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Take Me Out To The Ball Game
By Tom Penders

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Anyone with a pulse is aware that I recently resigned my post at George Washington. I am scheduled to have a little minor surgery, after which time I am going to spend some time with my wife. For the first time in many years I am going to relax and take a little sabbatical.

I have many non-basketball interests and one of my passions is baseball. I cannot count the number of times I talked with College Insider.Com?s Editor & Chief, at great length, about America?s pastime. After about 30 or 40 minutes of diamond talk we?d realize that we hadn?t spoken much about the game played on the hardwood.

No one has ever had to twist my arm to talk baseball.

Some of you may know that I played collegiate baseball at the University of Connecticut and participated in the College World Series. Upon graduation I played in the Cleveland Indians minor league system for a few years.

I played against guys like Bobby Bonds, Reggie Jackson, Thurman Munson, Jim Palmer and others whom went on to have fine careers.

In the late 1960?s the money was not what is today. We were still seven or eight years away from Dave McNally, Andy Mershersmith and free agency, which drastically changed the financial structure of the game. Needless to say, I was not getting paid much.

I made the decision to put baseball behind me, but only as a player. I hung up my spikes, but I never stopped following the game.

There are a number of coaches that played some type of organized baseball before they devoted their lives to basketball. Former Illinois coach Lon Kruger played minor league baseball and Oklahoma?s Kelvin Sampson was a terrific college player. Former Missouri coach Norm Stewart played in the College World Series and Sacred Heart coach Dave Bike was a minor league catcher in the Detroit Tigers organization.

While there are a handful of guys who played, there is a bigger roster of coaches who have always been fans. One of those guys is also a very good friend of mine. Had Cincinnati?s Bob Huggins played professionally I am quite sure he would have been a power hitter.

Not long ago, College Insider.Com hit me with the idea of going head-to-head with Bob in a mock draft to select our all-time 25-man rosters.

The rules were simple; 25 rounds and you can select any player from any era.

Now keep in mind as you peruse the draft that Bob had an assistant general manager, in the form of College Insider.Com?s Editor & Chief, assist him in the process. As the selection process unfolded I took a little grilling for some of my picks, which I will explain in detail in a column that will follow in the next few days.

ROUND 1
Penders: Sandy Koufax
Huggins: Johnny Bench

ROUND 2
Penders: Bob Gibson
Huggins: Satchel Paige

ROUND 3
Penders: Roy Campanella
Huggins: Ted Williams

ROUND 4
Penders: Carl Yastrzemski
Huggins: Willie Mays

ROUND 5
Penders: Hank Aaron
Huggins: Roberto Clemente

ROUND 6
Penders: Nolan Ryan
Huggins: Babe Ruth

ROUND 7
Penders: Ty Cobb
Huggins: Joe Dimaggio

ROUND 8
Penders: Ernie Banks
Huggins: Jackie Robinson

ROUND 9
Penders: Pete Rose
Huggins: Christy Mathewson

ROUND 10
Penders: Tony Gwynn
Huggins: Lou Gehrig

ROUND 11
Penders: Willie McCovey
Huggins: Walter Johnson

ROUND 12
Penders: Warren Spahn
Huggins: Mike Schmidt

ROUND 13
Penders: Eddie Mathews
Huggins: Grover Cleveland Alexander

ROUND 14
Penders: Juan Marichal
Huggins: Lefty Grove

ROUND 15
Penders: Yogi Berra
Huggins: Alex Rodriguez

ROUND 16
Penders: Whitey Ford
Huggins: Barry Bonds

ROUND 17
Penders: Mickey Mantle
Huggins: Cool Papa Bell

ROUND 18
Penders: Phil Rizzuto
Huggins: Tom Seaver

ROUND 19
Penders: Don Drysdale
Huggins: Joe Morgan

ROUND 20
Penders: Willie Randolph
Huggins: Pedro Martinez

ROUND 21
Penders: Bob Feller
Huggins: Frank Robinson

ROUND 22
Penders: Willie Stargell
Huggins: Rogers Hornsby

ROUND 23
Penders: Don Newcombe
Huggins: Steve Carlton

ROUND 24
Penders: Dennis Eckersley
Huggins: Bruce Sutter

ROUND 25
Penders: Mike Piazza
Huggins: Tris Speaker

MANAGERIAL SELECTION
Penders: Walter Alston
Huggins: Sparky Anderson

Tom Penders and Bob Huggins will expand on their selections on Friday, April 27 

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