Through the first five games of the World Series, Phillies' second baseman, Chase Utley, hit five home runs. That has put him with Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson as the only two players in World Series history to hit five in one series.
Photo by Brad Mangin/MLB Photos via Getty Images
Chase Utley #26 of the Philadelphia Phillies hits a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of Game Five of the 2009 MLB World Series at Citizens Bank Park on November 2, 2009 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Utley has at least one more game left, two if the Phils can force a Game 7. And there could be a new record holder.
According to the CalHiSports.com State Record Book & Almanac, Utley hit at least one homer in six straight games. He did that in 1997. Utley held that record for only one year, as Ryan West out of Quartz Hill High School tied it in 1998.
He went to school at Long Beach Poly, graduated in 1997 and moved on to play at UCLA for three years.
In his senior year, Utley hit .535 (improved from .337 as a junior) with 12 homers and 48 RBIs. In his senior year, Long Beach Poly finished 8-5 in Moore League play.
The Dodgers took him in the 1997 draft, but Utley went to UCLA instead.
"I could see that Milton was a sure major league ballplayer," Ken Munger, a coach on the Poly staff said in a Los Angeles Times article. "I didn't really see the same in Chase."
The Milton, Munger referred to was Milton Bradley, who played with Utley at Long Beach Poly and graduated a year ahead of him. Bradley was good enough in high school that he played of the Los Angeles Dodgers Area Code Baseball Team in 1995.
Believe it or not, the Phillies' starting second baseman was even cut as a freshman, but hard work paid off.
"I've seen a lot of players," Joe Perruccio a coach at Poly then told the Los Angeles Times.
Perruccio sent 26 players to the pros and one, Tony Gwynn, to the Hall of Fame. "And yes [Utley] is a surprise. But the work ethic isn't. So in a way you're not surprised."
Even with Long Beach Poly having two future Major Leaguers on its team, the Jackrabbits still did not make to the playoffs. With that said, however, Utley was the Moore League Most Valuable Player.
Cal-Hi Sports (now CalHiSports.com) selected Utley for the All State Baseball Team. Other noteable players on that year's team was Gerald Laird (La Quinta, Westminster), Phillies teammate Ryan Madson (Valley View, Moreno Valley), 1997 State Player of the Year Jon Garland (Kennedy, Granada Hills) and Garrett Atkins (University, Irvine).
After a solid career as a Bruin, the Phillies selected Utley with the No. 15 pick in 2000, and the rest as they say is history.
Actually, there still may be some history left to write.
Roseburg and Richland/Hanford won Baseball Northwest's 2009 High School Fall Ball State Championships. Roseburg topped North Eugene 5-3 to win the Oregon/SW Washington League. Hanford/Richland won the East Washington Championship 8-4 over the Baseball Northwest Tri-Cities team. For more click here.
By Mark Tennis, ESPNRISE.com Deputy Editor Contributing: Paul Muyskens
Arkansas is not exactly a baseball hotbed, but in this year's World Series there are two prominent starting pitchers from the state, showing once again that if you are a promising prospect no matter where you're from that baseball scouts will find you.
The two Arkansas prep products in this year's World Series are Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee of the Philadelphia Phillies and key starter A.J. Burnett of the New York Yankees.
While the state has produced some prominent Hall of Famers, such as pitchers Dizzy and Daffy Dean and third baseman Brooks Robinson, there were only a handful of current major league players from the state on any rosters heading into Opening Day of 2009.
Both Lee and Burnett also epitomize two traits that every aspiring young athlete should possess: 1. No injury can be overcome; 2. When an opportunity arises, be quick and confident to take advantage.
For Lee, his senior season at Benton High (Benton, Ark.) in 1997 was looking special in the early portions of it. After six starts, he had a 1.90 ERA and had thrown two no-hitters. Unfortunately, Lee then went down with a shoulder injury and had to miss the rest of his senior season. He did continue to hit and play in the outfield – he ended up with five homers and 20 RBIs – but the injury clearly caused his stock to fall in the 1997 amateur draft.
