just trying to tame rising costs in a system that will pay Stephen Strasburg twice as much this year as Zack Greinke and more than either reigning Cy Young winner.

It's the system that's broken, the one benefiting nobody, the one doing more harm than good.

■ Gibson reaches 11th hour deal with Twins (Columbia Tribune)

Former Missouri pitcher Kyle Gibson held tight to the once-popular notion that he was one of the top five pitchers available in June’s MLB first-year players draft.

The Minnesota Twins stuck with their belief that Gibson was the 22nd overall pick and should be treated as such.

With time running short, the sides finally met in the middle.

■ Thoughts on Gibson, other Twins-related notes (StarTribune.com)

“I want to make a good impression and I want to show the Twins they made a good investment,” Gibson said.

Gibson’s slider is the real deal, he might end up with a plus changeup and has very good command. Don’t expect him to pitch for the Twins next season, that’s just not how this organization rolls with prospects. But a spot in the 2011 rotation isn’t out of the question.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Ryan Gebhart helped lead his Anchorage Glacier Pilots to the NBC championship game which was played Saturday. Gebhart started and played each game as the Glacier Pilots CF and batted second. Gebhart either led or was in the top 10 in several offensive categories for the 32 team tournament. He ended up hitting 358 with an on base average of 538. He also was second in the tournament in runs scored and RBIs. Gebhart recorded several outstanding games including one game in which he had six RBIs. He had the only RBI in the championship game for the Glacier Pilots with a two out single. Here is a link to a story on the game which also has a video of Gebhart singling home Carlos Alonso. Gebhart finished the summer hitting .310. He hit .338 from the right side of the plate and .294 from the left. .

■ Kinsler shakes off beaning, back in lineup (mlb.com)

Rangers second baseman Ian Kinsler was back in the lineup on Sunday, one day after getting hit in the left shoulder and head by a pitch.

Red Sox reliever Fernando Cabrera hit Kinsler in the eighth inning of the Rangers' 7-2 victory. Kinsler was first hit on the shoulder and then in the helmet. He stayed in the game and had only a light red bruise on the shoulder Sunday morning.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Baseball is in Belleville native's blood (Belleville News Democrat)

If Belleville native Dan Pietroburgo ever becomes a head baseball coach at the college or high-school level, he'll possess a deep appreciation for the work that goes on behind the scenes.

That's how Pietroburgo is contributing at Missouri, where he was a catcher for four years. Pietroburgo, 24, is a graduate manager for the Tigers, a do-it-all guy whose responsibilities range from hitting fungoes to organizing awards banquets and benefits to selecting the music to play during game-day batting practice.
NCAA rules, however, prohibit Pietroburgo from doing any coaching in his role with the Tigers.
. . .
Pietroburgo traveled to New York City last weekend to see his former roommate at Missouri, Arizona left-hander Max Scherzer, pitch against the Mets.

"My sister (Kate) has an internship there," Pietroburgo said. "I saw that Max was going to be there and it worked out perfectly. We went and grabbed a quick bite to eat (after the game) and caught up on things.

"He's got it made. I just shrug off almost anything he says now because he's in a different world."

■ Scherzer a student of the stats (azcentral.com)

Not long after Diamondbacks pitcher Yusmeiro Petit nearly threw a no-hitter Tuesday night, Max Scherzer was on his iPhone in the visitor's clubhouse, bringing up a Web site with charts and graphs of every pitch, trying to figure out what his teammate had done to put himself within reach of history.

During a road trip last month, Scherzer was scrutinizing a site that charted umpires'
ball/strike tendencies, viewing it as a piece of information he could bring into his next start.
. . .
"At the end, it really comes down to the same thing: Get ahead of hitters," Scherzer said. "It goes without saying that if you can throw Strike 1 well and get ahead of hitters with two strikes, you're going to pitch well.

"(The advanced statistics) are a different way to look at the same game and realizing what the driving forces are that make a pitcher successful. If I want to go out there and lower my ERA, I've got to do certain things that are the driving forces."

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Jack Dudenhoeffer, who was previously named 1st team all-state and 1st team all-district, was named to the KC Star's All Metro Team.

3rd base, First Team: Jack Dudenhoeffer, Pembroke Hill, senior. Before Dudenhoeffer begins a new stage for Mizzou baseball, he shattered several Raider offensive statistics, including most overall hits and triples in a season. Dudenhoeffer batted .500 with a .986 slugging percentage and produced 32 RBIs. Among his 36 season hits, Dudenhoeffer had seven triples and four home runs.

