Looking for a lefty, Walsh leans on rookies

Besides figuring out his weekend rotation, skipper Joe Walsh seems also to be using the Crimson’s nonconference schedule to identify a reliable lefthander that he can use at will out of the pen.

It’s an important role: many are the late-game situations where a critical out against an opposing team’s lefthanded slugger can be the difference between preserving a lead or blowing it, keeping a game close or seeing it slip away. During the stretch run of Harvard’s 2002 title run, southpaw Kenon Ronz thrived in this spot. Between Ronz and then-senior Mike Dryden, Harvard had a reliable lefty-righty combo setting up for that year’s closer, Barry Wahlberg. It made for predictable late-game situations, which, in turn, inspired confidence in close ballgames.

While much remains up in the air with regard to the respective late-inning roles of righties such as Steffan Wilson, Lance Salsgiver, Jason Brown and Taylor Meehan, among others, a hierarchy may be emerging among the team’s lefties. Senior Mike Dukovich entered the season as the incumbent, but has struggled in his first four appearances. Meanwhile, Walsh has displayed growing confidence in a pair of rookies: Ryan Watson and Hampton Foushee. Of the two, Watson makes for a particularly interesting case, since Walsh seems inclined to give him every chance of making the rotation, but both have been relied on-—and both have showed hints of promise—-in this early going.

Consider the trial-by-fire manner Walsh has utilized his two rookies, starting with Watson:

· In the team's second game against Florida, with Harvard trying to stay in striking distance down 4-0, Walsh brings Watson on for his first collegiate appearance with one out and a runner on third to face the lefthanded hitting Brian Jeroleman. Watson retires Jeroleman on a fly-out, though it's deep enough to get the run home, and later induces a groundout to retire the side. Despite encountering some expected jitters--Watson walked four, threw a wild pitch and committed a balk--he only allows one run, unearned in two full innings.
· In the seventh inning of Saturday's loss to Jacksonville, with two runs already home to grow the Dolphins' lead to 8-3, Watson is brought in to face the lefthanded-hitting Logan James with runners on second and third and just one out. He has a rough go of it, giving up four singles before getting the inning's final two outs.
· Then, just last night, Watson earns his first start against Barry. He struggled--he walked five and served up back-to-back gopher balls--but got four of his first five outs on Ks (all swings-and-misses), showing flashes of promise likely to earn him another shot at starting before the week is out.

Foushee has been introduced into the mix more gradually. He’s gotten just as many appearances, but they've been more abbreviated.

· Against Jacksonville last Friday, he went three up, three down in his first-ever inning of relief work.

· On Sunday's series finale with the Dolphins, Walsh brings in Foushee to turn around Jacksonville switch hitter Tony Bernazard after seeing Bernazard single from the right side off Matt Brunning an inning earlier. Bernazard hits into a fielder's choice, and Foushee, his job done, is lifted.

· Then, tonight, Foushee gets the ball with a man on second and one out in the sixth, and turns in a pretty solid performance. Take away two errors that weren't his fault but opened the floodgates for five unearned runs, and Foushee would have hurled 2.2 scoreless innings. As it is, his ERA still stands at 0.00 through his five innings this year.

What does all this mean? Nothing for sure, but in a crowded pen with plenty of righthanders who have yet to settle into a precise niche, Walsh seems to have certain plans in mind for his two young lefties. The hoped-for scenario may play out like this: Projected as a starter, Watson continues to get an open-ended audition to make the rotation, persisting as an option perhaps into the Ivy season as Walsh waits out his early control struggles. In the meantime, Walsh is fearless in inserting him in important relief situations, even to face righties and for extended stretches as merited. Foushee, for his part, gets a growing number of appearances, but on a situational basis. In time, he becomes a stabilizing influence in the go-to specialist role Walsh loves to reserve for a steady lefthander.

Tonight's Final: FAU 11, Harvard 1

Five costly errors and more strikeouts (10) than hits (8) spell defeat tonight.

Walsh goes to his bench ...

... as the game has slipped away. Harvard heads into the eighth trailing 11-1 with most of its starters pulled. The Owls got four unearned runs in the seventh when a Brendan Byrne throwing error extended the inning.

Harvard Trails FAU 6-1 in the 6th

Castellanos hasn't been hit outrageously hard--a two-run homer after a hit-batsman in the second was the biggest single blow--but he hasn't had an easy inning since the first. Three Harvard errors haven't helped. Castellanos does have six Ks to show for his five innings, another sign of the pure power we all know he has in deep supply. Sophomore catcher Matt Kramer, who is quietly doing a heck of a job at the bottom of that order, has belted a homer for Harvard's lone run.

Casting Call for Castellanos

After a string of pretty good relief appearances (5.1 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 4 K in last three appearances), senior Javy Castellanos gets a second chance to make a first impression as a starter right now against Florida Atlantic.

Never one to recycle lineup cards, Walsh is trying a revamped top of the order tonight, with Morgan Brown at leadoff, Salsgiver second, and Vance third. This is Vance's fourth different home in the order, and Salsgiver's third. Hmmm. Also, senior Chris Mackey gets the nod in right after his solid hitting performance yesterday.

We'll provide an occasional update during tonight's game, as well as get some other, non-time-sensitive material up for your collective consideration. Go Crimson.

Live from Spring Break, it's the Lance & Vance Show

More great news from Florida on Monday, as Harvard pulled out an 11-9 win over Lynn University and persevered through a 6-6, 11-inning marathon tie with Barry: Harvard's bats are heating up, and none more than the ones belonging to sophomore Matt Vance and senior Lance Salsgiver. The pair--two of the Crimson's toolsy-est guys--had seven hits apiece in today's double-dip, combining for 10 runs and, my favorite stat of all, six steals.

Cliff Notes version of today's action, courtesy of the boxscores:

In Game One against Lynn, the Northeast's swiftest designated hitter legged out a two-run triple in the eighth innning to knot the game at 9-9 after Harvard had trailed, then raced home from third with the winning run on a suicide squeeze play. You read that right: a suicide squeeze play. Love that call. Given the situation, it shouldn't have come as a surprise to Lynn, but that just makes the execution of it by Morgan Brown all the more impressive. The squeeze, by the way, was the second of two occasions in this particular game that Brown bunted to advance Vance. Brown didn't have a hit in Game One, but he continues to do all the little things necessary to win. In fact, the whole team was executing today. The aggressiveness stands out just by reading the box score, as it seems Walsh had the green light on the whole game. Consider this: on the day, Harvard had 17 runs and just one homer, a solo shot at that. The power will come, no one is worried about that. That Harvard can score 16 runs--all but one earned--by means other than the homer is vintage Crimson baseball.

The one homer Harvard did hit? Belonged to what's-his-name, Salsgiver, who didn't do much else in Game One except come up a double short of the cycle. And welcome back, Chris Mackey, who matched Lance and Vance with three hits of his own against Lynn, to go along with three RBI. His RBI single in the ninth provided a valuable insurance run that gave a little extra cushion for sophomore Shawn Haviland, who was available today thanks to his abbreviated start Saturday and shut down Lynn over the final 3.1 innings to get the win.

In the second game, which was called after 11 innings, Salsgiver and Vance again provided instant offense. With Vance moved down to the two-hole in this game and Salsgiver working out of his customary third slot, the pair were hitting back-to-back and they went tit-for-tat with each other all game long, not just at the plate, but on the basepaths. Tell me this play-by-play from the seventh inning isn't a sight for sore eyes:

Harvard 7th - Mackey grounded out to 2b. Vance singled, bunt. Vance
stole second. Salsgiver singled to third base; Vance advanced to third. Bernat
to p for Davila. Salsgiver stole second; Vance stole home. Salsgiver stole
third.

That's four stolen bases in one inning, including a swipe of home, and one run scored without a ball leaving the frickin' infield. Mercy.

