Be on the lookout for Baseball America’s freshman of the year Anthony RendonSubmitted by admin on July 1, 2009 - 3:31pm |
Besides his powerful hitting, there is one quality in particular that could have fueled Anthony Rendon’s spectacular freshman season. That quality is his love of the game.
"Of all the kids we've ever had here, nobody has more fun playing baseball than Anthony," Rendon’s coach Wayne Graham told Baseball America. "I love baseball, but I never particularly loved to practice when I was a player. He loves to practice."
So far, it seems like Rendon’s talent and love of baseball will take him all the way to the big league.
The biggest reason that Rendon is poised to become a big time player is the fact that the Houston native almost went pro right out of high school. The Atlanta Braves drafted him in the 27th round but Rendon decided to fill a spot on Rice’s roster instead.
It turned out to be a good choice because this past season, Rendon hit 20 home runs and became the second Owl to win the freshman of the year award. The first was Joe Savery who went on to become a first-round draft pick to the Phillies in 2007.
Aside from being Baseball America’s freshman of the year, Rendon is the first player to earn Conference USA player of the year and freshmen of the year titles in the same season. As if that weren’t enough, he was also selected to the second-team All-America.
"I wanted to have a good, productive freshman season. But it's become more than I could have ever predicted. It's escalated one hit after another and just kept getting bigger and bigger as the season has gone on,” Rendon said, as reported on ESPN.com
Although he will sit out this summer to recover from an injury sustained while playing LSU, it’s going to be a lot of fun watching Rendon during the rest of his collegian career.
"Baseball is what I always wanted to do with my life," Rendon told Baseball America. "I always want to play, and I always want to hold a ball or glove or bat."
If Rendon keeps on having phenomenal seasons, he’ll get what he’s always wanted and you can bet he won’t be drafted in the 27th round.
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