PERFECT GAME CROSSCHECKER'S DAILY TOP TEN LIST
WEEK 7: 3/19/07 - 3/25/07
 
Friday, March 23, 2007
Kentucky senior catcher Sean Coughlin led the NCAA Division I ranks with 44 RBIs through 23 games—a per-game average of 1.91. If he were to keep up his pace, where would he rank in the all-time NCAA records?

On a per-game basis, he would fall short of Rice’s Lance Berkman, who averaged 2.12 (134 RBIs in 63 games) in 1997. Where he might rank in total RBIs in a single season is very dependent on how many games Kentucky (21-2 entering the weekend) plays beyond the 56-game regular-season schedule. For the purposes of discussion, let’s say the Wildcats play 65 games (they played 61 last year while going 44-17) and Coughlin plays in all of them. That would give a season total of 124 RBIs, placing him in a fourth-place tie on the all-time list. Clemson first baseman Andy D’Alessio was the Division I leader in 2006 with 85 RBIs in 69 games.

Here are the all-time single-season leaders:
 
Top 10 Single-Season RBI Leaders
Player, College, Year G RBI
1. Pete Incaviglia, Oklahoma State, 1985 75 143
2. Lance Berkman, Rice, 1997 63 134
3. Russ Morman, Wichita State, 1982 87 130
4. Jeff Ledbetter, Florida State, 1982 74 124
5. Joe Carter, Wichita State, 1981 69 120
6. Billy Becher, New Mexico State, 2003 61 118
7. Brandon Larson, Louisiana State, 1997 69 118
8. Frank Fazzini, Florida State, 1985 81 118
9. Jeremy Morris, Florida State, 1997 66 116
10. Damon Thames, Rice, 1998 63 115
-- David Rawnsley
 
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Baseball has undergone a significant cultural change over the last few decades, with a record 28.1 percent of all major leaguers in 2006 born outside the United States. Many more are Americans of Hispanic heritage.

Where Johnson (7), Miller (6) and Davis (5) were the most popular surnames of major leaguers in 1966, the most common last names in 2006 were Gonzalez and Perez—reflecting a significant shift in the cultural demographics of players over a 40-year period, particularly the proliferation of players from Latin America.

Forty years ago, Cuban-born Tony Perez was the only big leaguer with his surname, while Pedro Gonzalez (Dominican Republic) and Tony Gonzalez (Cuba) were the only two players with that name. As it was in 1966, Johnson remains the most popular surname among traditional American players.

Following are the 10 most popular names in Major League Baseball in 2006, with the corresponding number of big leaguers with that name in 1966 in parentheses:
 
Top 10 Most Popular Names, 2006 Big Leaguers
1. Gonzalez (2) 10
2. Perez (1) 10
3. Johnson (7) 9
4. Hernandez (1) 8
5. Rodriguez (0) 8
6. Wilson (2) 7
7. Ramirez (0) 7
8. Young (0) 7
9. Miller (6) 6
10. Jones (4) 6
-- Allan Simpson
 
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Four college catchers—Tennessee’s J.P. Arencibia, Oregon State’s Mitch Canham, Auburn’s Josh Donaldson and Georgia Tech’s Matt Wieters—have been drawing first-round attention from scouts in this year’s draft. Such interest flies in the face of recent draft history as only five college catchers have been selected in the first round in the last 10 years.

The track record of college catchers isn’t particularly good, either, as none of the players on the accompanying list of the 10 highest drafted catchers in the last decade will see regular duty in the major leagues in 2007. In fact, almost every player on the list won’t even have a big league job to open the season.
 
