June Round-Up
By: Austin Alexander
July 1, 2006
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The Major League Draft, showcases, the College World Series, summer baseball…and folks thought baseball season was over! As 50 rounds passed and the NCAA Tournament field shrunk from 64 to 1, DP covered it all for you in June.
Now, Diamond Prospects crunches the numbers and breaks down some of the highlights from the past 30 days.
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Diamond Prospects Statistics:
Teams covered-40
High School games seen-32
Minor League games seen-2
Major League games seen-1
Fields-15
Rainouts-2
Miles traveled-4,307
Pitchers serving as cut-off man-4
Coaches with cell phones clipped to their belt-10
Total hits on www.TheDiamondProspects.com-512,501
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Quickest game: South Carolina Diamond Devils/East Cobb Astros, 1:08
Longest game: Boston Red Sox at Atlanta Braves, 3:48
Best game: Boston 10 Atlanta 7; Schilling vs Smoltz resulting in a 3-2 duel through six and a half; The bullpens turned it into a slugfest and seesaw affair.
Best comeback: After falling behind a run in the seventh inning, the Boston Red Sox scored six runs with two outs to take a five-run lead in an eventual win at Atlanta.
Best home to first time: Jeff Francoeur (Atlanta Braves) 3.87 on a bunt
Best home to first time (turn): Thomas Brittle (Berkeley HS) 4.11
Best pop time: Jason Varitek (Boston Red Sox) 1.83 in between innings
Longest homerun: David Ortiz (Boston Red Sox)
Shortest hang time on a homerun: Jeff Francoeur (Atlanta Braves), 2.3 seconds
Top Web Gems: 2) Trot Nixon (Boston Red Sox) closing on a sinking line drive in right-centerfield, complete with a fully out-stretched grab. 1) Some kid playing centerfield for the Charlotte Heat…best play I’ve seen in quite a while. Running at full speed and toward the fence in left-centerfield, he makes a circus catch laying out with some height to his dive, unbelievable play.
Tallest player: Toland Sams (Beaufort HS) 6’5”
Shortest player: Mickie Paul (Berkeley HS) 5’5”
Best pitcher’s duel: SC Diamond Devils 2 East Cobb Astros 0 at Georgia Tech (Cash Collins-Barnwell & Rob Harding-Spring Valley vs Astros)
Most dominant pitching performance: Cash Collins (Barnwell HS) versus the East Cobb Astros at Georgia Tech. Six innings, three hits, no runs, no walks, 72 pitches in 2-0 win.
Hardest fastball: John Smoltz (Atlanta Braves), 97 MPH
Best baseball name: Coco Crisp (Boston Red Sox)
Cleanest round of pre-game: South Carolina Diamond Devils 17U
Top Fungo Guy: Right-handed-Brian Hucks (Brookland-Cayce HS), Left-handed-Mark Bonnette (White Knoll HS)
Best Dressed Evaluator: Greg Schilz (Pittsburgh Pirates)…again!
Attendance Award-Scout: Jerry Jordan (Cleveland Indians)
Attendance Award-College: Jason Murray (Charleston Southern), Brent Shade (Furman)
Best Argument with an Umpire: Dave Delgado (Upstate Mavericks)
Best line from a mom in the bleachers: “What flavor of Gatorade do you want son?”
Best Playing Surface: Turner Field
Best pre-game tunes: University of Tennessee
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