Instead of perhaps going in the top four or five rounds of the draft that year, Lee slid down into the eighth round. He still could have signed, but instead played at Meridian Community College for two seasons and then one season at the University of Arkansas. He had no reoccurrence of the shoulder problem and was a fourth-round pick by the Montreal Expos in 2000.
For Burnett, he didn't even pitch until he was a junior in 1994 at Central Arkansas Christian (Little Rock, Ark.) and was still a total unknown to scouts and media scribes until he was asked to pitch in a state semifinal playoff game against Russellville due to injuries to other pitchers. Burnett took the mound and mesmerized with a one-hitter.
Several scouts were present for that playoff game. One of them from the New York Mets persuaded his club to take Burnett in the eighth round of the 1995 draft.
Slugger Ryan Howard of the Phillies wasn't exactly a household name as a prep player, either. Despite hitting two homers and driving in seven runs in his first varsity game for Lafayette (Ballwin, Mo.) and being regarded as one of the top players in the St. Louis metro area, Howard went undrafted after his senior year. He continued to develop, however, at Southwest Missouri State and by the 2001 draft he became a fifth-round pick by the Phillies.
Here is this year's complete list of World Series alumni (listed in a state-by-state format):
Alabama David Robertson P (Central, Tuscaloosa) Yankees
Arkansas A.J. Burnett P (Central Arkansas Christian, North Little Rock) Yankees Cliff Lee P (Benton) Phillies
California Phil Coke P (Sonora) Yankees Greg Dobbs INF (Canyon Springs, Moreno Valley) Phillies Ben Francisco OF (Servite, Anaheim) Phillies Cole Hamels P (Rancho Bernardo, San Diego) Phillies Phil Hughes P (Foothill, Santa Ana) Yankees Ryan Madson P (Valley View, Moreno Valley) Phillies Jimmy Rollins INF (Encinal, Alameda) Phillies C.C. Sabathia P (Vallejo) Yankees Chase Utley INF (Poly, Long Beach) Phillies
Colorado Brad Lidge P (Cherry Creek, Englewood) Phillies
Florida Johnny Damon OF (Dr. Phillips, Orlando) Yankees Raul Ibanez OF (Miami Sunset, Miami) Phillies Alex Rodriguez INF (Westminster Christian, Miami) Yankees
Hawaii Shane Victorino OF (St. Anthony's, Wailuku) Phillies
Illinois Jerry Hairston INF (Naperville North, Naperville) Yankees J.A. Happ P (St. Bede Academy, Peru) Phillies Jayson Werth OF (Glenwood, Chatham) Phillies
Indiana Eric Bruntlett INF (Harrison, West Lafayette)
Kentucky Joe Blanton P (Franklin Simpson, Franklin) Phillies
Louisiana Paul Bako C (Lafayette) Phillies Chad Durbin P (Woodlawn, Baton Rouge) Yankees Chad Gaudin P (Crescent City Baptist, Harahan) Yankees
Maryland Mark Teixeira INF (Mount Saint Joseph, Baltimore) Yankees
Missouri Ryan Howard INF (Lafayette, Ballwin) Phillies
Nebraska Joba Chamberlain P (Northeast, Lincoln) Yankees
South Carolina Brett Gardner OF (Holly Hill) Phillies
Texas Andy Pettitte P (Deer Park) Yankees
Utah Scott Eyre P (Cypress, Magna) Phillies
West Virginia Nick Swisher OF (Parkersburg)
International
Canada Matt Stairs OF Phillies
Dominican Republic Antonio Bastardo P Phillies Melky Cabrera OF Yankees Robinson Cano INF Yankees Pedro Feliz INF Phillies Freddy Guzman OF Yankees Damaso Marte P Yankees Pedro Martinez P Phillies
Japan Hideki Matsui OF Yankees
Mexico Alfredo Aceves P Yankees
Panama Mariano Rivera P Yankees Carlos Ruiz C Phillies
Puerto Rico Jose Molina C Yankees Jorge Posada C Yankees
South Korea Chan Ho Park P Phillies
Venezuela Miguel Cairo INF Phillies Francisco Cervelli C Yankees
This past weekend SPARQ Training was out at the Fall Classics in Peoria, Ariz., but this time it was the juniors turn to show their athleticism. Below are the results of the top ten athletes to go through the SPARQ testing. The 30-Yard dash and the Shuttle are recorded in seconds, the Vertical jump is in inches and the Power Ball toss is recorded in feet. Check out sparqraining.com to get all the results.
