Crack of the Bat
by Patrick Ebert

Gridiron Harball

This time of year much of my sports focus shifts to college football. While I enjoy the NFL, I don’t have much of a vested interest in the league past my own favorite team (the Green Bay Packers), but I can watch almost any college football game. From the wishbone to the spread offense, college football offers a little bit of everything.

Of course I have even more interest in some of the more notable two-sport stars that hang up their baseball cleats for shoulder pads during the late summer, fall and winter months, and I’ve had the opportunity to watch each of the players profiled below at some point over the last two months.

I may be biased, since the game of baseball fuels the majority of my passion for sports, but I would have to imagine the draw of the game has to be somewhat appealing over the game of football. The idea of playing in the NFL may be more glamorous, exciting or even sexy, but the guaranteed money and lower risk for serious injury that not only can shorten your career, but also your life, definitely gives a huge edge to baseball.

What I would give to have such a dilemma.

Jeff Samardzija may have paved the way for some of the players I am going to list below. An All-American wide receiver for Notre Dame, the nation’s most adored football program, he decided to give up a potentially exciting football career at the next level to pursue baseball. He quickly soared through the Chicago Cubs system and is now considered one of the team’s better late inning stoppers.

Keep an eye on these players as the regular season winds down and the bowl games heat up heading into December.

Riley Cooper – OF/WR, Florida
While Cooper has made it clear that he prefers baseball, he has not given up on his college football career. Playing time has been difficult to come by as part of the Gators high-powered offense, having caught only 12 balls in 10 games played this fall, after catching eight passes in 10 games during his freshman year, although he did catch three touchdowns as part of the national championship team. His playing time has also been limited during the spring, although he missed his freshman year due to an injury suffered in football, as he certainly isn’t helping himself by not completely focusing on one of the two sports. He did receive more playing time later in the season last spring, which may suggest that the Gators plan on having him receive more regular playing time during the 2009 season. While he has the speed to cover a tremendous amount of ground in centerfield, he play right due to the presence of Matt den Dekker. Cooper was named the number one prospect in the Valley League this past summer, praised for his overall athleticism despite the need to fine tune his game.

Eric Decker – OF/WR, Minnesota
Decker was enjoying an All-American season for the Golden Gophers before a sprained ankle three weeks ago caused him to miss most of the next two games. Minnesota’s season has also taken a downward turn, losing their last three games after starting the season incredibly hot. Decker profiles in a similar fashion to Kirk Gibson, who was an All-American wide receiver at Michigan State who played only one season of baseball with the Spartans before a very impressive professional career. Decker has good, but not great speed as a receiver, but that speed allows him to cover plenty of ground in the outfield. He hit very well for the Gophers last spring, hitting .329 with 14 extra-base hits in 161 at-bats. The Brewers took him in the 39^th round a year ago as a draft-eligible sophomore, but he factors to go much higher in the draft next year, as he intends to continue his baseball career in college.

Toby Gerhart – OF/RB, Stanford

Gerhart has already surpassed the 1,000 yard mark as a bruising running back for the Cardinal, and evokes memories of “Touchdown” Tommy Vardell. In fact, he needs only 16 yards to break Vardell’s single-season record at Stanford with one game left on the schedule. He has already bounced back from an injury during his college career, having his sophomore season cut short due to a knee injury, the worst nightmare for any running back. On the baseball diamond, he is a strong-arm, tape measure home run hitter that will be looked upon to pick up some of the load that was lost when Jason Castro, Sean Ratliff, Randy Molina, Austin Yount and Cord Phelps started their professional careers last summer. His timed speed as a running back is on the slow side, but it’s more than enough to track down fly balls in the outfield. However, he does profile as more of a fullback than tailback at the NFL level, as it will be interesting to see if he tries to follow in the footsteps of John Elway or Joe Borchard.

Jake Locker – OF/QB, Washington
Things got ugly quick for the Huskies, who now sport an 0-10 record, the only winless team of those eligible for bowl games. That awful start led to head coach Tyrone Willingham losing his job, and star quarterback Jake Locker had his season end during the fourth game of the year when he broke his thumb. However, Locker is adamant that football is where his passion lies, but his conviction to football has definitely been tested this year. He did play in the West Coast League last summer where he was named the league’s top prospect, universally praised for his freakish athletic talent. His speed, power potential and arm strength makes him a legitimate five-tool talent, and if he gave baseball more of a chance, he could very well find himself being selected near the top of next year’s draft. If someone is able to convince him that means several million dollars and less broken thumbs and torn knee ligaments, he may just give hardball another chance.

Jared Mitchell – OF/WR, LSU
I was impressed watching Mitchell perform at the 2005 Aflac All-American Classic, because even then he displayed an enhanced sense for the game, even among the best and brightest high school players in the nation. And even then it seemed unlikely a team would be able to sway him away from him two-sport commitment to play for the powerhouse Tigers. Mitchell’s playing time has been somewhat limited on the football field, although he was a member of the 2007 Tigers that won the BCS National Championship. He was an everyday starter on the baseball team upon arriving in Baton Rouge, and is hitting .276 in two seasons. Mitchell struggled during a very brief stint on the Cape last summer, but scouts still believe in his tools and how they project at the professional level. He still could go in the first-round of next year’s draft, but things will need to start to click for him next spring.

D’Vontrey Richardson – OF/QB, Florida State
While Richardson did not play baseball during the 2007-2008 school year, he did hit .351 during the spring of 2007, and showed off the exciting speed and power combination that makes him a potential five-tool athlete in centerfield. His football career does need to be contended with, although he is not the starter for Bobby Bowden’s Seminoles. He has played in eight of the team’s 10 games this fall, coming in as a change of pace quarterback that can burn defenses with his legs and his arm strength. Florida State seems committed to Christian Ponder as their starting quarterback, who, like Richardson, is a red-shirt sophomore, meaning he will continue to serve as a roadblock to Richardson’s pro football aspirations. He plans to play baseball again this coming spring, where he could be a significant contributor after the ‘Noles lost four starters to the draft last summer.

Evan Sharpley – 1B/QB, Notre Dame
Sharpley went from backing up Irish star signal-caller Brady Quinn to backing up sophomore sensation Jimmy Clausen. While Sharpley has good size and arm strength which gives him somewhat of an opportunity to pursue an NFL career, his promise on the diamond as a left-handed slugging first baseman may be greater at this point in time. His power comes from his huge swing, a swing that also leads to some healthy totals in the whiff category, but in his defense he hasn’t focused on baseball full-time to allow him to work out some of the kinks in his swing and overall game. While Sharpley isn’t going to receive a contract anywhere near to what Jeff Samardzija received from the Cubs two years ago, his former teammate likely will be available to provide some valuable advice.

Pat White – OF/QB, West Virginia
White is the only player on this list who hasn’t stepped onto the baseball field since he’s been in college. However, teams keep drafting him, remembering how good his athleticism translated to the game of baseball, with the Reds the most recent of those teams to take a flyer on him. The Angels took him in the fourth round coming out of high school, fond of his five-tool potential as a fleet-footed centerfielder. Those skills have allowed him to enjoy an extremely successful college football career, playing in a system tailor-made for his talents at West Virginia, the spread. The Mountaineers haven’t fared as well this year without the guidance of former head coach Rich Rodriguez, but White is still putting up big numbers, and has already been named the Fiesta Bowl MVP, the Big East offensive player of the year and a Freshman All-American during his college career.

The thoughts and opinions listed here do not necessarily reflect those of Perfect Game USA. Patrick Ebert is affiliated with both Perfect Game USA and Brewerfan.net, and can be contacted via email at pebert@brewerfan.net.