And oh yeah, Salsgiver came in to pitch an inning later with an inherited runner, yet escaped the inning, and then went on to pitch three more shutout innings before the game was called. Tell me again: how is this kid is still in school, and not among his dearly departed classmates who signed and left early? Hell if I know, but thank you, baseball gods. He may be the best prospect of them all when it's all said and done.

I could go on, but there's way too much to digest from today's two games, and we're going to save the rest of it for tomorrow. A final thought for tonight, though: there are so many possibilities with this lineup, especially the top two-thirds, it's sick. Up until now, the offense has been overlooked a bit because the pitching has been finding itself and Harvard has been playing behind in so many games. Not anymore. O'Donnell is going to be a fun place to watch baseball this spring.

Harvard leads Lynn, 6-3, in the 4th

Listen to the game live by clicking here and following the "LIVE AUDIO" link in the upper right corner. Do so at your own risk--I'm pretty sure NASA's Apollo-era lunar module was equipped to transmit better audio.

Thank You, Mr. Meehan

The pictures you've been seeing on the blog in recent days are courtesy of Mr. James Meehan, Taylor's dad. The elder Meehan snapped some pretty high-quality action shots during the season's first several games and was kind enough to share them with Marty last week. We greatly appreciate the contribution, which has certainly helped spruce up the content around here.

Seniority Rules.

Senior Matt Brunnig was back where he belonged Sunday: pitching on the weekend.

The 6'6 veteran (at right) went seven strong innings, making a compelling case to start one of next weekend's Ivy games, and fellow senior Josh Klimkiewicz jacked a clutch, three-run homer to lift Harvard to a 7-5 win over Jacksonville this afternoon.

Coming in on the heels of back-to-back blowouts that depleted Harvard's pitching corps, Brunnig came up big. He scattered eight hits (three were infield singles) and walked just one hitter to earn his first win of the year. After Harvard pieced together a four-run sixth to snap a 3-3 tie, Brunnig protected the lead for two more innings until giving way to the Hunch Bunch, as skipper Joe Walsh deployed a head-scratching hodge-podge of relievers to earn the game's final six outs. Steffan Wilson struggled in his curiously timed spring debut as a pitcher, but a 1-inning cameo by Friday's starter Adam Cole helped stopped the bleeding and Jason Brown recorded the final out to earn the save.

Today also offered a glimpse of the level of production Harvard's offense should be capable of this year. Harvard's scoring was confined to two innings, but those innings contained promising displays of patient hitting, moving along of runners, and raw power.



Trailing 2-0 in the fourth, Morgan Brown and Lance Salsgiver sprayed back-to-back singles to open the inning. Jacksonville then pitched carefully to Steffan Wilson, and Wilson didn't try to do too much, walking on four pitches. After Klimkiewicz also walked to collect one of his four RBIs on the day, Matt Vance--moved into the middle of the order after managing just three hits in his last 17 ABs in the leadoff spot--laced a two-run single to right-center.

In the seventh, Harvard broke the game open with four runs, first via some smallball. After sophomore catcher Matt Kramer reached on an infield single, Chris Mackey bunted pinch runner Max Warren over to second, Morgan Brown grounded out to the right side to move Warren to third, and Wilson scratched out another infield hit to give Harvard a 4-3 lead. Then up came Klimkiewicz, who clubbed a 3-2 pitch over the left field with two on and two outs. Pretty clutch job--the runs later proved critical as Harvard's bullpen only narrowly preserved the win.

Certainly a lot of positives to take away from today's game. The win should provide a big momentum boost going into a busy week of contests, which begins tomorrow with a day-night doubleheader. Another senior (and weekend candidate) Javy Castellanos is a strong possibility to pitch in one of tomorrow's games, coming off a strong 2.2-inning appearance yesterday. If he does go, and can match Brunnig's effectiveness, the Crimson's pitching situation may finally begin to come into focus.

Go Get 'Em, 7

It is indeed Brunnig on the hill. Also, Harvard's lineup moves Matt Vance down to the six hole, and tries out rookie Matt Rogers in the leadoff spot.

Here we go, boys.

On Deck: The Hippie in Game Three?

Save for Captain Morgan, really the only pitcher not to throw so far in Jacksonville has been senior Matt Brunnig, suggesting the shaggy-haired Floridian whom Sky Mann playfully calls the "hippie" may get the start in Sunday's series finale at 1 pm.

Let us know if you know otherwise, but assuming we're not misreading the situation and Brunnig does get the ball, this bodes as a potentially impactful appearance from Harvard's 6'6 question mark. It's no secret that skipper Joe Walsh is still auditioning pitchers for at least two of the coveted weekend starter roles, and with the Ivy League season less than a week away, now is really the time to make an impression.

Coming off a solid relief appearance last weekend against New York Tech, Brunnig seems positioned to earn the right to start against either Cornell or Princeton next weekend if he turns in an impressive outing tomorrow.

Since his rookie year, Brunnig has been hyped as a special talent, with all-Ivy potential. With Cole and Haviland struggling this weekend and only certain elements of the bullpen inspiring confidence so far, Brunnig could emerge as a difference-maker this season. More than a few times in the recent past, we've seen a Harvard pitcher go from unknown quantity to go-to guy in his senior season. Also working in Brunnig's favor is the fact that he has traditionally been one of the team's more reliable strike-throwers--so far this year, he's got just one walk in over five innings of work.

Long story short, he is definitely capable of replicating--or even surpassing--his rookie year success in 2006. We're rooting for him.

Control Problems Doom Harvard Again

Sophomore starter Shawn Haviland fell behind in too many counts and Harvard fell behind quickly on the scoreboard en route to a 16-4 loss in Jacksonville this afternoon.

Haviland (seen above) struggled every bit as much as rookie Adam Cole did Friday, and exited the game just as promptly. Back-to-back walks to start the game led to three first-inning runs. The second inning didn't go much better; after a single, walk and another single, Haviland was pulled for Jason Brown.

Despite trailing 5-0 after two innings, Harvard manufactured three runs in the next two frames. Lance Salsgiver provided a two-run double and Chris Mackey singled home another run to close the gap to 5-3. Also of note: Steffan Wilson (3-for-4, with three doubles, yesterday) apparently made enough of an impression on Jacksonville that he was intentionally walked with two outs in the third inning. It worked; Josh Klimkiewicz flied out to right to end the inning, stranding two.

This was a close game until the seventh, when things slipped away, again on account of control issues. Reliever Brad Unger faced six hitters and walked four of them. Five runs were eventually charged to him, spoiling what had been a 2.2-inning hitless relief stint by Javy Castellanos, as Walsh's trial-and-error approach with his pitching staff continued to produce mixed results.

Harvard looks to salvage one game in this three-game set tomorrow at 1 pm. The game can be monitored live by clicking here.

Walsh Reprises 'Captain Hook' Role at JAX

For the second time in as many days, Harvard's starter has failed to pitch into the third inning. Today, sophomore Shawn Haviland gets an early hook, lasting exactly 1.1 innings, as another lopsided loss looms in Jacksonville. Control issues continue to hurt Harvard's cause.

You can follow the game, in progress, via Jacksonville University's GameTracker. More later.

Friday Night Blights

In what is hopefully just a hiccup and not a setback for the rotation, freshman starter Adam Cole (pictured at left) was less than his usual self Friday, getting a quick hook after just 1.1 innings, as Harvard fell to Jacksonville University, 14-3, in the Crimson's spring break opener.

Jacksonville came as good as advertised. Validating Jason Brown's complimentary assessment in yesterday's Crimson, the Dolphins pounded out 14 hits and led 10-0 after just three innings. Harvard was never in this one, though Steffan Wilson snapped out of a 3-for-17 funk, slugging three doubles and knocking in two of Harvard's three runs. The other positive sign for the good guys: though the game was out of hand early, four relievers combined to give up just one earned run in the bullpen's final six innings of work.

As for Cole, he was wild from the outset, walking the first hitter of the game and three of the ten batters he faced in all. He escaped the first inning with just one run allowed, but a solo homer to start the second signalled more trouble. By the time Cole surrendered a one-run, one out double to the fourth batter of that inning, Walsh decided he had seen enough, pulling him for lefthander Mike Dukovich, who struggled mightly before being lifted for Taylor Meehan.