Name | Team | Pos | 30-Yard | Shuttle | Vertical | Power ball | SPARQ Rating
Angelo Gumbs is a 6-0, 190 pound INF/OF out of Torrance (Calif.) High School. Last year, the Tartars made it to the CIFSS Div. IV Championship Game at Angel Stadium. The Tartars made their first appearance in the game and fell to San Dimas 4-2. Gumbs is one of the top players in the state and looks to make noise in the 2010 season.
This past weekend at the Arizona Fall Classic, SPARQ Training was in attendance and tested over 350 players to rate their athleticism. SPARQ is an acronym for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness and they rate athleticism through four general athletic tests that encompass the true strengths in sheer athleticism. The four testing components are the Vertical jump, 30-Yard sprint, 20-yard shuttle run and a power ball toss.
The power ball is a 3KG medicine ball that is tossed rotationally to judge core strength and is measured in feet. The 20-yard shuttle is an agility test that measures lateral speed and quickness. The 30-yard sprint measures an athlete's linear speed and in the baseball specific test, they start in a steal stance. Lastly the vertical jump measures explosiveness in the core and legs.
Blew are the top 10 rated athletes at this year's Senior Fall Classic held at the Peoria Sports complex in Phoenix, Ariz.
Name | Team | Pos | 30-Yard | Shuttle | Vertical | Power ball | SPARQ Rating
Matthew Kimmel | BBNW WA Green | OF | 3.76 | 4.13 | 34.2 | 60 | 86.14
CJ Rodriguez | USA Select Baseball | OF | 3.56 | 4.51 | 32.0 | 58.5 | 82.77
Zane Yansick | BBNW Oregon | OF | 3.80 | 4.53 | 35.2 | 62 | 81.55 Grant McCabe | Cherry Creek Baseball | OF | 3.54 | 4.66 | 33.2 | 54.5 | 78.22
Jacob Hoffman | BBNW WA Green | OF | 3.61 | 4.61 | 30.5 | 57 | 77.38
Hunter Zwart | All Star Baseball Acad. | OF | 3.80 | 4.18 | 34.4 | 52 | 76.59
Carl Albert's (Midwest City, Okla.) J.T. Realmuto commited to Oklahoma State to play baseball. According to NewsOk.com, Realmuto is one of the state's top quarterbacks, but is going the baseball route in college.
"I've always been an Oklahoma State fan, I love their baseball program and that's where I've wanted to go since I was a little kid,” Realmuto said on NewsOk.com
He hit a reported .434 with nine homers and 39 RBIs. His Carl Albert team won the class 5A state title and finished No. 21 in the final rankings of the ESPN RISE FAB 50.
Last night, C.C. Sabathia took to the mound and inched the New York Yankees one game closer to the American League Pennant and a trip to the World Series. He was brilliant last night when he went eight innings and shut down the Angels' offense.
Sabathia is out of Vallejo (Calif.) High School and after the completion of his senior season, Cal-Hi Sports (now CalHiSports.com).
As an Apache, Sabathia played three sports, football, basketball and baseball.
On the gridiron he caught 27 passes, as he was a tight end on the Apache football team. Five of those passes went for touchdowns. He also played on defense and lined up as a defensive end, where he recorded 14 sacks.
