Sunday, February 22, 2004
Zoomer
For a while now, I've been tracking the progress of the San Diego Padres pitcher Jason Szuminski? Why do I care about how this guy does? Well, because I played baseball with him in school. Right now, he's at spring training, trying to make the cut to be in the majors. By all reports, he's got a pretty great shot. Check this link out for more information.
I played with Jason for 3 years - my sophomore, junior, and senior years, he was a freshman - junior. I was surprised to find out that he had been drafted, because when I played with him, he was good, but probably wasn't even the best pitcher on the team at the time. Clearly, he turned a corner in his senior year.
One great thing about this is that he was genuinely a nice guy. I wrote a bit about the team a couple of posts ago, and suffice it to say, there were a decent number of jock assholes on the team. He was always one of the better players, but he treated me with respect. On top of that, he was friendly, and often entertaining - he was from Texas and had quite an extensive repertoire of insulting chatter he'd humorously spew at the other team from the dugout.
So, when I found out he had been drafted, I started following his progress. It seemed like an way outside shot he'd make the majors. He started in the Cubs organization, in A ball. Last year, though, he got bumped up to AAA (one step from the majors), before the season ended. He did pretty well there. Then, during the offseason, he got drafted (in the Rule 5 draft) and traded to San Diego. Teams don't trade for players they're not interested in keeping around.
It all kinda hit home when I was doing research for fantasy baseball the other day, reading through a magazine. This magazine had the 40-player spring training rosters listed for all the teams, and when I got to the Padres, Jason was listed. In a backwards sort of way, I realized that if he was being mentioned at all for fantasy baseball, then he really could be in the majors. It seems he only has one hurdle left, although it's obviously a big one - he's got to make the cut from 40 to 25 in order to make the roster. Currently, they're not projecting him to be in the opening day lineup, but things can change in a hurry. If he was lefthanded, I'm sure he'd already have a spot.
I can only imagine what a great time he must be having. The Padres are a serious team - they have players like Brian Giles and David Wells. It must be tough not to be somewhat awestruck to be in spring training with those guys.
One other important thing to mention - I'm certain he doesn't remember it, but I do: I once got a hit off of him in a scrimmage. (I didn't get very many hits.) At the time, he probably was only throwing around 80, but it was a hit nonetheless....
Anyways, Zoomer, I'm pulling for you. The next guy you face, make sure to throw 'im a chair!
I played with Jason for 3 years - my sophomore, junior, and senior years, he was a freshman - junior. I was surprised to find out that he had been drafted, because when I played with him, he was good, but probably wasn't even the best pitcher on the team at the time. Clearly, he turned a corner in his senior year.
One great thing about this is that he was genuinely a nice guy. I wrote a bit about the team a couple of posts ago, and suffice it to say, there were a decent number of jock assholes on the team. He was always one of the better players, but he treated me with respect. On top of that, he was friendly, and often entertaining - he was from Texas and had quite an extensive repertoire of insulting chatter he'd humorously spew at the other team from the dugout.
So, when I found out he had been drafted, I started following his progress. It seemed like an way outside shot he'd make the majors. He started in the Cubs organization, in A ball. Last year, though, he got bumped up to AAA (one step from the majors), before the season ended. He did pretty well there. Then, during the offseason, he got drafted (in the Rule 5 draft) and traded to San Diego. Teams don't trade for players they're not interested in keeping around.
It all kinda hit home when I was doing research for fantasy baseball the other day, reading through a magazine. This magazine had the 40-player spring training rosters listed for all the teams, and when I got to the Padres, Jason was listed. In a backwards sort of way, I realized that if he was being mentioned at all for fantasy baseball, then he really could be in the majors. It seems he only has one hurdle left, although it's obviously a big one - he's got to make the cut from 40 to 25 in order to make the roster. Currently, they're not projecting him to be in the opening day lineup, but things can change in a hurry. If he was lefthanded, I'm sure he'd already have a spot.
I can only imagine what a great time he must be having. The Padres are a serious team - they have players like Brian Giles and David Wells. It must be tough not to be somewhat awestruck to be in spring training with those guys.
One other important thing to mention - I'm certain he doesn't remember it, but I do: I once got a hit off of him in a scrimmage. (I didn't get very many hits.) At the time, he probably was only throwing around 80, but it was a hit nonetheless....
Anyways, Zoomer, I'm pulling for you. The next guy you face, make sure to throw 'im a chair!
Comments:
Post a Comment
