I am convinced the Pac-10 Conference knows who I am and is laughing at me.
It's Tuesday, which means it's Pac-10 time! With a little less than a month left in the season, the conference decided to throw me a huge curve. Check out the current standings - and note the top three teams in the conference.
Uhm...yeah. About that...The Red Sox drafted three consecutive Pac-10 Players of the Year, each of whom played for one of those three schools. I didn't put them in here in the order in which they won the honor, but rather in the order that they made their Major League debuts for the Sox. Either way, if you know me, you know who they are anyway.
Were I to do that in award-earning order, Jed and Jacoby would be switched around (Jed also came away with the Conference Triple Crown that year - 2004 - which I think is worth pointing out.)
As you can imagine, my mind is now swimming with imagined clubhouse arguments. And this comes right when I really need to concentrate, what with exams starting next week and all...argh.
Now for the other important stuff - this week's player honors! The Player of the Week is DH Kiel Roling (ASU) and the Pitcher of the Week is Preston Guilmet (Arizona). If you've heard the latter's name before, it's because he was last year's Conference Pitcher of the Year and has scouts drooling over him, waiting for the draft. I am so, so excited about the draft - which is June 5th - and I'm really stoked to see where all these Pac-10 kids end up going (and if the Red Sox end up with any of them!). This is going to be fun...
Oh, and I almost forgot - there's a kid currently playing for Stanford named Jason Castro. Besides sharing his name with an American Idol contestant, it turns out he went to Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California. I can only imagine that this poor kid takes some ribbing now and again...
But I think I've found somebody to keep an eye on over there - this fellow named Joey August. See, he's from good ol' Salem, Oregon, and went to South Salem High School. (North Salem High School, of course, can count Jed Lowrie amongst its alumni.) First off, he wants to get to Fenway Park someday, which makes him doubly awesome. Secondly, he and Jed have, erm, "met" before:
August also remembers one time he had to learn about first impressions the hard way, recalling a funny story about the first time he "met" recent Stanford baseball player Jed Lowrie when the two played at rival high schools during their prep days in Salem, Oregon.
"I was playing left field in a JV game, and he hit a ball so far from the varsity field that it hit me in the leg," laughed August. "That was the first I had ever heard of him."
It certainly wasn't the last.
In fact, August credits Stanford's First Team All-American and the Boston Red Sox's 2005 Compensation A draft choice for opening the door for a lot of young baseball players in Oregon.
"Jed's connection is huge for Oregon baseball," said August. "Not a ton of people looked up here, but when he got out and had success, people opened up their eyes and recognized some of the players in Oregon."
The things Jed and Jacoby have done for Oregon are simply amazing sometimes, aren't they? Good job, you two!
Uhm...yeah. About that...The Red Sox drafted three consecutive Pac-10 Players of the Year, each of whom played for one of those three schools. I didn't put them in here in the order in which they won the honor, but rather in the order that they made their Major League debuts for the Sox. Either way, if you know me, you know who they are anyway.
Were I to do that in award-earning order, Jed and Jacoby would be switched around (Jed also came away with the Conference Triple Crown that year - 2004 - which I think is worth pointing out.)
As you can imagine, my mind is now swimming with imagined clubhouse arguments. And this comes right when I really need to concentrate, what with exams starting next week and all...argh.
Now for the other important stuff - this week's player honors! The Player of the Week is DH Kiel Roling (ASU) and the Pitcher of the Week is Preston Guilmet (Arizona). If you've heard the latter's name before, it's because he was last year's Conference Pitcher of the Year and has scouts drooling over him, waiting for the draft. I am so, so excited about the draft - which is June 5th - and I'm really stoked to see where all these Pac-10 kids end up going (and if the Red Sox end up with any of them!). This is going to be fun...
Oh, and I almost forgot - there's a kid currently playing for Stanford named Jason Castro. Besides sharing his name with an American Idol contestant, it turns out he went to Castro Valley High School in Castro Valley, California. I can only imagine that this poor kid takes some ribbing now and again...
But I think I've found somebody to keep an eye on over there - this fellow named Joey August. See, he's from good ol' Salem, Oregon, and went to South Salem High School. (North Salem High School, of course, can count Jed Lowrie amongst its alumni.) First off, he wants to get to Fenway Park someday, which makes him doubly awesome. Secondly, he and Jed have, erm, "met" before:
August also remembers one time he had to learn about first impressions the hard way, recalling a funny story about the first time he "met" recent Stanford baseball player Jed Lowrie when the two played at rival high schools during their prep days in Salem, Oregon.
"I was playing left field in a JV game, and he hit a ball so far from the varsity field that it hit me in the leg," laughed August. "That was the first I had ever heard of him."
It certainly wasn't the last.
In fact, August credits Stanford's First Team All-American and the Boston Red Sox's 2005 Compensation A draft choice for opening the door for a lot of young baseball players in Oregon.
"Jed's connection is huge for Oregon baseball," said August. "Not a ton of people looked up here, but when he got out and had success, people opened up their eyes and recognized some of the players in Oregon."
The things Jed and Jacoby have done for Oregon are simply amazing sometimes, aren't they? Good job, you two!