Draft buzz with The Bee
Forty-one years ago, the Orioles used their 11th-round draft pick on outfielder Al Bumbry. Earlier today, the team used its 12th-round pick on his son, Virginia Tech outfielder Steven Bumbry.
The elder Bumbry beat his son by one round.
"Let's hope his stats beat mine," he said.
Bumbry received the news while driving to Woodstock, Va. to watch Steve play a game in the wooden-bat Valley League.
"I'm very happy the way things turned out," said Al, a career .281 hitter in 14 seasons, the first 13 with the Orioles. "We were both anticipating that his name would get called sometime today, so I was on my way to be with him when he got the call. But it came before I got there.
"I was so happy that he was taken. I'm not surprised, but I'm happily and pleasantly surprised that he was taken by the Orioles. He called and told me, and he was pretty excited.
"Ever since he decided in his junior year at Dulaney High School that he wasn't going to play football or basketball anymore and was going to concentrate on baseball, it's always been his No. 1 desire. Fortunately, his work and the work that we've done together, and his time at Virginia Tech and playing on the summer league team with (Orioles scout) Dean Albany all paid off.
"Being a pro baseball player wasn't a priority of mine, but it's been a priority of his."
Steve Bumbry bats from the left side, where he posted a .283 average this season with 10 homers and 40 RBIs. He played center field at Dulaney and at Virginia Tech in 2009. But that's where the similarities end between father and son.
"No. 1, he doesn't run like me," Al said. "He sort of glides after the ball more. He can catch the ball, but he doesn't have speed like I had. His arm is a hell of a lot better than mine. He has a tremendous arm, which is one of his assets. As far as his batting style, he hits the ball a lot further than I did. Physically, he's more developed than I was."
Al Bumbry was named the American League's Rookie of the Year in 1973 and won a world championship with the Orioles 10 years later. His son has a little catching up to do. Today was a good start.
The Orioles also selected a left-handed hitting center fielder in rounds 28-30: Kyle Hoppy of Orchard Park High School, Brandon Alexander of Oakville Senior High School and Brendan Webb of Palomar College. They took right fielder Michael Planeta of Glendale CC in the 27th round.
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Categories (click for archive)Roch Kubatko | Roch Kubatko Orioles |
How big is Steven Bumbry?
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Listed at 5-9, 182. But he led Va. Tech with 10 homers this season. - Roch
It's Hoppy, not Hoopy, Roch ;-)
He's one of my brother's good friends, and he's thrilled about being drafted by the O's. He was in Baltimore last week and loved it.
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Typo. Sorry. I fixed it. - Roch
sorry B Roberts, but Bumbry remains my all time favorite #1.
I know you're concentrated on the draft, but I heard through the grapevine that CNU Alum Kenny Moreland is taking the mound tonight in Frederick, any truth to that rumor?
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Yes, he was promoted from extended spring training. - Roch
It's always hard to take seriously the comments of "the Dire Duo," but the harsh criticism of the O's draft picks reaches a new level. My question to them is: How much money would you bet right now that Zack Wheeler turns about to be a better major league pitcher than Matt Hobgood? How much money would you bet that pitchers drafted in subsequent rounds last night won't have better careers than both of them?
Great post, Roch. Thanks for tracking Al Bumbry down.
What is he doing these days? He was a coach with the O's for one year, I think. With Boston at one point.
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Didn't even think to ask him. Sorry. - Roch
I am very disappointed about the line-up. Dave must think we have been hitting righties ok. He should check the last 3 weeks records.
I am late with this comment, but Ray, thanks for setting the record straight on the awful Bud Selig. I am not sure whether Doug was endorsing Bud for the Hall, or only stating an expectation of what might happen. Either way, Selig in the Hall would be a travesty of a mockery of a sham. Like the Catholic Church cannonizing Bill Maher.
Ray did a nice job pointing out the 9 or 10 horrible sins Bud has wrought on our fine game, and any one or two of them would be enough to condemn him to a new circle of hell where he is forced to watch Pirates-Nationals games with only the Trolls for company. But incredibly, as fine a job as Ray did listing so many grevious sins (all mortal, no venal), he missed a few, that on their own can make me sick to my stomach. Here are a few more to add to Ray's list. Bud Selig presided over, cheered, approved or directed the following:
- Baseball parks being named for corporations so we don't know where they are, when their name will change due to sponsor bankruptcy, or how (other than crass greed) they reinforce the community.
- Major league parks with walls covered in ugly ugly ugly advertising so they look like the bush leagues and offend our sense of the pastoral, park, or serenity.
- Revolving ad banners behind home plate so all games on television can look just that much uglier and worse.
- The new, staggering level of disparity among payrolls. Always a problem, now a threat to turn us into professional wrestling.
- The entrenchment of the silly split between one league with the DH and one without. This could and should have been resolved.
- Umpires completely out of control and doing whatever their union and their opinions desire. Strike zones the size of handkerchiefs.
