Thursday, April 22, 2004 |
Lost In A Dream
"Let's go, Dream," Weathers, the coach, called. "Let's not stay out here all night."Jered Weaver's amazing season continues, piling on honor after honor, strikeout after strikeout, and win after win. His most recent, a brilliant 12-strikeout 3-0 shutout of UCI, gives him a 11-0 record with a 1.00 ERA in 80 2/3 innings pitched. Richard Lederer pointed out a nifty USA Today feature article on the dreamier Weaver, whose nickname is indeed "Dream".Later still, Weaver signed autograph after autograph for the Long Beach faithful.
Watching from a distance, Weathers' impatience melted and the coach smiled.
"Look at that guy," he said. "He's unbelievable."
Yet, despite the attention from the pro scouts, despite his connection to the man who tends the burning lake, he still wants to help power the Dirtbags, the former home of such big leaguers as Jason Giambi, Rocky Biddle, and Bobby Crosby. And if his brilliance has triggered an avalanche of comparisons to the greatest season ever by any college pitcher -- USC's Mark Prior -- buried in that praise is the fact that CSULB's team ERA stands at a breathtaking 2.37.
Baseball Prospectus contributor Boyd Nation (is that the moniker for the Orioles' national fan base?) writes a column today (subscription required) in which he translates, roughly, college stats to the pros at varying levels. For instance, a collegiate hitter's average of .300 gets multiplied by 0.69 in single-A ball; "... your .440 OBP college stud is actually on track at .330 in Mahoning Valley". Boyd doesn't talk about translating ERAs, but when you consider that Weaver's got four teammates with 0.00 ERAs, and one with a 2.00 ERA in 76.1 innings -- well, how does that line up? And how would you like being Cesar Ramos, the guy owning those numbers, overshadowed by Jeff and his amazing run of K's? Woosh.
We're just down the road a little ways from CSULB. I've gotta go before the season's up.
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