Gordon Beckham Wins Another Rookie Of The Year Award

Last week, Gordon Beckham was named American League Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News.

This morning, Gordon Beckham appeared on Mike & Mike In the Morning on ESPN Radio, where they interviewed him about the Major League Baseball Players Associaion members announcing him as the American League Rookie of the Year.

Both of the awards were decided by Major League Baseball players, so hopefully the Baseball Writers Association of America will agree with them at the end of the season.

The Players Association is also going to donate $20,000 to the charities of Beckham's choice. Beckham decided to split it between the National Parkinson Foundation and the Children's Hospital of Illinois.

Go Gordo!

Damn. Good. Dawg.

Seeing Gordon Beckham In Chicago

The other week I went on vacation to Chicago to see some Cubs games, and I also got the opportunity to go down to the southside and see Gordon Beckham and the White Sox.

White Sox fans LOVE Gordo. His t-shirts are everywhere, people were even wearing jerseys, and every girl from 14-40 was swooning over him. If I recall correctly, one girl was yelling at Gordo to get an autograph. We he motioned to her that we would come over after his workout, she literally screamed like a banshee and said, "I think I might just die when he comes over here!!!!."

As you can see, ol' Gordo is having a terrible time in Chicago. I mean, it must be awful to be hitting .300 and have every female in the town in love with you. I truly feel sorry for the dude.

Anyways, below are some pics of Beckham at the game (it was July 9 vs. the Indians, and the White Sox lost 10-8, with Gordo going 0-4).

The screenshots of him on the videoboard are my favorite:

















I also saw Jeff Samardzija warming up for the Cubs on Wednesday (when they were playing the Braves).

He didn't get into the game, but that's probably because he still sucks and has trashy chin hair.

What Gordon Beckham thinks about Transformers

When Sports Illustrated asked former Dawg and White Sox rookie Gordon Beckham to finish the sentence "I wish I could transform into...", Beckham replied simply with, "Megan Fox's bed."

Go Gordo!

The Career of Alex Fernandez

Why would BNE highlight the professional baseball career of Alex Fernandez? Well, he is the last Chicago White Sox prospect to be called up to the major leagues as early as Gordon Beckham. The White Sox drafted Fernandez, a pitcher, 4th overall in the 1st round of the 1990 Major League Baseball draft. He made his debut August 2, 1990.

The younger Alex Fernandez

It's hard to compare a pitcher's career to a future everyday player like Beckham, but Fernandez's 10-year Major League career was good while it lasted. He posted 107 wins against 87 losses with a career ERA of 3.74, pitching for the White Sox from 1990 to 1996 and then for the Marlins from 1997 to 2000. Unfortunately, the University of Miami product was out of baseball by the age of 30 after never recovering from a shoulder injury that surfaced during the 1997 playoffs. At 39, Fernandez is currently a pitching coach at Archbishop McCarthy High School in Cooper City, Florida.

The older Alex Fernandez (right), who looks like he's enjoyed himself post retirement

While Fernandez's career might've been cut short at the age of 30, many people would kill for the chance to play 10 years in the big leagues, especially producing good numbers like Fernandez.

Here's to Gordon Beckham's career lasting at least 10 years and producing very good numbers, if not great. It took the White Sox 18 draft classes to call up another rookie prospect so fast. The White Sox were right to do so back in 1990, let's hope they're right again in 2009.

One things for certain, it will be interesting to watch manager Ozzie Guillen's response to Beckham's year in Chicago. Being a former shortstop (Beckham's starting at third base) and rookie of the year (1985) himself, and just plain outspoken, Guillen should have some choice words on the situation, good and bad.

Think Gordo Can Afford That Beer Now

Welcome to the bigs Gordon, that was quick. This reminds me of a great story from the trip to Tempe, Arizona last fall when some of the BNE crew ran into Beckham at Fat Tuesday's in the Mill Avenue district (yes, Fat Tuesday's still had beer, just not on tap). To show their appreciation of the Diamond Dawgs run last summer, many Georgia fans were offering to buy Beckham a drink...And then one astute Georgia fan yelled out "wait, shouldn't you be buying everyone else drinks with that signing bonus..."

