Milwaukee Brewers Select Southern's
Rickie Weeks #2 Overall;
Reds Take Damian Ursin in 8th Round; Marcus
Townsend in 14th Round
Astros Get Vital in 18th Round
June 3, 2003
BATON ROUGE -- Southern second baseman Rickie Weeks was selected today by
the Milwaukee Brewers as the second overall pick in the Major League Baseball
First-Year Player Draft.
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Rickie Weeks |
Rickie Weeks becomes Southern University's highest draft pick since 1975,
when Danny Goodwin was selected #1 overall by the California Angels.
Weeks (.483) led the nation in batting average for the second consecutive
season, hitting 17 home runs, driving in 73 runs, scoring 87 runs and stealing
31 bases without being caught.
Weeks will join a Brewers organization that finished 56-106 in 2002.
Milwaukee has 10 consecutive losing seasons and is currently 22-34 in last
place in the National League's Central Division.
Tampa Bay took outfielder Delmon Young from Camarillo (Calif.) High School
with the first overall pick.
Weeks did not pay a visit to Miller Park because Southern University was
still playing out its season, in the NCAA Regionals this past weekend. Barely
scouted or recruited out of high school, Weeks arrived at Southern a 5-10,
160-pound speedster and left a 6-0, 205 pound baseball beast.
"I'm excited about Milwaukee, and I'm excited about getting a chance to
play," Weeks said.
Weeks batted .473 over his NCAA Division I career, a record, and stole 65
bases in 66 attempts. He batted .493 this season to become just the second
player in NCAA history to win two batting titles.
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Damian Ursin |
Southern went 47-7 and, led by Weeks, led all of Division I with a .360 team
batting average.
"I just think with some coaching I'm going to be an All-Star second baseman,"
Weeks said.
"You've got to have some sort of confidence. You're always going to have
critics, so you just have to let your game speak for itself on the field.
"To be an All-Star, you have to work hard. You can't really worry too much
about what people say about you. You listen to coaches, things of that nature,
and hopefully you get to that level."
Weeks may be closer to the big leagues than #1 overall pick, Young, and if he
can catch up, the Brewers would love to plug him into the rest of the top
prospects playing at Double-A Huntsville.
Weeks is Milwaukee's second highest draft pick in club history, behind the
drafting of B.J. Surhoff, who the Brewers took with their #1 pick in 1985.
Five times since 1969 (the only season of the Seattle Pilots' existence), the
Brewers have picked in the top three of the first round. Three of those picks
went onto outstanding Major League careers: Robin Yount at No. 3 in 1973, Paul
Molitor at No. 3 in 1977 and Surhoff at No. 1 in 1985. One, shortstop Thomas
Bianco, the third overall pick in 1971, played only 18 games in the big
leagues.
The Cincinnati Reds selected pitcher, Damian Ursin (6-0, 190, R/R,
Gramercy, LA/Lutcher HS) with the 231st pick in the 8th Round. The
junior closer,
finsihed the '03 season a 2-1 record, with seven saves, and a 3.25 ERA. He
began his baseball career at Southern as a catcher, but his fastball, clocked
as high as 95 mph, got him a spot in the pen, where he took over the closer
role this season, after being the setup man in '02.
Outfielder Marcus Townsend was the Reds
in the 14th Round.
First baseman Kevin Vital was selected by Houston in the 18th Round. |