Rhymes is still batting .500 (85-for-170) over the last week he was: 2-for-3 vs Tulane 2-for-5 in game 1 @ Ole Miss 1-for-3 in game 2 @ Ole Miss 2-for-3 in game 3 @ Ole Miss ----------------- 7-for-14 over the last week... .500
the Final 60 for the Golden Spikes award was released on May 1... (on May 29 they will cut it down to the Final 30...on Jun 5 they will cut it down to 3 finalists... and on July 6 they will award the winner) the SEC is dominating the list: SEC Raph Rhymes, OF , Junior, Louisiana State, SEC Kevin Gausman, RHP, Sophomore, Louisiana State, SEC Nick Goody, RHP, Junior, Louisiana State, SEC Mike Zunino, C, Junior, Florida, SEC Brian Johnson, LHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC Austin Maddox, RHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC Preston Tucker, IF, Senior, Florida, SEC Matt Price, RHP, RS Junior, South Carolina, SEC Michael Roth, LHP/IF, Senior, South Carolina, SEC Christian Walker, IF, Junior, South Carolina, SEC Trevor Gott, RHP, Sophomore, Kentucky, SEC Luke Maile, C/IF, Junior, Kentucky, SEC Bobby Wahl, RHP, Sophomore, Ole Miss, SEC Alex Yarbrough, IF, Junior, Ole Miss, SEC Ryne Stanek, RHP , Sophomore, Arkansas, SEC Chris Stratton, RHP, Junior, Mississippi State, SEC Pac 12 Stephen Piscotty, IF/RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12 Mark Appel, RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12 Joey DeMichele, IF, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12 Brady Rodgers, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12 Jeff Gelalich, OF, Junior, UCLA, Pac-12 Kurt Heyer, RHP, Junior, Arizona, Pac-12 Derek Jones, OF, Junior, Washington State, Pac-12 Tony Renda, IF, Junior, California, Pac-12 ACC Kent Emanuel, LHP, Sophomore, North Carolina, ACC Michael Morin, RHP, Junior, North Carolina, ACC Peter O'Brien, C, Senior, Miami (Fla.), ACC James Ramsey, OF, Senior, Florida State, ACC Carlos Rodon, LHP, Freshman, North Carolina State, ACC Richie Shaffer, IF, Junior, Clemson, ACC Marcus Stroman, RHP, Junior, Duke, ACC Big 12 Andrew Heaney, LHP, Junior, Oklanhoma State, Big 12 Corey Knebel, RHP, Sophomore, Texas, Big 12 Josh Ludy, C, Senior, Baylor, Big 12 Josh Turley, LHP, Junior, Baylor, Big 12 Tyler Naquin, OF, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12 Ross Stripling, RHP, Senior, Texas A&M, Big 12 Michael Wacha, RHP, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12 WCC Marco Gonzales, LHP/IF, Sophomore, Gonzaga, WCC Kyle Zimmer, RHP, Junior, San Francisco, WCC Tyler Wagner, RHP, Sophomore, San Diego, WCC Kris Bryant, IF, Sophomore, San Diego, WCC C-USA Matthew Reckling, RHP , Senior, Rice, C-USA J.T. Chargois, RHP/IF, Junior, Rice, C-USA D.J. Hicks, IF, Junior, Central Florida, C-USA MWC Jason Coats, OF, Senior, Texas Christian, Mountain West Josh Elander, C/OF, Junior, Texas Christian, Mountain West D.J. Peterson, IF, Sophomore, New Mexico, Mountain West Big West Dylan Floro, RHP, Junior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West Michael Lorenzen, OF/RHP, Sophomore, Cal State Fullerton, Big West Ohio Valley Trenton Moses, IF, Senior, Southeast Missouri State, Ohio Valley Zach Stephens, IF, Sophomore, Tennessee Tech, Ohio Valley The following conferences each had one player each: --Big Ten --Big East --Atlantic Sun --SoCon --America East --Northeast --CAA --Independent
