January 24, 200323 yr CHICAGO–Pitching has been the focus of four of the last five White Sox drafts. Thirty-eight of 57 players selected in the first 10 rounds were pitchers. While many top picks won’t pan out, such disappointment is often offset by lower-round bargains. It’s going to be hard to find a bigger one than Mark Buehrle, who was a 38th-round draft-and-follow in 1998, but the Sox have identified a couple of candidates in righthander Brian Miller and lefthander Daniel Haigwood. Miller, 20, won a team-high seven games and compiled a 4.30 ERA to help Rookie-level Bristol win the Appalachian League title. He added velocity on his fastball, jumping into the mid-90s, and improved his change–a plus pitch for him at Charlotte (Mich.) High. He had wild streaks but didn’t often beat himself. "He’s as good as any young pitcher we have," farm director Bob Fontaine said. "He’s got power stuff. He went out in the Appalachian League and dominated some people." Miller’s also tough. Scouting director Doug Laumann says when Fontaine went to see Miller pitch before the 2001 draft, Miller knocked himself unconscious in a collision with a post. A few minutes later he was back on the mound. The Sox landed Miller with a 20th-round pick. He had been Michigan’s top high school pitcher but slid because of his asking price and a commitment to Michigan State. Haigwood, 19, won a team-high eight games for the Rookie-level Arizona League squad. He had a 2.28 ERA and a strikeout-walk ratio of almost 3-1. "He knows how to pitch," Fontaine said. Haigwood went 43-1 at Midland High in Pleasant Plains, Ark. He had never lost before the semifinals of the 2002 state tournament. Laumann says Haigwood’s fastball looked like 90 mph to him because of natural deception, though it was usually clocked in the mid-80s. "He was overpowering guys with an 85-86 mile an hour fastball," Laumann said. "A lot of times we scouts just fill out the gun readings. But as the season progressed he was consistently 87-89, and he’s still got great deception."
January 24, 200323 yr Miller’s also tough. Scouting director Doug Laumann says when Fontaine went to see Miller pitch before the 2001 draft, Miller knocked himself unconscious in a collision with a post. A few minutes later he was back on the mound. The Sox landed Miller with a 20th-round pick. He had been Michigan’s top high school pitcher but slid because of his asking price and a commitment to Michigan State. So the guy knocks himself out colliding with a post - no wonder he has an attraction to MSU - twice over dumb as a stump. he may pitch well for us, though, if he ever reaches the big leagues, since there are no posts at Comiskey
January 24, 200323 yr So the guy knocks himself out colliding with a post - no wonder he has an attraction to MSU - twice over dumb as a stump. Sounds like Notre Dame material to me
January 24, 200323 yr Author Miller’s also tough. Scouting director Doug Laumann says when Fontaine went to see Miller pitch before the 2001 draft, Miller knocked himself unconscious in a collision with a post. A few minutes later he was back on the mound. The Sox landed Miller with a 20th-round pick. He had been Michigan’s top high school pitcher but slid because of his asking price and a commitment to Michigan State. So the guy knocks himself out colliding with a post - no wonder he has an attraction to MSU - twice over dumb as a stump. he may pitch well for us, though, if he ever reaches the big leagues, since there are no posts at Comiskey ohhh i wish there was vid on that.
January 24, 200323 yr ah a pieceful post, wish I had one. I shall reflect on that statement all evening -- I swear I miss 90% of what everything means on this board
January 24, 200323 yr ah a pieceful post, wish I had one. I shall reflect on that statement all evening -- I swear I miss 90% of what everything means on this board Some of the "Holier Than Thou's" on this board have been giving a few of the posters like Roman and wsc a hard time about the material they post..... not that Roman didn't ask for some of it with his stance on the KW/MB issue
January 24, 200323 yr yeah I know - sometimes the anger expressed gets a little overwhelming for people who are just putting their thoughts out there - and it gets tough to read since baseball is really kind of supposed to my escape
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