8/12/2010

*UPDATED 8/25/2010

Since Topps acquired the USA Baseball license, it seems that every few weeks they’re announcing another product that will contain USA Baseball players. Three different Team USA squads from 2010 will be featured in upcoming releases: the 2010 Collegiate National Team, the 18U National Team and the 16U National Team. The 2009 Collegiate & 18U teamers were featured in 2010 Bowman. Just wanted to do a quick recap on what has been released and what to expect in upcoming releases…

• PRODUCT * RELEASE DATE * CARDS FEATURED
• 2010 Bowman * 5/10/2010 * 2009 USA College National Team & 18U National Team chrome base cards and parallels
• 2010 Topps Chrome * 9/30/2010 * Will contain the first autographed cards of the 2010 USA College National Team, seeded at a sparse ratio of 1-per-case…
• 2010 Bowman Chrome * 10/13/2010 * Will contain the first autographed cards of the 2010 18U National Team, seeded at 1 auto per 5 boxes as an extra hit; boxes will also contain chrome base insert cards of the 18U teamers as well as the respective parallels, and dual-signed cards… 
• 2010 Bowman Platinum * 11/18/2010 * Will contain autographed cards of the 2010 College National Team as well as chrome-platinum base cards, parallels, auto-relics and multi-player signed cards…
• 2010 Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects * 12/15/2010 * Will contain base cards and parallels as well as chrome base cards and parallels of the 2010 16U National Team; autographed cards will be inserted at a sparse 1-per-case ratio…
• 2010 USA Baseball Box Set * Release date unknown, but looking at the progression of Topps scheduled releases with USA players (September, October, November, December) it’s logical to think it will release in either January or February. We’re guessing late January to early February as the college baseball season kicks-off during the third week of the month.

That’s it for now. Topps is really juicing that USA Baseball license, but no worse than Upper Deck did when they had the card rights. We’ll post future updates to this post as information is released.

7/11/2010

22-man roster finalized on Sunday night, three return from 2009 CNT, two from the 2009 18U NT

***USA Baseball Official Press Release***

2010 CNT roster announced Three veterans return from the 2009 National Team CARY, N.C. — USA Baseball announced Sunday night the 22 members of its 2010 Collegiate National Team. The roster is headlined by pitchers Gerrit Cole (UCLA), Sonny Gray (Vanderbilt) and infielder Brad Miller (Clemson), who were all members of the 2009 National Team.

This year’s squad consists of five infielders, four outfielders, two catchers, nine pitchers and a pair of two-way players. The Collegiate National Team was selected after seven days of trials that included six intra-squad games and practices as the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Team USA is comprised of the top non-draft-eligible college players in the United States.

The U.S. will play a five-game series against Korea before squaring off against a Japanese Collegiate All-Star Team in a one-game, international friendship competition in Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium on July 21. From there, the team will travel to Taipei, Taiwan for a four-game series against Chinese Taipei at Tien-Mu Stadium beginning July 25.

Team USA will close its summer season at the FISU World University Championships in Tokyo, Japan, from July 30-Aug. 7. The U.S. has won the last three FISU Worlds (2004, ‘06, ‘08), while host nation Japan will be looking for its first title.

“We just wrapped up one of the best weeks of baseball in Cary, N.C.,” said Eric Campbell, General Manager of USA Baseball National Teams. “The players made it tough on the selection committee with their great effort over the last seven days. The selection committee assembled an impressive 22-man roster that will represent baseball and this country proudly.”

The trio of returnees (Cole, Gray and Miller) helped the 2009 Collegiate Team to a 19-5 overall record and the 2009 Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline World Baseball Challenge crown in Prince George, British Columbia (Canada). Cole and Gray combined to post a 7-1 record on the mound with 73 strikeouts, while Miller started 15 of 23 games, collecting 14 hits, scoring 13 runs and driving in eight.

Joining Cole and Gray on 11-member pitching staff are Tyler Anderson (Oregon), Matt Barnes (Connecticut), Brian Johnson (Florida), Scott McGough (Oregon), Brett Mooneyham (Stanford), Noe Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton), Kyle Winkler (Texas Christian).