■ From Tigerboard.com:

Sunday was the last regular season game for the California Summer League. Ryan Clubb, Kelley Fick and Brian Carr were members of the San Luis Obispo Blues who went 40-16. Kelley Fick led the way going 5-1 with an 1.17 ERA. Fick led the Blues in innings pitched and strike outs. Ryan Clubb was 1-2 for the season with an 4.43 ERA. Clubb had 22 strike outs in 20 innings of play. Former Mizzou player Brian Carr was 0-1 on the mound with an 1.08 ERA all in relief. Carr also batted posting an .348 batting average.

■ Rangers place Kinsler on DL (mlb.com)

Second baseman Ian Kinsler (03) and relief pitcher Jason Grilli were placed on the 15-day disabled list to make room for relief pitchers Neftali Feliz and Doug Mathis (05) on the 25-man roster.
. . .
Kinsler's move was retroactive to July 29. He was suffering from a strained left hamstring that hadn't improved over the last three days.

The Rangers were hoping to avoid placing Kinsler on the DL, but Daniels didn't want Kinsler to feel pressured to come back before being completely healed. He is eligible to return Aug. 13. Kinsler was hitting .157 in July.
. . .
Mathis was optioned to Triple-A prior to Wednesday's game. He was pulled from a Triple-A start on Saturday and instead pitched one perfect inning.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes

■ Some MU alums participated in the Show-Me Games Baseball competition over the past weekend, according to the Columbia Tribune:

With O’Fallon beating Off in the Corner 3-2, Whitesides stepped to the plate in the fifth inning and lined an 0-2 pitch over the right-field fence to put his team in front for good. Wes Fewell (99-02), a Hickman teammate of Whitesides who played at MU, scored on the blast that made the score 4-3.
. . .
Former MU pitcher Ryan Gargano (07-09) struck out 11 and allowed only five hits through six innings to help Columbia take a 10-3 lead into the seventh. When O’Fallon scored five runs in the top of the seventh off reliever Justin Jones to close to within two, Haskell called on former MU ace Danny Hill (03-04) to get the final out. Hill, a third-round draft choice of Toronto in 2004 who advanced to the Blue Jays’ AA affiliate before being released following the ’06 season, escaped the bases-loaded jam with a strikeout on a 3-2 pitch.

■ I stumbled across some great photos of Mizzou Baseball recruit Blake Brown at PhotoShelter.com

■ Procuring the '09 All-Stars (PGCrosschecker.com)

25 of the 72 players that were selected to participate in the All-Star Game were former first-round picks. Four of those first-rounders were the first overall picks in their respective drafts (Josh Hamilton, Adrian Gonzalez, Joe Mauer and Justin Upton).

Eight more all-stars were taken in the second round, two in the third, four in the fourth, two in the fifth, five in the sixth and two in the eighth. Five players were taken in the 11th and 13th rounds, and eight players were taken in the 20th round and beyond. There are always later round gems to be unearthed, but I think it’s clear teams are much more likely to land a potential and perennial all-star with their first-round picks.
. . .

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Cape Cod & Austin

■ Tepesch aims to improve stock (ESPN.com)

Missouri right-hander Nick Tepesch, pitching for Falmouth on the Cape this summer, was a 28th-round selection out of high school, but wanted first-round money and declined to sign with Boston. He has shown first-round stuff in his first two years as a Tiger, but not first-round command, and on Tuesday night his stuff was down as well.

■ Morris blast leads Commodores to 5-4 win (FalCommodores.com)

Nick Tepesch took the mound for the Commodores and had a solid outing, giving up just three earned runs and striking out five over five and a third innings of work.

■ The judge finally throws the book at Augie Garrido. Sort of. Texas Baseball coach sentenced (ESPN.com)

Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido was sentenced Thursday to four days in jail for a drunken driving conviction, though he might not serve any time.

Garrido's attorney, Michael Burnett, said Travis County jail officials will decide how long to keep the winningest coach in Division I after he reports sometime before Aug. 15. Burnett said the 70-year-old Garrido received two days' credit when he was arrested and could earn the other two days simply by getting processed.

■ The Austin American Statesman reports the same, only with a long page of reader comments, which are more interesting than the article

• By TrophyMom: I am stunned …. not at the sentence, but about my emotions…. I never, EVER though I could feel sorry for someone convicted of DWI. I hope Mr. Garrido’s 4 days fly by quickly, safely, and uneventful

• By todd: If only he wouldn’t have pulled the starter in the first game against LSU, he would not be doing any time. We would have had a parade instead.

