Baseball Updates in The Crimson

THC follows up on several of the stories we've posted here. First, Frank Herrmann's exit:

While playing with the Oahu Paddlers in the Hawaii Collegiate Baseball League, the senior pitcher drew the attention of scouts on the strength of his rejuvenated right arm. In the past, the Rutherford, N.J. native had suffered from tendinitis at the ulnar nerve, hindering both his health and velocity.

But this summer, finally “truly healthy” for the first time, Herrmann—who went 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA last year—was hitting 93 MPH on the radar gun.

After being considered by the Kansas City Royals and the Red Sox, the starter was approached by Indians scout Don Lyle, who offered him the best deal.

Herrmann, who stands 6’4, 220-lbs., calls the time he spent mulling over signing and thus leaving Harvard baseball the “toughest three weeks” of his life.

“I talked to everyone,” he said. “I talked to my family, friends. I talked to Zak, Coach Walsh, Coach Hyde.”

The notion of “What if?” ultimately proved too glaring for Herrmann to ignore. He figured that if he pitched for the Crimson in 2006 and did poorly, or got hurt once again, the prospect of another contract coming along would be slim.

So the Indians threw out a number, offered to help pay for school, and included a signing bonus. Former Boston Red Sox general manager Dan Duquette—whom Herrmann played for in the New England Collegiate Baseball League two summers ago—helped negotiate the deal for him and his family.

“I was a part of the best team ever in my opinion,” Herrmann said. “But I might never get this opportunity again.”

Today, Herrmann is back at school, living with his roommates and readying for the fall semester.

He’ll practice and work out with the team, he says, and then head to wherever the Indians send him in March. He is “99.9 percent sure” that he’ll return next fall to get his degree in government.

The same article also discusses Zak Farkes' summer:

“My main goal was to get experience this summer,” he says. “If I deliberated, waited until next year, I might’ve missed 100 or so at-bats. The wheels would’ve been going too fast. It would’ve been my first spring training—with no pro experience.”

Farkes acknowledged he “was pressing” during a short season at Class A ball this summer. His stint with Lowell—which finished just short of playoff contention in the New York-Penn League—somewhat resembled his junior season at Harvard, in which a slow start was topped with a season-ending hot streak.

Farkes hit two home runs in the season’s final week, but finished with a disappointing .174 average in 132 at-bats.

“You learn a lot about yourself,” he says of unfulfilled expectations. “But [the minors are] not really about stats. It’s more about learning to play the game.”

Despite the rough summer, the Red Sox were impressed with Farkes’ finish.

After working towards his Harvard degree this fall and living with roommate Frank Herrmann in Eliot House, he will report to spring training in March.

The article also reports that John Wolff, whose selection in the late rounds of the draft surprised many, has signed with the White Sox.

The Crimson then devotes a separate article to Schuyler Mann's signing with the Yankees:

“I hadn’t talked to any scouts in a while,” Mann says. “By that time, I’d basically given up any thought of baseball. As far as I knew, they weren’t signing people that late.”

When the Yankees came calling, Mann was at home in Corvallis, Mont., engaging in his favorite hobby, fresh-water fishing, and entertaining designs on joining the family jewelry business.

Finally, there's this on other players' summer league stints.

Breaking: Herrmann Leaves

Sources close to Harvard Baseball indicate that rising senior RHP Frank Herrmann has signed with the Cleveland Indians. His Harvard baseball career is over. The 6'4", 220 lb. Herrmann went 5-1 with a 3.09 ERA, including two shutouts, and was arguably the team's best pitcher in 2005.

With the early departures of Herrmann and Zak Farkes, this summer is proving to be the costliest in recent memory for Harvard. We'll have more on this one later.

Crimson Community Affected By Hurricane Katrina

As readers of this blog will remember, we talked previously about the variety of Crimson connections to the state of Louisiana. One of those important connections is Josh San Salvadaor ('02), who came to Cambridge from Chalmette, a city hit almost head-on by the eye of Katrina and remains swamped in water (images from Chalmette here and here).

Sanzo has alerted us that he is safe, and that he is staying with extended family in Lafayette, LA. He has indicated his sincere appreciation for the thoughts and prayers that have come from all those who have tried to contact him, and he is confident that the strength of his family will get him through this very trying situation.

If anyone has any information about the Keck family, we'd greatly appreciate it if you could let us know. According to press reports, Keck's high school, Isidore Newman School in New Orleans, may be closed until Christmas. Also, if there are others in the Crimson baseball community who have been affected by the storm, please let us know (the Crimson has reported on undergraduates who have been displaced by the storm).

And if there's any help the Harvard baseball community can provide beyond keeping the victims in our thoughts and prayers, please pass along those suggestions.

UPDATE: Auto-reply from Jason Keck's email address says the following:

Out of town on a "camping" trip until the 8th of September with no
access to email. If you are wondering about the family and new orleans,
all are safe and well.

UPDATE (2): David Forst has passed along the info he has on the Keck family
-- thanks for the update:

Jason Keck's parents, Bill and Jeanny, and the rest of Jason's extended
family are safe. I know they stayed at home for the hurricane itself,
but were forced to leave when NO began to flood. They were able to get
out of the city to get to Baton Rouge, and were then planning on going
to stay with family in Savannah. That is all the info I have.

More notes

Joe Walsh is quoted in this article about the Boston Park League, but the more interesting thing might be that he was quoted by phone while "recruiting in Atlanta."

Josh Klimkiewicz has also been quoted in the Globe lately.

Lance Salsgiver finished the season leading the Cape Cod League's Wareham Gatemen with a .301 average.

Mann Alive!

Speaking of recent Crimson catching greats, Schuyler Mann has indeed surfaced within the Yankees organization.

The Continued Adventures of Brian Lentz

Former Crimson catcher Brian Lentz has gotten a lot of press recently, although not all of it is the kind you'd like...

Brian Lentz was a tremendous athlete at St. John's Prep in football and baseball. In 1997 - the year the Eagles had perhaps their best football team in a generation - Lentz did it all ... even overshadowing future BC quarterback Brian St. Pierre.

He was on everybody's list of "can't-miss" prospects as a catcher, was headed to Harvard to play ball, and - with apologies to Timbuk 3 - his future was so bright he had to wear shades.

Well, what happened? Lentz, at the age of 25, had a cup of coffee with the North Shore Spirit within the last month, but was released by manager John Kennedy last week - basically for taking an "it's all about me" attitude. And if Kennedy needed further proof that he was right, all he had to do was read what Lentz had to say after he left.

Lentz could have chosen to leave quietly (as any player with a shred of self-respect might have done after being unceremoniously cut from a Single A level team). Instead, he not only burned the bridge, he blew it up ... a classic case of being hoist with one's own petard.

---From Steve Krause's "Lentz Burned Bridges," the Daily Item of Lynn (8/9/2005).

The Globe has a more charitable take, as the reporter rides with Lentz himself:

As he drove from his home in Manchester-by-the-Sea to Little Falls, N.J., last Friday in a Honda Accord without air conditioning, Brian Lentz was asked how much longer he planned to pursue a professional baseball career. The day before, Lentz, a catcher, had been discouraged by his release from the North Shore Spirit, but now that episode was in his rearview mirror, another obstacle in the bumpy road he has traveled in pro baseball.

''You just keep trying and trying and don't get discouraged," said Lentz, who for his five-hour drive to join the New Jersey Jackals was rewarded with one game and a plane ticket to Pensacola, Fla. The Jackals traded the 25-year-old Manchester native to another independent minor league franchise, the Pensacola Pelicans, last Friday.

---From Christopher Gasper's "A Catcher on the Fly," The Boston Globe (8/11/2005).

And so continues one of the more fascinating storylines Harvard sports has seen in recent years.

Lance Salsgiver, Cape League All-Star

And the nice ink that accompanies such an honor.

The Noise of Summer

Harvard Update:

Lance Salsgiver (.327) is leading the Cape Cod League's Wareham Gateman in batting average. Shawn Haviland has a 5.21 ERA in eight appearances.

Steffan Wilson is making quite the impression, according to this article that, for some reason, vanishes as soon as it loads. You have to press "stop" quickly to read it. Excerpt:

TORRINGTON -- When Torrington Twisters manager Gregg Hunt looks at Steffan Wilson, he sees a solid right fielder. And infielder. And pitcher if need be. In fact, Hunt just sees one darn good baseball player.

With virtually total roster turnover year-to-year in the New England Collegiate Baseball League, surprises are always part of the deal, and there has probably been no nicer surprise for the Twisters this season than Wilson.

"When we agreed to take him as a freshman (at Harvard), we didn't know what we were getting," Hunt said.

"He's a heck of a right fielder and can probably play anywhere he chooses. He played the infield for Harvard and was their closer. The only positions he probably can't play are up the middle."

"I think if I spent some time there (up the middle) I could play there," Wilson said with a smile when told of Hunt's analysis.

Wilson, a sturdy 6-foot-1, 210-pounder, was the 2005 Ivy League Rookie of the Year. He is currently hitting .320 for Torrington with a team-leading 32 RBI. He has spent most of the season in right for the Twisters, a situation he almost considers relaxing.
"It's nice to only focus on right field," Wilson said. "There is going to be time soon to focus in (on one position). I don't know if I need to make my decision now. If a scout told me to zone in, I'd definitely listen to the advice. But right now, I'm keeping all the doors open."

