Mizzou Baseball in the Minors: Evan Frey winning in Reno

■ Evan Frey (05-07) was promoted to the Reno Aces (AAA Pacific Coast League, Arizona Diamondbacks organization) on May 4th. Since then, he has been playing with a winning hand.

Through July 4th, Frey has compiled a .324 batting average, .415 OBP, .438 Slugging % and .853 OPS. In his most recent 10 games, he is hitting at a .429 clip.

Summer Ball

■ Gatemen fall hard to Falmouth (SouthCoastToday.com)

Falmouth banged out 21 hits and broke the game open with a seven-run outburst in the fifth inning Tuesday night en route to notching a 15-6 Cape Cod Baseball League win over Wareham at Spillane Field.
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Andrew Heaney allowed three runs on four hits to pick up the win for the Commodores (11-10), who were powered by four-RBI games by Eric Garcia and Jake Rodriguez.

Junior College Baseball

■ Not so "Junior" College Baseball (FieldLevel Blog)

While a great deal of attention is focused upon the excitement and successes of NCAA baseball during the College World Series, a potentially more significant game is being overlooked. The Junior College World Series features the best schools, players, and coaches from the National Junior College Athletic Association which is comprised of nearly 400 baseball programs across the country. Although the NCAA has over 900 schools that field a varsity baseball team, the NJCAA along with the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) and Northwest Athletic Association of Community Colleges (NWAACC) may possess comparable, if not superior talent to that of NCAA baseball teams. While most supremely-talented athletes choose to attend NCAA schools in most sports to compete against the best intercollegiate talent and receive the best coaching, it can be argued that, when it comes to baseball, this may not be the case.
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Since 1965, approximately 56,000 players have been drafted to MLB teams. Of those 56,000 athletes, more than 25% (or roughly15,000) have competed from NJCAA, NWAACC, or CCCAA colleges. More than ONE QUARTER of players drafted in the Major League Baseball draft have come from the junior college ranks. Furthermore, an average of 326 junior college and community college players are drafted every year with 123 players being selected from NJCAA colleges alone in 2011. Since 1998, the number of players drafted from the CCCAA and NJCAA has increased nearly every year. The average round in which players from the NJCAA are drafted is the 22nd round. In 2009, the CCCAA alone had 59 former baseball players on active MLB rosters and at the start of the 2010 MLB playoffs, there were 25 former NJCAA, NWAACC, and CCCAA players that made the active, postseason roster
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2011 Draft Whispers

■ MU recruit Brett Graves is enrolled in summer school at MU; he has not yet received an offer from the St. Louis Cardinals, who drafted him in the 26th round this past June.

■ MU recruit Brandon Platts appears much more likely to be a Tiger than a Pirate. The Pirates are apparently skittish due to some arm soreness Platts has experienced.

■ Navs sign conner Mach (navigatorsblog.wordpress.com, July 2)

The Navigators announced the addition of Conner Mach to the roster earlier yesterday afternoon. Mach, a junior third baseman out of Missouri, hit .285 with four home runs and 32 RBI this spring for the Tigers. The Chesterfield, Miss. native was selected in the 46th round by the New York Yankees last month.

Mach was a two-time all-state selection for Parkway West High School and was named to the all-metro and all-conference teams his junior and seniors seasons. He hit .481 his senior year with five home runs and 20 RBI and had a .465 career batting average of .465 at Parkway West.

The Navigators are part of the New England Collegiate Baseball League

Summer Ball

■ Blues, Forresters selected to play in televised CCL All-Star game (ksby.com)

The CCL released rosters for its July 13 All-Star Game that will air live on Fox Sports West.

The National League team will be managed by San Luis Obispo Blues manager Chal Fanning [former Mizzou Assistant Coach]. Twelve of the 37 players on his roster are Blues.
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American League team includes Blake Brown, Right fielder

Summer Ball

■ Garcia's return lifts Commodores (falcommodores.com)

In his first appearance since leaving a game with a hand injury, Eric Garcia (Missouri) ripped a two out, two RBI double that scored the eventual winning run and the Falmouth Commodores (10-10) beat the Cotuit Kettleers (6-13-1) 3-1 in Cotuit on Sunday night.

Garcia reached base three times, doubling in the second, reaching on an error in the seventh and walking in the ninth. He was hit on the hand attempting to bunt on June 26.

Eric Anderson is reportedly also returning to the Commodores after a stint as an alternate with Team USA, where he started two games, posting a 0.00 ERA

Is College Baseball a "White" Sport?

■ Are African Americans Underrepresented in College Baseball? (BusinessofCollegeSports.com)

Sometimes rules aimed at one problem make way for a new kind of problem. Under the new rules, only 27 players can be on scholarship and each scholarship must be for at least 25% of the tuition, room and board. Compare that to football where 85 full scholarships are available for about 87 roster spots (active and inactive), or basketball where 13 full scholarships are available for 12-15 roster spots. Which sport would you choose to play if you were a young African-American athlete who could only get a college education through an athletic scholarship?
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I don’t know the best way to address the shrinking population of African American collegiate baseball players, but I do know I was shocked to learn that they made up just 4% of CWS team rosters. Certainly the story would be different if we looked at rosters for teams in BCS bowls or March Madness. What I do know is that L.E.A.D. is an amazing organization making progress in this area, so I encourage you to check out their website and support their efforts or similar efforts in your community.

