Winners of the 2002 College World Series, the Texas Longhorns went 57-15, won the Big 12 Conference championship and were ranked #1 in the nation. Here's a quick review of the players on this team and their baseball journey over the next 10 years. There wasn't a lot of superstar major league quality on this team (Street excluded). The Moneyball Oakland Athletics drafted 4 of these players.
Major Leaguers:
Geno Espinelli Drafted: 2004 by SF (#430) Moved on to Texas Christian for his Junior season. Got in 15 games with Giants in 2008 at the age of 25 but otherwise, has become a career minor leaguer, mostly at Fresno for the Giants AAA squad.
Brandon Fahey Drafted: 2002 by BAL (#346) Played 3 seasons in major leagues .224/.279/.307 but never really caught on and dropped off the radar in 2008.
Brad Halsey Drafted: 2002 by NYY (#246) Played 3 seasons in MLB, using 2004 AAA season to land him full-time gig in Arizona in 2005 where his numbers were not great. Tried Indy ball 2009 and 2010 is now back struggling in Yankees minor league system.
Michael Hollimon Drafted: 2005 by DET (#480) A freshman on CWS team, he never hit that well in Texas, moved to Oral Roberts and hit well and used good power numbers to move through the minors. Made his Major League debut at 26 in 2008 but has not played in the majors since that season. Currently toiling in Twins system. (12 hrs this year)
Omar Quintanilla Drafted: 2003 by OAK (#33) Currently active in the Major Leagues since 2005. Batted .305 in Minor Leagues with 810 OPS but has struggled in Majors at .217/.274/.290
Huston Street Drafted: 2004 by OAK (#40) The one regular Major Leaguer to come off this team, dominated as a freshman at Texas and found himself in Oakland as a 21 year old in 2005, dominating and being named AL rookie of the year. Still active in 2011 with the Rockies, Street has saved 177 games with an ERA slightly above 3 and a WHIP slightly above 1. He's continued to strike out a batter in an inning and walking few. Has twice received votes as MVP (2005 and 2009)
Curtis Thigpen Drafted: 2004 by TOR (#57) Slowly moved through Blue Jays minor league system until 2007 when he was given 101 at bats with the Jays, batting .238. Hit .222 in the minors the next season, got 17 ab with the Jays and was out of baseball at the age of 25.
Made it to AAA
Ryan Hubele Drafted: 2002 by BAL (#226) The catcher spent his entire career in the Orioles minor league system, reaching AAA in parts of two seasons. Batted .248 with 40 homers and 177 rbis in 1635 at bats.
Seth Johnston Drafted: 2005 by SD (#158) Drafted as a senior by the Padres, the infielder spent his 5 minor league seasons in the San Diego system, reaching AAA in 2009. Managed 49 career homers and hit .263/.320/.402
Dustin Majewski Drafted: 2003 by OAK (#92) Another A's draft pick who put up pretty good minor league numbers with 80 homers, 388 rbis, 797 OPS. He walked a lot, hit lots of doubles and showed promise as a potential major leaguer but hit only 1 home run in 2009 at Frisco and as the power diminished, so did the dream.
Justin Simmons Drafted: 2004 by LAD (#628) Never quite got going in the minors, walking way too many batters along the way. Played 3 seasons in the Dodgers organization at 4 levels.
Made it to AA
Brantley Jordan Drafted: 2003 by STL (#875) 2 years in the Cardinals system (03-04) and 1 more with the Red Sox before electing to play Independent ball for a couple of years.
Tim Moss Drafted: 2003 by PHI (#85) Second baseman started out strong in the Phillies system, hitting 17 homers at A+ Clearwater in 2005 before fizzling in AA, batting .180 over 206 at bats in 2006. Stole 69 bases in the minors with 20 triples and 709 OPS.
Danny Muegge Drafted: 2003 by ARI (#576) Had a few solid minor league seasons, showing very good control and had an ERA below 3.68 in 5 seasons with Diamondbacks and Dodgers. Missed 2007 with an injury and his comeback was not successful in 2008.
Played in Minors but did not reach AA
Alan Bomer Drafted: 2002 by NYY (#126) Never quite got out of the gates, making 2 starts before running into injury problems and then being released.
Ray Clark Drafted: 2002 by NYY (#426) 2 strong seasons with Yankees in Minors but then inexplicably jumped to Indy league in 2004 and not heard from since.
Buck Cody Drafted: 2005 by SF (#492) Drafted at the age of 23, lost his mojo in 2006 with 35 walks in 38 innings and left baseball after 2006.
Nic Crosta Drafted: 2004 by TEX (#501) Strong start in Padres organization batting .382 at Fort Wayne in 2006 but as power increased, average decreased and was out of baseball at age of 24.
Ryan France Drafted: 2003 by OAK (#512) Spent time with 3 organizations in 3 minor league seasons.
Jeff Ontiveros Drafted: 2002 (UDFA) 4 seasons in Boston organization, 1 in Indy ball.
Jarrett Reininger Drafted: 2004 by CIN (#438) 4 minor league seaons with Reds and Nationals, batting .249 and then 5 seasons with Indy league teams as a regular 3b. Most recently with El Paso of American Association in 2010.
Eric Sultemeier Drafted: 2003 by BAL (#164) Batted .202 in his 2 minor league seasons with only 1 homer and a 546 OPS.
Played in Independent Leagues
Jesen Merle Pitched 5 years of Indy ball in a few different leagues as a reliever. Numbers weren't that great.
Tim Mcgough After jumping to Texas Christian in 2003, he eventually played 1 season (2006) in the American Association with Costal Bend, putting up an ERA of 3.43.
Did not advance past College baseball.
Chris Carmichael
Joe Ferin
Kevin Frizzell
Kalani Napoleon
Chris Neuman
Matt Rosenberg
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