• By Link: What an absurd, ridiculous time we live in. The man has done incredible things with young people. He’s loved by many, respected by even more. I hope MADD, the courts, and the prosecutors are happy. They win again. The rest of us lose, however, and justice is casually thrown out the nearest window. I wish I were as perfect as these do-gooders. Certainly, none of them has ever tasted alcohol, let alone driven drunk.

• By Please: It may be 4 days in jail, but after he gets out, OU will still suck.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes & Notes: Fick & Wall Street Journal

I'm guessing Kelley never thought he'd see the day when his name shared a headline with the venerable WSJ.

■ Kelley Fick is tearing up the California Collegiate League. Stats as of July 8:

4-0, 0.00 ERA, 1 CG, 28 IP, 18 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 22 SO, 0 2B, 0 3B, 0 HR, Opp BA .180

■ In the better late than never category, I happened upon this month-old article in The Wall Street Journal: America's Best Baseball Schools

To ascertain which schools have done the best in recent years at producing players who make an impact in the majors, The Wall Street Journal analyzed each draft from 1996 through 2008. Each school that has produced at least four major-league players from those drafts was ranked by adding its total "runs above replacement" for hitters and pitchers.
. . .
California schools make up four of the top five—USC, No. 2 Cal State Fullerton, No. 4 UCLA and No. 5 Pepperdine, with Miami in between. But more than anything, the analysis shows how difficult it is for even top colleges to produce top-flight major-league players. Mr. Pujols has single-handedly been more valuable statistically than the offensive alumni of every college during the past dozen years, save Miami and UCLA.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Summer Ball

■ Garrison McLagan played a key role in the Hannibal Cavemen's vistory this weekend, accouring to Hannibal.net

That run came in the tenth inning, with the contest tied 4-4. In a stroke of luck, Quincy’s John Myers overthrew a routine ground ball, allowing Bryce Tafelski a free pass to second base and setting the table for the University of Missouri’s Garrison McLagan.

“I just wanted to go up there and be aggressive because I knew he was [throwing] lots of fastballs,” McLagan said.

That aggressive approach paid off when McLagan blooped a shot over into left-center field, lifting it just enough to give Tafelski the cushion he needed to plate the winning run.

“I kinda watched it,” McLagan admitted. “I was seeing if it was going to get into the gap. I was going to take two if it got past them.”

■ Commodores outscore Cotuit 14-9 (falcommodores.com)

Nick Tepesch (Missouri) was on the mound for the Commodores and bounced back from a rough outing in his last start. Over six innings of work, Tepesch allowed just three earned runs on eight hits.

■ Flickr.com photo album of the Cape Cod League, including Nick Tepesch.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Senne, Big Hits & A Fine Line

■ Senne likely to turn down Twins (KAALTV.com)

It looks like Rochester native Aaron Senne will go back to school instead of signing with the Twins.

The former Mayo star was taken by the Twins in the 32nd round of the baseball draft over two weeks ago.

Senne says the Twins' current contract offer is lower than he expected, and will go back to Missouri for his senior season, unless the Twins up the offer.

This is the second time Senne has turned down the Twins. Three years ago, he was taken by Minnesota out of high school but chose to play college baseball.

Also see video HERE (showing Senne as a pitcher in high school)

■ SimmonsField.com's hits per month (translation: how many people visit this website) have been steadily climbing since switching to the Blogger platform. And oddly enough, my June hit total was 26% more than May – even though the Tigers' season the season ended on May 31st.

I thank RockMNation in part because my Counter software tells me that I get more referrals from RockMNation than I do from Google or any other site.

So thanks to the guys at RockMNation for the lift. And thanks to all the faithful followers of SimmonsField.com for making this all worth the trouble.

■ I generally avoid posting much stuff on MU's Big 12 opponents. I have plenty to do just keeping up with the Tigers. Let some crazed Jayhawk fan waste his time blogging on HoglundField.com.

But, the Daily Texan has a pretty good [and entirely objective] profile titled Garrido unmatched on 40 acres. A sample:

Imagine Yoda coaching college baseball, but without the green skin and at least 4 feet taller.

He would watch from the dugout, waiting for the perfect opportunity to share his endless wisdom. Wisdom sometimes related to baseball. Equal parts philosopher and tactician, Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido is the Yoda of college baseball, constantly stressing the spiritual aspect of a game better known for superstitions.

