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Page 3
THE BATTALION
Four Aggies selected in 2001 baseball draft
Strelitz, Russ taken by Yankees; Midland recruit Jayson Nix picked in second round by Colorado
Mark Passwaters
The Battalion
Four Texas A&M baseball players and
one Aggie signee were chosen in the 2001
Major League baseball amateur draft held
June 5-6. The Aggies that had dieir names
called were senior Chris Russ, juniors Brian
I Strelitz and Greg Porter and sophomore
Steven Ponder.
Jayson Nix, a shortstop from Midland
High, was the second round pick — the
44th overall — of the Colorado Rockies.
Nix had signed a letter of intent to attend
Texas A&M and had been expected to com
pete for the starting shortstop position next
spring.
Strelitz, a pitcher from Temple City,
Calif., was selected in the 11th Round (pick
I 330) by the defending world champion New
I York Yankees. Strelitz made only 11 ap
pearances for Texas A&M last season, post
ing a 1-1 record with a 4.26 E'.RA. Howev
er, Strelitz has successfully pitched in the
well-scouted Cape Cod League during the
past two summers.
Russ ended his dexas A&M career with
the school’s record for most career appear
ances, a second-team All-Big 12 berth and a
spot on the All-Big 12 tournament team.
Russ was picked up by the Yankees in the
12 th Round (pick 360) after posting a 6-2
record with a 3.81 ERA and 9 saves.
Ponder, from Austin Westlake, moved in
and out of the Aggie rotation this season.
The Boston Red Sox selected the left-han
der in the 28th round after a 2001 campaign
consisting of a 2-2 record and a 5.87 ERA in
15 appearances, which included 4 starts and
a win in relief against Texas Tech in the Big
12 tournament.
Porter, a junior from Keller and a wide re
ceiver on the Aggie football team, was picked
in the 45th round by the Anaheim Angels.
Porter, who was chosen in the third round of
the 1998 draft by the Cincinnati Reds, strug
gled this season with a .202 batting average,
two home runs and 10 runs batted in during
34 appearances at third base.
Aggie baseball coach Mark Johnson was
not available for comment while he was at
tending the College World Series in Oma
ha, Nebraska.
Other noteable drafted Big 12 players in
clude University of Texas pitcher Gerrit
Simpson, who lost twice to A&M this sea
son (5th round, Colorado), Baylor All-
American catcher Kelly Shoppach (2nd
round, 48th pick overall, Boston), and Ne
braska’s Dan Johnson, the Big 12 tourna
ment MVP (7th round, Oakland).
Expos, D-Rays make cases for contraction
Big leagues are too big; Montreal and Tampa Bay are too awful to keep around
T
Ihere is too
much of a
good thing.
[Really, there is. Take
a look at a designer
coffee shop or an ice
cream parlor with
more than say, 31
I flavors.
Has anybody ever watched the Mon
treal Expos or Tampa Bay Devil Rays
play baseball?
These two teams are the poster chil-
|dren for “contraction,’’which Major
League Baseball is considering. Con
traction would eliminate at least two and
i maybe more teams from the league, and
; the Expos and Devil Rays are the perfect
IH candidates. They are lousy clubs with
terrible farm systems, no fan base and
have architectural disasters for stadiums.
Since baseball cannot send teams
doWn td the minors like English soccer
| leagues do, it is time to give those fran-
pitcher Ryan Rupe is the only player in
the history of the franchise to ccjme
from Tampa’s minor league system and
do anything at the big league level —
and most of that has been bad.
The Devil Rays have thrown tons of
money at aging players like Vinny
Castilla (now in Houston),Wade Boggs
(now retired), and Jose Canseco (now in
Newark, N.J.). Now, with most of their
high-priced talent released or injured,
rumors claim the team’s ownership is
bordering on bankruptcy.
They play at Tropicana Field, a con
crete pimple on the face of western
Florida’s landscape. Tropicana Field is
so bad that the Minnesota Twins decid
ed not to move to Tampa because of the
stadium, and they play in a place com
mon referred to as a “trash bag.” The
roof is so low that the catwalks are in
play, causing for some tremendously
odd plays.
The novelty of big league baseball
wore off on the people of the Tampa-St.
Petersburg area faster than Britney
Spears got annoying. The Devil Rays
have drawn an average of 15,361 fans
per game. Then again, who wants to
watch a team with a record of 17 -44?
Some people want to see these teams
(and others) moved. The list of candi
date cities is less than impressive. Wash
ington D.C. has watched its “beloved”
Senators leave town twice due to fan
apathy. We now know the Senators as
the Minnesota Twins and the Texas
Rangers.
Charlotte is supposed to be a basket
ball town and ignores the NBAs Hor
nets. The NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes
have not drawn very well either.
