For most teams around the country, fall practice is over or wrapping up. Here are some fall tid-bits picked up from conversations with coaches and scouts at the World Wood Bat Association fall championship in Jupiter, Fla., and from phone conversations over the last few weeks. [...] Continue Reading »

The three-game fall series between Long Beach State and San Diego was a success, according to Dirtbags pitching coach Troy Buckley, and not just because LBSU won all three games. Both teams will play games in Hawaii this spring that do not count against their 56-game limit, so they could afford to play three games in the fall without sacrificing games in the spring.

"Any time you play somebody in a different uniform in the fall, if you can do it, I think it’s awesome," Buckley said. "You get to see guys with umpires and a scoreboard, and see guys with another uniform on as far as competition–you get sick of playing intrasquads." [...] Continue Reading »

Friday’s blog post about the impending rules changes for college baseball evoked a strong response from Illinois State assistant coach Tim Brownlee, who reminds us that Mississippi State coach Ron Polk does not speak for everyone in college baseball.

"I completely disagree with everything Ron Polk put in his letter," Brownlee said. "I would like to know who made him the voice for the coaches. He is not out for the good of college baseball, he is out for the good of Mississippi State baseball. Do you think having 66 players in your program is healthy (for the record, the Bulldogs had a 44-man roster in 2007)? That is not looking out for the student-athletes. That is looking out for good ol’ MSU so Southern Miss, Samford, UAB do not get a player who will come back and defeat the Bulldogs one day.

"I don’t know Ron Polk.  I am sure he is a good man. I have never heard anyone say a bad word about him. I just don’t agree with the way he has handled this whole situation. He has run his program the right way. There are a lot of programs who have not done it the right way." [...] Continue Reading »

John Wylde has been a Cape Cod League icon for nearly 25 years. The longtime president and general manager of the Wareham Gatemen is beloved by countless players, fans and coaches who have passed through the Cape League. Wylde, who is battling liver cancer, will be inducted into the league’s hall of fame tomorrow. [...] Continue Reading »

The sweeping academic reform legislation that threatens to dramatically alter the college baseball landscape cleared another major hurdle on Thursday.

The Division I Board of Directors met in Indianapolis and took no action on the legislation, which had received enough override votes to force the Board to consider it for a third time. The Board already revised the package in August after the first override vote, lowering the minimum scholarship threshold from 33 percent to 25 percent, but this time the Board chose not to make any changes to the proposal. [...] Continue Reading »