And he can’t quite put a finger on where his unique coaching style came from. He has continually grown in his 41 years of coaching college baseball. He doesn’t have one great influence guiding him; instead, he remembers a pearl of wisdom from his mother that helped shaped his coaching style.

“She told me, ‘There is a mighty fine line between philosophy and bullshit. . . ”

Mizzou Quotes: Best year ever?

Mizzou has record finish in Learfield Directors' Cup (MUTigers.com)

COLUMBIA, Mo. – What’s already been a banner year for Missouri Athletics has been capped by a record-best finish in the final 2008-09 Learfield Directors’ Cup standings, released Monday morning by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA).

On the heels of strong showings from multiple programs this year on the national level, Missouri finished 36th in the final Directors’ Cup standings, which began in 1993. It eclipsed by one spot Mizzou’s previous best showing, a 37th-place finish in 2002-03.

Twelve of Mizzou’s 20 sport programs scored points for the school in this year’s competition, and seven of those registered top-25 national finishes, which ties the previous high for top-25 finishes in a season by MU (seven in 2004-05 during a 41st- place final standing). Sports scoring this season for Mizzou included:

Men’s Basketball – 5th
Softball – 7th
Wrestling – 7th
Gymnastics – 13th
Football – 16th
Soccer – 17th
Men’s Indoor Track – 20th
Women’s Swimming – 28th
Men’s Outdoor Track – 30th
Baseball – 33rd
Women’s Outdoor Track – 52nd
Women’s Indoor Track – 60th

The great showing continued the remarkable transformation of Tiger Athletics under the guidance of Director of Athletics Mike Alden Since Alden took over prior to the 1998-99 season, Mizzou’s average annual finish in the NACDA standings has been 47th (that has improved to an average of 42nd over the last seven years). In the first five years of the Directors’ Cup standings, and prior to Alden’s arrival at Mizzou (1993-94 through 1997-98), Mizzou’s average annual finish in the standings was 98th.

Here’s a yearly recap of how Mizzou has fared each year in the NACDA standings:

1993-94 – 50th
1994-95 – 105th
1995-96 – 133rd
1996-97 – 119th
1997-98 – 85th
1998-99 – 70th
1999-2000 – 52nd
2000-01 – 49th
2001-02 – 53rd
2002-03 – 37th
2003-04 – 46th
2004-05 – 41st
2005-06 – 48th
2006-07 – 53rd
2007-08 – 38th
2008-09 – 36th

In relation to the Big 12 Conference, Mizzou’s 36th-place finish was good enough to rate 7th-best in the league. The schools with the four largest operational budgets – Texas (6th), Texas A&M (13th), Oklahoma (29th) and Nebraska (31st) – finished in the top four. Baylor (33rd) and Oklahoma State (35th) just edged out the Tigers for the next rung on the ladder.

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Summer Ball & Goofballs

■ Jonah Schmidt is playing this summer for Wildwood in the Metro Collegiate League in St. Louis. Click HERE for a story about a recent game, including a photo of Jonah successfully stealing second base.

■ Pump Jacks pound McKinney, 12-1 (Longview News Journal)

Russell LaFleur led the 13-hit Pump Jack output with a big game as a set-up man. A sophomore center fielder from the University of Missouri, LaFleur was 3-for-4 with a double and four runs scored.
. . .
2nd inning: With one out in the bottom of the second, Ben Woodchick walked and Petello followed with a single to left. Woodchick scored on a James Stanfield single to
right.

LaFleur loaded the bases with a walk and Petello came home on a walk by Fontenot. Daniel Gonzalez brought Stanfield home with a bases-loaded walk, then LaFleur scored on a Brett Nicholas sacrifice fly to center.

■ 2009 All-Fitt Team (Baseball America)

SP: Kyle Gibson, Missouri

Mizzou coach Tim Jamieson says that Gibson could run for mayor of Columbia, because everyone feels like they’re best friends with him. Baylor’s Kendal Volz calls him a "goofball." Gibson has a winning personality and winning stuff.

■ Speaking of "goofballs", Gary Wendt and company still want the people of Columbia to see them as potential minor league baseball moguls just waiting to bring their wisdom and expertise back to town: Columbia still waiting on Mavericks' pitch (Columbia Tribune):

The legal problems are a separate issue, Gary Wendt said, and shouldn’t affect the company’s plans in Columbia. Wendt declined to go into detail about his current plans for the Mavericks and wouldn’t discuss the pending lawsuits in Texas.