Top 10 College Catchers Drafted, 1997-2006
1. Jeff Clement, Mariners 2005/Southern California (3rd pick)
  Mariners rushed him at warp speed to Triple-A in 2006 after 183 minor league ABs.
2. *Eric Munson, Tigers 1999/Southern California (3rd pick)
  Tigers switched him immediately to first base; now a journeyman utility player.
3. Landon Powell, Athletics 2004/South Carolina (24th pick)
  Set back by missing 2005 with injury, but had a solid 2006 at high A/Double-A.
4. David Parrish, Yankees 2000/Michigan (28th pick)
  Son of former all-star Lance appears to have peaked as a Triple-A role player.
5. *Mitch Maier, Royals 2003/Toledo (30th pick)
  Like many athletic catchers, he shifted quickly to third base, then to outfield.
6. *Jeremy Brown, Athletics 2002/Alabama (35th pick)
  Quintessential Moneyball draft has performed as predicted, but a future backup.
7. *Mike Tonis, Royals 2000/California (44th pick)
  Shoulder problems cut short career after brief 2004 cup of coffee.
8. *Dane Sardinha, Reds 2000/Pepperdine (46th pick)
  Still superior defender but equally woeful (.175 in Triple-A, 2006) with the bat.
9. Javi Herrera, Indians 2003/Tennessee (48th pick)
  Shown slow but steady progress; likely to start 2007 season in Double-A.
10. *Kelly Shoppach, Red Sox 2001/Baylor (48th pick)
  Looks like a serviceable backup major league catcher with some pop.
*Has played in major leagues.
-- David Rawnsley
 
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Texas coach Augie Garrido, the winningest Division I coach in history, reached another milestone Friday night when he won his 1,600th game in a 39-year coaching career as Texas defeated Baylor 3-2. Garrido began coaching at San Francisco State in 1969, spent the bulk of his career at Cal State Fullerton from 1973-87 and again from 1991-96, before beginning his current tenure at Texas in 1997.

Through games of Sunday, following are the 10 winningest coaches in history who spent at least 10 years coaching at the Division I level. The record is at four-year colleges only; the coach is identified with the Division I program(s) he is most closely associated with in the case of coaches who coached at multiple schools.
 
Top 10 Winningest College Coaches
1. *Augie Garrido, Cal State Fullerton/Texas 1969-2007 1,602-745
2. *Gene Stephenson, Wichita State 1978-2007 1,568-516
3. *Larry Hays, Texas Tech 1971-2007 1,472-811
4. *Mike Martin, Florida State 1980-2007 1,458-493
5. Chuck Hartman, Virginia Tech 1960-2006 1,444-816
6. Cliff Gustafson, Texas 1968-96 1,427-373
7. Rod Dedeaux, Southern California 1942-86 1,342-597
8. Larry Cochell, Oral Roberts/Oklahoma 1967-2005 1,331-813
9. *Ron Polk, Mississippi State 1972-2007 1,324-651
10. Bob Bennett, Fresno State 1967-2002 1,300-757
*Active
-- Allan Simpson
 
Monday, March 19, 2007
Of the 100 most prolific quarterbacks in NFL history, based on career passing yardage, 14 have been selected in the baseball draft—including John Elway and Jay Schroeder, who played minor league baseball before launching their NFL careers. Several other quarterbacks on the list—Ken Stabler, Archie Manning, Danny White and Chris Miller—were drafted as many as three times without ever signing, while Troy Aikman (1989) and Jeff George (1990), who were No. 1 overall picks in the NFL draft, were never drafted in baseball despite being top baseball prospects in high school.

Interestingly, the top two quarterbacks on the following list, Elway and Dan Marino, were both drafted by the same baseball team (Kansas City Royals) in the same year (1979). Marino never played baseball in four years at the University of Pittsburgh, but Elway played two seasons at Stanford before being drafted again in 1981 by the Yankees in the second round. He played one year in the Yankees organization.

Following are the top 10 passers in NFL history who have been selected in the baseball draft, along with their career rank on the NFL list (in parentheses), their years in the NFL, their career passing yards and the first time they were picked in the baseball draft.
 
Top 10 NFL QBs Drafted In Baseball
1. Dan Marino, rhp (1) 1983-99 61,361 Royals ’79 (4)
2. *John Elway, of (3) 1983-98 51,475 Royals ’79 (17)
3. *Kerry Collins, ss (18) 1995-2006 34,184 Tigers ’91 (60)
4. *Mark Brunell, lhp (25) 1994-2006 31,826 Braves ’92 (44)
5. *Ken Stabler, lhp (40) 1970-84 27,938 Yankees ’66 (10)
6. Joe Theismann, ss (50) 1974-85 25,206 Twins ’71 (39)
7. *Steve Bartkowski, 1b (56) 1975-86 24,124 Royals ’71 (33)
8. *Archie Manning, ss (58) 1971-84 23,911 Braves ’67 (43)
9. *Danny White, ss (66) 1976-88 21,959 Indians ’73 (39)
10. Tom Brady, c (71) 2000-06 21,564 Expos ’95 (18)
*Selected more than once in baseball draft
-- Allan Simpson