Crack of the Bat

PG National "Athletes"!

By David Rawnsley

 

I picked up a copy of USA Today in an airport the other day and a familiar name jumped off the sports page.  Not Terrell Owens or LeBron James or Tiger Woods or anyone like that.  This athlete happened to be Toby Gerhart of Norco HS in California.

 

Toby Gerhart, the running back, had just run for 458 yards and 6 touchdowns.  The article noted that the 6-1, 218 lb Gerhart was now the 3^rd leading high school rusher in national high school football history with over 9,000 yards.  His 2005 totals are pretty staggering:  2,928 yards on 276 carries with 35 touchdowns and an average yards per carry of 10.8.

 

The Toby Gerhart I remember was the one I saw at the Perfect Game National Showcase in Atlanta this past June.  That Gerhart was a heck of a baseball prospect.  Here is his short report from the National Showcase: 

 

Toby Gerhart is a 2006 outfielder/catcher from Norco, CA with a very athletic strong build at 6-1, 218 lbs. short arm action, good accuracy and carry, very good range, can fly, 6.35 in the 60 and 4.26 home to 1st, short compact stroke, good bat speed, makes solid contact, good power potential, smart and quick on the bases, outstanding athlete, football star, highest level prospect, excellent student

 

If you were ever curious how 60 times in baseball cross reference to 40 times in football, Gerhart's times, along with the times of other athletes below, are instructive.  His 60 time in Atlanta, run under optimum conditions, was a blazing 6.35.  His listed 40 time is an equally impressive 4.48.

 

Just think of being a 17 year old high school kid who has shoulder pads on and thinks he's pretty strong, then trying to tackle a 220 lb running back with 4.4 speed! 

 

Ouch, Ouch, Hurt, What Hit Me?

 

Reading about Gerhart got me wondering about some of the other top football/baseball athletes who showed their talents at Turner Field, and there were many, many of them.  Specifically, how they did during their senior football seasons, such as the dominant and record setting Toby Gerhart.

 

 

A little Googling found the following answers.

 

One site has a category of player called "athlete" in addition to the standard positions.  These multiple position prospects haven't defined themselves as a football player yet.  Interestingly, two haven't even defined which sport they will play, as they are standout baseball players as well.

 

Riley Cooper of Clearwater Catholic (FL) HS is currently the #7 ranked football athlete according to one site.  He is also the #11 baseball prospect in the 2006 high school ranks as well.  The 6-4, 208 lb Cooper is an outfielder with predictably outstanding baseball tools.  He has incredible speed for his size (6.29/4.37) and the type of baseball potential that makes scouts search for superlatives.  Cooper hasn't signed for either sport yet.  His National report:

 

Riley Cooper is a 2006 outfielder from Seminole, FL with a extremely athletic body at 6-3, 200 lbs. very good arm strength, quick feet, good range, smooth actions, he can fly, 6.29 in the 60, good bat speed, easy swing mechanics, good balance, gets good extension, excellent power potential, outstanding athlete with serious tools, highest level prospect with high draft potential

 

D'Vontray Richardson (Lee County HS, Leesburg, GA) is also an outfielder, although a little more raw on the baseball side than Cooper.  Like Cooper, the 6-1, 200 lb Richardson has an incredible speed/strength combination.  His high school football coach compared him as an athlete and quarterback to former Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward.  Richardson has signed with Florida State for football and is the #11 ranked "athlete" on the rivals.com list.

 

D'Vontrey Richardson is a 2006 OF from Lee County HS in Smithville, GA, with a 6'2", 200 lb. frame. Very athletic muscular body, good arm strength, outstanding athlete, 6.42 in the 60, good swing plane, strong hands, good balance, good bat speed, aggressive approach, big power potential, one of the top athletic Ofs in the country with huge potential, big sleeper for the draft.

 

Dominic Brown (Stone Mountain HS, GA) is listed at 6-6, 200 as a baseball player and 6-5, 185 as a football player. Brown is ranked #37 in the country as a wide receiver and has signed a football ride to Miami.  He is one of the "new breed" of wide out who is much taller than the opposing defensive backs but can still fly (4.57 40).

 

Dominic Brown is a 2006 left handed pitcher from Dade City, FL with a very athletic tall build at 6-6, 200 lbs. clean arm action, changes release point, stays tall, 86 mph FB with life, sharp slider at 72 mph, good action on 63 mph CB, good knuckleball at 66 mph, change at 70 mph, outstanding potential, 6.70 in the 60, nice swing, big power, fast on the bases, highest level prospect, good student

 

Derrick Robinson (PK Yonge HS, Gainesville, FL) is well known to anyone who follows baseball at the prospect level.  He's the fastest player in Perfect Game history (6.19 60) and he can do a lot more than just run on the baseball field.  He's a potential first round pick in 2006 and reminds many of a young Kenny Lofton.  Surprisingly, the football recruiting lists have referred to Robinson as a "sleeper" as a cornerback/wide receiver frequently during the gridiron recruiting season.  The hometown Florida University must have uncovered him, because he signed a football ride there last month.  We wouldn't be surprised if baseball still doesn't play a significant role in his future.