At this stage in his career, Hunt sees Wilson's versatility as nothing but an advantage.

"Eventually he is going to have to decide what he is, but he is in a great position now," Hunt said. "He can choose what he wants to do on the baseball field."

Wilson has no specific preference where he plays; this summer, he says, is about getting better in all areas. But, he does have a general direction for the future.

"I want to hit," he said. "I don't want to be stuck on the mound. I've always loved pitching, but I would choose to hit. I like being part of the action every day."

Former Crimson catcher Brian Lentz was released by the Mariners organization and signed with the independent North Short Spirit.

Former Ivy Pitcher of the Year Trey Hendricks leads the Yakima Bears, the Diamondbacks' Class A Northwest League affiliate, in average (.310), slugging (.442) and RBI (15) over 33 games.

Former Ivy Co-Pitcher of the Year Ben Crockett has an 3.68 ERA through 7 relief appearances and one start with the Class AA Tulsa Drillers.

While Wilson has thrived in the NECBL, Josh Klimkiewicz (.200) and Tom Stack-Babich (.156) have struggled. Speaking of struggling, Zak Farkes (5-for-45) has not had an auspicious start to his pro career at Class A Lowell.

Finally, we have this: Apparently, Larry Summers enlisted Matt Hyde for a crash course in reaching the mound before throwing the first pitch at Fenway recently.

“He was going to throw from behind the pitcher’s rubber like it was the baseline in tennis, so I had to get him straightened out,” Hyde recalled. “I told him they’d probably have him throw from 45 feet or something. But Larry said, ‘No, if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it from the full distance.’”

“You learn a lot about a person when he puts on a glove,” Hyde said.

Zak Farkes: A Greatest Hits Compilation

• This Week: Farkes signs with Red Sox, ends Harvard career.
  
• Lowell Spinners' Farkes page.
  
• GoCrimson.com profile.
  
• Boston Herald feature.
  
• Unanimous selection to 2005 All Ivy.
  
• A clutch 2005 Dartmouth weekend.
  
• 2005 injury issues.
  
• Ultimately prescient 2005 Preseason Feature in The Crimson.
  
• Farkes returns for junior year.
  
• Summer league play in the Cape.
  
• Red Sox Draftee [with Crimson story]
  
• Unanimous utility selection, All Ivy First Team 2004.
  
• The Sick Season.
  
• Huge Dartmouth weekend as a soph.
  
• Farkes and the Facebook feature in The Crimson.
  
• Farkes, Klimkiewicz and Salsgiver named The Crimson's Male Rookies Of The Year.
  
• Ivy League Rookie of the Year, 2003.
  
• Meet The BB&N Boys.
  
• Early returns.

Breaking News: Farkes Leaves

The Harvard Crimson reports in its Friday edition that Zak Farkes forgoes his last year of NCAA eligibility to sign with the Red Sox, the team that drafted him last year:

TROY, N.Y.—Zak Farkes has always known just what kind of career he wants. From his childhood watching the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park through his years as a slugging infielder for the Harvard baseball team, Farkes has had the goal of playing baseball for a living.
Although various setbacks threatened to deny that dream, Farkes fulfilled his lifetime desire July 2 by signing a professional contract as a non-drafted free agent with his hometown Red Sox. Foregoing his senior season of baseball eligibility at Harvard, Farkes is embarking on what he hopes will be a long professional journey.

“What I want to do in my life is be a pro baseball player,” Farkes said before his new team, the Lowell (Mass.) Spinners, played Tuesday night. “A Harvard degree will help me out in the future, but my first commitment was to baseball.”

That commitment began last Sunday evening in Troy, N.Y. After signing the previous day—a contract that he negotiated with the team himself—Farkes was assigned to the Spinners of the New York-Pennsylvania League, a class-A franchise.

Farkes joined his new team just in time to catch the bus to Bruno Stadium, where Lowell was taking on the Tri-City ValleyCats, a minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros. He was barely settled before learning Spinners’ manager Luis Alicea had penciled him into the starting lineup at second base, the position where the Red Sox have told Farkes he’ll get the majority of his playing time.

We'll have more on this story.

Diamond Notes

Having taken a bit of a break to catch our collective breaths (and watch CS-Fullerton fail to make it back to Omaha after all), here's a look at some Harvard baseball news and notes:

• Ben Crockett '02 was called-up to Double A Tulsa about the same time the Crimson met their Game 1 fate, after extended spring training / injury rehab:
  

  Ben Crockett is back on the mound after spending rehabilitation time for a shoulder injury in Tucson, Ariz. But the 25-year-old power pitcher from Topsfield, Masconomet Regional and Harvard University is not in a familiar role with the Tulsa Drillers of the Double A Texas League.
  
  Crockett is now pitching in relief.
  
  Professionally, he's been a fixture as a starting pitcher since signing with the Colorado Rockies in 2002, a third-round draft choice who was highly coveted coming out of Harvard.
  
  However, the power-pitching right-hander suffered an impingement of a shoulder nerve in spring training. He spent almost two months in Tucson in extended spring training for players who are on the mend.
  
  "If it's going to get me to the majors quicker, all the better. I have no problem with it," Crockett said. "I'm 100 percent healthy and anxious for the opportunity just to pitch.
  
  "I haven't done relief in some time, but I did close at times at Harvard and I relieved some that summer I pitched in Alaska after my freshman year at Harvard. It was a mixture of starting and relieving."

  
  
  Congratulations, Ben. Immediately after Crockett and the Crimson lost to Washington in the 2002 NCAA Regionals, I met Ben after his final press conference, shook has hand and thanked him for the memories. Ben Crockett starts in senior year were incredibly thrilling experiences, including a number of performances that felt even more dominant than the no-hitter he hurled against Dartmouth in 2001. I felt pretty confident it wouldn't be the last I saw of him on the mound. Here's hoping.
  
  And now, some more draft fallout:
  
  
• Steffan Wilson grew up on a diet of pretty good backyard pitching. His big brother and Winthrop pitcher was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 27th round. The younger Wilson gets a mention in this article.
  
  
• Nick Pulos, Penn catcher and new Oakland A's draftee, had some awfully interesting things to say about being drafted out of Penn in this oddly written article:
  
  

  The sole Penn player selected in the draft is disillusioned with the way Penn prepares its players for the possibility of being drafted. He said Penn does little to expose the varsity players to current Major Leaguers. For example, former Penn players and major leaguers Mark DeRosa and Doug Glanville, seldom, if ever, meet with current Penn players.
  
  The player claims that the draft is a tremendously political process, and the Ivy League and Penn are often overlooked by scouts. He claims that the outgoing Penn coaching staff did little to pressure players to be drafted and equally little to encourage Major League teams to draft Penn players.
  
  His case-in-point was the example of Nick Italiano. Italiano, a 2003 graduate was Penn's all time hit leader yet did not get drafted. However, Italiano's story was not complete disappointment, as he later signed with the Phillies as a rookie free agent.

  
  
  
• Summer-watch: Lance Salsgiver and Shawn Haviland in a Cranberry-Cape League showcase.
  
  
• Frosh-watch: Chris Stevens ("plans to walk on as an outfielder"), Jared Wortzman.

Thanks To All

It’s been a fantastic season to cover. While the ending was disappointing, the voyage was not. Another Ivy Championship under the belt, a whole host of All-Ivy Leaguers, tons of great performances (both individual and team) and plenty of days under the sun to remember. To the class of 2005, from my experience, I can tell you that your Harvard baseball experience only gets better with age.

Congratulations to the senior class. Two Ivy Championships will stay with you for a lifetime. On a special note, good luck to Rob Wheeler who will go on to serve something larger than himself. As noted by The Crimson previously, Doggie will be shipping out on June 23^rd to Fort Jackson, SC, where he will undergo nine weeks of the Army’s basic training and another 14 weeks of Officer Candidate School. Best wishes – our thoughts and prayers are with you.

I’d love to know what the rest of senior class has planned. If anyone knows, drop us a line. I’d love to see Sky get a shot in rookie ball. Ian displayed great character this season. He travailed through the early part of the season which saw him getting very little playing time, but he earned his way back into the lineup and was a solid contributor.

As for Lande, I too am going to miss reading her columns. Her almost-maniacal enthusiasm for baseball has shined through her columns for four years. By the way, Lande’s final column didn’t fully detail what a superstar her brother, Chas, is. Keep your eyes out for him next year in a Florida Gators uniform. This year, he led the Key West Conchs to the 3A championship (as a shameless plug, my high school – Melbourne Central Catholic – finished sixth in 3A at the end of the regular season). Anyways, Chas, the 103^rd ranked prospect in the ’05 high school class according to Perfect Game, fired a no-hitter in the state semifinals to get his team to the championship game as she noted. Lande, thank you for your contributions to the Harvard baseball program – but I have to say, in what could have been your biggest contribution, you fell short (getting Chas to Harvard). Best of luck to all.