The burning question of this game: Was Cole bothered by something health-wise? Or was Walsh, seeing that Cole just didn't have it on this particular day, saving him for another start during this compact spring break stretch? Probably (hopefully) the latter. We'll know soon enough--if healthy, Cole could take another turn as soon as Monday, when Harvard plays a doubleheader.

The three-game series with Jacksonville continues through tomorrow.

Hit the Road

10 days, 12 games. Jacksonville (3), Lynn, Barry, Florida Atlantic, FIU, St. Thomas, and then the first Ivy games (doubleheaders at Princeton and defending Gehrig Division champion Cornell) on April 1-2. One can only hope that by that time, they'll have a rotation set. The Crimson's Jonathan Lehman quotes Morgan Brown as saying that Matt Brunnig will get a start this week, along with Brad Unger, who pitched very well against NY Tech.

One can only hope that a Brunnig or a Castellanos really establishes himself here. (One can also idly wonder "what if"--like, "What if Frank Herrmann were still around to start the seven-inning game in New Jersey?"--but I say that now only because my gut tells me that's the last time this what if will come up this season).

Spring Break Road Trip

Official preview here, including links to live scoring for the upcoming games.

Fellow Submarines

Interesting (and interestingly timed and titled) piece on Jason Brown, Mike Myers and the art of the submarine delivery.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox were at home for October’s American League Division Series with Chicago. On their roster was a 36-year old veteran pitcher named Mike Myers who, like Brown, threw from the rare “submarine” arm slot.

Unbeknownst to Brown, Myers kept in contact with Walsh, a former Cape League coach.

“I got a phone call that Mike Myers wanted to use [O’Donnell Field],” Walsh says. “He was going to work out a guy in the minors...who was dropping down.”

Brown was on his way to class in the afternoon when he received a call on his cell phone. It was Walsh.

“Hey, Mike’s going to be down here this afternoon at 1:00,” the coach said. “Would you want to go down and get a chance to work with him?”

Says Brown, “I immediately left class and went straight down.”

Brown worked with Myers for more than half an hour, correcting subtle kinks in his delivery.

For one, Walsh says, Myers instructed Brown to dip down as he attacked the plate rather than before, as he had previously done. Myers also helped him with his arm angle and demonstrated an improved sidearmer grip.

“He was a really nice guy, really patient,” Brown says. “Because nothing came to me quick when I was working with him...He was willing to just work with me. He didn’t count it as, like, a hassle or like I was bugging him or anything.”

All of a sudden, Brown was throwing darts. His pitch movement had increased. His slider broke harder. His control had improved.

“This fall,” Walsh says, “he’s throwing 83, nobody can touch him. Nobody. I can’t wait to wheel him out. His ball is just tch tch tch tch. When we have indoor workouts, if Jason’s throwing in the cage and somebody’s throwing 90 in the other cage, [the batters] all jump in the 90 cage. He’s making guys look silly.”

Also, Frank Herrmann contributes Part III of his spring training diary, which has been a delight. (Part II was here.)

Solid contribution out of the bullpen? Check.

First victory of the season? Check.

Harvard's surprise super sub, senior RHP/LHP/PH Matt Brunnig, hurled four perfect innings of relief Sunday, preserving Harvard's first win of the year, 3-2, over New York Tech.

Starter (and emerging weekend option?) Brad Unger went the first five innings, allowing just three hits (all singles), to earn the win. He did allow five walks, which along with a couple untimely passed balls, paved the way for two unearned runs for NYTech.

Taylor Meehan had the at-bat of the game, ripping a two-run double in the fourth that put Harvard ahead to stay. Andrew Casey, Tom Stack-Babich and Matt Vance each had two base knocks, pacing a 10-hit attack for Harvard.

Back to Brunnig: 12 up, 12 down to earn his fifth career save. His ERA is still hovering at 9.00--this, thanks to a dubious relief inning in Harvard's 17-6 dismantling at Florida, where he had five earned runs charged to him after retiring the first two batters of said inning--and the jury has remained out on Brunnig for three-plus years. Still, today's outing--along with the random pinch-hitting success of late (he had his first career RBI yesterday)--is enough to stir an optimist to wonder if this isn't the year Brunnig might finally put it together. Here's hoping.

Still looking for the win column

Crimson dropped both today. 9-6 in the first game (Haviland 2 1/3, 7h, 6r, 4er, 2bb, 2k), 3-2 in the second (Cole 6 2/3, 6h, 2er, 4k). Interestingly, Javy Castellanos pitched in both games in relief. That would suggest that someone else is going tomorrow. Ryan Watson, perhaps?

Tom Stack-Babich collected his first four collegiate hits in the two games.

JV baseball guy makes good

A bit of self-indulgence for the writer types among us: Congrats to Jon Paul Morosi '04, former Crimson sportswriter, who was recently named a baseball beat guy at the Detroit Free Press, where he'll get the chance to cover his hometown team, the Tigers. Jon mostly wrote hockey during his stint with the Crimson, but he played plenty of baseball for Harvard's JV squad, and appreciated the Harvard baseball program as much as anyone.

For those of us who paid attention to these things, Jon followed in the tradition of one Daniel G. Habib, Sports Illustrated's baseball insider and all-around legend, as someone who understood not just the sport, but also the craft, better than almost anyone. A good example of Jon's talent can be found here. If we're lucky, maybe Jon will be able to pitch in with an occasional contribution here at SoBB. Props to Marty for finding out about this.

Again: congrats, Jon.

Media Roundup

The Crimson talks about throwing strikes. Rob Wheeler gets some mention in this article about ROTC. Harvard plays New York Tech in its first cold outdoor games this weekend. Cole and Haviland (who won his first ever decision there last year) will pitch on Saturday. Javy Castellanos will start Sunday's game.

Mann alive

A hearty welcome to new SoBB contributor and Crimson catching legend Schuyler Mann.

Opening weekend losses, a Crimson tradition

With this my 5th year of emotional investment in Harvard Baseball, I can tell you that the beginning to this season is no different than any of the past four. In one respect, this is of course bad because the Crimson was handed 3 lopsided losses – not the most proud of traditions to establish. On the other hand, two of the last four Crimson squads went on to win the Ivy League with similar beginnings when pitted against ranked southern schools (i.e. Rice, Louisiana-Lafayette, Texas Tech).

That said, this year’s edition has nothing to worry about. After four years of being on the receiving end of a few blowout defeats, one learns how to recognize the positives regardless of score. So here’s my take on why dem good ol’ boys should keep their heads up, and also where they’ll need to improve to keep the Ivy Title at O’Donnell.

Swingin’ the shillaly:
The biggest challenge the Harvard team faces every season is adjusting to “real” baseball after being cooped up inside basketball and tennis courts through the Boston winter. This year’s edition came out swinging, as always. With 26 hits over their first 3 games against nationally ranked pitching, the Crimson will not have to worry about offensive output as they have not over the past few seasons. Klem, Steffan, and Lance will all have great years at the plate and it sounds like some newcomers will have impact years as well. Captain Mo will have a good solid year all-around, having already contributed a long ball to his versatile offerings.

The guys will have to concentrate on walking more, and striking out less, something I always sucked at, but hey it’s gotta be done. This will give Walsh more chances to run, run, run.

Pitching Whoa’s!
24 BB's, 7 HBP’s, and 6 WP’s. That’s a lot of poorly aimed pitches for three games. A tremendous amount really. There’s clearly a lot of rust on the rubber, and the pitching staff will have to turn it around pretty quickly to give the team a shot at winning. There’s just so much talent in the Crimson arms though. As a catcher, I know it. There is absolutely no reason that Bruton, Castellanos, that hippie Brunnig, and Haviland shouldn’t have great years. All of them need constant reminders that there is a defense working hard out there for them. Bruton will need movement on his fastball and be able to throw his sharp slider and yakker for strikes. Javy C just needs to concentrate on filling the zone with his hard fastball. No need to get pretty out there. Haviland will find his rhythm with time. And Brunnig, with the best tools of them all, just needs to breathe out of his eyelids, stay loose, and let it fly.

