The Ping is the Thing: Introducing Brendon Booth

Good morning. This is the first of a new, (at least) weekly College Baseball roundup for Minor League Ball. John wanted updates and research, but, as we all know he is stretched pretty thin so I am here to satisfy some of the appetite the Minor League Ball readership has for recently breaking college baseball news.

Just so you know a little about me, I am originally from Northern California, but I am currently in Anchorage, Alaska, FAR away from anything tangibly baseball for 8 months a year. Aside from adult league ball that I play in, the Alaska Baseball League (ABL), the Summer wood-bat league for college underclassmen, is all we get. I have been a fan of baseball for my entire life and developed an interest in the college game in particular in the early 80's when I was exposed to the D-II, UC Davis baseball program.

As the title alludes, I have a special affinity for the ping of the metal bats. Over the years the exposure of college baseball has increased as well as my ability to follow it more closely and it has always been fun to watch guys reach the majors that I remember seeing when they were playing as amateurs.

As the focus of Minor League Ball is on prospecting, my emphasis will be on the stories that are relevant to the future of professional baseball. While the column will be light on analysis and mostly a compilation of links to current stories, as the column progresses I will be more than happy to increase the scope. I am also happy to receive reader input as to the types of stories you all want to read. You can send suggestions to brendon.booth@yahoo.com.