2010 Commitments List

Actually baseball was on the verge of being completely eliminated in the late '90's and up until just a few years before O'Conner was hired. Womack was often criticized but did a lot with very little for a very long time. Womack was there when the money got raised not just to build the stadium but to rescue the program from extinction. He also recruited the nucleus of O'Conner's early success -- Koshansky, Zimmerman, Reynolds among them.

Take nothing away from O'Conner, but the program was on the upswing when he got there. Clearly he has not dropped the ball, but realized the full potential, and that is quite an achievement in its own right. But there's a lot of credit to spread around.

The Cavaliers were honored before the Washington Nationals game last Sunday. How perfect to have Coach O'Connor in the stands when Ryan Zimmerman hit his walk off homerun...

You could have a decent argument these days about which guy you'd rather have, Reynolds or Zimmerman. Both excellent defenders and power hitters. Zimmerman fewer HR's but far fewer K's and a better average hitter. Amazing that they used to play side by side. Glad to say I got by to see them both in action a few times when doing so was a cheap ticket!

Even more amazing that they grew up less than 10 miles from each other in good ol' Va Beach.

Sometimes you just get lucky dont you Midlo. I remember when Josh Hamilton was in HS. A quick 30 minute drive and there you were watching a guy that was simply ridiculous. I mean the guy is hitting off HS pitchers with a metal bat. Then he goes to the mound and is pumping 94 mph fastballs. I swear he could play 3/4ths of the outfield by himself on those HS fields.

I also remember seeing Jason Neighborgahl in HS. Back when he could actually throw a strike. The guy is throwing mid to upper 90's in hs and he looked like he was just trying to throw bp he was so smooth and effortless. I saw him lose a no hitter 2-1 because the catcher just couldnt handle his stuff.

When these type of players like you mentioned are in HS it is a blast to go see them play. And when you see them there is no doubt. There is no question. They are so obvious in their ability. Its fun to see and it is very rare.

Along the lines Coach May mentioned I saw a young HS lefty who probably didn't weigh 140# soaking wet induce a Sr Todd Helton to pop up to 3b to make the last out in a game Helton's team won handly. One would have thought the little lefty's team had won the state by the way his teammates reacted. I thought that one day the lefty can set his grandchildren on his knee and tell them how he wiffed the mighty Helton with 3 blazing fastballs!!

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:

quote:

Originally posted by Bear:
My memory is clear. Nothing was anonymous w/r to the UVA donation. John did tell me it was very large and rather not irrevelant.

1) You may want to check your memory: Grisham rumored to be anonymous donor

..."He is rumored to be an anonymous donor behind UVA’s new baseball complex, too."

2) The donation wasn't irrelevant but UVA's competitive level was. Note: 1 Regional appearance in the 1990's (1996)

Yes, one of the signs of grandparent hood is
dimentia. And that's occuring more and more.

anonymous

OK, Bear...please try to follow me...
1) A large anonymous donation was made (not irrelevant)
2) People speculated it was Grisham since a) his son was on the roster and b) he was seen around C'ville
3) Grisham finally steps forward and says "Yes, it was me."

You see...in the end, it turned out to NOT be an anonymous donation even though it was intended to be one.

Having a conversation with you is like trying to speak Mandarin Chinese.

This was the 2010 Commitments List thread,wasn't it?????

quote:

Originally posted by redbird5:

Gee whiz, young man, I guess I need to duck this also.

And since heavily involved with understanding the geographic distribution of Sinitic language families, a native from Beijing, for example, would use it to describe both the dialects of Tianjin (where the locals speak with essentially a different accent) and of Guangzhou (where the locals speak Cantonese), which a Mandarin speaker would find incomprehensible without study.

Yet since I speak seven languages, one should be aware, like all other varieties of Chinese, there is significant dispute as to whether Mandarin is a language or a dialect.

For one brief shining moment, I was curious as to your DI baseball experiences. Yet then, I moved on.

Good Luck to you


postscript 1: And since John G has become my friend
since our boys played each other, and we have
met on separate occasions in Maryland, Charlottsville (where he also lives), and
in Mississippi (where my work leads me). He tells me he had no intention of being anonymous, (as you have believed). He just did NOT want to have the UVA (or MST) Field/Stadium named after him.

postscript 2: And you get it hear it hear first. The Baseball Stadium at College Park has a new name.
Bob Smith Park at Shipley Field. And yes, Turtle Smith '63 is a friend and home-town area is in Chewsville/Smithsburg, Md. And Turtle (and his wife Carol) had no intention of being anonymous!


And as Casey would say: "You can look it up"

and: "I feel greatly honored to have a ballpark named after me, especially since I've been thrown out of so many."

open a new post, very misleading about 2010

Agree...can we ask that the banter in the last several posts be taken down? Please use the PM option for individual discussions.

Anyone have any commitment updates now that school is back in session?

Here's (and unofficial) partial list of 2010 HS Grads in VA

Austin Chrismam Menchville VA RHP ECU

Jake Joyce Bassett VA RHP VT

Eric Mayers James River VA C Richmond

Erik Payne Mills Godwin VA INF SC, Columbia

Chad Pinder Poquoson VA SS VT

Mitch Shiflett Cosby VA OF UVA

Bobby Wahl W. Springfield VA RHP Mississippi

Austin Kilborne Chesterfield VA OF Maryland

Matt Houston Spotslvania VA RHP/1b W&M

Austin Young Atlee VA UVA

Chris McDonald Greenbriar VA LHP UNC-W

Kyle Crockett Poquoson VA LHP UVA

Pat Harrington Va. Beach VA Of/Inf USC

Apologies for typos/missing/other

Growing weekly.

Email for other states.

Regards

Bear,

Good use of wikipedia: Wiki on Varieties of Chinese



Former UVA staffers have a different opinion on the donation. Both on the anonymity and the completion of the promised donation. You have your sources and I have mine. Be that as it may, it is really a useless fact when debating the competition level of UVA's program in the 90's. Today, they are very relevant and there are big expectations in C'Ville. Best of luck to Coach O'Connor and his staff.

2010 COMMITMENTS LIST NOT COACH O'CONNOR/ UVA
ALRIGHT WE GET IT. LETS MOVE ON

Bear, Eric Mayers plays for Hanover High School, not James River HS.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/...90602-234603/271510/

The article posted by keewart says he is an outfielder...not a catcher.

Heard through the grapevine that Ashooh from Centreville isn't going to UVA any longer; can anyone confirm that and, if so, any details on where he's looking/going now?

Connor Kaufmann right-handed pitcher (LC Bird 2010 Govenor's School for Pre-Engineering) has committed to Cornell University. Connor has been a member of the Richmond Braves 2010 National team for the last 4 years under Coach Tommy Mayers.

Congrat's Connor. Wish you all the luck at Cornell.

Was Conner supposed to be a Bird kid or is he just there for the specialty center? Just curious. Congrats to him, as well.

Thanks. Connor attends LC Bird for the Pre-Engineering Specialty center program there. The program was renamed this year the "Governor's School for Pre-Engineering". His home school would have been Cosby.

Just got confirmation that Ashooh will sign with UVA 2nd week of November, during the early signing period. Congrats!!