The bullpen will be led by Jason Brown. He needs to set the tone for other relievers like Duke and Taylor Meehan. The objective for them is to challenge hitters with a mix of pitches. Keep them off balance and swinging. All three have plenty of good pitches to work with, if only they throw strikes.

Harvard’s catchers will have to work to get the most out of this pitching staff. Big Casey is a hell of a catcher and strong-willed. He knows how to keep those idiot pitchers in line.

Equal Opportunity Line-ups:
Walsh has never had any qualms about getting freshman into the line-up to “see what they can do.” Though I know little about this freshman class, I do see that many of them are getting playing time and making the most of it. Cole was outstanding in his debut and this Rodgers character delivered a big hit. Strong contributions from a freshman class are important to the success of the team. It drives the older guys to work harder to keep their spots, and it gives the young guys a chance at game experience in their first year. If you look at the past couple of years, guys like Haviland, Wilson, Farkes, and Klem all made huge impacts in their first go-around. This year should be no different as the young bucks seem to be earning respect from Walsh already.

(And I say this lovingly…) Walsh’s Wild Hair:
The craziest decision that Walsh made in the opening weekend, the one that has left me scratching my head a few thousand miles away, was putting Brunnig in to pinch hit. Then again, it worked. Unless there was a typo in the media, Brunnig got and AB and a hit. I remember Brunnig always telling me and the other hitters how easy our job was (to our chagrin) but I guess he proved himself right. Still, I think he should get his goofy ass back on that mound and throw heat.

Gainesville Sweep

17-6, Florida. Salsgiver bats .500 for the series. Justin Roth, Matt Rogers get first career hits. Morgan Brown proves the most effective bullpen option of the weekend (2 1/3 hitless, scoreless innings with the game out of reach).

The At-the-Game Report: Game Two

More from our eyes in Gainesville... LAS wrote this up AND took pictures for us... SoBB is grateful... and amused that she figured into the answer to between-innings Florida-Harvard trivia question...



"Haviland looked pretty good early -- a few too many balls, but good -- but this time of year all the guys don't have much stamina on the mound yet, and it showed as the game went on. His curve ball -- which looked sharp early -- started not to fall in, and Walsh had to pull him. Then the bull pen had some of the same difficulties as yesterday, though there were definitely fewer walks."

"The biggest difference between Florida and Harvard right now (when Florida's not really hitting and missing LaPorta) is the bullpen. The Augenstein was lights out again (with the exception of his last frame), and then the Gators brought in O'Day (a submariner, who is their closer), and he was very good after giving up a hit to open the inning. Lack of bullpen depth is clearly an issue for the Crimson in games like this. Ryan Watson battled hard in his debut -- I don't think he allowed an earned run -- but he walked too many guys. With a team in an offensive slump like Florida, you need strike throwers, and no one coming out of the pen the past two days seemed to come in and put the ball over the plate early and often. It's early in the season and this is the kind of thing that can be remedied. It will also get less important as you reach Ivies -- where starters go longer, and 1/2 the games are only seven innings -- but it will probably be an issue tomorrow. Let's hope Javi can eat up some innings, and someone can get the ball to Wilson with a Harvard lead (unless, of course, Chas is pitching)."

"Aside from that, let's see. Lance had a pretty good day, getting clean hits off of both Florida pitchers, and showing off his arm on a throw from the far right field corner that hit third base on what I think was one bounce. The infield play got a little sloppy near the end of the game, but overall the defense and situational baseball has been pretty darn good for this time of the season."

Florida 10, Harvard 2

Matt Brunnig singles, scores from first on a Vance double, plays right field.

More later.

Game One Observations

Former Crimson beat writer and utterly disinterested observer Lande submits the following notes from her seat in Gainesville:

Cole: "Adam Cole was great. He pretty clearly tired in the sixth(?), but before that he was really in control the whole game. The Florida lineup has been in a serious -- and for me, somewhat disturbing slump -- and when Cole was out there, it didn't look like there was any way the team was coming out of it. He mixed up his pitches and located well, got a lot of ground balls, it was a nice job by a kid making his first collegiate start."

Morgan Brown: "Morgan Brown looked great. Between his home run (which was a shot to left center), a pretty little bunt single, and an impressive day at short (highlighted by a diving stab of a line drive with a man on third), he looked as good as anyone on the field for either team. Ball got him swinging on what looked like a pretty breaking pitch, but overall, I was really impressed with Morgan, as I usually am."

And the obvious: "After Cole came out, things got ugly pretty quickly, just because the other guys we brought in (up until Meehan), really struggled to throw strikes. It was a little painful at times, especially with the whole Florida crowd chanting at them (the crowd inexplicably calls every pitcher 'Earl', and just rips on them the whole time...)."

More notes: Cole had his control problems, throwing only 37 of his 77 pitches for strikes. That he only allowed 2 hits in 5+ anyway is even more of a testament to his poise on the mound yesterday.

Morgan Brown had one home run all of last season.

The Gators had only given up five homers all season (17 games, 150 innings) before last night's two.

Game Two at 2pm. Live audio here. If last night was any indication, this team can be beaten if you can get 7 quality innings out of Haviland and turn it over to Salsgiver-Wilson. Tomorrow's Game Three has been moved up to noon to accommodate Harvard's travel schedule; no inning will start after 3.

Florida 12, Harvard 6

...despite a strong outing from Adam Cole. More tomorrow.

Opening Day!

Freshman Adam Cole will indeed start tonight's game (6:30) at No. 13 Florida. Talk about a baptism by fire... or maybe not since the Gators really haven't been hitting lately. Forecast for tonight: Mostly cloudy, lows around 60, highs around 90-91 on the gun if the advance press is any indication. Could be interesting. Shawn Haviland will start game two tomorrow at 2pm against Brian Augenstein (4-0, 1.15 ERA) in a battle of aces. Javy Castellanos starts the third game. I'd gotten some reports that his velocity was down this spring, maybe that's not the case.

Live audio here! (WRUF)

Or, tune in to Live Stats linked off Harvard's site here ("Gametracker")

The Crimson reports in its game preview that Matt Vance is DHing due to shoulder problems. This moves Tom Stack-Babich to the outfield.

Here is the Florida Preview.

Herrmann's Head

Good day for the Crimson. On the same day its baseball preview comes out, they debut one of the more intriguing features in a long while, Frank Herrmann's diary of Indians camp.

Ask And You Shall Receive...

Some days after the Sons of Bart Brush Preview Spectacular, the Crimson has put its own baseball preview online. Very good stuff here, as usual. Some highlights:



* Morgan Brown is bouncing back from a horrifying summer ball accident, one that recalls an even worse event in recent Harvard baseball history.

* Walsh pretty much sums up the rotation:

Coach Joe Walsh traces a big question mark in the air with his forefinger.
He then pauses, before repeating the exercise and drawing an invisible exclamation point.
“You could throw either one of those on there,” he says.

A lot of other fun tidbits in here as well.

* Matt Vance, lone bright light from last year's NCAAs, wants to bat leadoff. You may recall that Vance had a coming out party this first March weekend last year, and must've had an OBP around .600. Let's see who they bat leadoff: Vance, Salsgiver, maybe this kid Rogers whose speed Walsh loves so much.

* Lance Salsgiver gets remarkably candid about his Harvard career and his expectations: "My college seasons here at Harvard, to be honest, have been pretty mediocre in terms of what I wanted to accomplish... For some reason, I haven’t been able to put together a good season. Every year, it seems as if there’s a slump or two hitting-wise, and the season’s so short that one bad day starts to snowball."

* An ode to the two-sport athlete, an endangered species generally, but less so at O'Donnell.

Read them all and enjoy.

