3 with Arkansas ties on U.S. Olympic baseball roster
Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008
The U. S. Olympic baseball team will have an Arkansas flavor when it competes next month in the Beijing Games.
Three players with Arkansas ties were among the 23 named Wednesday to the United States ’ roster. Terry Tiffee of North Little Rock will be joined on the team by former Arkansas Travelers pitcher Kevin Jepsen and former Travelers infielder Matt Brown.
The biggest names on the U. S. roster are promising prospects still in the minors, led by former SEC stars Matt LaPorta (Florida ) of the Cleveland Indians and Casey Weathers (Vanderbilt ) of the Colorado Rockies. But Team USA’s administrative and field staff said they felt it was important to have a good mix of veteran players as well, which is why they went with seasoned players such as Tiffee, infielder Brian Barden (St. Louis Cardinals ) and outfielder John Gall (Florida Marlins ) over younger prospects.
Tiffee, 29, has the most major-league experience of any player on the U. S. team. The former Sylvan Hills High School standout has played a combined 97 games as an infielder with the Minnesota Twins and now the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he has one hit in four at-bats in 2008. He is currently at Class AAA Las Vegas in the Pacific Coast League, where he is batting. 393 with 8 home runs and 59 RBI.
Players who were not on their respective organization’s 25-man major-league roster as of June 26 were eligible for the Olympic team. Fourteen of the 23 chosen are playing at the Class AAA level, a rung below the big leagues.
“We knew going in that we wanted a veteran club, a team of guys who have been battle-tested, so to speak,” said Team USA General Manager Bob Watson, a former All-Star first baseman and now a Major League Baseball executive. “We wanted younger prospects as well, guys with the fire to go out and showcase their talents on the international stage.” Tiffee, drafted by the Twins in the 26 th round in 1999, is with his third organization. He has played parts of the past five years in Class AAA in addition to compiling 243 career at-bats in the big leagues, mostly as a third baseman.
“Tiffee is the kind of guy that if you look at his numbers — hitting. 393 at [AAA ], he can play first and the outfield, he makes a lot of contact and drives the ball — he gives you flexibility,” said Team USA Manager Davey Johnson, who won 1, 148 games as a major-league manager and led the New York Mets to the 1986 World Series title. “It’s really difficult to find that kind of player in a guy who’s 21 years old.” Jepsen, a 23-year-old righthander, started the season with the Class AA Travelers before being promoted to the Anaheim Angels’ Class AAA club in Salt Lake City. He went 2-1 at Arkansas with a 1. 42 ERA and 11 saves, and is 0-2 at Salt Lake City with a 2. 76 ERA and 2 saves.
Brown, 25, played for the Travelers in 2006 and is batting. 326 with 20 home runs and 52 RBI at Salt Lake City.
Former Arkansas Razorback All-America pitcher Jess Todd, 22, was on the initial 60-player roster of Olympic candidates, but the St. Louis farmhand didn’t make the final cut after pitching a scoreless inning Sunday in the Futures Game.
Team USA, which won gold at Sydney in 2000, is back in the Olympics after missing out on a bid in 2004. The U. S. team plans to play Canada in four exhibition games in North Carolina in early August before it opens Olympic competition Aug. 13 against Korea.
The team will add one more player to fill the 24-man roster, which must be set by Tuesday.
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