Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Baseball Update
Here is my first baseball update of the year. The Auburn Tigers portion will have more detail as I move to weekly updates, and the Alumni Section will be shorter as I only bother updating those who remain in the Big Leagues. This update will include minor league alumni as well.
Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers are currently 23-13 on the year and 6-6 in SEC play. The Tigers fell out of Baseball America's Top 25 College Baseball Teams following a 1-2 weekend series against Mississippi State in Starkville. The tigers improved to 23-13 with their 12-6 win over Samford in Birmingham.
Auburn Alumni in the MLB
Chris Bootcheck of The Los Angeles Angels (This translates to The The Angels Angels) has pitched in 1 game, throwing 1 and 2/3 innings with only 1 walk allowed against the Texas Rangers. Small sample sizes are fun.
Gabe Gross of the Toronto Blue Jays has 6 ABs in 4 games, and is still seeking his first hit of the season.
Josh Hancock of the Cincinnati Reds is currently on the disabled list with a groin injury.
Bryan Hebson of the Boston Red Sox is currently with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox, hoping to get a shot at the big leagues this year
Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves has started his year as co-ace of the Braves with John Smoltz on a high note. After 2 starts, he is 1-0 with 13 IP and a ERA of 1.38
Scott Sullivan of the Kansas City Royals is currently on the DL with a back injury
Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox is currently out with an ankle injury and is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season.
Mark Bellhorn of the Boston Red Sox is currently hitting .269 through 7 games with the Sox. Bellhorn also got one of these on Monday.
Mark Bellhorn is the 5th Auburn alum in history to have been on a World Series winning team. Fun fact: Auburn and Alabama have both had a total of 5 alumni play on 6 World Series winners.
Auburn Tigers
The Auburn Tigers are currently 23-13 on the year and 6-6 in SEC play. The Tigers fell out of Baseball America's Top 25 College Baseball Teams following a 1-2 weekend series against Mississippi State in Starkville. The tigers improved to 23-13 with their 12-6 win over Samford in Birmingham.
Auburn Alumni in the MLB
Chris Bootcheck of The Los Angeles Angels (This translates to The The Angels Angels) has pitched in 1 game, throwing 1 and 2/3 innings with only 1 walk allowed against the Texas Rangers. Small sample sizes are fun.
Gabe Gross of the Toronto Blue Jays has 6 ABs in 4 games, and is still seeking his first hit of the season.
Josh Hancock of the Cincinnati Reds is currently on the disabled list with a groin injury.
Bryan Hebson of the Boston Red Sox is currently with the AAA Pawtucket Red Sox, hoping to get a shot at the big leagues this year
Tim Hudson of the Atlanta Braves has started his year as co-ace of the Braves with John Smoltz on a high note. After 2 starts, he is 1-0 with 13 IP and a ERA of 1.38
Scott Sullivan of the Kansas City Royals is currently on the DL with a back injury
Frank Thomas of the Chicago White Sox is currently out with an ankle injury and is expected to miss the first few weeks of the season.
Mark Bellhorn of the Boston Red Sox is currently hitting .269 through 7 games with the Sox. Bellhorn also got one of these on Monday.
Mark Bellhorn is the 5th Auburn alum in history to have been on a World Series winning team. Fun fact: Auburn and Alabama have both had a total of 5 alumni play on 6 World Series winners.
Sunday, April 10, 2005
Auburn in the Draft Preview
With the NFL draft just around the corner (April 23-24 on ESPN and ESPN2), I thought I'd post the current prospect status of some well-known former Auburn players.
Ronnie Brown - Was described as having the "best hands of any prospect at the NFL Combine" by Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden. He was including the WR and TE prospects when he said that. Brown also had the fastest 40-yard dash time of all of the draftable RBs, which has made him the top RB prospect in the country. As such, Brown is currently projected to be the #2 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, who are desperately seeking a non-stoner RB to replace Ricky Williams. This would make Ronnie Brown the featured RB for Coach...Nick Saban, formerly of LSU.
Carnell Williams - The Cadillac's choice to play in the North-South game this past winter may have determined where he will go in the draft, as Jon Gruden, whose team has the #5 overall pick, coached the South team that had Williams as its featured back. Williams is considered to be the most elusive of the Big 3 RBs (Williams, Brown, and Cedric Benson of Texas), and the impression he made on Gruden was apparently a very positive one, so it appears likely that Auburn will have TWO players chosen in the Top 5 of the NFL draft this year.
Carlos Rogers - Rogers is generally considered to be the best of the "Second Tier" of CBs in this year's draft, behind Antrel Rolle (Miami) and Adam Jones (West Virginia). Due to the fairly constant demand for physical corners in the NFL today, Rogers has been projected to be selected between the 16th and 23rd picks of the 1st round of the draft.
Jason Campbell - Campbell is currently rated as the 3rd best QB available in the draft by Scouts, INC, behind Aaron Rodgers of California and Alex Smith of Utah. Unfortunately for Campbell, it currently appears that he will be left out of the 1st round of the draft, as most NFL teams either have a solid QB starting, or other positions that need to be filled more desperately. As such, look for Campbell to be an early 2nd round pick.
Ronnie Brown - Was described as having the "best hands of any prospect at the NFL Combine" by Tampa Bay Bucs coach Jon Gruden. He was including the WR and TE prospects when he said that. Brown also had the fastest 40-yard dash time of all of the draftable RBs, which has made him the top RB prospect in the country. As such, Brown is currently projected to be the #2 overall pick in the NFL Draft by the Miami Dolphins, who are desperately seeking a non-stoner RB to replace Ricky Williams. This would make Ronnie Brown the featured RB for Coach...Nick Saban, formerly of LSU.
Carnell Williams - The Cadillac's choice to play in the North-South game this past winter may have determined where he will go in the draft, as Jon Gruden, whose team has the #5 overall pick, coached the South team that had Williams as its featured back. Williams is considered to be the most elusive of the Big 3 RBs (Williams, Brown, and Cedric Benson of Texas), and the impression he made on Gruden was apparently a very positive one, so it appears likely that Auburn will have TWO players chosen in the Top 5 of the NFL draft this year.
Carlos Rogers - Rogers is generally considered to be the best of the "Second Tier" of CBs in this year's draft, behind Antrel Rolle (Miami) and Adam Jones (West Virginia). Due to the fairly constant demand for physical corners in the NFL today, Rogers has been projected to be selected between the 16th and 23rd picks of the 1st round of the draft.
Jason Campbell - Campbell is currently rated as the 3rd best QB available in the draft by Scouts, INC, behind Aaron Rodgers of California and Alex Smith of Utah. Unfortunately for Campbell, it currently appears that he will be left out of the 1st round of the draft, as most NFL teams either have a solid QB starting, or other positions that need to be filled more desperately. As such, look for Campbell to be an early 2nd round pick.