And lastly, let me thank the creators of Sons of Bart Brush. This blog was the brainchild of Marty Bell. Brian Fallon served as the spark plug, and I was just along for the ride. Thanks to Brian and Marty for your efforts. A special note of thanks to Marty who dedicated literally days upon days to the blog, attended a number of games, met with the coaches, and put up an unceasing flow of insightful commentary. Also, thanks to all those who contributed to and read the blog. I’ve heard lots of positive feedback, and I’m satisfied the blog accomplished what was my personal goal – to reconnect the Harvard baseball alumni community.

Go Crimson! Repeat!

Thanks, Seniors.

Harvard Commencement was Thursday, and with that we give a heartfelt thanks to Schuyler Mann, Ian Wallace, Mike Morgalis, Rob Wheeler, Jeff Friedman and Javi Arteaga. Doggie and Mikey Mo were featured in the Crimson's outstanding commencement issue (which also named Steffan Wilson the Crimson's Male Rookie of the Year and Frank Herrmann its Breakout Athlete of the Year and ran more baseball articles than any commencement issue in memory).





An added note of congratulations and thanks to Lande Spottswood, a superb baseball writer and devoted fan of the cause for four years, whose final column ran on Thursday as well. I'll miss reading her.

Crying... Wolff?

Neither Schuyler Mann nor Zak Farkes was drafted today. However, it appears that John Wolff was. After reading this Pablo Torre story, I'll admit having to check elsewhere to make sure it wasn't an elaborate prank. But it wasn't.

Wolff, a reserve player on the Crimson, was picked in the 47th round—1,407th overall—by the Chicago White Sox. There are 50 rounds total.

The Armonk, N.Y., native out of Byram Hills High School played in just eight games in 2005 and started two of them, registering one hit in 11 plate appearances. He missed his entire freshman year due to injury, and appeared in nine games in 2004, going 4-for-8 on the season.

Wolff’s father, Rick Wolff ’74, was drafted after his junior year at Harvard by the Detroit Tigers, while his grandfather, the famous Bob Wolff, was a Hall of Fame broadcaster most notable for his work with the Washington Senators.

So figure that one out.

Pablo also pointed out in an e-mail that if you go to MLB.com's draftcaster (linked from here and check out the scouting video for St. John's pitcher John Sullivan, it's from his start against us at the Metrodome in the opening weekend this past year. Relive Matt Vance's early OBP tear! See Chris Mackey bat! Good times. He's pick #583 on Day Two.

Day 1 of MLB Draft Passes With No Crimson Taken

No Harvard players were taken in the first day of the MLB Draft. A couple Ivy League draftees: Will Venable (Princeton) – 7^th Round to Padres
Josh Sowers (Yale) – 10^th Round to Toronto

Best of luck to Farkes, Mann, and company tomorrow. We're rooting for you.

Press Post-Mortem

• The Harvard Crimson: RECAP [and a preview that recounts the Depodesta meeting]
  
• GoCrimson.com: RECAP
  
• Mizzou Tigers: RECAP
  
• A sparse AP RECAP
  
• AP Photos, including this very poignant one of Steffan Wilson consoling Ian Wallace as his collegiate career comes to a close.

The Season Ends.

We'll have more in the next few days, with the promise of a McPhillips recap and pre-MLB draft activities as well... As far as this game goes, I think the Crimson can be somewhat more satisfied with this effort. They showed some genuine fight after falling behind early on, although I think one would be hard-pressed to say that we saw the very best of Harvard baseball over the past two days.

That said, congratulations to the Crimson on a very good season, which featured the return of the Ivy and Beanpot championships.

GAME IS ON ESPN NOW -- TUNE IN

Thanks to Bink for the heads-up

Missouri-Harvard Update

Update:
Final: 14-6, Missouri... Every Harvard starter wound up with a hit... Brunnig scoreless ninth...

In-Game Notes:

Live updating scoreboard here... An error and a misjudgment by LF Wallace key a 4-run first for the Tigers... Wilson's RBI groundout ends streak of 10 scoreless tourney innings... Herrmann: 2 2/3 inn, 10 hits, 3 BB, 9 er, 4 K...

Listen to Harvard-Missouri LIVE

Here. A few annoying clicks, but the broadcast is available.

Preview of Tonight’s Game

After watching the Crimson go down hard to Cal State Fullerton, you have to think that Missouri may be looking past the Crimson to a matchup against the loser of 2004 CWS attendees Cal State Fullerton and Arizona -- that game by the way may be the most competitive 1-2 game in the nation (which is why Baseball America’s Will Kimmey called the Fullerton bracket the “bracket of death.”)

If Missouri is indeed looking past the Crimson, they may not pitch their number two tonight – Nathan Culp (9-2, 3.18, 87.2 IP, 57Ks, 29 walks). They may choose instead to go with their number three – Doug Mathis (5-4, 3.27, 77 IP, 67Ks, 17 walks) or Taylor Parker (1-2, 1.90, 42.2 IP, 40Ks, 20 walks). In the Big 12 Tournament, Mathis and Parker combine to squeeze Missouri past Oklahoma, 8-7, in their first round matchup. Mathis is a right-hander and Parker is a lefty. Missouri’s not a team that hits a ton of balls out of the park. In fact, in 15 less games, the Crimson as a team has hit 10 more homeruns than Mizzou (but then again, Cal State Fullerton wasn’t supposed to be a big homerun team, and they dropped four on us last night).

We’ll see how Missouri plays their hand. I also wonder whether Coach Walsh will go with Herrmann or Haviland tonight. It seems a tough call, but given that Herrmann’s been the game 1 starter on weekends this whole year, I’m guessing Coach may go with him to start, and may be quick to turn to Haviland (or vice versa) should the starter get in early trouble. Either way, the Crimson are well-positioned in terms of their starting pitching over the next two games, if they can pull it out tonight. Brunnig and Wilson should still be fresh out of the pen.

Pics From Last Night's Game

Courtesy of the AP, here are some pictures from last night's game

Steffan Wilson (it was the first time I've seen the Crimson's gray caps)

Mike Morgalis

Wes Roemer

Danny Dorn

image that was repeated too often last night

The Day After

THC's Alex McPhillips filed this sobering recap on last night's rout:

FULLERTON, Calif.—It took a three-year postseason drought, a mild California night, and, between the raucous 3,604 in attendance and a nationwide television audience tuning in, throngs of eager spectators to bring Harvard College back to the world of big-time college baseball.
And then reality bit back.

Cal State Fullerton (42-15) looked every bit the defending national champions, sending the Crimson (29-16) to the loser’s bracket with a crushing 19-0 defeat.

Big ups to the Crimson for getting a writer out to these games, especially one as good as Alex.

Also of note, the account from theLA Times opens with mention of Dodger GM/Harvard alum Paul DePodesta's visit to wish the Crimson well prior to the game. Contrary to the reporter's wisecracking, I'm sure the team was thrilled at the chance to meet him.

Also, the write-up from the Crimson's SID office (Kevin Anderson does a great job with these) is here and the version from Fullerton's is here. The latter notes that the crowd last night was the second-largest ever at Goodwin Field, which says something considering this is something like the fourth regional Fullerton has hosted since expanding its seating capacity to its current size in 2001. If it wasn't clear already, it is now: Harvard couldn't be on a bigger stage than it is this weekend.

Impressions from the Blowout

Unfortunately, this game turned into a repeat performance of the Crimson's game 1 match-up against Cal State Fullerton in 1998 down in Baton Rouge. It wasn't pretty.

First, Mike Morgalis pitched a helluva lot better than his line might indicate. He had some good movement and was pitching to spots with a relatively generous umpire behind the plate. The pitch that he made to the guy who hit the grandslam was low-and-in, about 2 inches off the plate inside, and the guy was able to get his bat there and take it out of the yard.

Second, the Crimson played with tons of nervousness. It was evident from the get-go; Farkes, who was stealing, got picked up after getting hit by a pitch in the first (another Crimson baserunner got picked later in the game when he was going which led me to believe that the Titans might have been onto the signs... suspicious that they'd pull their best move over to first at the perfect time... still no excuse to get picked). On defense, it just seemed that everything was being rushed. There was a lot of tension in how infielders approached balls and hurried throws.

Third, Roemer, while good, probably shouldn't have dominated us as he did. Though I didn't see all the pitchers the Crimson faced this year, I can't imagine that Roemer was the best. The bats just weren't as sharp. In addition to the general failure to get hits, there were very few hard-hit balls or even good swings. Roemer, facing an all-right-handed Crimson lineup, was effective in throwing a tight, hard slider that gave fits to the hitters all night long.

Fourth, I talked earlier about how hard it is to stay sharp, and the Crimson proved that difficulty tonight. The defense had a difficult time fielding bunts. Three errors and generally sloppy play. Hitting was hardly consistent. Of course, some of that can be attributed to the nerves, but there's also the simple fact that Cal State Fullerton is no Quinnipiac, Cornell, or Brown. To compete with teams that are abound in talent and playing at the top of their game, you not only have to be playing your best at the right time but also somehow find a way to get better without playing high-level competition (I'm talking about the few games played from the time the Ivy Championship ended until the Regionals began).

Lastly, I'll leave on a positive note by mentioning the '98 Crimson team who got clobbered by Cal State, but went on to turn plenty of heads. The '98 club defeated Nicholls State 6-4 in extra innings the day after its defeat to CSF, and then defeated Tulane 14-11 the day after that. Ultimately, they faced Cal State Fullerton that same evening after having defeated Tulane; they went up early, had Cal State on the ropes for a bit, and then lost 11-7. Regardless of the score tonight, the Crimson face Mizzou tomorrow with a clean slate and an opportunity to show what they've got. With Haviland and Herrmann still in the hole to pitch, the team has a chance to make a bit of a run.

