On the tools over the summer

With the US college baseball season heading towards the World Series, the Defensive Specialist thought it was an opportune time to highlight to the Deep in the Hole fans what players get up to in the summer months. There are numerous summer leagues throughout the US that provide college players with the chance to continue honing their craft for an additional 40-70 games. When you combine that with the 50-60 games they get during the season, you have college athletes playing baseball for nearly 100 games per year which is outstanding for their development.


In order to get a clear picture of how summer baseball breaks down, the Defensive Specialist has turned to US correspondent Brandon Harmon for an in-depth look into American summer leagues:


Summer collegiate baseball is a bit of an unknown to the average baseball fan, yet could be the most exciting amateur baseball being played. An opportunity for the best college level players, who aren’t eligible for professional baseball to play baseball the way it is supposed to be played; with a wood bat. Most people associate college baseball with high runs, colder spring weather, and the unmistakable “PING!” that a metal bat produces. Summer baseball though is more of what the traditional baseball fan has come to expect, baseball played in warm weather with a wood bat.


Summer ball is a great opportunity for college players to showcase their talents and to experience a new part of the country with players from different schools. Summer teams have a large pool of players to choose from since student-athletes who play at a 4 year level college are not eligible to sign professionally until after their 3rd year of school is completed. Summer teams are allowed a maximum of four players from one school, so each team usually has a very diverse roster with upwards of 15-20 schools represented on one team. Teams assemble their rosters by reaching agreements with college programs, basically it’s a first come - first serve process of obtaining players for the summer. It is not uncommon for rosters to have 2-3 players from traditional powers like Arizona St. and Texas, teamed up with players from small Division 3 schools. So not only is it great for the fans to see top level talent but provides an opportunity for lower level college players to prove they can play with the supposed best players in the country.


Within the last ten years more and more collegiate summer leagues have popped up around the country. The Cape Cod League and Alaska Baseball League were the traditional powers but similar leagues across the country have followed their model and tried to emulate their success. Some of the more successful leagues that have become prominent in recent years are the Northwood’s Baseball League in the upper Midwest in the states of Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan, and one team in Canada, the West Coast League in the Northwest in the states of Washington, Oregon, and one team in Canada, the New England Collegiate League in the upper Northeast in the states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, other popular leagues are the Coastal Plains league which is in the two Carolina’s and the Texas Collegiate League located in Texas. Along with the popular leagues there are numerous smaller leagues and also independent summer teams that play different competition throughout the summer.


The Cape Cod League continues to be the premier league in the country, located in Massachusetts on the Cape Cod which is a popular vacation destination. Traditionally the Alaska Baseball League would challenge the Cape Cod for the top position but has slipped in the last few years and is now one of 2nd or 3rd best leagues. Both leagues continue to have the most recognition among fans of amateur baseball in the states. The Cape Cod League continues to produce future big leaguers year in and year out, in the 2009 season 217 Cape Cod alumni were on Major League rosters including stars like Lance Berkman, Ryan Braun, Jacoby Ellsbury, Todd Helton, Tim Lincecum, Evan Longoria, Mark Teixeira, Chase Utley, and Barry Zito. When watching any of the 10 Cape Cod League teams, a spectator can expect to be watching some of the best amateur talent in the country and most likely see 4-5 future big leaguers in each game. The Alaska Baseball League is comprised of 6 teams and is another league with Major League pedigree with alumni like Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Randy Johnson and Tom Seaver. Current big leaguers like Jason Giambi, Michael Young, and JD Drew all called the Alaska League home for a summer. The Alaska League is also home to what many would consider the most famous summer team of all time in the Alaska Goldpanners located in the city of Fairbanks. The Goldpanners just celebrated their 50th anniversary and are a traditional summer power with 192 MLB alumni to the team’s credit. The Goldpanners are also home to one of the most unique baseball experiences that any fan can have in the “Midnight Sun Game”, since Alaska has on average of 20 hours of daylight a day due to the summer solstice season, the Goldpanners play their annual game which starts at 10:30 at night and is played without the benefit of artificial light. ESPN recently came out with their “Baseball Top-10 must see events”, and summer collegiate baseball was well represented with the Cape Cod Baseball League opener being #1 on the list, and the “Midnight Sun Game” ranking #4 on the list. (Link: http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=5151663)


Compared to the regular collegiate season, summer collegiate baseball is a more fan friendly experience. Many teams run regular promotions and try to emulate a minor league experience for both their fans and players. One of the biggest draws for fans in the summer is that teams can serve beer at games, unlike colleges which are restricted by NCAA rules. The Northwood’s League which plays a grueling 70 game season in 76 days (which is about 20 games more than most summer leagues), is probably the most fan friendly experience with 12 of the 16 teams drawing an average of at least 1,000 fans a game. The Madison (WI) Mallards of the league regularly draw over 5,000 fans per game. Players in most leagues are very accessible for fan interaction and readily sign autographs after games.


