Mizzou Baseball Diaspora: Tigers Past, Present & Future

SUMMER BALL
♦ Blues trying to raise money for trip to National Tournament (KSBY)

Last season the San Luis Obispo Blues tied with the Santa Barbara Foresters for the California Collegiate League championship. That earned both teams a berth in the National Baseball Congress (NBC) World Series tournament in Wichita, Kansas. The Foresters went, the Blues didn't because they couldn't afford it. The Foresters ended up winning the national tournament while the Blues were left wondering, what if.

"It was disappointing not to be in the tournament and then to watch Santa Barbara go undefeated" said Blues head coach Chal Fanning.

This season the Blues are raising money for the World Series after a push from the fan base. "Just running across Blues fans, sponsors and people who followed what happened. They're the ones expressing disappointment and I think it kind of shows that people in San Luis Obispo, they kind of have something to cling to" said Fanning.

VIDEO, featuring Blues coach and former MU pitching coach Chal Fanning.

Mizzou's Patrick Quintanilla is the SLO Blues' catcher.

MU IN THE MAJORS

♦ Ian Kinsler can't get Chipper Jones' grounder (ESPN)

"I wish I could have [made a better play on the ball]," Kinsler said. "Both my hamstrings felt like they were going to explode and that I had lead in my feet. It worked out that it was Chipper Jones hitting it. Said and done it was pretty cool, but I would never just let a guy have a hit.

"It's cool that it worked out that way, no doubt, but there's not a lot of room to run underneath the dugout there, so I wasn't the freshest," Kinsler said.

MU RECRUIT

♦ Breckin Williams signs to play baseball at Missouri (Joplin Globe)

The summer has gone well for Webb City High School graduate Breckin Williams.

Believe it.

Williams signed a letter of intent with the University of Missouri of the Southeastern Conference on Monday night.
. . .
The 6-foot-1, 185-pound Williams, an All-Ozarks selection by the Springfield News-Leader, was 6-0 with a 1.84 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 49 innings as a senior for the Cardinals. The all-conference (Central Ozark Conference Large Division) selection hit .371 with 25 runs scored and a 52.6 on-base percentage.

MU ALUM

♦ Columbia's Musgrave remembered as one of the best athletes (Columbia Tribune)

Musgrave, who died June 17 at his home in Hoboken, N.J., at the age of 78, was a three-sport standout in football, basketball and baseball at Hickman before playing football and baseball at Missouri.
. . .
"Leo Lewis might have been a better quarterback, and Cecil Estes might have been a better basketball player," Whitesides said, "but all-around athlete, I don't think there was any one person better."
. . .
Musgrave earned a football scholarship to Missouri and played two years for Don Faurot, but he ended up making his mark at MU in baseball. The strong-armed outfielder batted better than .400 for the Tigers team that won the College World Series in '54.

"Bob Musgrave was a terrific athlete," said former Missouri basketball Coach Norm Stewart, a baseball teammate of Musgrave's at MU. "In baseball, he was fantastic. He was a major leaguer."

Full Tribune obituary

SimmonsField.com report on Musgrave's death