GoCrimson.com posts its season preview

Here. Pretty standard stuff. Everyone's awesome on paper. Typical downplaying of the freshmen (the odds of Adam Cole starting Game One against Florida are actually quite high).

Hopefully, we'll have some additional Crimson coverage this week. We're working on another multimedia feature idea, as well as the usual stuff we do, so stay tuned.

Sons of Bart Brush Preview Spectacular

SoBB recently notched its 10,000th hit. (It's true! Check the counter!) After realizing that Brian, Faiz and I really could've accounted for but so many of these, I'm pretty floored by this fact. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and spreading the word about the site. Most importantly, continued thanks to the Harvard baseball team for fighting the good fight and making my time here a lot more enjoyable.

In order to properly commemorate SoBB 10K, celebrate the one-year anniversary of the site and get ready for an exciting new season of Harvard baseball, we've done something a little different. Hit the comment button and let us know how the preview below works on your machine. This is new technology to us, and the feedback is very useful.

With that, we unleash Coach Walsh upon an unsuspecting world:

Levelling the playing field a bit?

As many of you know, Harvard baseball tends to get off to a late start compared to the rest of the country. There are some obvious reasons.


A reliable informant points us to this news of a change in the NCAA baseball start date effective in 2008. We're talking late February from then on, with the 2008 start date set at February 22. (Florida, this year's first Harvard opponent, has been playing games since February 10; Harvard plays its first games this year the weekend of March 12).

One of many gaps between Harvard and the cream of the college baseball crop, true, but something that could ultimately make a difference given how vast an advantage playing a full additional month would seem to be.

In other news, Shawn Haviland has been named to the Northeast Baseball Review Preseason All-Northeast Corridor Second Team . Paul Christian (Brown) is listed on the first team.

Captain Morgan, True Scholar-Athlete

Congratulations to shortstop and captain Morgan Brown, recipient of a Rockefeller Fellowship to do research in India after graduation. Morgan was one of eight student recipients at Harvard College.

Official spring practices start...

According to The Crimson. With national title contender Florida (the 2005 runner-up) first up on the schedule, it seems sophomore Matt Vance has wasted no time in providing the Gators with bulletin board material:

“That should be interesting,” Harvard sophomore Matt Vance said. “We’re hoping to take one if not two.”

And later...

“We’re all pretty confident,” Vance said. “We plan on [Florida] maybe not coming out as hard as they can.”

Uh-huh.

Meanwhile, Alex McPhillips also reports that the team's traditional practice facility in Palmer-Dixon is being re-floored, leaving the team to practice in other venues like past favorite Lavietes Pavilion. The article also mentions the arrival of Todd Carroll ("Tom" in the article) in addition to Tom LoRicco. Carroll will serve as a volunteer assistant coach and bullpen catcher. We're guessing he's the same Todd Carroll who has recently served as an assistant coach at UMass and Salem Community College. Here is Todd's Salem bio:

Coach Carroll enters second year as assistant for the SCC baseball team. During the summer months, he helps coach the Mill City All-Americans of the New England Collegiate Baseball League. Coach Carroll’s experiences as a player at the JUCO and four-year level brings added knowledge to the SCC staff.

Coach Carroll’s foremost responsibilities are working with the pitchers and catchers. Coach Carroll did a wonderful job last season with the pitchers and catchers, with the pitching staff having a team ERA of 3.50 and the catchers throwing out an outstanding 60% of base runners. He also oversees the pitchers’ conditioning and weightlifting programs.

Coach Carroll is a native of Burlington, Massachusetts. He credits Jim Curtin, Dave Bettencourt, Mark Bettencourt, and Bobby Powers as his coaching mentors. Carroll currently resides in Pennsville.

Seems to pretty much fit the mold of a Walsh guy.

A Video Game Note

For those who were really hoping: No, the new MVP '06: NCAA Baseball does not include Ivy League teams, even though EA's college basketball and football franchises both offer Harvard action in semi-accurate stadiums. You'll have to wait for future versions of the game that include the full Division I universe to unleash Shawn Haviland and Steffan Wilson on an unsuspecting video world and see digital renderings of the trees behind the outfield fence.

Sons of Bart Brush: We cover every conceivable base.

Baseball America thinks the Ivy Title is staying here.

We're only a couple months away, folks...


A fellow former beat writer informs me that Baseball America (subscription required) has posted its Ivy League preview. BA predicts Harvard edging out Brown by a game for the division title and going on to beat Princeton in the league championship series. Steffan Wilson is the pre-season Player of the Year. The BA preseason All-Conference team consists of Josh Klimkiewicz (mispelled as "Klinkiewicz" but at least he's finally recognized by somebody) at first, Wilson at third, Morgan Brown at short, Lance Salsgiver wedged in as the DH and Shawn Haviland as one of three Ivy pitchers spotlighted, and projects sophomore transfer Tom Stack-Babich as the league's top newcomer.

The write-up notes the departure of some top talent from rival teams, including, thank heavens, this guy, and that Brown's Paul Christian will move to the outfield after hurting himself in the Cape league. Wilson, draft ineligible, also projects as the league's third most promising pro prospect, after 1 and 2.

Hyde-y ho!

Former Harvard assistant coach Matt Hyde is now an area scout for the New York Yankees, in charge of New England, New York and Pennsylvania. Matt is currently coordinating a number of winter baseball clinics with Mets scout Craig McLaughlin, Chicago Cubs pitcher Rich Hill and former Harvard standout Zak Farkes. Hyde reports that he was approached late last summer by Dan Duquette, former Red Sox GM, in helping to put together the 2006 edition of his New England Collegiate League team. Hyde saw the potential to get back into pro-ball full time, and with help from Duquette and Mets hitting coach Rick Down, found his way to the pros. It came down to the Yankees and the Jays, and Hyde is now in a job that gives him scouting duties at, among other venues, the Cape Cod League where he at one time served as an assistant coach.

Hyde sees a lot of Farkes on a day to day basis and says that after a difficult start in the minors, Farkes got some good advice during his first season and is now swinging the ball better than he's ever seen. He also noted that Luis Alicea, who managed the Spinners last year, told him he had the potential to be a gold glove third baseman.

Good luck to both Matt and Zak.

Trey Hendricks branches out.

Happy 2006. We haven't said much lately, so here is an article from late 2005 about former Crimson star Trey Hendricks, now making his way back from surgery and trying to make his way no matter what the job asks:

So back to baseball. Utility guy is a broad term, especially coming from someone who played exactly two positions in his first year as a pro in Short Season Yakima. It seems even more curious when you realize those two positions were first base and DH. Of course, there's a reason for everything Hendricks does, and knee surgery in April of 2004 has a lot to do with his role in '05.

The surgery kept him out of competitive ball, and in extended spring training his first season, and in year two, though he was healthy, the organization felt keeping him where he was comfortable was important. Now though, all bets are off.

"First base of course, but third base, left field, right field, even some catching, I've kind of been doing it all here."

Catching? Certainly a Harvard guy has got to be smart enough not to strap on the gear?

"I'm up for it, Plum [Bill Plummer, who oversaw the catchers at instructs] has been working with me a couple times a week, and it's fun, you're involved in everything."

Interview with John Wylde of the Wareham Gatemen, Part II

We continue our chat with John Wylde, President and GM of the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League.

On Shawn Haviland, who had a 7.71 ERA in 2 1/3 innings as a non-roster invitee:

My own personal feeling is that in his freshman fall, Haviland looked great. I’ve never heard Joe [Walsh] as enthusiastic about a young pitcher. Joe thought he might be a team USA guy. For some reason, it looks as if Shawn got concerned about or fell in love with having to throw harder. He succeeded earlier because he disguised his curveball well, had a very smooth delivery on that late-breaking curveball. But once he became obsessed with having to throw harder, the result was he lost his command and didn’t gain any velocity, anyway.

We clocked everybody, and he had the widest disparity on his fastball. Most guys varied about 5 MPH. He varied from 82 to 89. He pitches at maybe 84, 85, 86. If Joe feels like he can relax and just use that great natural motion he has, and Joe now feels he’s done that, he’s gonna be fine. He’s coming back in the same status in the summer. He’s a great kid.

