polish
06-01-2005, 11:31 AM
http://sports.tamu.edu/sports/baseball/images/mugs/pennington-cliff-mug.jpgOde to Cliff
A Probable Farewell
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Baseball team is finished at Olsen Field this year. However there is still one last item of interest for Aggie baseball fans. No, I’m not talking about the hiring of a successor Johnson. That’s a different topic for a different time. We are going to remember the great Aggie shortstop Cliff Pennington and muse about how he will be perceived in the draft.
Cliff Pennington, a former standout at Corpus Christi Carroll, has started at A&M ever since the second game of his freshman year. He sparked the Aggies and became a mainstay at third base during the year. He batted .340 for the year and .345 during Big XII play. The Aggies weren’t the only ones who noticed his play as a freshman; Cliff was named the Big XII Freshman of the Year, and Second Team All-Big XII at third base in 2003. Although Cliff was at his best at the end of the year, the team lost to UH at Olsen Field in the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament.
In his sophomore year, Pennington’s goal was simple, to go farther in the NCAA Playoffs. In order to accomplish this goal, Cliff did two things for the team. The first was to move over to shortstop from third base, in order to accommodate the freshman Austin Boggs at third base. Pennington turned out to be even better shortstop than he was at third base, making the deep throws from short look routine at times. The second was to take the mound for the first time since high school. He pitched as a reliever in six games, earning two saves and only giving up one earned run. During the regular season Cliff increased his power to five home runs from the previous year’s two home runs and kept his average at .339. After the team put together a solid performance in the regular season, the Aggies made it to the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament once again. This time they played the defending National Champions Rice at Reckling Park. The Aggies stunned Rice winning the second game on Sunday after dropping an earlier game that day 3-1. After the Regional Pennington has this to say, “Definitely the worst feeling in the world is having somebody celebrate on your field,” A&M shortstop and tournament Most Outstanding Player Cliff Pennington said. “Last year, watching UH do that and jump around on our mound was pretty tough.” Well Rice must have had a pretty tough feeling in the dugout that day.
After his year was over when A&M lost in the Super Regional to LSU, Pennington went on to play for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League. He batted .277 with 3 home runs, 20 rbi’s, and 21 stolen bases. This went a long way to proving to scouts that he could make the adjustment and hit with a wooden bat. Baseball America named him the #9 prospect in the Cape Cod League because of that performance. Cliff missed the first five games because of the Super Regional and the Commodores went 0-5. After he joined the team, the Commodores went on a run and won the West Division Title. Pennington was a star for the team in both the batters box, in the field, and on the base paths in 2004, earning him the Manny Robello “10th Player” Award. A former winner of the award at shortstop was Nomar Garciaparra.
In his Junior Year Pennington led the Aggies in pretty much every offensive category: batting average, hits, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, triples, doubles and walks. He was really the only aggie hitter who was consistently on base this year as the Aggies missed the Big XII Tournament for the first time ever. Cliff is a probable first-round selection in the June amateur draft. Baseball America lists Pennington as the nation's No. 23 prospect, and Baseball America also tells of a rumor that Pennington could be the number 2 overall pick to the Kansas City Royals because they consider him a more signable player money wise.
To finish off here is what Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith, baseball analysts said about Cliff.
“The least-known player [at shortstop] is Cliff Pennington, known as a scrappy player that impresses scouts and statheads alike. Pennington has great contact skills, runs well, and shows very good defense up the middle. What power he has shown this season is unlikely to transfer over much professionally, though he could very well be hitting 30 doubles a year in the Bigs. I might go as far to say that Pennington is the most likely of the group to be a league-average player across the board in the Majors, as Cliff looks to be everything Russ Adams was coming out of college.”
A Probable Farewell
The Fightin’ Texas Aggie Baseball team is finished at Olsen Field this year. However there is still one last item of interest for Aggie baseball fans. No, I’m not talking about the hiring of a successor Johnson. That’s a different topic for a different time. We are going to remember the great Aggie shortstop Cliff Pennington and muse about how he will be perceived in the draft.
Cliff Pennington, a former standout at Corpus Christi Carroll, has started at A&M ever since the second game of his freshman year. He sparked the Aggies and became a mainstay at third base during the year. He batted .340 for the year and .345 during Big XII play. The Aggies weren’t the only ones who noticed his play as a freshman; Cliff was named the Big XII Freshman of the Year, and Second Team All-Big XII at third base in 2003. Although Cliff was at his best at the end of the year, the team lost to UH at Olsen Field in the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament.
In his sophomore year, Pennington’s goal was simple, to go farther in the NCAA Playoffs. In order to accomplish this goal, Cliff did two things for the team. The first was to move over to shortstop from third base, in order to accommodate the freshman Austin Boggs at third base. Pennington turned out to be even better shortstop than he was at third base, making the deep throws from short look routine at times. The second was to take the mound for the first time since high school. He pitched as a reliever in six games, earning two saves and only giving up one earned run. During the regular season Cliff increased his power to five home runs from the previous year’s two home runs and kept his average at .339. After the team put together a solid performance in the regular season, the Aggies made it to the Regional Round of the NCAA Tournament once again. This time they played the defending National Champions Rice at Reckling Park. The Aggies stunned Rice winning the second game on Sunday after dropping an earlier game that day 3-1. After the Regional Pennington has this to say, “Definitely the worst feeling in the world is having somebody celebrate on your field,” A&M shortstop and tournament Most Outstanding Player Cliff Pennington said. “Last year, watching UH do that and jump around on our mound was pretty tough.” Well Rice must have had a pretty tough feeling in the dugout that day.
After his year was over when A&M lost in the Super Regional to LSU, Pennington went on to play for the Falmouth Commodores of the Cape Cod League. He batted .277 with 3 home runs, 20 rbi’s, and 21 stolen bases. This went a long way to proving to scouts that he could make the adjustment and hit with a wooden bat. Baseball America named him the #9 prospect in the Cape Cod League because of that performance. Cliff missed the first five games because of the Super Regional and the Commodores went 0-5. After he joined the team, the Commodores went on a run and won the West Division Title. Pennington was a star for the team in both the batters box, in the field, and on the base paths in 2004, earning him the Manny Robello “10th Player” Award. A former winner of the award at shortstop was Nomar Garciaparra.
In his Junior Year Pennington led the Aggies in pretty much every offensive category: batting average, hits, home runs, RBIs, stolen bases, triples, doubles and walks. He was really the only aggie hitter who was consistently on base this year as the Aggies missed the Big XII Tournament for the first time ever. Cliff is a probable first-round selection in the June amateur draft. Baseball America lists Pennington as the nation's No. 23 prospect, and Baseball America also tells of a rumor that Pennington could be the number 2 overall pick to the Kansas City Royals because they consider him a more signable player money wise.
To finish off here is what Rich Lederer and Bryan Smith, baseball analysts said about Cliff.
“The least-known player [at shortstop] is Cliff Pennington, known as a scrappy player that impresses scouts and statheads alike. Pennington has great contact skills, runs well, and shows very good defense up the middle. What power he has shown this season is unlikely to transfer over much professionally, though he could very well be hitting 30 doubles a year in the Bigs. I might go as far to say that Pennington is the most likely of the group to be a league-average player across the board in the Majors, as Cliff looks to be everything Russ Adams was coming out of college.”