Page 14 - The Michigan Daily - Tuesday, June 7, 1983
T11, 7 11 W " S13 BY JOHN KERR t
Amateur baseball draft
unfair to Series stars
OMAHA, Neb.
IT'S AMAZING HOW those who run the amateur
baseball draft can be so insensitive to the players in-
volved in the selection process. I don't know if it's plain
stupidity or what, but the present situation is ridiculous.
The first two rounds of the draft were held yesterday
- right in the middle of the College World Series. That's
great timing.
If a top prospect happened to be a participant in the
Series, how is he supposed to keep his mind on winning a
national title when the draft, which will affect his whole
future, is held in the midst of the Series? It's not fair to
the player or his team.
Picture this situation. A player in the World Series is
supposed to be a top draft pick. The scouts and his coach
have all told hire that some team should pick him in the
first few rounds and he'll be able to sign for a nice bonus.
But the first few rounds come and the player never gets
that call. In fact, it's not until the sixth round that the
phone rings, and by then the kid is confused and disap-
pointed.
Later that evening his team has to play its third-round
game in the World Series. Since the player - one of the
best on his team - isn't concentrating on the game, his
team suffers.
The sad part is that if Major League Baseball had
everybody's best interests in mind, that situation would
never occur. It would simply move the draft back one
week so it doesn't conflict with the College World Series.
This was a point of concern to both Maine coach Dr.
John Winkin and Michigan coach Bud Middaugh. Winkin
was especially upset about the situation. His top pit-
cher, Billy Swift, had lost to Michigan, 6-5, and the Black
Bear coach said that Swift, the 29th pick in yesterday's
draft, may have felt the pressure of performing in the
series with the draft just two days away. He also felt that
Wolverine pitcher Rich Stoll, the 14th pick yesterday,
was in the same situation.
"Here's two of the first pitchers in the country and I
think both of those kids felt the pressure and the impor-
tance to their lives of what the draft meant," said
Winkin. "It shows you what a real problem the rule is as
it stands."
It's true that only players on eight teams, those that
qualify for the College World Series, could be affected by
the date of the draft. But usually the top teams in the
country have some of the top players in the country.
Besides Stoll and Swift, several other participants in the
World Series were drafted in the first couple of rounds
yesterday. Among those were Michigan third baseman
Chris Sabo, who was the 30th pick overall, and
Oklahoma State catcher Robbie Wine, who was chosen
eighth.
Arizona State's Oddibe McDowell was the first player
selected in the secondary phase draft yesterday. Two
Texas pitchers, Roger Clemens and Calvin Schiraldi,
went 19th and 27th, respectively. Who knows how many
players in the Series didn't get the phone call they had
expected.
To some college baseball players, the amateur draft is
the future and to all college baseball players, the College
World Series is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to win the
national championship. Why not let the few who have the
opportunity to participate in both enjoy them without
conflict.
Stoll, Sabo picked in first
two rounds of pro lottery
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From wireservicereports
NEW YORK - Rich Stoll and Chris Sabo, two
juniors on the Michigan baseball team, were
among the first players chosen in yesterday's
MajorLeague Baseball amateur draft.
Stoll, a righthanded pitcher, was selected 14th in
the first round by the Montreal Expos. Sabo, a
third baseman, was the second player chosen in
the second round. The Cincinnati Reds drafted the
Wolverine slugger.
THE DETROIT Tigers used their first two picks
to choose Arnold Dotson of Lubbock, Texas and
Rodney Poissant of Irvine, Calif. a pair of right-
handed pitchers. In the secondary phase, Detroit
made Glenn Simmons of DeKalb Central J.C.,
another right-handed pitcher, its first pick.
Tim Belcher, whose fast ball has been clocked at
better than 90 mph, was the Minnesota Twins'
choice as the first pick in baseball's amateur free
agent draft.
The 21-year-old from Mount Vernon Ohio
Nazarene College, was 5-4 in his junior year with
93 strikeouts and a 2.86 earned run average in 66
innings. He allowed 33 hits and walked 32 batters.
What caught the eyes of the scouts, however, was
his velocity.
"CONSISTENTLY, my fast ball average is
anywhere between87 and 92 miles per hour," said
the 6-3, 210-pounder. "I've been in the 93-94 range
quite often and as high as 95 on a few occasions."
After the Twins chose Belcher, Cincinnati selected
and signed high school shortstop Kurt Stillwell of
Thousand Oaks, Calif., who celebrated his 18th
birthday Saturday. Stillwell, whose father had a
brief major league career with the old Washington
Senators, batted .519 this spring and decided to
sign, passing up a baseball scholarship to Stan-
ford.