On the freshmen pitchers:

The local boy from Lincoln-Sudbury–-at Scout Day, we were told every fastball was registering 90. He came on a lot late in high school. Joe was moderately interested in him early and became more and more interested, but people had to push him a bit. He had a great summer pitching for his American Legion team.

I think Joe’s been a little more circumspect about Cole after how excited he was about Shawn Haviland a year earlier, but if Joe’s being candid, both he and Ryan Watson are probably weekend starters this year.

Hampton Foushee looked like he might be a pretty decent setup guy, give you a few innings. We went to Yale and Brown to see their guys, and the only guy Stuper and everybody wanted to talk about was Foushee. “How’s Foushee doing?” He's not afraid to go inside on right handed hitters.

Those are three pitchers there that will probably help.

On Matt Rogers, whom Walsh earlier called “maybe the fastest kid I’ve recruited here at Harvard.”

He looks like he will help. My own personal opinion—he may not be not as quick as they anticipated. When I was there, I think Morgan Brown outran him. That’s not a knock on Morgan Brown, but I pictured this guy about five yards ahead of everyone in the 60. He wants to play shortstop, and Joe envisions him in the outfield this year. [I note that Joe had once deemed Matt Vance his shortstop of the future] Matt Vance has put on some weight—positive weight, not negative weight. Joe feels that possibly he’s built himself to the point where you keep him in the outfield.

Wylde also noted that he was most impressed by the infield drills the team did, led by Morgan Brown, adding that he would’ve been proud to see Gateman teams perform that well.

'Fork in the Road... to Arizona

As predicted by many in baseball, former Harvard infielder Peter Woodfork '99 was named the Assistant GM of the Diamondbacks. So goes the meteoric rise of Woodfork, with whom I got to chat when he joined the Red Sox. Congratulations! Here are a few clips, conveniently assembled by Paul McNeeley of Friends of Harvard Baseball:

The Boston Globe's Eric Wilbur:

“We’re sorry to see Peter go, but this promotion is an opportunity he has been working for and building toward for several years,” said Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino. “He was a valuable contributor to our operations and administration for the last three years, and we wish him the best in Arizona, except, of course, in interleague play.”

Also:

• The Daily Item of Lynn (MA)
• The Arizona Republic
• We'll also add the Swampscott Reporter, Peter's hometown paper, since they inexplicably refer to Harvard's baseball team as the "Crimson Tide."

Interview with John Wylde of the Wareham Gatemen, Part I: Lance Salsgiver

In the continued interest of giving you more coverage of Harvard baseball than any entity has ever produced in the offseason, Sons of Bart Brush brings you another installment of our “hot stove” series.

Today, Part I of our chat with John Wylde, President and General Manager of the Cape Cod League’s Wareham Gatemen. A frequent visitor to O’Donnell Field, Wylde watched Lance Salsgiver’s breakout summer in the Cape, Shawn Haviland’s first summer as a member of the Gatemen and also attended the Crimson’s fall scouting festivities. I spoke with John today. Here are some of John’s thoughts on Lance Salsgiver, who made the Gatemen as a “temporary” or non-roster invitee the past two summers. [The Cape League allows its teams to use unsigned players for approximately the first two weeks of the season, due to potential problems created by players whose teams are still in the NCAA tournament or have Team USA or other considerations.] Lance wound up making the All-Star team in this wooden bat league, batting .301 and leading the Gatemen with 43 hits. On Saturday, we’ll have some of John’s thoughts on non-Salsgiver subjects.

It’s a very nice sort of story. Lance made team as unsigned player as a sophomore and made the team, and the same happened his junior season. We generally have a team policy against signing juniors because of the [MLB] draft. You can have a wonderful-looking roster with a lot of juniors, then come June 10th they won’t show up. Obviously, Ivy League players are more likely to show up.

The two summers mirrored each other. Lance started off slowly two years ago. In the last half of the season, Lance hit just over .400 after hitting .150 for the first part. Wound up around .280 or so.

Last year was very similar, with perhaps a less pronounced disparity between each half of the season. Lance started as our fourth outfielder and played himself into the lineup. We play a 44-game season, and by around game 18, you couldn’t believe how hot he was. Every ball he hit was a rope. He just missed a grand slam at Chatham, their left fielder made a circus catch on that ball. Toward the end, he cooled off a bit.

Lance hit over .300, which is a tremendous accomplishment in the Cape, and made the All-Star team. Just missed making the final league all star team, which is tougher to make—for the game, there are two teams of 40 or 42 all stars, but final all star team is 20 players. The coaches had him as their fifth outfielder, and four are selected to the final team.

I think Lance opened a lot of pro eyes. I know professional scouts have liked him since high school. I remember words Joe was getting during his freshman year that he might have been a 5th or 6th round draft choice. Since then, teams have known that they weren’t going to be able to buy him out of his commitment to Harvard. People were kind of waiting for Lance to show them a bit more. At least four teams expressed interest in signing him this summer, with San Diego being the most aggressive. But I think national professional attention will come.

I still think most scouts still feel that his brightest professional prospects as a pitcher.

You’ve seen only limited glimpses of that at Harvard. Maybe he's one of those guys that has to feel 100% on the hill, maybe his arm doesn’t bounce back terribly well. He’s got essentially two pitches, fastball and the curve. The fastball is realistically hovering in the high eighties, but what really distinguishes him is that devastating curveball. If he gets back to pitching regularly, it’s gonna be in the dirt a lot, and he’s going to need a catcher who can block the plate well.

Steffan Wilson [an All-Ivy first team reserve pitcher as a freshman last year as well as a unanimous pick at third base] will play for us next year. But I don’t think I could see him pitching for us as I would see Lance. I think Lance is more effective.

On Saturday, we'll run Wylde's thoughts on Shawn Haviland as well as this year's freshmen.

Boston GM search continues: Mike Hill '93 mentioned

Peter Woodfork and the rest of the internal candidates for the Red Sox job haven't been mentioned much lately, but there is this new potentially interesting wrinkle from Saturday's Globe:

Michael Hill, the Florida Marlins' assistant GM the last three seasons, also is expected to be interviewed in the coming days. Hill, named to Black Enterprise magazine's 2003 Hot List of African-American executives under age 40, is a celebrated 1993 graduate of Harvard, where as a senior he was elected class marshal, led the football team in rushing, and captained the baseball team.

Hill, in an e-mail last night, said he had not yet been contacted by the Red Sox.

Flashback: Hill's Triple Threat: Run, Hit and Lead:

Hill's dignified leadership draws praise from his coach and teammates as well as votes from his classmates-Hill is also a Senior Class Marshal.

"Mike is as fine a captain as we'll ever have," Harvard Coach Leigh Hogan says. "He's an outstanding player and an outstanding person."

Fellow outfielder senior Juan Zarate agrees:

"He is a quintessential leader. On the field he does his job extremely well. Off the field, he's a person you can approach with any kind of problem. He just does things right and makes people feel good about being on the team."

Hill's low-key leadership manifests itself in the values he impresses on his team; teamwork, unity and shared sacrifice.

"This is my last year playing, and I really want the team to do well," Hill says. "This year we don't have the same personnel we had in the past, and we just have to bring everything we have together and focus on winning. We're trying to promote team unity. If we don't get contributions from all nine players, we won't have an Ivy League title."

"Mike is talented, classy, and a very hard worker," junior first baseman Dave Morgan says. "He's real interested in making us a team and is doing a good job so far as Captain."

Harvard is at a cross-roads-lacking the bats of Jim Mrowka '92, Dan Scanlan '92 and Nick DelVecchio '92 as well as the strong arms of Tom Hurley '92 and Scan Johnston '92-the team must find a new persona, a new way to manufacture runs and win games.