19-0.

Well, this wasn't very good at all. I will defer to SoBB guys who got to see the game on TV for further comment.

The Crimson takes on Missouri tomorrow at 7 pm EST in the loser's bracket. We should have a radio link here tomorrow night.

Harvard-CSF Update

Update:
10-0 CSF... Brown in for Morgalis (110 pitches), gives up a two-run shot to Dorn, Dorn's second homer of the game, and a solo shot later in the inning... Roemer has faced the minimum...

In-Game Notes:

Third inning Danny Dorn grand slam set up by two Harvard errors keys a five-run inning for CSF... Joe Walsh apparently did a live in-game interview on national television... Tommy Lasorda addressed the Crimson before the game... According to Faiz, watching with former tri-captain Erik Binkowski, alums across the country recognized the bunt-for-hit sign given to Matt Vance in the first... Mann breaks up the no-hitter with a single to start the fifth, but Harvard would get no more in the inning...

Listen to CSF/Harvard LIVE

Here. [EDIT: Also, see your live boxscore here.] Let's go Harvard...

Also, the Crimson's Alex McPhillips filed this from the left coast:

The answer was confirmed today—neither. Titans rookie Wes Roemer (5-3, 3.68), who took home Big West Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors as the team’s third starter, will take on Harvard’s strong lineup. Though Roemer pitched well overall this season, he figured largely in Fullerton’s recent cold spell (two straight losses and just a 6-4 record in the team’s last 10 games).
In his last appearance, Roemer gave up four runs in three innings of relief against UC Riverside.
“Some people might think of it as an insult,” said Harvard junior Frank Herrmann, who lounged in the stands at Fullerton’s Goodwin Field during Friday’s earlier Missouri-Arizona game. “But you have to use it to your advantage. If we can get to [Roemer] early, he might start thinking about it.”
“Hey,” Herrmann added, “if they don’t want to throw their [MLB] top-10 pick tonight, it’s fine with us.”
Early word was that tonight’s game, which will be broadcast live on ESPNU at 11 p.m. EDT, has been sold out. Seating capacity at Goodwin Field tops out at approximately 3,500.

Boston Herald Article on Klim

The Boston Herald writes today about what a great effect having a healthy Klimkiewicz has had on the Crimson lineup this year. Coach Walsh speaks high praise about his power. At least the Herald knows first-team All Ivy talent when they see it.

This Boston Globe article from yesterday gets an impression about the team by interviewing Doggie Wheeler.

Wheeler, one of the six seniors who can remember Harvard's last trip to the NCAA Tournament, called the team chemistry the difference between this team and teams that did not reach this point. He noticed things were different this season when the team dressed up the freshmen in ridiculous outfits during their early-season trip to Florida. As the newbies walked around Daytona Beach in skin-tight denim and hideous DayGlo colors, he noticed the team bonding as never before.

Coach Walsh does his usual psychological analysis on the team:

"When they announced we'd be playing Cal State-Fullerton, you would think we'd just won the lottery," Walsh said. ''You could see it in the look of their eyes the next day in practice. They want to get it on."

And, of course, what would an article about the Crimson baseball program be without Coach Walsh talking about a quest for respect:

''We don't think we belong [at the bottom]," Walsh said. ''We got a little chip on our shoulder. We're constantly fighting for respect. Obviously, Harvard is known for its academics. We're trying to get it known for its baseball, too."

Breaking News: Crimson Likely To Face CSF's #3

According to the program put out by the Cal State Fullerton sports information department, the Crimson are not going to see either of the top two Titan pitchers.

http://sports.fullerton.edu/baseball/2005/headlines/weeklyrelease0602.html

Probable Starters:
CSF - RHP, Wes Roemer
HAR - RHP, Mike Morgalis

Who is he?

FRESHMAN PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Wes Roemer earned Big West Conference Freshman Pitcher of the Year honors as he made his presence felt when he was pressed into action by an injury to teammate Ryan Schreppel in March. He made 17 appearances, garnering a 5-3 record, including five consecutive Saturday wins. The freshman right-hander’s 3.68 ERA is good for 11th in the conference.


No disrespect to anyone involved, but I'm loving our chances more and more. Clearly, the Crimson are going to have to put up quite a few runs to win, and throwing Roemer at least gives us the best chance to do it.


UPDATE: Perhaps getting its information from the same source, the OC Register also has Roemer starting tonight.

Sons of Bart Brush Roundtable: Installment One

So we've got something new for you today.

We recently gathered several alums from the championship teams of the late 90s for an e-mail roundtable in anticipation of the NCAAs and because even Faiz and I run out of things to post during lulls like this. Their availability over e-mail is limited because they all have regular jobs, and a couple of them face particularly busy weeks.

Still, many were able to time to respond, and we'd like to thank Andrew Duffell, David Forst, Mike Marcucci, Brian Ralph, Peter Woodfork and, of course, Bart Brush, for agreeing to participate in a feature we hope will continue.

SoBB: At this time of year, it makes sense to think back to your era's Harvard teams as the ones that were the most successful in the modern history of the program, both in the league and with some impressive showings in the NCAA postseason. What stands out about those teams the most in your memories?

Mike Marcucci: Some thoughts while thinking I could probably shut down the A's for at least a couple innings right now.

* Saving the specific anecdotes for later, I'll make two comments I think one of the biggest things that stands out about those teams is the difference between perception and reality. The perception of the teams, I think, was that they combined deep, quality pitching and good defense with a scrappy offense that scrounged out runs through nifty baserunning and intentional out-making. The first two parts are true. In particular, I was a regular beneficiary of having Forst, Hal, and Woody in the infield. What I think is underrated most about those teams is how good the offense was. We had solid hitters one through nine, guys who worked the count and could hit for power. The power tended toward doubles and long foul balls in New Hampshire but, when needed, we could mash. In that way, this year's team seems to resemble those older squads. In the NCAA, you have to be able to swing the stick because, eventually, everyone runs out of pitching. And, the top teams are so good on defense in many cases that some of the aggressive baserunning we employed to great effect in the league and in the northeast, was neutralized to a certain extent. The other problem, of course, is that small ball helps you score a couple of runs, but you need more than that in the tourney. Take Forst (please!), for example. People usually focus on how good he was on defense and how much time he spent in the training room, but what lots of people forget is that by mid-way through the 1997 season, he was an on-base and doubles machine (sound familiar?) and had successfully moved up from the 11 hole to #9. We were successful because we could win pitchers' duels and slugfests.
* Second was the obvious-- the top teams that be played and beat. When Coach Walsh came in, he came with the attitude that we would play anybody, anywhere and our goal as a team as not just to win the Ivy League, but to be the top team in New England and competitive on a national level. He went out and scheduled the big boys and it paid off, both in post-season success but also success in the Ivy League. We fed off of that attitude and the results speak for themselves. Of course, it also helped that there were two great recruiting classes in a row, and the talent was there to match that attitude. Otherwise, the attitude would just have been annoying.

Bart Brush: Cooch is correct. The 1997 team especially could really swing it by the end of the year.
I also always love to see that 18-2 Ivy record.
On a less serious note, not sure if you guys remember this but I know Ralph was there with me. Do you remember shagging BP one day after we had won the Ivies in 1997 and trying to determine MLB trade-style how we could get one more bat for the NCAAs. I think we were ultimately decided to dangle me (capitalizing on the fact that I had begun to pitch better after an awful start that season), Cooch (always reliable in the pen) and Woodfork (Woody was just coming around after being hurt on and off throughout that year) for Cornell SS Bill Walkenbach with the intention that he would play 3rd base and hit 5th for us in Stillwater.
On yet another different note, if Fullerton elects to save Romero (high
draft pick and ace lefty) on Friday, it would be eerily similar to UCLA
holding back Jimmy Parque (high draft pick and ace lefty) against us back in 1997.

Andrew Duffell: I remember that day... although I believe we also considered shipping Kessler to the Big Red as well, as we didn't think they would bite for pitchers alone (Kalyvas was also in the mix). Harris volunteered himself, uttering something not fit to print about the Cornell females, but we didn't think adding self-nicknamed "Slash" to the equation would sweeten the deal.
Sidenote: Randomly, a friend of an ex-girlfriend of mine married Walkenbach, and I met him a few years back. I told him about the proposed trade and he said he gladly would've packed his bags and headed to Cambridge. I then told him he would've needed to lose the rec specs first, as he looked like a dork on the field.