Alongside Miller in the infield are Nolan Fontana (Florida), Drew Maggie (Arizona State), Ryan Wright (Louisville) and 2010 Baseball America Player of the Year and Dick Howser Trophy Winner Anthony Rendon (Rice).

The outfield consists of 2010 College World Series Most Outstanding Player Jackie Bradley, Jr. (South Carolina), Alex Dickerson (Indiana), Mikie Mahtook (LSU) and George Springer (Connecticut).

Peter O’Brien (Bethune-Cookman) and Steve Rodriguez (UCLA) will catch Team USA’s pitchers in 2010.

Rounding out the roster are two-way players Sean Gilmartin (Florida State) and Nick Ramirez (Cal State Fullerton).

“This was a great week of baseball,” said Manager Bill Kinneberg (Utah). “It was a tough decision to get the team down to 22 players, but I feel that we selected a special group of guys that will give us the best chance to win the FISU World University Baseball Championships.”

Joining Kinneberg are pitching coach Dave Serrano (Cal State Fullerton), and assistant coaches Ed Blankmeyer (St. John’s) and Nino Giarratano (San Francisco).

The Collegiate National Team begins its summer season Monday evening when they travel to Gastonia, N.C. to face the Gastonia Grizzlies of the Coastal Plain League. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. (EDT) at Sims Legion Park.

The Collegiate National Team roster is as follows (name, class, position[s], school):

2010 Collegiate National Team Roster
Tyler Anderson, So., LHP, Oregon
Matt Barnes, So., RHP, Connecticut
Jackie Bradley, Jr., So., OF, South Carolina
Gerrit Cole, So., RHP, UCLA
Alex Dickerson, So., OF, Indiana
Nolan Fontana, Fr., IF, Florida
Sean Gilmartin, So., LHP/OF, Florida State
Sonny Gray, So., RHP, Vanderbilt
Brian Johnson, Fr., LHP, Florida
Andrew Maggi, So., OF/IF, Arizona State
Mikie Mahtook, So., OF, Louisiana State
Scott McGough, So., RHP, Oregon
Brad Miller, So., IF, Clemson
Brett Mooneyham, So., LHP, Stanford
Peter O’Brien, So., C, Bethune-Cookman
Nick Ramirez, So., IF/LHP, Cal State Fullerton
Noe Ramirez, So., RHP, Cal State Fullerton
Anthony Rendon, So., IF, Rice
Steve Rodriguez, So., C, UCLA
George Springer, So., OF, Connecticut
Kyle Winkler, So., RHP, Texas Christian
Ryan Wright, So., IF, Louisville

Coaching Staff
Bill Kinneberg, Manager, Utah
Dave Serrano, Pitching Coach, Cal State Fullerton
Ed Blankmeyer, Assistant Coach, St. John’s
Nino Giarratano, Assistant Coach, San Francisco

Administration
Danny Wheat, Athletic Trainer, Texas Christian
Nick Nakagama, Assistant Athletic Trainer/Auxiliary Coach, Utah
Malcolm Gray, Press Officer, East Carolina
Eric Campbell, General Manager, USA Baseball National Teams

6/29/2010

USA Baseball has released the trials rosters for the 2010 College National Team & 18U National Team.

The 18U National Team trials are currently underway, running from June 28-to-July 3rd in Cary, NC. 36 players appear on the 18U trials roster (plus an additional 4 “alternate” players). From that group, 20 will be selected to represent their country on the 18U National Team. A complete list of the players participating in the trials is located below.

 [18U National Team Trials Press Release Link]

The College National Team trials are scheduled to run from July 5th to July 11th in Cary, NC. 35 players have been invited, plus an additional 3 “alternate” players, to compete for 22 spots on the 2010 College National Team. The complete trials roster appears below.

[College National Team Trials Press Release Link]

2010 18U National Team Trials Roster

2010 Collegiate National Team Trials Roster

Florida freshman Nolan Fontana was announced as the SEC Freshman of the Week for week ending 3/7/2010. Fontana batted 0.571 going 8-for-14 with a triple, an RBI and 2 stolen bases in 2 attempts.