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NECpilgrims8
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JP and I wondered about the all-time single season HR record for wood bat college programs. We asked Jim Callis and Aaron Fitt about it and they didn't have an answer. But, they did direct us to this BA article, which mostly touched the subject and much more about Bryce Harper.
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=3027
Strike Three: Golden Spikes Spotlight On Bryce Harper
Unsurprisingly, College of Southern Nevada coach Tim Chambers has fielded plenty of phone calls from reporters about Bryce Harper this year. He's given up trying to temper expectations for Harper, the phenom who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a sophomore and then earned his GED so he could skip the final two years of his high school career and enroll at the Las Vegas area junior college.
"Sometimes I don't know how to answer it," Chambers said. "I think he's the best player ever to play the game. I swear to God, I've never seen anything like it in my life. I've been coaching 21 years. If you factor age and the league he's playing in, he's the best player ever to play the game—it's amazing. I am dumbfounded. I knew he would do well, but I didn't expect this, I really didn't."
No one has ever doubted Harper's talent. Capable of hitting 500-foot home runs, throwing 96 mph off the mound and doing just about everything in between, it's no wonder Harper was dubbed "Baseball's Chosen One" and "the most exciting prodigy since Lebron (James)" by Sports Illustrated.
But there was some sentiment among baseball people heading into 2010 that Harper might not live up to the gargantuan expectations facing him this spring, as a 17-year-old against much older competition in a wood-bat league.
But after going 5-for-13 with three home runs in Southern Nevada's four-game sweep of JC of Southern Idaho this weekend, Harper is hitting .422/.516/.891 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in 128 at-bats. He has already breezed past the single-season school record for home runs (12, by Joe Wagner, with metal bats in 2001). He has 54 hits—29 of them for extra bases.
"He's destroying our league, and we're in a good league," Chambers said. "It's wood bat, we have really good pitching in our league, and he's just freaking destroying our league. He should be a junior in high school right now. It's sick, it really is—it's just disgusting. It's unbelievable what he's doing."
Shockingly, just two of Harper's 25 walks have been intentional, a benefit of playing for a very good team that is 34-6. The Coyotes seemingly always have runners on base when Harper comes to the plate, forcing opponents to pitch to him.
After Harper hit his third home run this weekend, Chambers stood in the third-base coaching box and had a conversation with Southern Idaho's third baseman.
"The third baseman looks at me and says, 'Shoot, if you throw him a strike, he hits a home run. What do you do?' " Chambers said. "You walk him, I guess. He's special."
Chambers said the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harper has also done a fine job behind the plate handling CSN's power arms, and one American League scout last week told BA that he also thought Harper's receiving and throwing were both showing progress, projecting Harper as an average big league defender eventually. He also praised Harper for his play at other positions.
Because the Scenic West Athletic Conference schedule includes doubleheaders on Fridays and Saturdays, Harper has split time between catching and playing right field, center field and even some third base. He'll usually catch one game in each doubleheader, and Chambers said Harper will likely catch more often in the postseason. He said he believes Harper could be in the big leagues as a catcher within three years, but his bat could carry him to the majors in two years if he moved to an outfield spot full-time. And the AL scout said that while Harper wasn't ideal in center field, he's also good there defensively due to his athleticism.
That's high praise for a 17-year-old, but high praise is nothing new for Harper. When a player generates as much hype as Harper has, there inevitably will be skeptics, but Harper is gradually making believers out of all of them.
"The rest of the world, the critics, all the smack-talking everybody does—come watch him, and you'll go, 'Whoa,' " Chambers said. "Bottom line, he's the best amateur baseball player in America. Bottom line."
http://www.baseballamerica.com/blog/college/?p=3027
Strike Three: Golden Spikes Spotlight On Bryce Harper
Unsurprisingly, College of Southern Nevada coach Tim Chambers has fielded plenty of phone calls from reporters about Bryce Harper this year. He's given up trying to temper expectations for Harper, the phenom who graced the cover of Sports Illustrated as a sophomore and then earned his GED so he could skip the final two years of his high school career and enroll at the Las Vegas area junior college.
"Sometimes I don't know how to answer it," Chambers said. "I think he's the best player ever to play the game. I swear to God, I've never seen anything like it in my life. I've been coaching 21 years. If you factor age and the league he's playing in, he's the best player ever to play the game—it's amazing. I am dumbfounded. I knew he would do well, but I didn't expect this, I really didn't."
No one has ever doubted Harper's talent. Capable of hitting 500-foot home runs, throwing 96 mph off the mound and doing just about everything in between, it's no wonder Harper was dubbed "Baseball's Chosen One" and "the most exciting prodigy since Lebron (James)" by Sports Illustrated.
But there was some sentiment among baseball people heading into 2010 that Harper might not live up to the gargantuan expectations facing him this spring, as a 17-year-old against much older competition in a wood-bat league.
But after going 5-for-13 with three home runs in Southern Nevada's four-game sweep of JC of Southern Idaho this weekend, Harper is hitting .422/.516/.891 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in 128 at-bats. He has already breezed past the single-season school record for home runs (12, by Joe Wagner, with metal bats in 2001). He has 54 hits—29 of them for extra bases.
"He's destroying our league, and we're in a good league," Chambers said. "It's wood bat, we have really good pitching in our league, and he's just freaking destroying our league. He should be a junior in high school right now. It's sick, it really is—it's just disgusting. It's unbelievable what he's doing."
Shockingly, just two of Harper's 25 walks have been intentional, a benefit of playing for a very good team that is 34-6. The Coyotes seemingly always have runners on base when Harper comes to the plate, forcing opponents to pitch to him.
After Harper hit his third home run this weekend, Chambers stood in the third-base coaching box and had a conversation with Southern Idaho's third baseman.
"The third baseman looks at me and says, 'Shoot, if you throw him a strike, he hits a home run. What do you do?' " Chambers said. "You walk him, I guess. He's special."
Chambers said the 6-foot-3, 205-pound Harper has also done a fine job behind the plate handling CSN's power arms, and one American League scout last week told BA that he also thought Harper's receiving and throwing were both showing progress, projecting Harper as an average big league defender eventually. He also praised Harper for his play at other positions.
Because the Scenic West Athletic Conference schedule includes doubleheaders on Fridays and Saturdays, Harper has split time between catching and playing right field, center field and even some third base. He'll usually catch one game in each doubleheader, and Chambers said Harper will likely catch more often in the postseason. He said he believes Harper could be in the big leagues as a catcher within three years, but his bat could carry him to the majors in two years if he moved to an outfield spot full-time. And the AL scout said that while Harper wasn't ideal in center field, he's also good there defensively due to his athleticism.
That's high praise for a 17-year-old, but high praise is nothing new for Harper. When a player generates as much hype as Harper has, there inevitably will be skeptics, but Harper is gradually making believers out of all of them.
"The rest of the world, the critics, all the smack-talking everybody does—come watch him, and you'll go, 'Whoa,' " Chambers said. "Bottom line, he's the best amateur baseball player in America. Bottom line."