Dave Forst: (We're starting our draft meetings today, so I'll try to get in some comments between deciding whether Farkes is a 2nd or 3rd rounder.)
Thanks for starting us off Cooch. I appreciate the kind comments, but my recollections of the 97 team are more of Hogan at Miami, Quinn at Cornell, Cooch vs. Princeton, and Ralph vs. everyone. I think we pitched our way to 34-16, and once that ran out in Stillwater, we got exposed. I seem to remember Ralph's bat carrying us most weekends, with a dose of Hal, Albers, and streaking Kessler mixed in. We went out every weekend thinking we should we win 4 games because our pitchers were going to keep us in the game, and Ralph was going to come up with a big hit at some point (after which, he was probably going to get picked off trying to do too much on the bases).
Bart, I do remember the conversation regarding trading for Walkenbach, mostly because I was flattered that you guys had agreed to move him to 3rd base for me. I thought I might miss Woody's sunny disposition and constant optimism, but I was willing to risk that for a chance at Omaha.
I had the same thought about Fullerton possibly holding out Romero Friday night as an analogy to Parque in '97. (For what it's worth, Kotsay has a call in to the Fullerton coach to see what they're going to do, and then he'll decide how many runs to give me in our gentleman's bet.) The 4 team format makes it a different decision, plus they have 2 other starters who are pretty freaking good.
"Think double," "go for the jugulah," and "stocker's rights" will never cease to be funny reminders of those teams.

Brian Ralph: Cooch, excellent points as usual. We did have solid, deep pitching (even after some injuries to key parts) and the defense was great not good. If I remember we not only finished 6th in the country, but that was on fields not as good as in the Sun Belt. Plus, we regularly mixed in spectacular plays in addition to making the easy ones.
The '97 team had better pitching and defense. Add Albers and Hogan and a Forst that only made like 5 errors (3 in game against Army, I believe). We should have been 20-0 in the Ivy if not for the Princeton collapse which would have been pretty incredible. I think the 18-2 is still the best ever in Ivy play. [Editor's Note: It is.]And I also remember most of those games were not close, lots of 5-1, 6-3, 7-2 scores. And with 1 more SP, Omaha was a real shot (no offense to Bart but I would have loved to have had the 96 Quinn or 97 Jamieson go the first 5) and Hogan against UCLA again. Although that offense was not as good 1-9, scoring 7, 6, 7, and 11 runs in 4 regional games is impressive. That team hit homers, hit 'n run, stole bases, worked counts (remember Jacquez throwing like 60 pitches in the first 2 innings), but didn't hit quite as well as '98.
Giving up pitching (unless it was a Kalyvas/Vail deal) wouldn't have helped win a regional. You need every last decent arm in a 6 teamer.
'98 whacked the ball around against anyone. I think we only lost 1 game to Dartmouth at the end after the 1st weekend series and won every midweek game. Although we lost Albers (and Wilke), Forst was way way better, Kess, Huling, and Keck were way better. We definitely did not just play smallball and we did draw a lot of walks (Forst and Hal the exceptions). With the exception of the Fullerton debacle, 6, 14, and 7 runs again for an avg of 7 runs in 4 reg games. Hard to beat. No pitching other than Cooch, Vail, Birtwell, and Donny.
As for Farkes, where was Moneyball and OBP when I needed it? If I hear another Damon Buford story from Walsh... Is charles thomas still hitting .100? Hitting .330 in the second half of the FSL with a million walks got me a nice warm seat behind the infamous Darrell Dent. You have to retire when a team goes with Darrell Dent over you. No surprise that staff is all out of the game.

[And] speaking of Harris, how about his exit from the program? Remember the dive into first base as a pinch runner getting picked off and the hurt shoulder that led him to the links? We should have packaged him in a prospects deal.

Road to Omaha: Press Clippings

The Boston Herald was with the team as it watched the announcement in Allston. The Crimson also had an article.

The Tucson Citizen, in its regional preview, focuses on this particular regional's wealth of quality arms and speculates about Romero being pushed back, as we all have. (It also very briefly peruses the statistics and declares Shawn Haviland Harvard's staff ace).

Crimson Readies To Face Ricky Romero

The first and perhaps most important question to ask after learning that the Crimson will be facing the defending-national champion Cal State Fullerton Titans is: will we see sure-to-be-first-rounder Ricky Romero in Game 1? Romero is the returning left-handed superstar ace for the Titans, having pitched for Team USA last summer. It was Romero along with fellow ace and 2004 College World Series MVP Jason Windsor who led the Titans to the championship last season. Romero was named to the 2004 CWS All-Tournament team. Windsor is now in the Oakland A’s farm system, where he is pitching in High A for the Stockland Ports.

So will we see Romero? To try to answer this question, I took a look at how Cal State handled their regional games last year. In 2004, they faced #4 seed Minnesota in the first round at home. Windsor, the ace at the time, pitched and dominated the Gophers. Romero pitched the second game against Pepperdine, but the bullpen failed to hold the Titans' lead. The Titans then faced Arizona State and beat them to advance to the final where they had to beat Pepperdine twice and did (with Windsor coming back to start the second game). They then swept Tulane in Super Regionals at home with a dominating performance by Windsor and a less-than-dominating performance by Romero. And we all know the Titans then went on to take the 2004 CWS Title on the strength of Windsor’s 2 victories and a save, and Romero’s victories over Miami and Texas. Past performance suggests that we will see Romero because Coach George Horton does not appear to be one who keeps his bullets in the gun.

But yet, I still pause in saying that the Titans will surely go with Romero, primarily for two reasons. First, they’ll take us more lightly than Minnesota (read “Ivy League”). And second, because they have a quality second starter in LHP Scott Sarver who last year came up with big pitching performances against Pepperdine and South Carolina in the post-season. This year, Sarver is 9-3 with a 3.97 ERA, with 51 Ks, 26 walks in 77 innings pitched. (Romero is 12-4, 2.80, 119 IP, 129 Ks, 31 walks).

So either way, the Crimson will most likely face a lefty starter which seems to be bode well given the strength of our right-handed bats. I’m still hesitant to say the Titans will pitch Romero because they may be looking ahead to a second-round matchup against Arizona, a team that Romero lost to 1-0 during the regular season (Fullerton took 2 of 3 in the regular season match-up). If Fullerton takes the Crimson too lightly, they may be surprised by the offensive strength of the club, a department in which I think we stack up quite well. More on this later.

Breaking News: NCAA Regionals Announced: Crimson Heads West

In order to be the best, they'll have to beat the best.

Mike Morgalis and the Crimson will invade national No. 6 seed Cal State Fullerton, the defending national champions, on Friday on a game to be televised nationally on ESPNU. Missouri and Arizona are the other teams in a very stacked regional.

More to come...

Crimson Bats On Fire Heading Into Regional Play

Morgan Brown had a career day – literally, hitting his first career homerun – as the Crimson took the third straight game from Quinnipiac. Those victories should ensure that the Crimson will be a higher seed come tournament time (attention Baseball America, hope you’re watching).

Brown went 3-3 with 2 runs, 3 RBI, and a stolen base. Ian Wallace, quietly having a very consistent senior season, went 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI. As an aside, on a Crimson team full of all-star sluggers, Wallace is fourth on the team in average (.316). Matt Vance also went deep – his 2^nd of the season.

Good news for the weekend is the bats don’t seem to be that rusty. Bad news is that the pitching does. Morgalis may have had the best performance of the weekend, which is good news given that Coach Walsh has pledged he’ll be the Game 1 starter in the Regionals. Jake Bruton came up with a clutch relief appearance today, saving the day for the Crimson by leaving the bases loaded in the 8^th.

The Crimson bats continue to impress, though let’s be honest, the pitching they saw probably doesn’t compare with Blake Wood, Bryan Ball, Bryan Henry, or Ricky Romero. Still, it doesn’t appear that the hitters have lost anything during exam period. Major kudos go out to Coach Walsh for getting the Crimson three big games against a competitive team. He’s put them in a position to do well next weekend, and as an added bonus with the 3-game sweep, he has given even more confidence to the club that they’re ready to go up against some heavyweights.

The 16 Regional sites were announced today. We’ll get the big announcement on Monday at 11:30am.

Salsgiver Slam Lifts Crimson

...to a 12-11 win over Quinnipiac. Morgalis and Herrmann each went three innings. They do it again in Cambridge tomorrow.

Baseball America: Westward ho?

Baseball America's currently projecting Harvard in the Fullerton Region, along with No. 2 seed overall CS-Fullerton, Stanford and Oklahoma. (Subscription sites: ESPN Insider or Baseball America).

Return to Fenway for Mann, Farkes, Wilson

Schuyler Mann, Zak Farkes and Steffan Wilson were named to the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association All-Star Team, with Mann named a first teamer. Steffan Wilson was the only freshman among the 25 honorees. The all-stars will play a team of Division II and III all-stars on June 5.

The Ivy League: Scott-free?

Duke's baseball coach has resigned and Princeton's Scott Bradley has emerged as a frontrunner for the job. Bradley, who played college ball for UNC, is no stranger to that part of the country.

Should Bradley leave Princeton, this would be a huge development for the league, and in some ways a very unfortunate one given his accomplishments. Winning four of the past six Ivy Titles and nine straight Gehrig Division championships before Cornell's breakthrough year this spring, Bradley's program has produced most of the league's standout pro prospects over the few years.

Of course, one could also see it as an opportunity for the generally stronger Rolfe Division to rack up Ivy championships in the forseeable future.

Stay tuned.

It's getting a little Nippi in here again

Harvard will play two more tune-up games with a home-and-home against Northeast Conference Champs Quinnipiac (turns out they weren't champs last time, my bad, but now it's true) this weekend. The first game will be in Hamden, CT this Saturday at noon, followed by a 1 pm game Sunday at O'Donnell. The selection show is Monday at 11:30 on The Deuce.