For the players the chance to get a new experience is something they most likely will never forget. Most summer teams provide host families for the players to live with for the 2-3 months that they are with the team. These relationships with new teammates and host families are usually lasting friendships that extend past the 3 month season. Most teams also do their best to provide opportunities for players to experience new things that their region has to offer on the teams off days. Those activities could include a whitewater rafting trip, sky diving, trip to Fenway Park, or a simple one day getaway to a host families lake cabin, all things that make the experience that much more enjoyable.


Many people would consider the summer collegiate baseball circuit to be the perfect mix of great baseball and fun times. Players who aren’t playing under the pressure of living up to a contract, but also playing hard to prove that they one day can earn that spot in professional baseball. For fan’s it’s an opportunity to see some of the future stars of tomorrow when they are still in a position to meet them, and interact with them. Nothing beats baseball being played under the lights on a hot a summer night, with wood bats the way the game was supposed to be played. So in towns across the country like Wenatchee (WA), Newport (RI), Green Bay (WI), and Bend (OR) great baseball is being played in the summers, and a great opportunity to enjoy the great game of baseball.


Many thanks to Brandon for taking the time to lay it out in great detail. The Defensive Specialist has been a big fan of the Cape Cod league for a number of years now as it has been a breeding ground for Major League talent. Lets hope we can get a few more of our Aussie college players working on their game over the summer in this hot bed.

Time for the Main Course

The Defensive Specialist knows that he’s been offering up puff pieces on upcoming Major League draft picks of late and unfortunately with news from the ABL a little on the slow side, you’re about to get another serving of useless information.

Well it’s not really useless since it’s about perhaps the most hyped prospect ever to appear in the big leagues – Stephen Strasburg. Strasburg was the Washington Nationals first overall pick in last year’s draft (signing for a lazy 15 million) and after two months in the minor leagues he’s being summoned to the Major Leagues to make his debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the 8^th June.

So why is the Defensive Specialist taking up your time talking about him? Simply because he is being touted as the saviour of the moribund Nationals despite never having thrown a pitch in the Major Leagues. He’s so ballyhooed in fact that the Nationals, who average 21,343 per game have already sold out his first start against a team that has a win loss record of 23-33.

Much like Bryce Harper (who’ll likely be drafted by the Nationals as the number 1 pick on the same day), the Defensive Specialist just thought you needed to know about Strasburg since he is an unbelievable mix of physical tools and baseball ability.

Strasburg was born on July 20^th, 1988 and was kind of a non-prospect when he showed up at San Diego State University (hitting legend Tony Gwynn is the head coach). Strasburg even admitted that he wasn’t in shape and didn’t have a work ethic and it wasn’t until the strength and conditioning coach got on his case that he started to figure it out. As a sophomore Strasburg went 8-3 with a 1.57 earned run average with 133 punch-outs in 97 innings. That year he also struck out 23 hitters in one game. His junior year was even sicker with a 13-1 record, 1.32 ERA and 195 strikeouts in 109 innings. 

So what powers these performances? To start with he’s a big old horse – 6 feet 4 inches and 220 pounds. On top of that he dials his fastball up to 100mph (works consistently 95-97) however, what’s different about his fastball to most other flame throwers is that his has movement – tailing back into the plate against lefthanders. He has uncanny control of the fastball, consistently keeping it down in the zone.

Strasburg possesses a hellacious breaking ball that strikes fear in the heart of right-handed hitters. He snaps it off at around 80 mph and once again has amazing control over the pitch, locating it wherever he likes. Strasburg’s changeup vacillates between a plus pitch and an above average pitch (oh to have that problem). He throws the pitch at 88-89mph (Greg Maddux got by with a fastball at that velocity) and does a solid job of selling it with a fastball arm action (and hence fooling hitters).

So that’s the repertoire.

The scary thing is Strasburg’s control. Normally when you stumble across an ox that throws fuel, it typically comes at the expense of command. With downright filthy stuff and control Strasburg becomes a tough ask for hitters.

Strasburg commenced his professional career in 2010 at the double A level. That’s normally a tall order for a college guy but he made short work of it by posting a 1.64 ERA and striking out 27 in 22 innings. The next stop was triple A where he went 4-1 with a 1.08 ERA and 38 K’s in 33 innings.

The obvious question is, “why did he even go to the minor leagues?” Well the Nationals spun a tale suggesting that he needed to work on holding runners on base (which is amusing since he was so dominant that he didn’t allow a great deal of base runners) and a few other assorted items. The reality is that by holding him in the minor leagues to now it delayed his arbitration clock meaning that the Nationals wont have to shell out the big bucks for a few years longer.

Monday night sees Strasburg toe a big league rubber for the first time. How will 45,000 people in the stands affect him? How will big league hitters adjust to his stuff? How will the weight of expectation influence his performance? From all reports he is a fairly level-headed guy, but we’re talking about a whole new stage to perform on now.

The Defensive Specialist is a huge fan of big fastballs and an even bigger fan of pitchers who know how to use them. It will be intriguing to see how the best hitters in the world approach their at bats against a guy with unbelievable stuff. It will be fascinating to see how Strasburg attacks hitters and whether or not he can control his adrenaline and get the job done. He has major league stuff, now its time to see if he has a major league mentality.

No matter what, the phenom is here and dinner is served!