Beckham claimed that he hadn't seen the check from the White Sox yet...

Think he can afford it now?

Congrats on realizing a dream Gordon. Do the Bulldawg Nation proud in Chicago. We look forward to following your progress on your White Sox blog.

Great Weekend for Georgia Baseball

Just as the football team traveled out west to the desert to take on Arizona State this past fall, the Diamond Dogs packed their bags and headed to Tucson to take on Arizona this weekend. Georgia was out to a fast 5-0 start after back-to-back series sweeps of Youngstown State and Presbyterian. However, being this far from Athens and facing a Wildcats team that traditionally competes for the Pac 10 championship, the prospects of another sweep were not that high.

Game 1 - Georgia 11, Arizona 5
The Dawgs got another solid outing from #1 starter Trevor Holder and the offense took care of the rest as they opened the series with a victory on Friday night. Nine different batters had a hit, including Rich Poythress (2-5, 3 RBI and 2 runs scored) and Lyle Allen (2-4, HR, 2 RBI).

Game 2 - Georgia 12, Arizona 5
Georgia jumped out to a lead early by scoring 8 runs in the first 4 innings of the game. Joey Lewis had 5 hits including a solo homerun to lead the Bulldogs offense. Saturday's game also saw the return of CF Matt Cerione from suspension. Cerione had four hits including a two singles, a double, a triple, and 4 RBIs. Alex McCree improved his record to 2-0, giving up only 3 hits in 5 innings of work.

Game 3 - Georgia 10, Arizona 5
Freshman LF Jonathan Taylor continued his solid play with 3 hits and 3 runs scored. Through 8 games, Taylor is hitting an amazing .583 with 13 runs scored and 6 stolen bases. Matt Cerione and Pich Poythress also chipped in 3 hit days for the Dawgs. Michael Palazzone picked up his first career win with three innings of scoreless relief pitching.

Just how impressive was the Bulldogs' offense this weekend? Said Arizona head coach Andy Lopez, "I haven't seen (an offense) like that in a long, long time." And this is coming from a coach whose team was preseason #1 in 2008.

With the three-game sweep of Arizona, the Bulldogs improved their record to 8-0. This is their best start since beginning 8-0 during the 2000 season and second best start ever (they won 9 in a row to start the 1911 season). The Dawgs next take on Wofford and then Quinnipiac in a series in Athens this weekend.

This weekend was also good for former Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham. When I turned on the Dodgers-White Sox spring training game that was on MLB network yesterday, none other than Gordon Beckham was up to bat. The announcers were saying a lot of good things about Beckham, wearing the "rookie special" number 80. Beckham hit a solo homerun to left field, the first in Camelback Ranch history (the spring training home of the White Sox). Read more about the homerun here.

GO DAWGS!!!

BulldawgJosh & Bubba's 80's Music Video Of The Week

BASEBALL SEASON HAS ARRIVED!!!

In honor of the amazing season our 2008 Diamond Dawgs had, in best hopes for 2009, and to give a shout out to our boy Gordon Beckham, here is The Outfield's "Your Love."

Bubba and I will listen to this song 748 times in a row if Earl and Streit let us.

The Outfield Your Love

Georgia Baseball 2009

Your College World Series runners-up and defending SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs baseball team will hit the field to open the 2009 season in just 10 days. Georgiadogs.com has the full preview for the 2009 squad here. The offense will be lead by pre-season All-Americans Bryce Massanari and Rich Poythress. The real strength of this team will be the pitching, with returning starter Trevor Holder and Alex McCree expected to provide a strong 1-2 punch in the pitching rotation.