Very Early Seeding Indications

So far, there have been three teams who have qualified for the NCAA regionals: Harvard, Army, and North Carolina A&T. I think we should be the highest seed so far. Army, 37-11, hasn’t faced very tough competition all year. North Carolina A&T’s 27-25 record wouldn’t appear to stack up well next to Harvard’s 27-15 record, and I’m not sure the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference is so much stronger than the Ivy League to justify placing them above us.

Quinnipiac, Sacred Heart, Monmouth and Wagner play for the Northeastern Conference title this weekend. Quinnipiac (23-19) is the #1 seed. I would think that Harvard’s recent win over them gives us the edge over whoever ends up being the winner of that conference as well.

Farkes ink

There's a short feature on him in today's Boston Herald.

Crimson Stacked, Hyphenated for 2006

Word of a recruiting development came by way of the little birdies in the home stands today and was confirmed later on. There's another power hitter on the way to Cambridge: Thomas Stack-Babich has transferred successfully from Wake Forest, and could wind up right in the heart of the Harvard order next spring.

Here was the scouting report on Stack-Babich prior to the 2004 Perfect Game World Showcase, one of the major scouting events:

Xaverian HS
Scituate, MA
R/R
6’3/210
Signed Wake Forest

Stack-Babich has your classic right field tools. He’s strong and angular at 6-3, 215 lb and generates very good bat speed and leverage on his swing. He’s going to hit some long home runs at the next level. Stack-Babich also had big league average arm strength from the outfield and threw 85 mph off the mound.

Stack-Babich's move, perhaps partially precipitated by the resignation/retirement of the man who recruited him to the Demon Deacons, is Harvard's gain. Meanwhile, between Stack-Babich and this year's freshmen recruits, someone down south must be getting at least a little annoyed by all this.

Nay, Bobs

Harvard beat the Quinnipiac Bobcats today, 8-5, thanks largely to Schuyler Mann's 3-run homer in the eighth off the last of the Bobcats' 8 pitchers. This marks the last game before exams, and possibly the last game before the NCAAs, although the team will try to squeeze something in Memorial Day weekend (at this point, possibly against the Aggies of NCAA-bound North Carolina A&T at a neutral site). We'll keep an eye on that one for you.



Morgalis (started, threw 2 innings including an 8-pitch second), Haviland, Herrmann and Javy Castellanos all got in some work, but the key development on the mound today was the return of Matt Brunnig, who threw the final two innings and had his most substantial outing since the Yale series. Coach Walsh, perhaps somewhat surprisingly given Brunnig's inconsistent availability throughout the season and indeed his career, sees Brunnig as somewhat whom he would need to potentially start for Harvard to go deep into the postseason. "There's a point where you get past those first games and you look down your bench and you have to have someone that talented available to pitch a third or fourth game," Walsh said of the junior, who had been clocked at 92 earlier in the season but who has seen his role change throughout the season from closer to spot middle reliever to, at points, non-factor due to injury issues that, from Walsh's vantage point, remain somewhat unclear.

Mann's home run ties him with Zak Farkes atop the Crimson career lead (27) and Josh Klimkiewicz for the season lead (9).

Another game

Steffan Wilson (above) and the Crimson will take on Northeast Conference Champion Quinnipiac tomorrow at O'Donnell Field for a 9-inning tuneup recently added to the schedule. The game will start at 1.

...Now On To the Real Season

First things first. Here are the results of our prediction contest.

CATEGORIES
1) Who wins/by what score/how many games?
2) Who are the MVPs * batting and pitching separately?
3) Who ends the series with the career Crimson homerun record * Mann or
Farkes?
4) How many bases do the Crimson steal?
5) How many runs does Vance score?
6) How many homeruns do the Crimson hit?
7) How many different pitchers pitch in the Series?
8) How many different positions (including DH) will
Wilson/Salsgiver/Farkes play (a number for each)?

Bonus: Describe in detail Coach Walsh’s unusual and unanticipated
coaching move of the Series.

The Real Answers

1) Harvard won both.
I was the only one who had a sweep. One point.

2) MVPs are tough here – Herrmann or Haviland would work on pitching. Wallace, Wheeler, or Mann I think would work on hitting.
Faiz had Mann and Herrmann – half point for each.
Marty had Haviland and Klim – half point.
Brian had Klim and Herrmann – half point.

3) Farkes
No one said that.

4) strangely enough, no stolen bases for the Crimson
Marty was closest with three, but I’m not awarding points for zero productivity.

5) Vance scored zero
I had three which was closest – same deal, no points

6) zero Crimson homeruns
I had five which was closest – but not rewarding it

7) three Crimson pitchers
I had four, and I am taking that.

8) Wilson – 3B, P – Faiz, Marty, Brian all had it
Farkes – 2B, 3B – Marty had 2 positions (though not the right ones), but I’m awarding that
Salsgiver – RF – no one had just one position for Salsgiver
A third of a point for each.

Totals:
Faiz – 3.33 points
Marty – 1.16 points
Brian “the answer key” Fallon - (what’s a half plus a third?) .833

For the Bonus question, the correct answer was:

Coach Walsh surprises us all by not surprising us. Stability, predictability, and consistency marked both games. Haviland starting game 2 might have drawn some attention, but of course, it was a relatively obvious move, holding Morgalis back for a deciding third game.

Congratulations to the Crimson. Congratulations to Coach Walsh who continues to build upon his dynasty (yes, dynasty)… and congratulations to Coach Donovan and Coach Hyde. It’s a great day to be a Harvard baseball alum.

That being said, here’s a message to the 2005 Crimson baseball team. I don’t mean to diminish this significant achievement in any way, but you have earned only what many Crimson teams before you have achieved. You now have the opportunity to separate yourself and fulfill the aspirations of past teams by taking this current Ivy League Champion squad beyond the 1^st round of the NCAA Regional, beyond the often-quoted “two and a barbeque.” Without diminishing the great accomplishments of the ’97 and ’98 Crimson teams who, in a different NCAA Regional format, were able to turn quite a few heads in the postseason, the ultimate dream remains very much alive. There is a real palpable feeling among the Harvard faithful that this team has what it takes to play on national TV.

Having been a part of 2 teams that made it to the Regionals, I have to say that the most difficult challenge will easily be staying sharp. Between now and June 3^rd (which is a long ways off in baseball time), there should be very little lapse in conditioning and preparation. Bullpens and BPs must go on as if you were in the middle of the season. Intrasquad games (hopefully even some games against local teams) are important. And given how much this team lives on its hitting, and hitting tends to be the first thing to go when you stop practicing, there's an extra burden to keep those bats sharp in whatever way you can. So when you take on the conference tournament champions of whatever league -- who just got done playing a couple days ago and are playing at the top of their game before a home crowd of 5,000, you can confidently march in knowing you’re prepared to take them down.

You never know if you'll get this opportunity again (some of you know you won't). No excuses – that’s the ticket.

IVY CHAMPIONS!

Above photo courtesy of Friends of Harvard Baseball

Harvard Crimson: 2005 Ivy League Champions!

The Harvard baseball team won the second game, 4-2, to sweep the Ivy League Championship Series 2-0 and win its first league championship since 2002. Fittingly, Ian Wallace raced out to the warning track to catch the final ball, setting off this celebration in the infield.



Freshman Shawn Haviland pitched a brilliant clinching game. According to Coach Walsh, the nod went to Haviland today because Mike Morgalis has been absolutely lights out those few times when he's gotten more than the standard week's rest, and he wanted to give him the extra day. (Walsh also, unprompted, committed to starting Morgalis in Game One of the NCAA Regional).

Senior Rob Wheeler continued his recent and incredibly timely string of clutch hits, answering with a single up the middle shortly after Cornell had ended its 19 inning scoreless streak.

Hats off to the Cornell Big Red, who play the game well and in a manner not unlike the previous string of Harvard championship teams. Unfortunately for them, Harvard reached back into its not-so-recent past and played the exact same game, only better, enabled to do so by its deeper lineup. (Zark Farkes' bunt for the Crimson in their breakthrough inning was enabled by the reality of Mann, Wilson and Wheeler lying in wait in the on deck circle and on the bench.) Not one ball, as it turned out, left the park today, but it didn't matter. "It was nice to win a couple on pitching a defense for a change," Walsh said after the game and moments before being bathed in Gatorade.

It was odd in a way to see someone other than Princeton there for the conference title, but Walsh felt otherwise. "I'm actually surprised some years when Princeton's there," he said after the game. "This is a good team, and they play the right way. I've said that there are two coaches in this league who really know who to coach games well, and [Cornell's Tom Ford] is one of them." With a sly grin, he added, "And I'm not the other one."