When it came to baseball, Sabathia was nothing less than dominant. He posted a 9-1 record to go along with a 0.49 ERA. He also could hit, as he blasted seven homers and had an average of .563. His only loss came in his final start in the Sac-Joaquin Section Final.
Being the state athlete of the year, Sabathia was not named state player of the year. That honor went to Sean Burroughs of Wilson (Long Beach, Calif.) High School. Burroughs hit .520 with seven homers and 50 hits.
Sabathia was drafted out of high school in the first round by the Cleveland Indians.
Yusei Kikuchi is an 18-year old pitcher out of Japan and is considering playing professional baseball in the United States over Japan. There are eight teams considering the prep star.
The Area Code Baseball Winter Camp will be held at Delta Community College in Stockton, Calif., on Saturday, December 5. The camp will from from 8AM - 4PM on the baseball field. Delta Community College has host a number of Area Code Camps and Area Code Tryouts over the past few years and it is a great facility. For more on the Area Code Baseball Winter Camp, CLICK HERE!
We are at it once again with the annual weekly verbal commit list, which will run until the letters of intent are signed, sealed and delivered. This list will be updated when commits are submitted and to submit your college of commitment, click the E-mail link below.
(Players in BOLD are the most recent updates)
Dante Flores | SS | Norwalk, CA | St. John Bosco | University of San Diego Matt Morse | OF | Sandwich, IL | Aurora Christian | University of Alabama-Birmingham Albert Minnis | P | Lawrence, KS | Lawrence | Wichita State Alex Harris | OF | Murphy, TX | Plano East | Kansas University Alex Silver | SS | Houston, TX | Bellaire | University of Texas Eric Fisher | 1B/P | Spring, TX | Klein | University of Arkansas Jacques De Gruy | P | Dallas, TX | Jesuit | Tulane University Alex Farkes | C/3B | Boston, MA | Buckingham Brown | Penn State Cody Abraham | OF | Sugar Land, TX | Lamar Consolidated | Mississippi State Dex Kjerstad | OF | Amarillo, TX | Canyon Randall | University of Texas Spencer Davis | P/MIF | The Woodlands, TX | Woodlands | Texas A&M Dylan Covey | P | Pasadena, CA | Maranatha | University of San Diego Brando Tessar| P | Simi Valley, CA | Chaminade | University of Oregon Patrick Conroy | P/1B | San Rafael, CA | Sir Francis Drake | Santa Clara Carl Robinson | P | Placentia, CA | Valencia | San Diego State University Sean Coyle | INF | Chalfont, PA | Germantown Acad | University of North Carolina Joe Axelson | P/OF | Spring Lake, MN | Spring Lake Park | North Dakota State Kendrick Perkins | OF | La Porte. TX | La Porte | Texas A&M Jake Cole | P/IF | Tucson, AZ | Sahuaro | University of North Carolina Jacob Felts | C | Orangefield, TX | Orangefield | University of Texas Lonnie Kauppila | IF | Burbank, CA | Burbank | Stanford University Brandon Moore | P | Van Buren, AR | Van Buren | University of Arkansas Alex Sloan | C | Puyallup, WA | Summer | University of Washington Colby Suggs | P/IF | Sulpher Springs, TX | Sulpher Springs | University of Arkansas Matt Lipka | SS/P | Frisco, TX | McKinney | University of Alabama Johnny Fasola | P/3B | Hudson, OH | Walsh Jesuit | Kansas State James Roberts | SS/P | Cupertino, CA | Archbishop Mitty | Southern California Alex Balog | 1B/P | Cupertino, CA | Archbishop Mitty | University of San Francisco Drew Doty | C | Tampa, FL | Gaither | St. Petersburg College Tyler Pearson | C | Lubbock, TX | Monterey | Rice University Brandon Dixon | SS | Murrieta, CA | Murrieta Valley | University of Arizona Sebastian Santos | P | Murrieta, CA | Murrieta Valley | UC Irvine Spencer Rogers | OF | Sammamish, WA | Issaquah | University of Washington A.J. Vanegas | P | Alameda, CA | Redwood Christian | Stanford University Jordan Haseltine | P/1B | Vacaville, CA | Will C. Wood | Univ. San Francisco Bret Basilone | IF/OF | Springdale, PA | Springdale | Notre Dame
Player Notes:
- Kendrick Perkins - Noted as one of the best running backs in the greater Houston area, Perkins was highly recruited to play football in college, but the big slugging outfielder will be running the diamond come next spring. Listed at 6-foot-2, 220 pounds, Perkins will be patrolling the corner outfield at A&M - Sean Coyle - A great athlete with plus speed, Sean ran a 6.53 60-yard dash at the SPARQ Testing on day one of the Area Codes and was also the second overall rated player on the SPARQ rating with an 80.09.
