COLLEGE BASEBALL: DAILY NEWS PREVIEW OF THE AREA NCAA DIVISION 1 BASEBALL TEAM FANTASY NINE.Byline: Compiled by Chris Cocoles Staff Writer We brainstormed and came up with this Fantasy League team from the area's five Division I programs (USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. , UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , CSUN CSUN California State University Northridge , LMU LMU Ludwig Maximilians Universität (München) LMU Loyola Marymount University LMU Leeds Metropolitan University (UK) LMU Lincoln Memorial University LMU Location Measurement Unit and Pepperdine): Catcher: Kris Zacuto, Loyola Marymount. He'll probably divide his time between first base and behind the plate. But his .350 average, nine homers and 60 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in in 2000 are too zesty to pass up. First base: Tim Arroyo, Cal State Northridge. The Matadors hit just 53 home runs last season, eight coming from Arroyo. With more pop in the lineup both in front and behind him, Arroyo could be a surprise slugger. Second base: Anthony Lunetta, USC. What's not to like? He hit .343, slugged 12 homers and knocked in 50 runs last season, his first year out of Riverside Arlington High. Shortstop: Seth Davidson, USC. Doesn't the theory go that teams are built up the middle? The Trojans appear pretty formidable in the heart of the infield. Third base: Tommy Perez, LMU. The Burroughs High of Burbank product gives the rebuilding Lions stability. Outfield: Woody Cliffords, Pepperdine; Matt Pearl, UCLA; Rob Garibaldi, USC. Cliffords (El Camino Real El Camino Real (Spanish for The Royal Road or The King's Highway) was the name of a series of pre-automobile highways linking the various New World colonies of Spain:
DH: J.T. Stotts, CSUN. Others with more productive stats could earn this spot. But Stotts gets the nod from the intangible angle. Pitchers: Mark Prior and Rik Currier, USC; Josh Karp, UCLA; Daniel Haren, Pepperdine. Prior and Karp are preseason first-team All-America selections The mission of All-America Selections is “to promote new garden seed varieties with superior garden performance judged in impartial trials in North America.” To accomplish this, the All-America Selections (AAS) organization oversees a collaborative testing program . Head coach: Rod Dedeaux Raoul Martial "Rod" Dedeaux (February 17 1914 – January 5 2006) was an American college baseball coach who compiled what is arguably the greatest record of any coach in the sport's amateur history. . Eleven national championships. He's hired. LEADING OFF So many games, so many decisions. L.A. offers a multitude of college baseball College baseball is baseball as played on the intercollegiate level at institutions of higher education, predominantly in the United States. Compared to American football and basketball in the United States, college competition plays a less significant contribution to cultivating games to attend. Here are a few games/series that shouldn't be missed in 2001: Tuesday, Jan. 30, Cal State Fullerton at Pepperdine, 2 p.m.: Pepperdine - and many of its fellow West Coast colleagues - thought it was snubbed last season when it was passed over for the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association Regionals. Ranked 18th in the preseason, Pepperdine's opener is a big test against the 15th-ranked Titans. USC vs. UCLA, Feb. 16-18 and April 27-29: The first series won't count in the Pacific-10 Conference The Pacific-10 Conference (Pac-10) is a college athletic conference which operates in the western United States. It participates in the NCAA's Division I. Membership Full members standings. But don't expect either side to back down. Would you expect anything less from a Bruins-Trojans matchup? Tulane at UCLA, Feb. 23-25: The rebuilding Bruins get an early test against the No. 19 Green Wave. Mississippi State at USC, Feb. 23-25: College baseball's balance of power has supposedly shifted to the Southeastern Conference, and the traditionally strong Bulldogs carry the SEC's banner against the West's best. Cal State Northridge at UC Riverside, March 10-11: One could argue CSUN's move to the Big West Conference will benefit the baseball team more than any other Matadors' sports. Northridge make makes its Big West debut against another newcomer in UCR (Under Color Removal) A method for reducing the amount of printing ink used. It substitutes black for gray color (equal amounts of cyan, magenta and yellow). Thus black ink is used instead of the three CMY inks. See GCR and dot gain. . Stanford at USC, April 20-21: The Pac-10 championship could be at stake. San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden at Loyola Marymount, March 23-25: Worth the price of admission alone is seeing Taggert Bozied hit. The guy with the odd name is a unique talent. USF's first baseman spurned spurn v. spurned, spurn·ing, spurns v.tr. 1. To reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn. See Synonyms at refuse1. 2. To kick at or tread on disdainfully. v. the Minnesota Twins The Minnesota Twins are a professional baseball team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins are a member of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. From to the present, the Twins have played in the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. to play his senior season. He's hit 48 career homers. Pepperdine at LMU, April 12-14, April 16: The Waves and Lions - even with their heavy losses to graduation and the draft - should be the West Coast Conference's elite. WELCOME BACK Drafted high school baseball players face this decision: get a college education both on the diamond and in the classroom, or detour directly to the pros. Angels third baseman Troy Glaus, Milwaukee Brewers prospect Bill Scott of Alemany High in Mission Hills (both from UCLA), and San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are a Major League Baseball team based in San Francisco, California that currently play in the National League West Division. New York Giants history Early days and the John McGraw