That may be, but a lot of things went right for Walsh and the Crimson this year. Identifying Frank Herrmann as the frontline starter from Day One was one of them. Morgan Brown as the starting shortstop from Day One was another (Brown fielded a league high 29 double plays, and Walsh provided some insight as to his Second Team All-Ivy status today. "I told the other guys when we were deciding, 'Morgan Brown is my MVP. So you can take that .278 average and throw it out the window.'") Ian Wallace's re-entry into the lineup was another move that worked out. Wallace didn't make the team's opening weekend trip to Minnesota. But when he did start playing, he never stopped hitting. Walsh eventually opted not to go with the lefty bat in Chris Mackey and put Wallace in left field, and Wallace responded by batting .324 and, as Faiz noted in response to the previous entry, coming up huge in Game One of the ILCS. Lance Salsgiver, he of patience and versatility, was bumped around the lineup more times than he probably cares to remember, but produced in every spot. Brendan Byrne proved a revelation at the plate after hockey season wrapped up. Rob Wheeler had his finest season and settled in well as the DH, coming up with huge hits in the last few Ivy Games. Schuyler Mann got absurdly hot in the second half, as is his custom. The entire freshman class panned out. And so on.

Former Harvard catcher Brian Lentz once referred to the Farkes/Klimkiewicz/Salsgiver/Brown class as a group that was going to "win some championships." The possibility within that plural remains alive today. And now comes the chance for a different sort of Harvard baseball team to enter the spotlight of NCAA Regional play. Brian Fallon has noted on several occasions that this is "not your father's Joe Walsh team." And he's right. They can play that way on some occasions, as they did today, but they're not. They're bigger. They're more prone to make mistakes in the field, but far more likely to them all with a big at-bat. They play for the big inning, and they're hoping for the one big inning against a Florida or an Arkansas to bring them to the Super Regionals one of these years, to the uncharted territory a small but loyal generation of Harvard players and fans has hoped for...

“That’s the expectation level... I think it would be one of the greatest accomplishments in college baseball—in a sport that is so dominated by scholarships—that we could get there someday. … I think it would be a great story, seeing a school like Harvard, a Northeast school, all the things stacked against you…”

In three weeks, Harvard baseball will get that chance again. In the meantime, there is this victory to celebrate, and no one should diminish that. And there are other victories that no one can diminish.


Wes Cosgriff (center) embraces Zak Farkes after Game Two.

Frank The Tank

Herrmann scatters 8 hits and wins Game 1, 2-0. Game Two starts around 2:35.

ILCS: Live Radio Feed

...is available online here after some early technical difficulties. Harvard leads 1-0 heading into the bottom of the 4th. Note that all the games in this series will be nine-inning affairs.

Predicting the LCS

Once upon a time, scenes like the Harvard football pressbox and press row at Lavietes Pavilion played witness to the most illicit insider sports gambling by Boston-area college students this side of Chestnut Hill. Those were the glory days, when--as Our Man in the Ivy Office knows--many a free lunch was earned taking the under on Nick Palazzo rushing yards and the over on Jen Monti turnovers.

Clearly unacquainted with said knack for prognosticating, Faiz like jazz has decided to bring it, proposing the following categories for a Harvard baseball guessing game, LCS-style. Faiz's and Marty's entries appear below, followed by the answer key.

CATEGORIES
1) Who wins/by what score/how many games?
2) Who are the MVPs * batting and pitching separately?
3) Who ends the series with the career Crimson homerun record * Mann or
Farkes?
4) How many bases do the Crimson steal?
5) How many runs does Vance score?
6) How many homeruns do the Crimson hit?
7) How many different pitchers pitch in the Series?
8) How many different positions (including DH) will
Wilson/Salsgiver/Farkes play (a number for each)?

Bonus: Describe in detail Coach Walsh’s unusual and unanticipated
coaching move of the Series.

FAIZ SHAKIR (WARNING: Has a tendency to come up big this time of year)

1) Harvard in 2-game sweep; 9-3 and 10-4
2) Sky Mann (hitting) and Frank Herrmann (pitching)
3) Mann
4) 6 stolen bases
5) 3 Vance runs
6) 5 homeruns
7) 4 total pitchers
8) Wilson, Salsgiver each will play 2; Farkes will play 1 position

Bonus: The Coaching Move of the Series: Steffan Wilson pitches twice in
the same game. He comes in to relieve a starter late in Game 2; Coach
brings in another pitcher to relieve Wilson; he faces a hitter or two,
while Wilson is put back into the field; then Wilson comes back in to
close out the game.

MARTIN BELL (Battles illness to take Faiz on mano a mono)

1) Harvard. 7-3(L), 5-4, 9-1.
2) Haviland. Klimkiewicz.
3) Mann.
4) 3 stolen bases.
5) 5 runs.
6) 8 home runs.
7) 8 total pitchers.
8) Wilson: 2.
Salsgiver: 2 (LF/RP).
Farkes: 2 (DH/2B).

Bonus: In an attempt to even further capitalize on the massive All-Ivy chip on
his first baseman's shoulder, Walsh will bat Josh Klimekiewicz seventh in
Game One. He will also warm still-woozy Morgan Brown in the pen five innings
into the pivotal second game. Decoy? No reason at all? We'll never know.

ANSWER KEY

1) Harvard in 3 games; 6-5, W; 7-5, L; 10-6 W
2) Batting: Klimkiewicz. Pitching: Herrmann.
3) Mann.
4) 7 steals.
5) 4 runs.
6) 6 home runs.
7) 6 pitchers.
8) Wilson- 3rd/Pitcher
Salsgiver- RF/CF/Pitcher
Farkes- DH

Bonus: Accepts homemade chocolate chip cookie from eager Harvard parent between games of Monday doubleheader. Also, spots subtle, hard-to-discern balk move by opposing pitcher and shames umpire into calling it in crucial situation.

Ivy Awards: Wilson ROY

In addition to announcing this weekend's rainout, the league also announced its end-of-season awards. Among the highlights: Steffan Wilson is your Ivy League Rookie of the Year, as well as the unanimous selection at third base and your second team selection as a relief pitcher. Schuyler Mann is the first team catcher, and Farkes is (unanimously) the utility guy. Lance Salsgiver is a second team outfielder and (surprisingly? maybe not so much, looking at the numbers) Morgan Brown the second team shortstop. Honorable mention to the three-man rotation and Josh Klimkiewicz. Brown's Kutler is Player of the Year, Sowers Pitcher of the Year, and both shock no one.

Klimkiewicz could've easily been a first teamer in what may have been the most difficult position, and was arguably the best hitter on the best team in the Ivies. But his numbers did fall a bit during the Ivy stretch (Sawyer by contrast got hot in the Ivy season), and that must've done it.

Looking at the season as a whole, though, with OBP, SLG, HR and RBI:

Klim: .408 / .602 / 8 / 31 in 36 games.
Sawyer (Yale): .381 / .494 / 0 / 23 in 40 games
Holden (Columbia): .420 / .575 / 5 / 27 in 38 games.

The Season That Wouldn't End

With another rainy weekend ahead of us, the Ivy League Championship Series has been postponed until Monday and Tuesday. Thanks to our man in the Ivy Office for this news.

Cornell Bats Silenced By LeMoyne

If you’re heading into the biggest games of your season, I would imagine the last thing you want is to have your team lose its momentum and confidence by being no-hit. That’s what happened to Cornell this week. They faced LeMoyne for a doubleheader on Tuesday. They played many of their starting positional players, yet LeMoyne starter Ryan Toth hurled a 7-inning complete game no-hitter against the Big Red.

The other game didn’t go very well either for the Red bats. They managed only 4 hits and one run against LeMoyne starter Mike Lewis.

Coach Ford seemed to acknowledge that the Red bats are a weak point right now:

"We need to be locked in to swing the bats and we did not execute… We need to find a way to score more runs… For the most part, out pitching did pretty well… We did well enough to put ourself in a position to win the game.”

I guess we shouldn’t read too much into those games, given that we didn’t play so hot against Northeastern. But then again, I’m not sure that getting a combined 4 hits in 14 innings is the best way to build confidence heading into a weekend series against a Crimson ballclub that you know is going to put up runs.

Cornell as a team is hitting .244, compared to the Crimson's lofty .296. The Crimson have 33 homeruns as a team, with a slugging percentage of .444. Cornell has less than a quarter of the homeruns (7), with a slugging percentage of .322. Cornell's team ERA rests at 4.87, right on par with the Crimson's 4.85. So, what I draw from all this is pretty much the obvious:

High scoring games this weekend favor the Crimson, while low scoring games and solid defense are what Cornell will need to stay competitive.

Awards and a game.

Zak Farkes has been honored for his return to form, and Matt Vance is the Ivy Rookie of the Week. Also, there was a relatively meaningless game yesterday. And there's a Crimson piece about Ivy Leaguers in MLB front offices that mentions a few familiar names.

Steffan's Summer Plans

From the Centre Daily Times, 5/3/05:

Former State College slugger and current Harvard freshman Steffan Wilson will remain in New England this summer to play for the Torrington (Conn.) Twisters of the New England Collegiate Baseball League.

The NECBL, founded in 1993, is a 12-team summer league stocked mainly with Division I players looking to stay sharp or catch the eye of pro scouts. Teams play a 42-game schedule from June-August.

Wilson is listed on the Twisters' roster as a third baseman, outfielder and pitcher. Pitcher Bobby Lasko, a native of Athens, Pa., currently playing at James Madison, will join him on the Twisters.

Wilson, State College's career leader in home runs and runs batted in, currently leads Harvard in several offensive categories, including batting average (.368), hits (49), runs scored (34) and total bases (78).

Matt Brunnig pitched for the Torrington Twisters in the summer of 2003. I think there are other Harvard baseball alums who played for the Twisters, but not sure who.