Of course this is an odd numbered year, and if you have followed Georgia baseball in the David Perno era, you know that in even numbered years we go to the CWS while in odd numbered years we suck. Replacing All-American shortstop Gordon Beckham will be one of the toughest challenges for this '09 club.

For good memories, here are two videos that will remind us how great the 2008 season was for Georgia baseball.

The first is Gordon Beckham's homerun in his final at-bat at Foley Field


The second is The Outfield's hit song "Your Love", which was the music Gordon Beckham came to bat to and provided the background for Georgia's run in the College World Series:

GO DAWGS!!!

Former Diamond Dawgs in the Pros in 2009

Major League pitchers and catchers report in just two weeks and there are a number of former Georgia Bulldogs who will be continuing their baseball careers in the pros in 2009. Here is a look at some of those players who will be playing in the minors and the majors this year:

Jeff Keppinger, SS – Reds

- Played in a career high 121 games for the Reds in 2008
- Hit .266 in 459 at bats with 3 homeruns, 24 doubles, 43 RBIs, and 45 runs scored
- Only made 8 errors in 399 total chances at shortstop
- Will compete for playing time with Alex Gonzales, who returns to the Reds after missing the entire 2008 season.

Clint Sammons, C – Braves

- Was a late season call up with the Braves in 2008
- Hit only .148 with 1 homerun and 4 RBIs in 23 games
- Is listed as part of the Braves 40-man roster heading into Spring Training
- Expected to head back to the minors after the Braves signed veteran catcher David Ross to back up Brian McCann

Mitchell Boggs, P – Cardinals

- Went 3-2 with 7.41 ERA in 8 games with St. Louis in 2008 (including 6 starts)
- Will head to spring training as a part of the Cardinals active roster
- Expected to compete for a bullpen spot with the Cardinals during Spring Training

Gordon Beckham, SS – White Sox

- After being drafted #8 overall by the White Sox, hit .310 with 3 homeruns and 8 RBIs in 14 games for the Kannapolis Intimidators (Class A)
- Participated in the Arizona Fall League with the Peoria Saguaros, hitting .394 with 3 homeruns and 18 RBIs in 18 games (66 At Bats)
- Has been invited to Spring Training with the Chicago White Sox as a Non-Roster invitee and is expected to be in the majors in the next two years.

Josh Fields, P – Mariners

- Was selected #20 overall by the Mariners in the 2008 draft
- Never reached an agreement with the Mariners during the 2008 season
- Contract negotiations between the club and Fields’s agent, Scott Boras, are ongoing

Brooks Brown, P – Diamondbacks

- Was named the organizations number 2 overall prospect before struggling in 2008
- Went 6-15 with a 4.18 ERA in 26 starts for Class AA Mobile Bay Bears
- Participated in the Arizona Fall League, going 2-3 with a 5.61 ERA for the Phoenix Desert Dogs - Hopes to regain control and command of his pitches in 2009

Joey Side, OF – Diamondbacks

- Currently on the roster of the Class A Visalia Rawhide
- Hit .291 with 1 HR and 51 RBIs in 129 games at Midland in 2007
- Followed up with a .281 average with 2 homeruns and 26 RBI in 178 At Bats (44 games) after moving up to Visalia in 2008

Jonathan Wyatt, OF – Cubs

- Split time between two Class A clubs in the Cubs organization in 2008
- Played for Daytona Cubs and is currently listed on the roster of the Peoria Chiefs
- Hit .256 in 426 at bats between the two teams, including 6 homeruns, 41 RBIs, 18 stolen bases, and 65 runs scored in 116 games

Ryan Peisel, 3B – Rockies

- Drafted by the Rockies in the 12th round of the 2008 draft
- Hit .208 with 12 RBIs in limited playing time with the Tri City Dust Devils
- Expected to continue in class A ball in 2009

There are a number of other Dawgs scattered around the minors as well. If anyone knows what happened to Will Startup or Josh Morris, please let me know.