Liken it to Upset defeating Man o' War at the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes, but an undersized third baseman guilty of a dozen errors (!!!) as a freshman miraculously managed to parlay his one-season wonder into the 2010 Conference USA Preseason Player of the Year. Consider nine league coaches hoodwinked for selecting Anthony Rendon over East Carolina Sr. DH Kyle Roller, who despite posting inferior numbers in a hitter-friendly park last year, is clearly the superior player. That fact is irrefutable according to one esteemed (ahem) scribe.
Excluding that glaring gaffe, C-USA coaches did an admirable job compiling the preseason team. Aside from building a case for Southern Miss So. OF Kameron Brunty (.336/.437/.502 w/7 HRs and 53 RBIs), it's difficult to generate excessive rancor over the following selections:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rice So. 3B Anthony Rendon (.388/.461/.702 w/20 HR and 72 RBIs)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Southern Miss Jr. RHP Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.73 ERA, .253 BAA, 1.28 WHIP)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P - Seth Maness, Jr., East Carolina (9-3, 4.71 ERA, 2 saves, .287 BAA, 1.32 WHIP)
P - Taylor Wall, So., Rice (7-6, 3.72 ERA, 1 save, .243 BAA, 1.27 WHIP)
P - Collin Cargill, Jr., Southern Miss (4-3, 3.55 ERA, 13 saves, .230 BAA, 1.39 WHIP)
C - Jeremy Schaffer, So., Tulane (.311/.370/.566 w/14 HRs and 56 RBIs)
IF - Victor Gomez, Jr., Marshall (.332/.361/.659) w/18 HRs and 62 RBIs)
IF - Rick Hague, Jr., Rice (.319/.382/.492) w/9 HRs and 57 RBIs)
IF - Blake Kelso, Jr., Houston (.335/.385/.445 w/2 HRs and 23 RBIs)
IF - Jonathan Merritt, Sr., UAB (.317/.384/.465 w/2 HRs and 30 RBIs)
OF - Devin Harris, Jr., East Carolina (.344/.413/.580 w/14 HRs and 48 RBIs)
OF - Chad Mozingo, Jr., Rice (.319/.385/.532 w/8 HRs and 50 RBIs)
OF - Trent Whitehead, Jr., East Carolina (.376/.449/.552 w/7 HRs and 47 RBIs)
DH - Kyle Roller, Sr., East Carolina (.336/.451/.578 w/16 HRs and 75 RBIs)
Additionally, Baseball America released its preseason top 25. Odd note: No. 1 Texas is the lone Big 12 representative while No. 5 Rice is one of three C-USA teams (No. 18 East Carolina; No. 21 Southern Miss). Anyone ever imagine that pro-C-USA disparity unfolding?
Excluding that glaring gaffe, C-USA coaches did an admirable job compiling the preseason team. Aside from building a case for Southern Miss So. OF Kameron Brunty (.336/.437/.502 w/7 HRs and 53 RBIs), it's difficult to generate excessive rancor over the following selections:
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
Rice So. 3B Anthony Rendon (.388/.461/.702 w/20 HR and 72 RBIs)
PITCHER OF THE YEAR
Southern Miss Jr. RHP Todd McInnis (9-4, 3.73 ERA, .253 BAA, 1.28 WHIP)
ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
P - Seth Maness, Jr., East Carolina (9-3, 4.71 ERA, 2 saves, .287 BAA, 1.32 WHIP)
P - Taylor Wall, So., Rice (7-6, 3.72 ERA, 1 save, .243 BAA, 1.27 WHIP)
P - Collin Cargill, Jr., Southern Miss (4-3, 3.55 ERA, 13 saves, .230 BAA, 1.39 WHIP)
C - Jeremy Schaffer, So., Tulane (.311/.370/.566 w/14 HRs and 56 RBIs)
IF - Victor Gomez, Jr., Marshall (.332/.361/.659) w/18 HRs and 62 RBIs)
IF - Rick Hague, Jr., Rice (.319/.382/.492) w/9 HRs and 57 RBIs)
IF - Blake Kelso, Jr., Houston (.335/.385/.445 w/2 HRs and 23 RBIs)
IF - Jonathan Merritt, Sr., UAB (.317/.384/.465 w/2 HRs and 30 RBIs)
OF - Devin Harris, Jr., East Carolina (.344/.413/.580 w/14 HRs and 48 RBIs)
OF - Chad Mozingo, Jr., Rice (.319/.385/.532 w/8 HRs and 50 RBIs)
OF - Trent Whitehead, Jr., East Carolina (.376/.449/.552 w/7 HRs and 47 RBIs)
DH - Kyle Roller, Sr., East Carolina (.336/.451/.578 w/16 HRs and 75 RBIs)
Additionally, Baseball America released its preseason top 25. Odd note: No. 1 Texas is the lone Big 12 representative while No. 5 Rice is one of three C-USA teams (No. 18 East Carolina; No. 21 Southern Miss). Anyone ever imagine that pro-C-USA disparity unfolding?
Well done MK, well done.
Hah, nicely done, MK.
Love it, MK! Have you sent our dear friend, Brian Foley, a signed copy of your entry?
Walt: Why? So he can manipulate some statistics and reply that Rendon 'only' hit .338/.423/.558 against 'elite' pitching. His logic and use of metrics are so fundamentally flawed that any sensible debate would be woefully one-sided. - MK
There are 4 Rice players listed and 4 ECU players listed. Everyone is predicting either Rice or ECU to be league champion. What's your prediction, MK, for which team will win the league championship?
TFW: 1) Rice. 2) East Carolina. 3) Tulane. 4) Southern Miss. 5) UH. 6) UCF. 7) UAB. 8) Memphis. 9) Marshall. - MK
hahahaha!!! Awesome, MK, way to stick it to Brian Foley. That guys is a no-talent clown whose opinion should not be taken seriously.
C-USA will have a ton of good players this year - really looking forward to the season