This post is a request by our buddy Andrew, who once compared Jeff Samardzija to the incomparable Joe Mauer.
He's right. Two-sport star athletes are as rare as they come. But there is only one Joe Mauer.
Anyway, only two months ago, everyone assumed Samardzija - you can call him 'Shark' - would be sprinting 40-yarders in Indianapolis. Instead, he's at Hohokam Park in Mesa, Arizona with the Chicago Cubs, a spot on the 40-man roster and a $10 million contract in his sights.
The reason everyone was so shocked? Shark was looking at a first or second round pick out of Notre Dame with the invitation to Cubs Spring training camp also on his doorstep. Ultimately, the decision was his to make.
He consulted Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis, obviously a strong advocate of football who also happens to be a huge Yankees fan. No pun intended. He also asked for the advice of former Notre Dame baseball coach, who just so happens to be a close friend of Cubs GM Jim Hendry. Of course, the young man also asked the opinion of his father, Sam. Probably a Cubs fan.
"It was just the feeling baseball gave me," he said. "I really can't explain it."
Samardzija's wide reciever career at Notre Dame was highlighted by 101 receptions for 1,576 yards with 15 touchdowns from 2003-05. On the flip-side of that coin, he was a career 21-6 with a 3.82 ERA from 2004-06. In seven starts between Boise and Peoria last year, Samardzija went 1-2 with a 2.70 ERA.
The 220-pound, 6'5" righty hurls his fastball up to 98 mph and complements it with a veteran-style slider, luring Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild to devote some extra time to him this spring. His first piece of pitching advice to the youngster was to cut his damn hair and wear his hat straight. No joke.
Coincidentally, Samardzija grew up a Cubs fan.
7 comments:
Cubbies fans are hoping he doesn't become the next Drew Hensen.
Haha! No kidding. Chalk that up to the list of bad career choices.
It's easy to see why Samardjizzle took the Cubs offer outside of the chance to play for his favorite team and love of the game: guaranteed money probably had something to do with it.
The NFL won't lose a lot of potential first-rounders to baseball; there's too much specialization by athletes by the time they reach college, so this won't necessarily be a trend. However, if I was in his position, I'd have gone with the Cubs too.
Right, signal to noise, and also perhaps walking normally when your career has ended is another possibility.
Its awful what some of the old-timers have to suffer through...
And the money sure doesn't hurt either...
Samardjizzle. I like that.
suzy i don't think he will be anywhere near the player mauer is. i just thought the young two-tined player story to have some similarites. "incomparable joe mauer"... HA! you know he stole my style by copying my XL sideburns right?
I just wanted to give you a shoutout - I thought it was a pretty great comparison as far as two-sport athletes go.
You were the first with the XL burns. I will give you that.
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