“There are a couple things that are happening right now,” Wendt said in a telephone interview yesterday. “I can’t give you any information right now that’s of value. … In a couple weeks, there may be something of real substance that’s newsworthy.”

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Wood Bats, Money & Gold

■ Nick Tepesch and Conner Mach are doing well in the Cape Cod League with the Falmouth Commodores:

The Falmouth Commodores tallied their first home victory of the season Saturday night, beating the Wareham Gatemen by a score of 5-0. Falmouth starter Nick Tepesch (Missouri)—who gave up eight runs in just three plus innings his last time out—bounced back with a brilliant night. Tepesch gave up just two hits over six innings of scoreless ball. One of those two hits was a bunt single by Wareham’s Ryan Pineda (California State Northridge). Tepesch would also have to work around three errors committed by his infield. (http://www.falcommodores.org/)

For just the third time this season, the Commodores struck first offensively. After Scott Lawson (Miami) was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the first frame, Josh Adams(Florida) and Murray Watts (Arkansas State) followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. One out later, Connor Mach (Missouri) delivered with a bloop, two-out, two-R.B.I. single to put Falmouth up early.

Cape Cod League stats

■ Ryan Clubb and Kelly Fick are doing well with the San Luis Obispo Blues this summer:

• Fick struck out 6 batters and allowed zero earned runs in a Blues win this weekend (story)
• Ryan Clubb pitched 1-1/3 innings in relief on Saturday, with 2 strikeouts and 2 hits.

■ I've received several tips about the summer-ball locations of Mizzou players and have updated our list accordingly: 2009 Summer Ball List

■ Sam Lind is reportedly transferring to Central Arizona College this fall, along with Brian Carr.

■ You Make the Call: Voting for 2009 Mizzou MVPs concludes at the end of June. Current vote leaders:

Newcomer of the Year: Conner Mach is edging out Michael Liberto for the lead
Pitcher of the Year: Kyle Gibson has a commanding lead
Player of the Year: Greg Folgia and Kyle Mach are neck-and-neck for the lead

Voting is still going on in the left-hand navigation bar here at SimmonsField.com

■ Would you like to know how Mizzou ranks (nationally and in the Big 12) in total athletics revenue? No you don't. But Barking Carnival has the ugly details for you anyway.

■ The Golden Spikes is Baseball's Heisman - Without all the Flops (Wall Street Journal)

Top baseball prospects are notoriously prone to flopping as professionals, but winners of the Golden Spikes -- an award given to the best amateur player after the conclusion of the college season -- are actually becoming more reliable than player-of-the-year honorees in other sports.
READ MORE

Mizzou Baseball Quotes: Many happy returns?

■ Drafted juniors Folgia, Senne contemplate return to MU (Columbia Tribune)

“I gave up after like the 36th round,” Folgia said in a phone interview yesterday. “I went to Fuddruckers with some of the guys, so I didn’t know when it happened. I got a phone call, ‘By the way, Greg, you were taken in the 40th round.’

“I’m like, ‘I’m eating a cheeseburger right now. I’ll call you later.’ ”
. . .
When the Twins, the team [Aaron Senne] rooted for growing up in Rochester, Minn., drafted him, it made things a little more intriguing. He’d also be favorable to teaming up in the minors with Gibson.

“They definitely know how to make my life and my decisions hard,” Senne said of the Twins, who had previously drafted him out of high school, as well. “I think if it wouldn’t have been the Twins this late, I’d probably be leaning toward coming back to school — almost for sure — already.”

Folgia yesterday said the Indians had made him an offer of $150,000 and that he hopes to have his mind made up in early July.

“Hopefully, I’ll think the same thing two days in a row and be able to make a decision,” said Folgia, who hit .326 while leading the Tigers with 12 home runs and 70 RBI. “Right now, every other day, I’m thinking something different.”

There's more: Read the rest HERE

■ The Columns blog reviews the 2009 MU Baseball season in part two of A banner year for the Mizzou athletic department:

With on field success the University of Missouri continues to impress, but truly bringing out the meaning of student athlete, the baseball team did its part in the classroom as well. Mizzou placed ten players on the Big 12 academic all-first team, leading the Big 12 in first teamers and second in overall selections. Seniors Kyle Mach and Scooter Hicks lead the way, followed by underclassmen Kyle Gibson, Trevor Coleman, Aaron Senne, Ryan Ampleman, Nick Tepesch, Andrew Thigpen, Kelly Fick, and Phil McCormick.