Shortstop Jeff Kunkel of Rider College, the son
of American League umpire Bill Kunkel, was the
third player chosen, selected by the Texas
Rangers. His father, who recently returned to ac-
tive duty after two cancer operations, was at home
on an off day when Jeff's selection was announced.
"I TOLD HIM to enjoy it because it's not going
to come to him all of his life," the umpire said.
"Stsrting now Im Jeff Kunkel's father."
Kunkel said if his son makes it to the majors
with Texas, he would have to consider retirement
to prevent any conflict of interest.
"This is a starting point," the younger Kunkel
said. "I've dreamed about playing on the pro level
for a long time. This is one rung up the ladder."
Third baseman Eddie Williams, who batted .411 at
Hoover High School in San Diego, was the next
player to go, selected by the New York Mets.
Three right-handers went next, Oakland picking
Stan Hilton who was 5-2 at Baylor, the Chicago
Cubs selecting Jackie Davidson, 15-2 at Everman,
Tex. High School, and Seattle taking Darrel Aker-
felds, a former University of Arkansas linebacker
who was 9-3 at Mesa, Colo. College.
4
4
4
,Mho
. second-round pick of Cincinnati
Michigan 6, Maine 5
4
MICHIGAN
ab
Larkin ............ 5 2
Watters rf ......... 4 1
Sabo3b............ 4 1
Hayward lb ...3
Jacobson 2bs.
Erdmann if ........ 3 0
Froning dh ........ 4 0
Bair c ............. 4 0
Sklar cf ........... 4 2
h bi
2 1
3 4
1 0
1 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
3 0
MAINE
ab
Bernier lb.........4
McInnes dh ....... 5
Paul2b............ 5
Colton if.......3
vanidestine rf. 4
Lashua cf ......... 3
Reynolds 3b ....... 2
Whitten ph ........ 1
Nutter 3b .......... 0
Roy ph-3b ......... 1
Hackettc ....2
Bushway ph-c..2
Staples ss ......... 3
Totals ............. 3s
r
0
i
0
0
0
0
0
s0
I hi
0 0
2 0
2 2
3 1
0 0
0 0
0 0
0 0
21
0 0
Totals ............. 38 6 12 6
4
4
R It E
MICHIGAN ...........................................001 030 200-6 12 0
M aine .......................... ............ .........010 010 030-5 10 2
E-Reynolds, Nutter. DP-Michigan 1, Maine 1. LOB-Michigan 8, Maine 7.
2B-Larkin 2, Paul, Colton, vanidestine. HR-Sabo (16), Bernier (9), Colton (10).
SB-Sklar (), Sabo (18). S-Erdmann.
Michigan IP H R ER BB so
StolliW, 11-2................ 7 9 5 5 4 7
Earazim . . ............ % 1 0 0 0 1
Kop5, 2 . . ..............1/ 0 0 0 0 0
Maine
Swift L, 9-3................. 9 12 6 6 2 7
Stoll faced three batters in the eighth.
WP-Swift. PB-Hackett. T-2:16. A-8,000 (est.).
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Oklahoma St. 3, Stanford 1 5RH E
Stanford .................010 000 000-1 6 0
Oklahoma st.............000 020 10x-3 7 0
Stan.-Myers, Bullard (7) and Lundblade.
Okla. St.-Livingston, Kanwisher (9) and Wine.
WP-Livingston (15-2). LP-Myers (10-5).
HR-Hardgrave (24), Knapp (2) Incavilgia (22).
Stanford 3, JMU 1
R H E
James Madison..........010 000 000-1 4 2
Stanford.................000 210 000-3 5 3
JMU-Knight and Cullers.
Stan.-Cottrell, Kunkel (7) andSmith.
WP-CottreH (10-2). LP-Knight (7-4).
nescores
Arizona St. 7, Maine 0 RHE
Maine ......................000 000 000-0 1 1
Arizona St. .................320 110 000-7 11 0
Maine-LacognataBernado (6) and Bushway.
ASU-Henry and Wakamoats.
WP-Henry (9-6). LP-Lacognata (6-2).
HR-Bonds (lOIWakamatsu (5).
Alabama 6, ASU 5
R H'E
Arizona State ..........000 040 010 00-5 9 3
Alabam ..............300 020 000 01-6 13 3
ASU - Carter, Jefferson (1), Graybill (5), Rodiles
(10) and Wakamatsu.
Alabama - Hayes, Meacham (5) and velleggia.
WP-Meacham (6-0) LP-Rodiles (1-1)
.4
4