ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, July 7, 1996 TAG: 9607080043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-5 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: BASEBALL
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR.
All college graduates should be as lucky as Ryan Glynn, one of the most recent alumni of VMI.
In a span of five days, Glynn graduated from college, celebrated his commencement with family and friends for three days, then went to work at a job that had been awaiting him.
The position was as a starting pitcher with the Charleston (S.C.) RiverDogs of the South Atlantic League, a Class A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. Texas had used its fourth-round pick in the 1995 amateur draft to select Glynn.
As part of Glynn's contract with the Rangers, he would be allowed to finish his education at VMI and graduate in the spring and miss the first month of the baseball season.
``I believe it was the right decision,'' said Glynn, whose last year of college was paid for in part by a major-league baseball scholarship program. ``It was a big deal for me to graduate with my class at VMI. The way we worked it, I went to school in the fall [of '95] and the spring rather than going back in the fall again. They [the Rangers] were very receptive to that idea. Mike Tome [the scout who signed Glynn] knew how much school meant to me and really stuck his neck out for me.''
Glynn carried a whopping 21 credit hours in the spring, in addition to working with the pitchers on coach Scott Gines' staff.
``It tore me up only being able to watch,'' he said. ``I wanted to play so bad.''
The Sally League season was 40 games old when Glynn graduated with a business degree May 15. He returned home to Portsmouth for a few days, then drove to Charleston on May 19. The next day, he started and pitched four strong innings.
``They told me I'd go to extended spring training after college,'' Glynn said. ``I guess they thought I was ready to pitch.''
After winning three of his first five starts, Glynn, a hard-throwing right-hander, has seen his record slip to 3-3 with a 5.47 earned run average. He has 34 strikeouts and 30 walks in 522/3 innings.
While most hitters are in midseason form, Glynn still is trying to get in his work. He has only 100 innings of professional baseball experience during stints with Hudson Valley (N.Y.) of the New York-Penn League and with Charleston.
``Since I didn't go to spring training, this has been my spring training,'' he said.
MR.WRIGHT: When former Salem Avalanche ace Jamey Wright made his major-league debut for the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday, he became the 29th former Salem player to appear in the big leagues this season. Wright gave up only four hits and one run in six innings, but was not involved in the decision in the Rockies' 3-2 victory over San Francisco.
``I'm not looking at it as, `Gosh, I'm in the big leagues,''' he said. ``I'm looking at it as I'm here to do a job. This team is in a pennant race and that's right where I want to be, in a pennant race.''
Wright is the 13th former Salem pitcher to appear in the majors in 1996. Sixteen position players have taken their cuts. There are 87 former Salem players in professional baseball, ranging from Jason Johnson with Martinsville in the Appalachian League to the 25 guys currently in the bigs.
Wright, who wore No.54 when he joined the Rockies on Tuesday, switched to No.19 on Wednesday in honor of his mother's birthday, April 19.
SNOWBALLS: Avalanche left-hander Doug Million gave up three earned runs Tuesday in a 4-3 victory over Winston-Salem, ending his eight-game streak of allowing two earned runs or fewer. ... Catcher Mike Higgins was sent back to Salem from Class AA New Haven. Blake Barthol had caught 37 of 39 games since Higgins was called up May 21. ... On its most recent homestand, the Avalanche attracted 22,186 fans, an average of 3,157 per game.
AROUND THE CAROLINA LEAGUE: Frederick's Eric Chavez had a night to remember June 30 when he was the recipient of a first-inning peck on the cheek from legendary Morganna the Kissing Bandit. Morganna apparently still has it after all these years, as she inspired Chavez into a 3-for-4 night with two RBI in the Keys' 7-6 10-inning victory over Winston-Salem. ... Since losing his Carolina League debut in Salem on June 1, Frederick right-hander Sidney Ponson has woven a 4-0 record in his past five starts. Overall, the 19-year-old native of Aruba - one of four Arubans on the Keys' roster - is 4-1 with a 1.16 ERA. In 462/3 innings, he has struck out 50 and walked only seven. ...
Kinston first baseman Sean Casey, a former standout at Virginia Commonwealth who leads the league in batting (.327), homered twice in a 6-4 loss to Wilmington. Even though Casey is not among the top four in the league in home runs and RBI, he could challenge for the triple crown with a strong second half. Three of the players ahead of him in homers and RBI - Durham's Andruw Jones, Ron Wright and Wes Helms - no longer are in the league. ... Lynchburg's 8-17 record in June was the fourth worst in the minors. ... Carolina League All-Star Stephen Prihoda of Wilmington was 7-for-7 in save opportunities from June 2-July 1. Prihoda's 18 saves through Thursday led the league. ... The 9,002 fans who attended Winston-Salem's 7-3 victory over Salem on July 4 constituted the second-largest crowd ever to see a game at Ernie Shore Field. The crowd, which was there mostly for the postgame fireworks, would have been larger, but nearly 2,000 fans were turned away at the gates.
LENGTH: Medium: 97 linesby CNB