2007 Milwaukee Brewers Area Code team announced!!

I don't know a lot of these kids, but Kevin Eichorn is worth the price of admission. A terrific 2-way player, son of former MLB pitcher Mark Eichorn.

Good to see Snodgrass back in the mix!

Congrats to the players but I am not understanding somethings about AC. 50+ players on one team, how many teams?

Correct me if I am wrong, the players tryout to get on a team to try out for the final teams? One player I know from here flew out to AC, got to throw 5 pitches and asked to leave. Now I understand why.

Like Team USA trials, does this team get to actually play on a team before they are chosen? Is this just a big showcase?

I am not sure why some get all ga ga over this whole thing if that is not the case.

JMO

TPM - The Brewers run two teams for California...so 50 players is not out of line.

quote:

Originally posted by Tiger Paw Mom:
Congrats to the players but I am not understanding somethings about AC. 50+ players on one team, how many teams?

Correct me if I am wrong, the players tryout to get on a team to try out for the final teams? One player I know from here flew out to AC, got to throw 5 pitches and asked to leave. Now I understand why.


JMO

Unlike previous years, this was the final list, they had two tryous in So Cal and one in No Cal and like JBB indicated, this list will be broken up into to teams.

TPM, for a long time, the Area Code Games were considered the ultimate showcase opportunity for the best high school baseball players in the country. Bob Williams founded and ran the Area Code Games with the idea of finding a couple hundred of the very best high school players, and over the years there have been a ton of players who have gone on to very successful college careers, and more importantly from the original AC people's perspective, professional baseball careers.

Not too many years ago, things began to change a bit. Bob Williams sold the Area Code Games and they have expanded greatly, which naturally leads to some lessening of the overall talent level. Also, the Aflac Game and Perfect Game National have taken some of the attention that Area Code used to enjoy solely to themselves. I think the bottom line is that there are many more opportunities for the top players to be seen and recognized these days, but the overall talent level isn't quite what it used to be.

It is very difficult to make one of the California teams, as over 300 players tried out this year for the 50 spots, and just getting a tryout invitation is something of an acheivement in the first place. Yes, there were pitchers who threw very short bullpens and were dismissed, but from what I saw some of those players probably shouldn't have been invited to tryout in the first place. The reason they went to short pens was due in part to the long day that the tryouts had become, and in part to dismiss pitchers that really aren't going to be much of what they're looking for. I hate to say this, but VELOCITY does rule still. I saw some very accomplished HS pitchers who were dismissed this year, in part because they never lit up the guns in their bullpen.

On the other and more important hand, there are some young men who've hit college recruiters radar screens who'd never have been seen this summer, but for their Area Code opportunity.