■ Why is College Baseball so White? Where are Black players in the College World Series? (stuffblackpeopledontlike.blogspot.com)

The best young white athletes these days play baseball (and play quarterback in football), because the cost of fielding a traveling team is greater than a team of eight Black kids from the hood.

White families drop big bucks to have their child play traveling baseball, with games all over the country. That gets expensive to follow and support, a cost barrier that single Black females (72 percent of Black children don't have a father living with them) with a net wealth of $5 can't overcome.

This is why baseball is no longer a sport with a big Black presence. It has nothing to do with racism, unless you believe that Nike and Reebok are racist to perceive that only Black kids can play basketball and are worthy of easy exploitation.

Tonight, South Carolina and the University of Florida will compete in game two of the College Baseball World Series. Unlike college football, where 'special admission' status ensures that Black athletes intellectually incapable of gaining acceptance to these schools on their own merit and earn a dubious "academic" scholarship, college baseball is a sport for white people.

Look at any college baseball team and you'll see a reflection of what the university really looks like (both Florida and South Carolina are overwhelmingly white), as opposed to college football and basketball teams that normally have some of the only Black males on the campus playing for them

AC is Hot

■ Call it a comeback: Rookie reliever Aaron Crow is an All-Star (kansascity.com)

Rookie reliever Louis Coleman played with Crow at Northwest Arkansas last year. And earlier this season, he told a story about Crow and his time with the Naturals.

Crow didn’t really know how to explain the bad outings, Coleman said. He would throw fastballs that moved out of the strike zone, and nothing seemed to be working.

“He would just be like, “Really?” ’ Coleman said.

But now the minor-league struggles are history.
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Crow’s coming-out party has been an unqualified bright spot. He’s the first draft pick of the Dayton Moore era to become an All-Star; the first All-Star from the entire 2009 draft; and perhaps some tangible proof that the Royals’ youth movement is churning out talent.

That’s something — no matter how he ended up on the team.

■ Aaron Crow: All Star (kingsofkauffman.com)

What’s so remarkable about that is after a 2010 season where he started at Double A and put up a disappointing 5.66 ERA in 119 innings, then got demoted to High A Wilmington and put up a 5.93 ERA in 44 innings.

After that kind of season, that Crow was anywhere above Double A is amazing in itself, but as a former first round pick (twice) and after a successful college career, the Royals weren’t focused so much on his numbers but on his stuff. He earned a shot in spring training and, after some mechanical tweaks, made the opening day roster out of the bullpen.

Since then, he’s been nearly untouchable.

In 39.2 innings out of the bullpen, he’s produced a 1.36 ERA and has struck out 8.8 batters per nine innings.

■ Aaron Crow validates Dayton Moore's draft strategy (royalsreview.com)

Crow - the Royals' first round selection in 2009 - becomes the first Dayton Moore draftee to be named an All-Star, surprising the many who thought Hilton Richardson would achieve that feat. Here is the excitement we exhibited when Aaron Crow was drafted by the Royals. Clearly, this All-Star selection validates everything Dayton Moore has done in the draft. Congratulations Dayton, you've earned this.

■ A few thoughts on the just unveiled All-Star rosters (Big League Stew)

Middle relievers are the new black: It's hard to find any positives with All-Star games determining home-field advantage in the World Series, but it has raised the profile of good middle relievers. Since the outcomes matter, the managers are putting more thought into roster construction and that has meant guys like Jonny Venters(notes), Tyler Clippard(notes) and Aaron Crow(notes) get on the teams even though they're not closers. In related news, the agents for those players are turning unexpected cartwheels today.

■ 2011 American League All-Stars: A to W (espn.com)

Aaron Crow, Royals: Second All-Star born in Topeka, Kansas. The other was Ross Grimsley of the 1978 Expos. It’s the sixth year in a row that a Royals pitcher has made the All-Star team.

■ Joel Hanrahan, Aaron Crow Make 2011 MLB All-Star Game, Invoke Ghosts Of Nationals' Past (dc.sbnation.com)

Crow, of course, is another story entirely. The Nationals took him with the ninth pick in the 2009 draft on account of him being one of the top pitchers in the draft. But the Nationals never signed him, haggling over several hundred thousand dollars and coming up short. Crow went back into the draft, and was taken 12th overall by the Kansas City Royals. He signed there, and this season, he's been fantastic, posting a 1.36 ERA out of the bullpen.

Mizzou Recruits: Ryan Phillips

■ Top prospect schowcase results and highlights (prepbaseballreport.com)

Ryan Phillips, RHP/SS, Rock Bridge HS, Class of 2012-Recently committing to Mizzou, the 5-foot-10, 180 pound Phillips is top all around talent. On the mound, Phillips uses a high ¾ delivery and was consistently 84 mph with his fastball, that had late movement. Phillips also threw a 10-to-4 breaking ball (71 mph) and changeup (76 mph) with some arm side run and depth. In the field, Phillips showed to be as sure handed as they come. Phillips has quick and soft hands, and always found a way to get his momentum going toward his target, firing 81 mph across the diamond. At the plate, Phillips uses his strong lower half and quick hands to generate bat speed, while consistently finding the sweet spot on the bat driving the ball hard gap to gap.

■ Baseball players show scouts stuff (Columbia Tribune)

Not sure if I’ve seen a better all-around high school baseball player in Columbia than Phillips. As good as he is on the mound — and he’s great as a pitcher, by the way — I think he’s even better in the field and at the plate. In my uneducated opinion, Phillips strikes me as a second or third baseman if he plans to make a career out of this baseball thing.