Hill is the team's triple threat; he can run, field, and hit. The second leading rusher on the football team this year (averaging 4.2 yards per carry), Hill has stolen 28 bases in three seasons for the Crimson. A good glove in right field, the stalwart holds a remarkable .963 fielding percentage over the last two years-and he was errorless in league play last year.

Flashback: The Harvard Independent, 2004

I: Fair assessment. Now a few things about your Harvard background. Did you ever feel as though there was a stigma in baseball attached to being an Ivy Leaguer?

MH: I've never really thought about that. I know what kind of person I am, I know my abilities. The fact that I went to Harvard, I would hope that nobody would ever stereotype me or label me as anything. My experiences are different from other Ivy Leaguers within baseball. There are Ivy Leaguers who are GM's, who never played the game beyond high school or junior high. I'm proud of the fact that I played in the minor leagues, I rode on the buses, and from that standpoint, I feel like I have a perspective in dealing with players that some other people may not have.

Bonus Flashback: The Crimson, 5/2005:

Hill, meanwhile, worked his way into baseball operations after playing for three years in the minor leagues. He now stands just a step away from joining DePodesta as Harvard alums as general managers.

“The toughest part is getting the opportunity,” says Hill of his experiences in baseball. “Then you have to make the most of it.”

Since You Been Gone...

Figured it was time we posted something on the current team for a change, even in the absence of real Hot Stove activity in Harvard baseball. We know who's gone. Last year's league weekend rotation consisted of righties Mike Morgalis, Frank Herrmann and Shawn Haviland, with a combination of Matt Brunnig, Jay Brown, Brad Unger and, really, whomever they could get innings out of, in the fourth spot.

Now, Morgalis has graduated, Herrmann has somewhat unexpectedly signed with the Cleveland Indians and Haviland finds himself the team's de facto ace.

In an unusual press release last month, Joe Walsh made it clear that he would likely depend on this year's freshman to fill at least one of those weekend spots:

Walsh, whose team began fall practice on September 23, is expecting big things out of a trio of freshmen pitchers in Adam Cole (Sudbury, Mass.), Ryan Watson (Ambler, Pa.), and Hampton Foushee (Winston-Salem, N.C.). Cole, a righty, led Lincoln-Sudbury HS to the Division II state title as a senior. "We are looking for Adam to step in right away," conceded Walsh. "He is a hard-throwing kid who has a chance to be in our weekend rotation with some hard work."

Cole, a two-time Dual County League MVP looks to be joined in the spring weekend rotation (Ivy League play) by Watson, a two-time first team selection of the Suburban One American Conference, at Upper Dublin HS. "We are hoping that Watson will give us something Harvard has not seen in a long time, that being a strong left-handed starter."

That Walsh would put such pressure on his freshmen so early in the year suggests that, at the very least, he is still entirely insecure with Matt Brunnig taking the mound in one of the weekend spots. (Brunnig's career in Crimson has been staccato bursts of brilliance and ambidextrous promise interspersed with injuries and other enigmatic developments.) It also suggests the very real possibility that Brad Unger, the other intriguing 6'7 hurler, is still very much a project. (Unger will soon begin his second Harvard hoops campaign as well.)

So what of the new guys? Here are some online scraps on Cole and Watson:

ADAM COLE

Boston Globe:

A senior, Cole returns to the All-Scholastic team after an 8-1, 1.10, ERA, 98-strikeout campaign for the Warriors. He has led the team to back-to-back North sectional championships. For his career, he posted a 23-2 record with an ERA under a buck. He is a three-time Dual County League All-Star and two-time league MVP. In the classroom, Cole was an L-S Scholar in all four of his years at L-S, gaining admittance to Harvard University. Cole will continue his baseball career this summer as a member of the Summer Legion Post 191.

Here, Cole throws 141 pitches in 10 innings and hits 87 on the gun in winning the state championship. And here is evidence that he is probably not on the juice. Which is, you know, good to know:

Glenn Cole's son, Adam, led Lincoln-Sudbury to the Div. 2 baseball state championship. The pitcher is headed to Harvard in the fall. Cole believes communication and education are two of the keys in helping keep their kids away from steroid use. Like many of the other parents, he also is keen to the warning signs.
``I try to be as aware and talk to him as much as I can. A lot of times, we talk about it,'' Cole said. ``Hopefully, they stay on the straight and narrow. But a lot of times, you never know. You cross your fingers.''

Also, if you happen to subscribe to the Milford Daily News, let us know what this is all about.

RYAN WATSON

...has a less colorful baseball paper trail. Some resume items prior to his senior year here:

Ryan Watson - LHP/1B/ - 2005
HT: 6'2" - WT: 185 - GPA: 4.6 - PSAT: 1130 - SAT: 1350
B: L - T: L
HS stats: Bat Avg. .330 - RBI 15 - HR 2 - SB 1 - 60 Time 8.00 - Pitching W-2 L-2 - ERA 2.50
Career Highlights
1. Ft Washington Generals
2. Legion 10 Baseball
3. Pre-Season All-American Candidate with Baseball Factory
4. All American Baseball Training
5. Baseball at It's Best Program with Pitching Coach Rob Keu, Joe Cziepietro
4. High School Team Won Division for first time in thirteen years
5. 8-1 with a 1.33 ERA – 69 strikeouts in 63 innings
6. Selected first team Suburban one pitcher and second team 1st baseman where posted a .391 batting average
7. Selected to All-Area Team as a pitcher
8. Carpenter Cup participant All Star Tournament Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware areas
9. Legion season 7-1 with a 1.70 ERA

And some stuff from an archived version of Upper Dublin's decent-looking website.

Could we see a Haviland-Cole-Watson front three against Ivy opponents? It would've been some time since two freshman pitchers made the weekend rotation.

Here are some other notable recent seasons from freshman weekend starters:

Shawn Haviland, 2005: 7-1, 3.10 (9 starts, 14 appearances).
Matt Brunnig, 2003: 4-3, 3.55 (6 starts, 9 appearances).
Kenon Ronz, 2000: [can't find the numbers online, but I seem to recall an ERA below 4.00, his best season aside from his senior season]
Ben Crockett, 1999: 5-1, 4.88 (4-0, 3.69 in league starts, League Co-ROY)
John Birtwell, 1998: Scoreless through his first 20 innings, missed the next month with a virus, won NCAA Regional Play-In Game.

Reasons for optimism.

For the Harvard baseball fan in your life who has everything...

...why not consider the recently released How They Got into Harvard : 50 Successful Applicants Share 8 Key Strategies for Getting into the College of Your Choice for the holidays? In this paperback gold mine, several Harvard students share their experiences getting into Harvard, including former Crimson second baseman Zak Farkes. Farkes, who appears as evidence of "Strategy 1: Flaunt Your Talent and Get Recruited," talks about being recruited by Harvard in an article that includes his SAT/GPA splits and high school extracurricular breakdown. It's fun for the whole family, folks.

Make Way for Jeff Bridich!

As someone pointed out in our Comments section, Jeff Bridich '00 has been promoted within the Rockies organization. Congratulations to the new Director of Baseball Operations.

Flashback:
Athlete of the Week, 1999.

Harvard Rumors Swirl in Epstein's Wake

After losing the Texas Assistant GM derby, former Crimson third baseman Peter Woodfork has already been mentioned for the newly vacant Boston GM spot. By no means a favorite at this point, he's still getting a lot of mention. MLB.com mentions both Woodfork and recently available Paul DePodesta '95:

Paul DePodesta: Abruptly and somewhat surprisingly, the Dodgers relieved the young general manager of his duties Oct. 29, with three years remaining on his five-year contract. DePodesta, who made a name for himself as Billy Beane's assistant in Oakland for six years, is a big believer in numbers and has a Harvard education.
Critics in Los Angeles say that his weakness was interacting with the players. The Dodgers did go to the postseason in his first season. However, year two (71-91) wasn't nearly as successful, ultimately leading to his departure.
Red Sox owner John W. Henry and Lucchino both adhere to sabermetric philosophies, possibly making DePodesta an appealing candidate. However, if DePodesta landed in Boston, he would likely have to make a bigger commitment to his PR skills, something Red Sox ownership also places a priority on.