era farmhand Robbie Crabtree (CSUN) went to school before beginning professional careers. Here's what they said about their college baseball experiences: Glaus: ``It was great. It gets us all ready to go on to pro ball. That's (UCLA coach Gary Adams') philosophy and that's why he has so many players in pro ball right now. . . . ``I was given a great opportunity to come here and play. . . . We got to do a lot of things I wanted to do. . . . ``We got to the (College) World Series (in 1997). That's why you play. To win that. It was wonderful to get Gary back there.'' Scott: ``Even if a kid gets (offered) a million dollars or something. . . . he's just going to be ruined as a person and a ballplayer because he's not mature enough to go out there and play like that. . . . Without a doubt, you're never going to regret going to college. . . . ``In certain cases, it's almost a crime to take a kid out of high school and put him into pro ball. When you get into college you're going to mature and grow so much more. . . . ``Winning the (Oklahoma City) Regional last year. I remember hitting a home run against USC to win the game. Up at Washington, when I hit four home runs in one game. Those are things I'll always look back on, and they bring a smile to my face every time.'' Crabtree: ``You don't play so many games (at the college level). You play 70 games. If you lose a game, it hurts. In pro ball, you lose a game, it's like `Hey, we've got 141 left.' In pro ball, if you lose, people are out of the clubhouse in five minutes. . . . ``When I was playing here, we'd kneel down on the dirt here (in front of the dugout). In pro ball, people are sitting back in the dugout and doing whatever. ``It's not knocking the guys in pro ball. You play 142 games. You can't be like that every game. You miss college ball, because every game means so much to you. ``(In the 1996 NCAA Regionals), we were so close. We were the Cinderella team. . . . We were ranked like 11th or 12th and we won the WAC WAC (Women's Army Corps), U.S. army organization created (1942) during World War II to enlist women as auxiliaries for noncombatant duty in the U.S. army. Before 1943 it was known as the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps (WAAC). Its first director was Oveta Culp Hobby. . And we still had to (beat Santa Clara in a play-in series) to get a bid.'' CATCHERS IN THE ROUGH Catching was a strength among the area's schools last year. But untested faces will be behind the plate in 2001. Replacing Pepperdine's Dane Sardinha, a second-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds, is Alabama transfer Rock Mills. USC lost Beau Craig's 18 homers and 62 RBI to the Oakland A's, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the Trojans' lineup. New catcher Alberto Concepcion was a first baseman and outfielder last season but has the bat to give USC comfort. Speaking of big losses, UCLA will be hard-pressed to compensate for the 23 homers slugged by the departed Forrest Johnson. The Bruins are auditioning Saddleback Saddleback see Wessex saddleback. JC transfer Josh Arhat. PRANKS FOR THE MEMORIES OK, so road trips aren't always destinations brimming with entertainment options. Pepperdine tried to make the best of To improve to the utmost; to use or dispose of to the greatest advantage. To reduce to the least possible inconvenience; as, to make the best of ill fortune or a bad bargain. - Bacon. See also: Best Best it one weekend, but Waves' coach Frank Sanchez put a quick end to the party. ``They kind of cracked back on the pranks. We got in a little trouble at Fresno State at the hotel. Pie fighting and running around and stuff,'' Pepperdine pitcher Daniel Haren said. ``After that we had to tone it down because they were getting strict.'' ODDBALLS
The Oddballs is a comedy act in the United Kingdom. It is best known for their "Naked Balloon Dance". It has caused controversy, including an attempt to ban the show from Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk. , GOOFBALLS AND SCREWBALLS Every baseball team has them: the eccentrics, the clowns. These are the guys who keep the mood light in the clubhouse and have the bizarre rituals on the road. Here are a couple of the area's answers to such legendary characters as ``The Mad Hungarian'' Al Hrabosky, Jay Johnstone and ``Spaceman'' Bill Lee: Aaron McKenzie and Robert Smith, Cal State Northridge: ``They're just goof-offs, man. McKenzie's a clown. And Smith is just a big teddy-bear guy. He's just a huge guy, but he's the nicest guy you'd ever want to meet.'' -Matadors shortstop J.T. Stotts Randall Shelley, UCLA: ``We've got ``Hot Traffic'' at third base. That guy's a nut. . . . He's just got this flaming red hair.'' -Bruins pitcher Josh Karp Michael Moon, USC: ``He's a throwback throwback see atavism. . He should have been a hippie in 1968.'' -USC Mike Gillespie Danny Garcia, Pepperdine: ``He looks at his shadow. If he gets a hit, he'll round a base and look at his shadow for a while and then he'll look up. And in the outfield, he'll run out there looking at his shadow.'' -Waves pitcher Daniel Haren CAPTION(S): 4 photos Photo: (1) GREAT CATCH UCLA's Matt Pearl could prove to be one of the best UCLA outfielder Matt Pearl is expected to produce big numbers for the Bruins this year. Pearl, along with Pepperdine's Woody Cliffords, an El Camino Real High graduate, and USC's Rob Garibaldi would make a dream outfield of Los Angeles-area collegiate players. (2) UCLA's Josh Karp has one of the best arms in college. But will his arm be enough for the Bruins to compete with the NCAA's baseball elite? (3) Anaheim Angels, third baseman Troy Glaus, who played baseball at UCLA, reflects fondly on the season he played in the College World Series in 1997. Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News. (4) Robbie Crabtree, a former Cal State Northridge pitcher and San Francisco Giant farmhand, says the losses hurt more in college ball because there are so fewer games to play. John Kennedy/Special to the Daily News |
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