BB: Player of the Year Candidates

[rjburke]

The sudden departure of Coach McKnight and the uncertainty that caused concerning the direction of the program motivated the transfer from an otherwise great situation. Several schools were in play, but with Coach Ioviero's interest and the great support of the athletic program by the Kean administration (and being so much closer to home didn't hurt), there really was no reason to go anywhere else. So far, it has worked out terrifically; accademically, athletically, and socially. Now, hopefully, we can repeat!

[Jim Dixon]

The sudden departure of Coach McKnight and the uncertainty that caused concerning the direction of the program motivated the transfer from an otherwise great situation. Several schools were in play, but with Coach Ioviero's interest and the great support of the athletic program by the Kean administration (and being so much closer to home didn't hurt), there really was no reason to go anywhere else. So far, it has worked out terrifically; accademically, athletically, and socially. Now, hopefully, we can repeat!

Now that is the hard part.  D-III baseball has the longest streak of any NCAA sport without having a repeat champion.  You have to go back to 1978-1979 when Glassboro State (now Rowan) did it.

[Drew07]

Might be a little bias because I come from New York but look for Richie Gomez (Pre-Season All American) from City College of New York to make a run. He batted .470 last year with 50 RBI.

[Jim Dixon]

Might be a little bias because I come from New York but look for Richie Gomez (Pre-Season All American) from City College of New York to make a run. He batted .470 last year with 50 RBI.

Recognizing players from schools who are not regular playoff teams should help other schools in recruiting good players.    Of course nobody is picked for this purpose but it is just a nice unintended side effect.

3B Jack Walker, Concordia (Ill) also falls in this category.

[scuba16]

The utility position has historically gotten more credit where player of the year was concerned as well.

I remember when Joe Thomas won it as a junior, then his senior year was actually a little less overwhelming in any one area if you were around for all of it, but the total body of work was such that he won it again.
[/quote]

Joe Thomas was a stud. I played against him in the 95 world series when I played for Cortland he played for Marietta. They beat us 11-10 and he had 3 rbi's. He was a big bastard that could rake. Chad Farmer started that game for Marietta, he was a 1st team All American and we knocked him out in the 4th inning! Tough game to lose.

[Spence]

The utility position has historically gotten more credit where player of the year was concerned as well.

I remember when Joe Thomas won it as a junior, then his senior year was actually a little less overwhelming in any one area if you were around for all of it, but the total body of work was such that he won it again.

Joe Thomas was a stud. I played against him in the 95 world series when I played for Cortland he played for Marietta. They beat us 11-10 and he had 3 rbi's. He was a big bastard that could rake. Chad Farmer started that game for Marietta, he was a 1st team All American and we knocked him out in the 4th inning! Tough game to lose.
[/quote]

No arguments here. I think that was his junior year and that was an odd trip to the Series for us. Had that game against Cortland and the game against Carthage that we lost 11-7 and had a game tying grand slam robbed by a shortstop (only possible in a bandbox like old Salem Stadium).

Joe's senior year his offense was a little slower to come and just wasn't as good as the year before (though still very good), but he had a better year as the #2 pitcher and the total body of work earned him the POY again.

Thomas was definitely a great player and I and surely the MC baseball fraternity wish him great success as a coach.

[Jim Dixon]

No arguments here. I think that was his junior year and that was an odd trip to the Series for us. Had that game against Cortland and the game against Carthage that we lost 11-7 and had a game tying grand slam robbed by a shortstop (only possible in a bandbox like old Salem Stadium).

Thomas was definitely a great player and I and surely the MC baseball fraternity wish him great success as a coach.

I have to agree about what is now Kiwanis field.  It was a great place to see a game if you like offense as there were numbers put up that will likely never be matched.   A bit of history is that the seats were old yankee stadium seats so if you want to set in seats folks saw Ruth, Gehrig play, Salem is one place to go. 

I missed this where did Thomas get a coaching position?

[BigPoppa]

The utility position has historically gotten more credit where player of the year was concerned as well.

I remember when Joe Thomas won it as a junior, then his senior year was actually a little less overwhelming in any one area if you were around for all of it, but the total body of work was such that he won it again.