the Omaha World-Herald published an article on Rhymes on Saturday: http://www.omaha.com/article/20120505/CWS/705059774/1001 some of my favorite parts: Three years ago, Raph Rhymes wasn't good enough to make the Tigers' roster. He got cut. He watched a national championship dog pile from a living room. He enrolled in junior college. He came back to Baton Rouge. Now he's doing something that makes baseball fans across the country stop and stare. Through 48 games, the right-hander has 83 hits in 167 at-bats. A .497 average. [the numbers they are using disagree with numbers from the LSUSports.net] “That's ridiculous. I couldn't do that off a tee,” said Darin Erstad, the Nebraska coach and No. 1 pick in the 1995 draft [he hit .410 his final season at Nebraska]. “The odds are just astronomical. It defies everything that's been proven in the statistics of baseball.” ... “To have that kind of consistency is mind-boggling to me,” Erstad said. “It just doesn't seem real.” Nor does Rhymes' .644 clip with runners in scoring position. Or his 5-for-6 mark with the bases loaded. ... His first name is Raphael, but he goes by Raph. It rhymes with “safe.” Rhymes doesn't pay much attention to his “battin'” average. LSU coach Paul Mainieri calls him humble and modest — “a good ol' boy from Monroe.” He loves to hunt and fish. More than anything, he loves LSU baseball. Rhymes' grandfather was a Tiger. When he was in middle school, Raph's family road-tripped to Omaha for the CWS. Both times, LSU went two-and-barbecue. Rhymes was all-state in high school, but not highly recruited. He enrolled at LSU. The walk-on tryout was suspended because of Hurricane Gustav. Rhymes was almost late to the make-up date. He showed up in shorts. But he had talent — coaches saw it. Mainieri kept him around for fall practice. He might have kept him permanently, but that was the first season the NCAA limited rosters to 35. And this LSU roster was loaded. The week before Christmas, Mainieri broke the news: You're not good enough. Not yet anyway. Come back next fall and you'll have a spot. Rhymes stayed in school [at LSU]. Watched games from the stands. ... He watched the 2009 CWS at Rosenblatt Stadium from his buddy's couch in Monroe. “I was going nuts” when the Tigers recorded the last out. ... Then he got a call from the coach at Eunice — a Louisiana junior college. The team needed a second baseman. ... He played a year in junior college, hitting .483 for a team that won a national title. Then he returned to Baton Rouge. ... The LSU coaches started polishing Rhymes' swing. He was “a dead-pull hitter” in junior college, he says. Can't succeed that way in the SEC. Coaches helped him go opposite field. ... Recently, someone asked Mainieri how Rhymes can stay [at .500] “How do I know?” the coach said. “I've never seen anybody hit .500.” Since 1991, Rickie Weeks came the closest. Twice he led the nation in hitting. In '02, he hit .495. If one of his line drives had found a hole instead of a glove, he would've reached .500. Weeks, now a second baseman with the Milwaukee Brewers, played at Southern University — in the same town as LSU. Fans and media didn't pay him any attention. Which probably helped, Weeks said. “The biggest thing for somebody like that — and it's hard to do — is trying to block out outside influences,” Weeks said Wednesday during a Brewers road trip. “You've got family reading stuff or talking about it, it's hard to stay away from it.” Especially in the SEC. Dave Magadan, Boston Red Sox hitting coach, hit .535 at Alabama in '83. ... But '83 was a different era. SEC baseball crowds didn't exceed 10,000. Magadan wasn't on TV. ... Magadan has watched Rhymes play on TV. Great swing, he says. But .500 is a tall mountain to climb. “You go 2 for 5 and your average plummets,” Magadan said. Said Erstad: “All it takes is one 0-for-10 (slump) and it's done. It's that fragile.” Which is why, if Rhymes stays in range of .500, baseball fans from Baton Rouge to Boston to Lincoln will pay close attention. They'll check LSU box scores. They'll tune in to ESPN. They'll root for a good ol' boy from Monroe who spent his freshman year on the couch. Can Raph Rhymes dust off the pages of college baseball history? Probably not. But Albert Pujols is hitting .194. So you never know.
I'd love to see Raph go on a tear vs Vandy, like a 10 of 15 tear to give him a little breathing room.