- Scabs or 'Replacement Players'
- Taking the worst-supported mistake of a franchise (Montreal) and moving it the only place where it will be a bigger embarassment and problem (D.C. where it significantly hurts an established team already struggling to keep up with the free-spenders in their division). If Selig didn't have the brains and leadership to do a proper contraction, at least that team could have been put in Connecticutt or Long Island where it would have balanced the NY Bos advantage instead of adding to it.
- Bringing the evil Instant Replay into Baseball where it is unwelcome, unneeded, unhelpful and bound to spread like a virus.
Bud Selig has been the worst commissioner in the history of the game. His job is not supposed to be to raise revenues for the owners. It is supposed to be to protect the best long-term interests of the game. He is a total failure at that objective. But once they drove out Giamatti and then Vincent, it was clear that we were going to never see another commissioner be anything but a greedy money-grubber for the owners club.
That does not mean we should put his good-ol-boy, money-loving, profit percentage, conspiratorial vulture-like self into the Hall.
Tell the O's to get busy and draft that catcher, Flacco. Seems the Dodgers did pretty good drafting a late round catcher as a favor for a friend. Maybe the O's can get that lucky.
Great play in the hole by Andino, c'mon Guts let's get settled!
I was at the game last night (due entirely to my son missing his flight out of BWI). It was a great time. Roch - Thanks for taking a minute to talk to the two of us.
Instant Replay questions have arisen. Here is what I have found out (since I was not all that interested in the draft, I obsessed about this instead).
The umpires made the correct call as compelled by the silly rule.
It matters not whether you are at home or away or which team is at bat. If a spectator interferes with a fly ball "over the field of play", and the umpire deems that the fielder could have caught it without the fan's interfering, two things must happen. First the umpire shall call the batter out. Second, the fan shall be removed from the premises. (I was surprised to see that referenced in the rulebook.)
Last night, both the fan and the outfielder made contact with the ball and with each other when the ball was higher than the top of the wall, would surely have gone over the wall, BUT WHICH HAD NOT YET CROSSED THE PLANE OF THE WALL. In other words, it was headed out, but it was still above the field of play when both the fan and fielder touched it. By rule, that is interference. Since it was not a very difficult play for the fielder to have made if the fan had not interfered, the umpire had no alternative but to call the batter out.
Now, had the contact occured after the ball had crossed over the top of the wall (if, in other words, the fielder had reached over the wall before hitting the fan), then the fan could have hit the fielder's glove with a two-by-four and it would not have been interference. The rules specify a "no-mans-land" where the ball is reachable by the fielder but no longer over the field of play. Interference can not occur there.
This is a poor rule.
But to Roscoe's point, it does provide fans a way to impact a game. Smack the heck out of any opposing fielder's glove if he reaches over a wall. But give your home team fielder room to make the catch.
Another suggestion was made here that maybe you could ensure an out was automatically called by reaching over the wall to intefere with your home team player. That way, he does not have to actually make the catch. This is not so automatic, however. The ump has to rule that the fielder would have caught it anyway. So you don't gain anything by this tactic.
And , as always, yes I have a much much better rule that should be in the books, does not require idiot instant replay, and makes almost every one of these calls simple and non-controversial. Here it is:
The rule that should be(but isn't):
A fly ball touched in flight by a leaning or reaching spectator who has kept his feet in the stands is deemed to have traveled out of play. The actual location of the wall is arbitrary anyway. If it reaches the fans, even reaching fans, it should be ruled in the seats and out of play.
If you wanted to, you could add a stipulation that a fielder catching a ball that hits a fan but has not yet hit the ground or seat or wall records the out. That would preserve cool over-the-wall catches for the defense.
But if the catch has not been made and a fan has touched the ball, then it is just as if it was 10 rows deep. Much easier to call by the umps. Requires no instant replay. Requires no restriction of fans from the front rows. No dire warnings about touching fly balls in play, etc.
Good work Steven. You've made Dulaney and the Hokie nation proud. I hope to see him in Bmore one day. Being both a Dulaney and VT grad it would be a proud day.
Did Joe Flacco's brother get drafted?
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It doesn't appear so. - Roch
Looks like Bumbry is running his own baseball clinics and helping out his son. Did some light online research.
Was coaching most recently for the York Revolution, it looks like, but isn't there this year. They have Chris Hoiles and Tippy Martinez on staff.
I didn't research Rich Coggins. Probably take more work there. :)
GTR - I'm pretty sure Bumbry wore #9. But he did bat leadoff.
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Nope, he wore No. 1. Coggins was No. 2. - Roch
The Bee was my favorite Oriole as a kid. A few months ago, my wife was at a charity fundraiser in Phoenix, and called me to see if I wanted to bid on any signed baseballs for my Uncle, who's a memorabilia geek. She rattled off the names, and when she said Al Bumbry, I said screw my Uncle, get me that ball. It now has an honored spot on my desk.
i remember, as a kid, going to some baseball camp and al bumbry was a special guest. it was a looong time ago, but i still remember his lesson, "practice doesn't make perfect....perfect practice makes perfect."
it's stuck with me to this day....
I confused Bumbry with Buford.