 

Derrick Robinson is a 2006 OF/LHP from PK Yonge HS in Archer, FL, with a 5'11", 170 lb. frame.  Lean and very athletic body, maybe fastest baseball player in the country any level, very quick first step, great range OF, quick arm, plus arm strength, online and accurate, switch hitter, some strength in swing, patient hitter, good bat control, good hands at the plate, great upside. If the bat shows he's a first rounder.

 

Even with the athleticism of some of the outfielders above, probably the best defensive outfielder in the 2006 class is Lousiana's Jared Mitchell.  He was called by one recruiting service "the best athlete in the state of Louisiana."  Mitchell is a quarterback who passed for over 1,000 yards and almost ran for 1,000 yards as well, but is being recruited as a wide receiver, where he's listed as the #27 WR prospect by rivals.com.  He is a very good student and has received offers from numerous high level schools for both sports, but hasn't signed yet.

 

Jared Mitchell is a 2006 outfielder from New Iberia, LA with a very good athletic body at 6-1, 195 lbs. excellent instincts, great closing speed, good accurate arm, very good athlete, 6.69 in the 60, simple swing mechanics, shows loft in swing plane, line drives to all fields, raw but good power potential, one of the top prospects in the country, football star as well, very good student.

 

One dual sport athlete who appears to be concentrating more and more on football is Sandy Creek HS/East Cobb Astros OF/SS Brent Brewer.  Brewer, a 6-2, 190 lb wide receiver with 4.4 speed, hasn't signed with a school for football yet but his name has recently been linked to Mississippi State and Clemson, among others.  Brewer has been ranked at the very top of the baseball prospect charts until recently and is an outstanding athlete.

 

Brent Brewer is a 2006 shortstop/outfielder from Fairburn, GA with a very athletic body at 6-2, 190 lbs. athletic actions, good feet, very good range, strong arm, he can fly, 6.28 in the 60 with a 4.19 home to 1st, good bat speed, line drive swing plane, needs to adjust approach, shows power potential, very highest level athlete with good draft potential.

 

There are undoubtedly many, many more of the top baseball players in the country who also excel at other sports.  Sometimes we don't hear about their exploits off the baseball field and forget what great athletes baseball players often are, even if what they do on the baseball field seems special to us.

 

For instance......

 

The scout talk on Alex Gordon, the Nebraska third baseman who was the 2^nd pick in the 2005 draft, often seemed to be along the lines of "He's a decent third baseman and athlete whose bat will carry him," at times.  Living in Nebraska myself, I remember Gordon as the top football player (WR/DB) on the state champion football team, along with being a 20+ point a game scorer in basketball.

 

Or the story that Scott Kazmir once told me.  The Devil Rays star LHP has often been knocked for his relatively small size, which makes him sound like Billy Wagner when he's actually about 6-0, 185.  Kazmir was the starting quarterback as a Sophomore (!) at a 6A (the highest classification) school in football mad Houston, Texas.  The football coach didn't like Kazmir's baseball interests, so, according to Scott, had him throw about 100 long out patterns in spring practice the same day Kazmir was supposed to pitch in a District playoff game.  Kazmir turned in a predictably mediocre performance on the mound, then walked into the coach's office Monday morning and told him he was quitting football.

 

By the way, Gordon and Kazmir both performed in the 2001 PG National at Tropicana Field along with other super athletes like BJ Upton, Denard Span, Sergio Santos, John Mayberry, Wardell Starling, Jeff Clement, Lastings Milledge, and many others who became first round picks.

 

If you really want to see a baseball player do something astounding athletically, find one that knows how to hit a golf ball and be ready to see the ball hit farther than you've ever seen a ball hit before.  I remember playing a round with Giants OF Dan Ortmeier, a 6-4, 225 lb pure athlete with incredible strength.  He would routinely hit drives in the 340-360 yard area and occasionally even be able to find them.  Every top level baseball player I've played golf with seems to be like this.  Not many of them are actually very good golfers it seems.  But they can hit it scary distances.

 

I'd encourage anyone who gets the chance to go watch their favorite baseball player play basketball if they play that sport, too.   I've done that few times and been amazed by a particular young man's athleticism.  Often times you think of a baseball player as being a bit on the slow side until you see him run the court and jump.  It really gives you a better perspective as an evaluator on a young man's overall ability and potential.

 

 

A day after this story was posted, news of another Perfect Game National "Athlete" was released.  Outfielder John Bivens (Prince George, VA)signed a football letter of intent with Virginia that will allow him to play baseball for coach Brian O'Conner as well.  Bivens is a 6-1, 210 lb athlete who played wide receiver, tailback and safety in high school and projects as an outside linebacker in college.  More insight into Bivens "baseball vs. football" quandry, which as been going on for many years, can be found in the following newspaper article.  In hindsight, Bivens as a baseball player has been on a roller coaster ride as far as performance the past two years.  The ups and downs, after reading this article, are easily explained by what was going on in his football life at the same time.