MLB: June 2009 Archives

We're late posting this, but here's an interesting look at the Hairston family from MLB.com reporter Mark Sheldon. Jerry Hairston Jr. reflects on hanging out at the old Comiskey Park while his father played for the White Sox:

"Back then, it was great, but now as I'm older, I realize I got a chance to be around Carlton Fisk, Harold Baines, Greg Luzinski and all those great players," Hairston Jr. said. "There was camaraderie they had on that team -- the older players with kids, too. Casey Fisk, Ryan Luzinski, my brothers and Doug Rader's kids, we always went out and played.

"My father didn't want us running around wild in the clubhouse. He stressed that the clubhouse was a sacred area. Just make sure you respect everybody. He said, 'I'm your father but you have 24 other guys here that have to get ready to play.' I understood at a young age that those guys were there to do a job."

UPDATE: Cincinnati Enquirer reporter John Erardi has more on the Civil Rights Game and its connection to generations of Hairstons.

The instructions given to Pete Flores, a first-year Utah assistant, were clear and simple: Don't laugh when you see him during warmups.

That's because it's so easy for Stephen Strasburg, who made 94-95 mph fastballs look effortless in between innings (Sunday column here).

"You hope that you just (can) put a ball in play and the defense is on their heels because they haven't seen a groundball or a flyball," said Flores, a DuPage Dragons assistant. "That's one of the things you hope for."

If that sounds desperate, then consider that the year before Strasburg struck out 23 Utes in one game.

"There's a big YouTube video on that," Flores said.

Within this column, we mentioned an ESPN.com scouting report on Oakland draft pick Ian Krol out of Neuqua Valley. Here's the Insider link, which is excerpted below:

"(Krol's) fastball is consistently 88-90 mph; most have good tailing life but he can run it in on a right-hander's hands. His changeup is 76-78 with a lot of fading action, while his curveball has good depth and some two-plane break, but he prefers to pitch off his fastball and change. His command and control are both good for a high school pitcher, and he was dominant in three outings in the scout league this spring, although rainouts made him tough for scouts to see. He stays over the rubber well and separates his hands high to keep his arm action short. His stride is long and he finishes in good position to field a ball back at him. He's not big and doesn't have great physical projection, but if he does add a couple of mph to his fastball despite that, he could have a No. 3 starter upside."

North Carolina reliever Colin Bates (Naperville Central), who's busy preparing for the College World Series, was selected by Oakland on Thursday in the 37th round of the first-year player draft.

Infielder Jack Walker, a four-year starter at Concordia University Chicago, was selected by the Washington Nationals on Wednesday with the first pick of the 20th round (592nd overall).

Walker, a Naperville North graduate, was a career .352 hitter at Concordia, good for fourth on the school's all-time list. He's the program's career leader in five categories, including games played (176), hits (235) and runs scored (211).

The Blue Jays picked St. Louis right-hander Dave Sever on Wednesday with the draft's 490th overall pick. The 6-foot-4-inch, 195-pound Benet graduate was chosen in the 21st round last year by the Dodgers, but he opted to return for his senior season and rose to the 16th round this time around.

Sever improved his stock by going 6-4 with a 3.60 ERA for the Billikens. He ends his St. Louis career as the program's all-time wins leader with 22.

Connor Powers was scheduled to work out for the Dodgers on Monday in Los Angeles. The Mississippi State first baseman must have done something right.

The Dodgers chose the 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound Benet graduate on Wednesday in the 11th round of the first-year player draft.

For more on the 337th overall pick, click here.

Oakland selected Neuqua Valley pitcher Ian Krol in the seventh round of the first-year player draft on Wednesday. The 6-foot-1-inch, 180-pound left-hander was the 213th overall pick. Krol has already signed a letter of intent with Arizona.

For some background on Krol, check out this column in Wednesday's paper.