Joe Thomas was a stud. I played against him in the 95 world series when I played for Cortland he played for Marietta. They beat us 11-10 and he had 3 rbi's. He was a big bastard that could rake. Chad Farmer started that game for Marietta, he was a 1st team All American and we knocked him out in the 4th inning! Tough game to lose.

No arguments here. I think that was his junior year and that was an odd trip to the Series for us. Had that game against Cortland and the game against Carthage that we lost 11-7 and had a game tying grand slam robbed by a shortstop (only possible in a bandbox like old Salem Stadium).

Joe's senior year his offense was a little slower to come and just wasn't as good as the year before (though still very good), but he had a better year as the #2 pitcher and the total body of work earned him the POY again.

Thomas was definitely a great player and I and surely the MC baseball fraternity wish him great success as a coach.
[/quote]

I played against Thomas that day for Carthage. He was a scary hitter.

[Spence]

No arguments here. I think that was his junior year and that was an odd trip to the Series for us. Had that game against Cortland and the game against Carthage that we lost 11-7 and had a game tying grand slam robbed by a shortstop (only possible in a bandbox like old Salem Stadium).

Thomas was definitely a great player and I and surely the MC baseball fraternity wish him great success as a coach.

I have to agree about what is now Kiwanis field.  It was a great place to see a game if you like offense as there were numbers put up that will likely never be matched.   A bit of history is that the seats were old yankee stadium seats so if you want to set in seats folks saw Ruth, Gehrig play, Salem is one place to go. 

I missed this where did Thomas get a coaching position?

Joe's dabbled in coaching for a while and did some Frontier League coaching the last year or two. Here's his bio from Temple.

http://owlsports.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/mtt/thomas_joe00.html

[Ralph Turner]

We can continue discussing the 2009 Player of the Year on this board.

[baseballbaseball]

Speaking for the USA South Bailey from CNU  has to be a favorite

[BaseballFan]

In my eyes, the only person that could put POY numbers from the midwest would be Sean Claugherty of St. Scholastica. Put up great stats last year as a Sophomore, only thing that hurts him would be playing in colder climate and a big stadium

[Mr. Ypsi]

Might be a little bias because I come from New York but look for Richie Gomez (Pre-Season All American) from City College of New York to make a run. He batted .470 last year with 50 RBI.

Recognizing players from schools who are not regular playoff teams should help other schools in recruiting good players.    Of course nobody is picked for this purpose but it is just a nice unintended side effect.

3B Jack Walker, Concordia (Ill) also falls in this category.

In line with noticing players on teams not regularly (or EVER, in this case ) in the playoffs, keep an eye on Brian Kolb of Wheaton IL.  Last season, as a sophomore SS, he batted .527 (breaking the Thunder's all-time record by nearly .100), was 25 of 25 on stolen bases, and (crucial for a SS) fielded .988, with only 2 errors all season.  Understandably, he was POY in the CCIW.

[RedDevils36]

Anthony D'Alphonso at USM can flat out rake.  I wouldn't be surprised to see him hit around .450 with 20+ home runs and 70+ RBI's. 

He hit .393 last year with 12 2B, 3 3B, 15 HR's, 62 RBI in 50 games.

Over the summer, he got signed by the Sanford Mainers in the NECBL and earned his way to a starting role.  He ended up hitting .426 with 4 2B and 2 HR, with 20 RBI in 20 games started, in a very strong pitching league playing with mostly D1 athletes.

He has drawn some attention from several MLB clubs as well.  His numbers in the wood-bat NECBL and his numbers in the LEC demonstrate that he can hit the best pitching as well. 

[D3Lunatic]

I will be acussed of favoring Hopkins, But i cannot not bring to light Todd Emr in this discussion.

Many do not realize that Emr is using his eligeability and staying with the BlueJays.

He led the nation in hits last year. And as we all saw, he tore up the CWS.

BlueJays should fare well in 09 and i wonder if the Top 25 poll realized that Youchak AND ALL AMERICAN EMR, are returning. As well as Chez Angeloni to lead the pitching staff.

I have Hopkins higher than 7. Give them the #3 spot.