I pride myself on the fact that there are only two sports I know absolutely nothing about. Unfortunately though, these two sports are basketball and football. At times, this can be positive in many respects. For example, it elicits some great one liners such as, "Wait, so if you shoot a basket from different areas on the court, do you get a different number of points?" Yet especially this month, it can leave one out of the sports loop. So when the other associate editor covering baseball phoned me earlier this week, asking me to write the column to go with this weekend's Virginia vs. Maryland matchup because he would be in Minnesota watching the women's basketball team, my only thought was: "It figures."
Baseball has been, and always will be, my sport of choice to watch. I hear the complaints about it -- it'sabout hitting the most homeruns, and taking steroids and doing whatever you need to do to add that few extra million onto your contract, and I can't help but think that I've heard basketball fans say the same things countless times. I've also heard them say that college sports are the way to avoid this. So allow me to make a shameless plug: If you're not into baseball, this team, this year, is the perfect time to check out our national pastime.
Last year was a pretty exciting year for the Cavaliers. Among other things, we hosted a regional for the first time. I would like to argue, though, that this year is more exciting in many ways because this year the team has a perfect mix -- expectation and potential.
This year's team is very different from last year's because there are 11 freshmen on the team. Last year's team proved what Virginia could do, but it's going to be up to the new players to take the results of last year even further.
So far, they've been living up to the task pretty well. Freshman first baseman/pitcher Sean Doolittle has a .316 batting average and is tied with junior Ryan Zimmerman for most home runs on the team. Fellow freshman Brandon Guyer also has turned out to be a bit of a hitting powerhouse with a .271 batting average, including two home runs.
The freshmen have been adding justas much strength to pitching. Robert Poutier has appeared in 20 innings without allowing a single run during his time on the mound. Sean Doolittle also adds strength to the mound with a 1.38 ERA.
It doesn't hurt that this year's pitching staff also contains Mike Ballard and Jeff Kamrath, both of whom missed last season due to Tommy John surgery. Ballard has started almost every Friday game for the Cavaliers and has a 2.25 ERA. In 44 innings, he's let through only 14 runs. Kamrath generally starts the Sunday games and holds a 4.25 ERA. In his last two appearances, he hasn't allowed a single run.
One of the greatest things about baseball is that it's a game of surprise and change. Last year's team set new personal records and won some great games. This year's team is one of contradictions
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