Wallace Award Watchlist

The watchlist for the 2007 Brooks Wallace Award has been released. Five players from Big Ten institutions have made the initial list. Dan DeLucia and J.B. Shuck of Ohio State, Eric Rose of Michigan, Antonio Mule of Northwestern and Minnesota's Matt Nohelty have all been selected as nominees.

Spartans Recruiting Results

Michigan State has announced it's recruiting class. The Spartans have landed seven student-athletes only one of which hails from Michigan.

Recruiting Notes

Here is a recap of some of the recruiting news around the Big Ten. (My apologies to those visiting in hopes of finding football, basketball and/or hockey news on the subject. I'm only forwarding the baseball recruiting notes. Thanks for stopping in, though.)

Illinois adds the top player in the state. (Always a good idea.)

Indiana's next freshman class is announced.

Six players sign on to play hardball at Michigan.

Another half dozen sign on at Ohio State.

Penn State adds five to next year's class.

It's Almost Spring

There is a running joke going on in the BTH household. A few weeks back I mentioned to Mrs. BTH that "spring was right around the corner". She half laughed, half scoffed at this notion as we are faced with the realization that we have a long Midwestern winter ahead. (As we get older, neither of us is particularly endeared to snow and/or cold.) However, as I pointed out to her, there is reason behind my optimism.

As we all know the holiday season is, basically, upon us. (It's not just the retailers trying to get us to shop earlier this time, we really are less than a week from Thanksgiving.) We also know that once the holidays arrive, the months of November and December tend to fly past.

In addition, by late December, winter will officially arrive. While that doesn't sound very spring-like on the surface, that first day of winter will mark the beginning of the return of daylight to the north. Slowly and steadily we will see more minutes of daylight each day. A sure sign of spring, if there ever was one.

Another sign of spring has been filling my email box. I'm getting 2007 schedules, pre-season All-America team announcements and recruiting notes from BTH friends far and near. While the warmth of the sun is still a ways off for us snow-bound college baseball fans, the season is approaching once again. The "ping" won't return for a few months, but preparations are underway and that's a comforting thought -- even if we haven't really started winter yet.

Rose, DeLucia Earn Honors

University of Michigan centerfielder Eric Rose and Ohio State University pitcher Dan DeLucia were both named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association pre-season All-America team. Rose and DeLuica, both seniors, were tabbed for third team honors and were the only two Big Ten players selected.

Illinois Signs Four

The University of Illinois announced the signing of four players to letters of intent. All four will be part of the Fighting Illini squad in 2008.

IU Names Captains

Indiana University named four captains for the 2007 season. Ben Greenspan, Doug Fleenor, Jon Fixler and Joe Vicini were given the honor by head coach Tracy Smith.