Cornell Breakdown

Kyle Sheahen, senior sports editor with the Cornell Daily Sun, was gracious enough to share with us an advance copy of an article he'll be writing to set the stage for the Ivy Championship. I've posted portions of the article that should help you get a basic understanding of the key players and matchups heading into the weekend. It's almost a certainty that the Crimson will be seeing LHP Tad Bardenwerper in the first game. My initial impression is that whereas a lot of teams struggle against lefties, the Crimson -- with its snap, crackle, and pop coming predominantly from the right side of the plate (Farkes, Mann, Klimkiewicz, Salsgiver, and Wilson) -- should be at relatively little disadvantage in that matchup.

Here's what Sheahen writes:

Cornell has been bolstered by a range of exceptional performances on the mound and at the plate, with significant contributions coming from each class year. Senior shortstop Matt Miller leads the offensive charge with a .376 batting average, .560 slugging percentage and three home runs. Rookie outfielder Brian Kaufman has failed to disappoint with his bat, having recorded team-highs in RBIs (20) and doubles (12). Second baseman Seth Gordon has also proved to be priceless in the clutch - including his 3-for-3, game-winning RBI effort against Princeton on Sunday, the junior is hitting .324 for the season with a team-leading 29 runs scored.

"The thing that we are seeing is getting production from so many guys," Ford said. "It helps to get some balance in the lineup."

Yet, championship-caliber teams never rely solely on their offense, and recently, the Red's pitching staff has more than held up its end of the deal. Senior Tad Bardenwerper (4-3) leads the staff in victories after tossing his second consecutive complete-game victory on Saturday, this time dispatching the Tigers with a three-run, eight-hit outing to preserve Cornell's 5-3 game one win. On Sunday, junior right-hander Rocky Collis (2-3) kept Princeton at bay with six strong innings before handing the ball to sophomore Jim Hyland (3-0), a right-hander who effectively crushed the Tigers' title hopes with 1 1/3 innings of shutout ball.

"Going into the season, we thought our pitching staff was one of our strengths - and we still feel that way," Ford said.

Kyle's full article is on the message board.

Harvard Wins Rolfe Division

10-6, in a game that was largely given away by Dartmouth. Thanks for that.

Now, with the final game utterly irrelevant, everyone can relax. And relax everyone is: Unger starts the second game, Friedman gets a nice chance to start at center, Griff Jenkins plays second, Rob Nelson's at third.

Bigger and Greener

Crimson coverage of yesterday's games here, here and a very nice Wes Cosgriff column here.

As for today's games, I'm not holding my breath for Dartmouth College radio to get it's act together (and even when you can hear them, they're really terrible), but once the game starts, it might be worth poking around here to see if one of those links works. Otherwise, I'd check Dartmouth's athletics site for a CSTV Gametracker link.

More notes on the Dartmouth games.

This was the best pitch thrown all day. Almost literally. After the national anthem played, Joe Walsh got on the PA and said something along the lines of the following:

"I wanna call Number 28 out to the mound for a ceremonial first pitch. Number 28, get out there... At the beginning of the year, the coaching staff, we thought we had a big left hander to do battle in the Ivy Leagues. But he had his own battle to fight. A battle against cancer. Making his triumphant return to O'Donnell Field after beating cancer, Number 28, Wes Cosgriff."

The rest of the day was a blur of comebacks and more bizarre comebacks. A few odd points:

1. Why did Zak Farkes play centerfield, swapping with Matt Vance, for the second game? No idea. Farkes played a very good first game, and Vance, the shortstop-apparent for 2006-on, had several tough balls hit to him in the second that he did a good job even though some will show up in the boxscore as singles.

2. That Harvard could take both games on a day when neither starting pitcher had anything close to their best stuff says a lot about how well the Crimson's been hitting the ball. And about the kind of can't-catch-a-break season it's been for Dartmouth.

3. Dartmouth's idiot brigade of hecklers consisted of about 7 or so people today. Aside from inexplicably heckling Rob Nelson (not a factor in either game) the whole day, nothing they did was funny.

4. Neither Schuyler Mann homer even touched the trees. Bombs.

5. Morgan Brown has missed the last few games with illness. No injury or anything there.

6. Sidearming sophomore Jason Brown pitched in both games, and looked particularly good yet again. Count me among the observers who thought he was removed an out too soon.

7. Steven Perry threw at least 120 pitches out there before being removed for Peay. He was hit pretty well, but his velocity stayed pretty high, and I admire his grit.

8. At least five scouts were around today, presumably for Faiola, but they also clocked Perry and Salsgiver. Salsgiver was clocked around 90.

9. The Wheeler homer to left was the biggest of the day, and perhaps the biggest hit of the year.

10. Who starts tomorrow? Haviland gets the one game, but the other is a question mark. Considering that he threw a lot of pitches today in his 1 inning plus (probably more than Walsh had bargained for), and considering arm trouble kept him from possibly starting one of the games last week, I doubt he pitches tomorrow, as had been discussed in some circles. Castellanos pitched in the cancelled game (a start not without meaning, as it probably removed Dartmouth's Wilkerson from the equation for tomorrow). I expect a patented Joe Walsh hodgepodge, with generous amounts of Jake Bruton, Brad Unger and perhaps Steffan Wilson as circumstances allow.

11. For that reason, and many others, winning the first game is exceedingly important. You don't want any piece of a one-game playoff if you can avoid it.

12. The League Championship Series will be played at the Rolfe Division winner (record). The League moved away from alternating hosts by division recently, and both Brown and Harvard have better records than Cornell.

Very quick thoughts

I was at both games. I'll have more later, but let's for starters note that the "infield hit" that led to Dartmouth's go-ahead run was one of the worst calls I've ever seen. Schuyler Mann tagged the guy halfway up the first base line, which--while not the most prudent call on his part instead of throwing to first perhaps--definitely happened. You could hear it, see it, smell it... And Mann fell on the play and wasn't able to recover, but he shouldn't have had to. The umps almost lost this one for Harvard.

That said, Drew Casey's "sac fly" in foul territory should never have been caught by the Dartmouth right fielder, as it assured that a run would score. One of the more questionable decisions I've ever seen made in slow motion.

More on all this later tonight.

Comeback Crimson Do It Again

Similar to Game 1, Harvard fell behind early against Dartmouth but used their relentless and potent bats to come from behind again and take an extremely important Game 2. After falling behind as much as 7-3 early on, the Crimson chipped away, beginning with a homerun off the bat of Josh Klimkiewicz. They had tied the game going into the 9^th, but Dartmouth managed to get a run with 2 outs in the top of the inning when Matt Vance, playing shortstop, failed to field a ball cleanly, allowing a Dartmouth runner from 3rd to score. In the bottom of the 9^th, Steffan Wilson led off with a single, stole second, went to third on an Ian Wallace single, and scored on a sac fly by pinch-hitter Andrew Casey. Wallace was on third with 2 outs when Matt Vance, just having earlier committed a costly error, delivered the favor back to the Big Green by hitting a ball to Dartmouth shortstop Eric Bell, who failed to field the ball cleanly. Vance beat the play at first, Wallace scored, and the Crimson walked off with the big victory.

What does this all mean? All the Crimson has to do is win one game tomorrow, and they will secure the division title and face Cornell in the Ivy Championship. Brown is two games back in the loss column. The Crimson are already assured of playing in a tie-breaking game should it lose both games tomorrow in Hanover, so it’s in prime position to seal the deal.

Big Comeback Victory

Should the Crimson go on to win the Red Rolfe title, it will look fondly back on the 5^th inning against Dartmouth in Game 1 today. Down 7-3 entering the inning, Zak Farkes began the bottom-half with a homerun and awoke the Crimson bats. Later in the inning, Doggie came up with the big hit, driving in two runs on a solid single to center to put the Crimson up 8-7. After the inning was all said and done, the Crimson had sent 10 batters to the plate, plated 6 runners, and left with a 9-7 lead – eventually winning by that same margin with Steffan Wilson coming on to get the save. Maybe Marty was at the game and can give us some first-hand impressions later on. Magic number is down to two...

Playing for the Right to Face Cornell

Congratulations to Coach Tom Ford and the Cornell Big Red. They clinched the Gehrig Division Title with their Game 1 win today over Princeton, 4-3. For the first time in ten years, Princeton will not be representing the Gehrig Division in the Ivy Championship.

Cornell recovered well from their 1-5 start to the Ivy season, losing twice to Harvard during that span. In that doubleheader, Frank Herrmann shut down the Red bats over 7 innings and Klim and Mann had 2 hits and an RBI to pace the Crimson to a 3-1 victory. In Game 2, Mike Morgalis and Steffan Wilson combined to shut down the Red bats once again and the Crimson scored 2 runs in the 7th inning off Brown and Wallace RBI singles to win 2-1.

Back to the present, we're told by the WHRB broadcasters that Brown is up 8-4 in its first game against Yale. Harvard is down 6-3 presently to Dartmouth -- the one shining moment being a three-run bomb from Private First Class Doggie Wheeler. Way to go Doggie! Need a win...

WHRB Broadcast of Harvard-Dartmouth

WHRB is broadcasting today's games from cold and wet O'Donnell Field. First game start-time pushed back to 1:20 pm. Congrats to the station for giving the games the attention they deserve.

Click here.