Baseball: August 2008 Archives

Waubsonsie Valley graduate Michael Bowden will make his major league debut today against the White Sox at Fenway Park. In this well-reported column, Alex Speier of WEEI.com reconstructs how the Red Sox approached Bowden, sharing several insider details about Boston's front office leading up to the 2005 amateur draft.

Walking into Wrigley Field on Sunday with relatives of righthanded pitcher Matthew Graham of Spring, Texas, made me realize just how special it is for Neuqua Valley senior Ian Krol to play an All-American game in front of his home crowd.

Graham's mother, who went to Fremd High School in Palatine, has roots in the Chicago area but can't quite make the claim that Krol and his family can -- not that it's a competition. Simply put, Krol was the only Illinois representative on the elite 36-man Under Armour All-American Baseball Game roster while six hailed from Texas.

Just last weekend, Graham's relatives watched their nephew play in the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Game on television. Much like many of Krol's fans, they couldn't make the trip to Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles to see them play.

So for all of you who missed Krol's Wrigley Field debut, you really missed something.

Having said that, The Heat Index forgives you and wants you to post your excuses here!

It's hard for the media not to get ahead of Ian Krol. The Neuqua Valley senior just pitched a near-perfect inning in Saturday's Aflac All-American High School Baseball Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

There, among the 38 best senior players in the nation, Krol gave scouts another reason to offer him a premier Division I scholarship and draft him in the first round of the 2009 MLB Draft.

"This will probably open a lot more doors. I mean, everywhere you go it's gonna open up a door," Krol told The Sun. "But yeah, I'm definitely not goona get ahead of myself. I gotta focus on soccer now."

...and because Neuqua Valley senior Ian Krol just happens to be playing.

We're talking about the Aflac All-American High School Baseball Game, which Sports Illustrated listed as a must-watch sports event this week.

The game, which is televised on FSN, will feature Krol, a highly sought-after left-handed pitcher, and 37 more of the best prep players in the country, beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

Preparation for the game began earlier this week. On Wednesday, Krol received credit for making the best play of the morning practice. Here's what was said in the official notes:

Lefty pitcher Ian Krol made the play of the day while shagging BP balls in the outfield. At a full sprint he ran down a deep fly ball to the RC field wall, caught the ball and ran into the fence at full speed. Luckily he wasn't hurt. You know what they say about lefties. But it sure is interesting to see someone do something like that during BP. Very impressive in a left handed sort of way.