O'Connor

Ruairi broke a small bone in his hand/wrist in late January and elected to take a medical redshirt. Tough break (no pun intended) for a great young man. Smokey and the gang are wishing you all the best and a speedy and complete recovery.

Soxnole, care to share an update…

smart move with the redshirt....all the other OF's are entrenced at their positions and it looked like o'connor was destined for benchville.

besides the starters, i hope the other reserves don't catapult him on the depth charts.

Good luck noles, you're off to a fantastic start!

By-u...that's a pretty bold statement. When I looked at his stats, it looked to me like he had a pretty good freshman year--especially when he was really a senior in high school.

That's a great team and program. It's tough to get innings on the field when your healthy let alone when injured. It was a smart move to red shirt.

Kids don't leave HS a year early unless they are confident that they will be getting some serious innings ...

Seems like a lot of opinions are out there with limited knowledge of the situation.

FYI....All.

1) Ruairi was named the starter in Baseball America.
2) The Medical red shirt is not in stone yet...it will depend on whether the coaches
feel comfortable with his replacements. (they have all played lights out but 2 of the 3 are hurt)

Ratboy....you couldn't be farther from correct in Ruairi's case. For the player (there have been 3---ever)that gets asked to come in early it is an individual decision with a ton of variables to be decided on by the individual and his family.

The first to do this received 2 million dollars in the draft after a short career at South Carolina. He is now a top prospect in the minors.

The second to do this was Ruairi.

The 3rd is @ Tennessee as a freshman this year.

I know # 3 is very happy, as is Ruairi. They are friends and keep in touch.

The bottom line is that this is about as isolated a scenario as you will find and no one but the player and his family can make the decision because it's about so many different things....even beyond baseball!

When did Baseball America start making out the line up card for Mike Martin?

Short career at South Carolina? C'mon you're kidding right. Landon Powell played for 4 years at USC. He was drafted by Oakland with the 24th pick of the 2003 draft and received a 1 million dollar signing bonus. I believe he was injured last season and still isn't 100% healthy. On top of that, he's not even the top catching prospect in the Oakland system. That title goes to Kurt Suzuki. I think he was drafted his junior year by the Cubs in the 25th round, but they weren't offering much to an overweight catcher who I believe didn't even hit .300 that year.

#3 is also the coaches son, do you think he's going to get playing time? lol

Unless your son turns out to be a top 10 pick in the draft people are going to be quick to criticize because as you already stated these situations are so isolated and unheard of that people automatically dismiss them as being the wrong decision.

Good luck the rest of the way.

Yeah, Powell did all right. The coach's son is a gem of a player, could find a starting position with almost any program. Quick to criticize type's are trumped by those that have a plan.

Thanks for the good wishes.

quote:

#3 is also the coaches son, do you think he's going to get playing time? lol

According to the age on his bio, he will be 19 next month-- like most other freshman. He's playing where he belongs.

soxnoles, we know the mettle of your son. In my opinion, you don't have to defend him to anyone on this site. Why are some taking shots at an injured young man? I don't understand the motives here. Personally, I along with a lot of other posters are hoping that your son recovers without any significant post injury troubles. (Physical or Playing) I've had former players do both the medical redshirt and play through injuries. I don't envy your/coaching staff/Ruairi's decision. Ruairi, good luck and GET BETTER!

quote:

Why are some taking shots at an injured young man? I don't understand the motives here.

Can you say jealousy!

Best wishes to Ruairi.

Sox, best wishes and quickest of recoveries to Ruairi....It's gotta be killing him not to take
the field!!! lol

Good Luck....The Saluki Family

As someone who saw Ruairi. Play at Oak Park for two years,I can say witout a doubt that the kid belongs at the Division one level and if he had not gotten hurt would have surely gotten a lot of playing time,maybe even win a starting job. Also my son played with him this past summer and had nothing but high regards for the young man and enjoyed their times together & even though they are 1000's of miles apart ,they still keep in touch.This is a quality young man who doesn't deserve to be spoken about in a negative or demeaning way.He and his family made a tough decision and we should all wish him well.

Soxnole,

Wishing the very best for Ruairi.

The three kids mentioned did not exactly go to so-so programs. South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida State, that’s three national power houses. These kind of powers have a tendency to recruit wisely!

We had all three of those kids at our events and all three were/are outstanding. I too don’t understand the reason for cutting any of these players down.

PG Staff, that's a great observation.

saw him play last yr & he was right where he ought to be, imo

after watching him play his game v a top 20 team, I just can't imagine that he'd have been challenged playing his hs season

good luck to RO

Though he didn't go to college the year after Landon Powell left high school early, another player we saw at one of our events did the same thing. A RHP from Washington left high school after his Junior year to enter the draft.

Jeremy Bonderman was selected in the first round in 2001. He is entering his 4th full year in the Major Leagues and he is only 23 years old right now.

Soxnole,

Sorry to hear about the injury and best of luck to Ruairi. Regardless of this years outcome he is where he belongs.

To all of you.

Thanks for the kind words.

CoachB and Jerry....I value your opinion and your positive vibes more than you can imagine.

2ndbasemom and rz1...we follow Brett and Larry each week and root hard for them. Best of luck.

Though Ruairi is dissapointed with missing this season, he will have more time to hit the books!


We are very excited about this very together, very confident team as they aim for Omaha.

Soxnole, you have a pm

Sox,

You should know that Jordan and I are surely hoping for a full and complete recovery for Rauiri. Missing a season is a very tough thing for a player. I know with the support of his family, teammates and others he will return to the field and be a better and stronger player than before.

It sure looks like the Seminoles may indeed be playing in Omaha later this summer. Good luck.

soxnole,

My best wishes for Ruairi as well

soxnole-
Just saw this thread. Best wishes and speedy recovery for Rauiri! Hey- keep rooting for Larry (even if he's not related to rz1!)- he and our team are off to a REAL slow start.
On the soapbox-
I still cannot believe after the years that this site has been up, and the positive progression of support we can find here- that a few as*** can still show thier immaturity and lack of good taste.

rz1 and stickwatcher....sorry about that sometimers!

Hope Ryan's surgery go's well and has great success next year.

Hope to see Larry play soon, at home, downtown.

Would love to have you- I'll buy the hot dogs (no, really- not like a Beenthere promise!)

Hey- How about next Friday at our home opener? I'll have the boys shovel the snow off the field...

Stick....

You will "eat" those words when I show up with my hot chocolate and parka and boots and warm fur-lined mittens...on a dog sled.

Put your muffs where your mouth is!

The very fact that he was able to leave early tells me that his grades and academics were in order and he takes care of business off the field too. Its called work habits.

Agree with PG staff 100%,

A program like that knows exactly what they are getting when they go after a kid. Better at this point to be a part of that program for a season learning what real baseball is about, then to be a injured Freshmen wanting to be a part of the team. Injuries are a part of the game and he will be hungry when he comes back..
I am a beleiver in everything happens for a reason, look for the positive in this and keep working toward the goal.
Good luck to Rauri and his whole family..

Good luck to Ruairi O'Connor with his recovery.
Obviously a top talent nationally who has worked his butt off to live his dreams. By -U...get your head examined.

Ruairi...heal up quickly...and then go get 'em!

Forgive me for being naive on this but I really know nothing about it. What is meant by the red shirt is not in stone yet? Wouldn't a player either be hurt and red shirt or not? Or does it depend on when he is scheduled to return?

I think you all missed one...Horner at OK ST left in the middle of his senior year to play for Frank Anderson and is now there in his second year. Just further information for you all.

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