In the case of Las Vegas, it is a safe
bet that nobody goes and watches. After
all, how many people in Las Vegas are
actually from the town? Having no real
population makes it difficult for people
to root for the “home” team.
Baseball should get rid of the Expos
and Devil Rays, and allow the remain
ing teams to hold a special draft for
what little major league talent is there.
It would be interesting to see Valadmir
Guererro in an Orioles uniform, or
Greg Vaughn hammering balls for a
contending team like the Mariners. And
those players might get to play some
thing they have not in a long time —
real baseball.
Mark Passwaters is a senior
electrical engineering major.
say Garza ep
irohlerns in
decide when
in to pursue
h penalty. He
d his case cat
said he asked:
titute of Justice
ine whether ra(
the death pen;
re releasing the
sees no reason
execution. Gan
r Garza should®!
until all studies
RS
OUT
) Dance*
ipe Plan*
/as heed*
lantha Banks
uns
et,
m
phy!
chises a cigarette, a blindfold, and put
Them out of their misery.
The Expos’ situation is depressing,
lust seven years ago, Montreal had as
sembled a team that was potentially
dominant. Then came the strike, and all
!their quality players — Moises Afou,
Larry Walker, Delino DeShields and
■some pitcher named Pedro Martinez —
were sent packing. The team that now
takes the field for Montreal could com-
ipete with decent college teams or the
(Baltimore Orioles, but that is it.
The Expos have had a great amount
jof talent in their minot league affiliates.
They traded it all away, fearing they
r ould be good — high priced, in other
r ords — major leaguers. They had a
(great manager in Felipe Alou. Owner
Jeffery Loria fired him.
The Expos play in Olympic Stadium,
hich hosted the 1972 Games and
should have been demolished the in
stant the athletes left. On most nights,
he Double-A Round Rock Express
•utdraws the Expos. Montreal was once
good team; now it cannot compete fi-
lancially. Baseball Darwinism is calling
for the Expos’ extinction.
The Expos may be a sad case, but the
•evil Rays are a joke. The team came
into existence a mere five years ago, and
hey have already clanned the phrase
“unbelievably awful” as their own.
Major Legue Baseball wanted des
perately to have two teams in Florida,
|thinking there was a great base of un-
:apped fans there. They have discov-
:red those fans are actually in Cuba.
The Devil Rays (now offically known
is the Rays hut usually referred to in
nore colorful ways) have never built a
Farm system. Former Texas A&M
AKER
&
Domink Dr
George Bust:
Rd.
Dr.
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WITH THE PURCHASE
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Present this coupon when placing order.
One coupon per transaction. Expires June 30, 2001.
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RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion
News in Brief
Comets postponed
by Houston floods
The scheduled Monday
night WNBA game between
the Houston Comets and Los
Angeles Sparks has been
postponed because of the
severe flooding in Houston
and surrounding areas.
The Comets said the
game would be resched
uled. No date was immedi
ately set.
UT alum Estes wins
US Open tuneup
Bob Estes survived with an
even-par 71 Sunday to finish
off a wire-to-wire victory in the
St. Jude Classic for his second
win on the PGA Tour, holding
off Bernhard Langer by a
stroke.
Estes started the day with
a three-stroke lead over John
Daly and Scott McCarron and
was up by four through 1 3
holes. Then, the man who
opened the tournament with
a course-tying 61 made it in
teresting as he bogeyed two
straight holes to trim his lead
to just a stroke.
He finished off his first vic
tory since the 1994 Texas
Open with tough par saves
on Nos. 1 6 and 1 7 to pick up
the biggest check of his ca
reer, $630,000.
Colorado, Bourque
win Stanley Cup
Ray Bourque's number fi
nally came up and the Stan
ley Cup is his.
The Colorado Avalanche
used home ice to its advan
tage in a series where the vis
iting team had won four
times, scoring the first three
goals to wrest the cup from
the New Jersey Devils with an
emotional 3-1 victory Satur
day night in only the third fi
nals Game 7 in 30 seasons.
Alex Tanguay supplied the
scoring touch with two goals
and the 40-year-old Bourque,
who had played a record
1,825 games without ever
touching hockey's biggest
prize, finally won the cup he
has chased over a distin
guished career spanning four
decades.
' Colorado goalie Patrick
Roy was awarded the Conn
Smythe trophy as the MVP of
the playoffs. He is the first
player ever to-win the award
three times.
Tammy Bissett’s
Changing of the Guard 2001
• Anticipation
• Bonfire
• Diploma Framing
Never Forgotten
Expressions
Aggie Gifts
www.aggieland-depot.com j J
August Graduates
The Official
Texas A&M
Graduation Announcements .
Order via the web!
http://graduation.tamu.edu
Priority orders and payments must be received
by June 18,2001!
MSC Box Office
M-Fl lam-8pm
979-845-1234
1-888-890-5667