- Dylan Covey - Last year for the Minutemen of Maranatha (Pasadena, Calif.) High School Covey went 11-2 holding a 1.23 ERA with throwing three complete game shutouts while holding opponents to a .123 BA. Look for a strong senior campaign, which might vault him into some top round draft talks next June. - Brando Tessar - Brando is a very well rounded athlete who plays football as well as baseball. At the 2009 Area Code Tryouts Brando's average velocity was at 88-89 with his fastball and his changeup was sitting at 78. He also ran a 6.86 60-yard dash at the Area Code Games in August, but was recorded at a 6.68 at the tryouts in July. - A.J. Vanegas – A.J. is a very advanced pitcher who has a solid fastball that averages 91-92 mph while his curveball is at 76 and he also has a harder breaking ball (Slider) that hit 79-81. AJ was an AFLAC All-American and an Area Code attendee.
As draft classes change from year-to-year, there is always a fluctuation of talent in positions. Some classes are know for a strong pitching class while other are solid in position players, but one thing that is always certain in the draft, projection is the most important tool.
Right now is when scouts are creating their season schedule to get out there and see the best talent in the nation. From Scout fall ball leagues to the Arizona Fall Classic and up until the high school season starts, hundreds of scouts will be on patrol to find the best of the best. Below are the top ranked arms we have in this years 2010 draft eligible crop. These ranking will change once we get closer to the draft, but for now, these are what we can consider safe bets to be top ranked players heading into the draft.
R – PLAYER | POSITION | HEIGHT | WEIGHT | HIGH SCHOOL, STATE
The true irony of this list is that fact that there is not one left-handed pitcher ranked in the top ten. Unlike last year with Matzek, Skaggs, Purke and James all ranking in the top 10, we have an entire list of tall, hard-throwing righties.
If you have seen the start of the college verbal list, then you would have read that Dexter Kjerstad out of Canyon Randall (Amarillo, Texas) High School, decided on the University of Texas. Kjerstad played for the Texas Rangers Area Code Baseball Team in August and is the fourth player from that team to commit to Texas.
"They have the greatest baseball program, coaching staff, and facilities," Kjerstad remarked, "plus they also have one of the greatest academic programs."
"I'm looking forward to playing baseball with them (Teykl, Felts and Silver)," he said.
"Staying in state or not wasn't a factor on my decision, I wanted to go to the best place for me and that was University of Texas."
With his decision made, it looks like Texas will have another strong recruiting class for the Fall of 2010. That of course depends on the 2010 MLB Draft.
The 2009 Arizona Senior Fall Classic kicks off tomorrow at the Peoria Sports Complez, Spring Training home of the San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. This year's tournament will feature 56 teams primarily from the Western portion of the United States. This year there are two teams from Canada and even a few teams from New York.
Players will have an opportunity to SPARQ Test this year, as they had in year's past.
The Geren brothers (Bobby and Brett) played for the Oakland Athletics at the 2009 Area Code Baseball Games. Their father, Bob Geren, is the manager for the Oakland A's, so what an experience playing for the same team in August.
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