Peter Woodfork: Another longshot because of his youth, the 29-year-old Woodford is the director of baseball operations and assistant director of player development for the Red Sox. He recently interviewed to be the assistant general manager of the Texas Rangers, but lost out on that position. A graduate of Harvard University, Woodfork came to the Red Sox in 2003 after working in the labor relations department for Major League Baseball and assists with the arbitration process and contract negotiations.

In the NY Times:

Epstein surrounded himself with a young, educated front office, and it is expected Lucchino will look at Peter Woodfork, the director for baseball operations; Jed Hoyer, the assistant to the general manager; and Ben Cherington, the director for player development.

The Globe, meanwhile, mentions another recent Harvard alum, Dave Forst:

Beane has an Epstein-like assistant in David Forst, the former Harvard baseball captain. Forst is on the fast track to becoming a general manager, but he recently turned down an offer to become GM of the Diamondbacks, a job that went to Byrnes, and appears in no hurry to end his apprenticeship with Beane. There is a good likelihood, in fact, that Forst winds up as Athletics GM in another year or so if Beane moves upstairs.

The favorite at this point is probably the Padres' Kevin Towers, but this situation bears watching.

In a move that redefines "hasty"...

...the Los Angeles Dodgers have severed ties with Paul DePodesta '95.

Flashbacks:
Hired by Dodgers, 2004.
As Asst. GM of A's, 2000.

Lo Ricco announcement...

...posted the same day as our earlier post on CSTV's website (but inexplicably, nowhere to be found on GoCrimson.com):

Cambridge, Mass. (October 19, 2005)--Harvard baseball coach Joe Walsh has announced the hiring of Tom Lo Ricco as the program's assistant coach and recruiting coordinator.

Lo Ricco joins the Crimson following numerous stints as an assistant and head coach of several high-profile Division III programs throughout the region. Most recently, he spent the past spring as an assistant at Western New England.

I consider us very lucky to have a quality person such as Tom joining our staff," stated Walsh. "In Tom we have a guy who has been an absolute success as a head coach for eight years for other collegiate programs. He is a person of knowledge and integrity and will be a tremendous asset to our program."

Prior to WNEC, Lo Ricco served as the head coach at Westfield State where he posted a 34 victories including 21 during his final year in 2004. Lo Ricco also served as head coach for six years at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts from 1996-2002 where he posted a 112-111-2 record.

There, his teams reached the ECAC Division III Tournament during his final three years, winning the tournament in 2001 with an overall record of 24-19. His next, and final, season at MCLA was his best as the team posted a 29-10-1 record en route to Lo Ricco being named the MSCAC Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season.

Other collegiate coaching stops have included Wofford College, the University of Massachusetts, and Springfield College. Lo Ricco is a 1987 graduate from Massachusetts with a BA in accounting. He earned his master's degree of athletic administration in 1995 from Springfield.

Lo Ricco resides in Feeding Hills, Mass. with his wife Jennie and two children, Anthony (5) and Sophia (2).

New Assistant Coach?

There is no formal announcement, but the Harvard staff directory now lists Tom Lo Ricco as the new Harvard assistant coach, replacing Matt Hyde.

So who's Tom Lo Ricco?

Apparently, he's the former head coach of Division III Westfield State.

Baseball, which is now led by highly regarded third-year coach Tom Lo Ricco, also is highly competitive while playing in one of the top conferences in New England. The baseball squad posted its first 20-win season in 20 years in 2004 and advanced to the conference tournament championship game.

Before that, head coach at Mass. Liberal Arts:

Tom Lo Ricco was selected as head coach at Westfield State. For the past six years, Lo Ricco has been head coach at Massachusetts Liberal Arts.

So he's something of a local guy, which isn't surprising.

Woodfork '99 Shortlisted for Rangers' Asst. GM Job

From the Globe's Gordon Edes:

Woodfork up next
Peter Woodfork, part of Theo Epstein's coterie of bright young assistants dubbed the ''Gammons Youth" by Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy, is scheduled to interview with the Texas Rangers tomorrow, two days before his 29th birthday, to become the team's assistant general manager.

Woodfork would join 28-year-old Jon Daniels, who last week succeeded John Hart, and displaced Epstein as the youngest GM in baseball history.

Woodfork, who grew up in Swampscott and played baseball and was a psychology major at Harvard, held the title of Director of Baseball Operations/Assistant Director of Player Development with the Red Sox. Boston hired him in March 2003 away from Major League Baseball, where he served in the labor relations department and worked on the 2002 collective bargaining agreement.

Despite his limited experience in baseball operations, Woodfork was on the fast track to developing the background necessary to become a GM, especially with teams leaning toward backgrounds like that of Epstein -- young, tireless Ivy League grads with legal ties and a strong grasp of the game's business side who learn the baseball side on the fly.

David Forst, the former captain of the Harvard baseball team and current assistant GM with the Oakland A's, is said to be in line to become Sandy Alderson's first choice in San Diego if Kevin Towers leaves and goes to Arizona, a widely reported rumor. And Josh Byrnes, the Red Sox' assistant GM and former star player at Haverford (Pa.) College, is a possibility to interview for the Washington Nationals' GM job.

One American League executive gave Woodfork a rave review yesterday. ''He's smart and has a great personality," the executive said. ''Because he worked in the MLB office, he's well known throughout the league, because teams always called him when they needed advice on technical contract issues.

''The Red Sox had him going to games and assisting Ben [Cherington] in player development, and he would work with Theo on contract issues because he was such an expert on the language. He's a great communicator, one of these guys who always seems happy."

Here's a Crimson story about when Woodfork landed his present job.

Woodfork got to know Epstein—who became the youngest GM in baseball history when he was hired at age 28—during his time at the league office, when Epstein was director of Baseball Operations for the San Diego Padres. Woodfork took his post around the time baseball reworked its collective bargaining agreement, which he now remembers as a “great opportunity” to get acquainted with the financial side of the game.

Woodfork started 148 of his 157 career games for the Crimson, playing three seasons at third base before sliding over to second for his senior campaign. A native of Swampscott, Mass., he hit .301 for Harvard, scoring 87 runs and knocking in 62 more as the Crimson won the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Ivy League championships.

Daniel Habib ’00, a former Crimson baseball writer and current staff writer for Sports Illustrated, has written two articles about the new Red Sox administration this spring. Yesterday, he remembered Woodfork as a fundamentally sound player who fit in well with the Ivy championship teams of the late 90s.

“He was somebody who understood Joe Walsh-style baseball and played it well,” Habib said. “He was a solid contact hitter, very versatile defensively and also had a sharp, biting kind of wit to him.”

Habib suggested that the move fits Epstein’s approach to personnel

“Someone like Epstein will hire someone and err on the side of education and intelligence rather than having a traditional baseball background,” Habib said. “There’s isn’t necessarily a high emphasis on having a rolodex full of baseball contacts.”

Captain Morgan

Harvard baseball, it has been written, is best viewed in black-and-white. It's fitting, then, that a program known for its vintage style has chosen a true throwback as its leader.

Morgan Brown has been named the captain of the 2006 Crimson.

From the way he wears his socks, to the way he plays the game, the rangy Brown oozes old school, fitting right in with the classic style at O'Donnell Field.

Skipper Joe Walsh agrees. "Morgan," he said in announcing Brown's captaincy, "exemplifies what Harvard baseball is all about."

Brown has always seemed like the kind of player who would be underrated on most teams, but not so underrated at Harvard because the things he's good at aren't underrated here. The rest of the league's coaches took notice in '05, naming him Second Team All-Ivy. Now, his coaches and teammates have, too.

Congrats.

Hyde-Out

Sources close to the team indicate that Matt Hyde left his assistant coach position with Harvard baseball several weeks ago.

Although Hyde's bio is still up on GoCrimson.com, it is no longer linked from the Harvard athletics staff directory, having been replaced by "TBA" there.

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.