"Young, Gifted And Black": Price profiled in Sports Illustrated

Do yourself a favor and buy a copy of this week's Sports Illustrated, if you're not a subscriber already. Lee Jenkins, who happens to be a Vanderbilt alum, has a terrific feature on David Price, the No. 1 pick in the 2007 MLB Draft, that you can read online here.

To give you an idea about the article, titled "Young, Gifted AND Black," here's the subhead:

The Best Story in Baseball gets better: Phenom David Price is closing in on the majors, which will not only give the remarkable Rays a stretch-drive lift but also help a city—and a sport—reconnect with its African-American heritage.

A few interesting tidbits from the story:

* After getting shelled in an intrasquad scrimmage in January of his freshman year, Price made a decision: drop out of school, quit baseball and work at McDonald's. "It was definitely kind of out there," Corbin said, "but I couldn't laugh because he was so serious." Good thing Corbin talked him out of it.

* Wrote Jenkins: "Today Price is the best African-American pitching prospect since Dwight Gooden."

* In 2007, only 8.2 percent of MLB players were black, the lowest total in more than two decades. In 1975, the number was 27 percent, an all-time high.

* How do you get more inner-city kids interested in baseball? By having visible role models like Price, along with the likes of Carl Crawford and B.J. Upton, who show that not only that baseball is cool, but that you can have a future in it.

"I hear a lot about how African-American kids don't play baseball anymore," said Hillsborough coach Kenny White. "But in Tampa they are still playing. I think kids here look at all the African-American players who have come out of this city—and now all the African-American players who are being taken by the Rays—and they see that it's still attainable, that baseball is still an option."

The bottom line, as Crawford points out, is that young kids often need to see players that "look like them" to become interested. Crawford grew up in Houston and said he didn't recall the Astros have any black players besides Derek Bell.

"I didn't really mind because I loved the Astros no matter what. But a lot of my friends, who were really good players, would complain," he said. "They would be like, 'Why should I care about that team? Why should I care about baseball?' And they stopped playing. It matters where you live. You have to be able to turn on the TV and see players who look like you."

* The article mentions Vanderbilt's partnership with Nashville RBI, which Price and Corbin spearheaded in the spring. I wrote an article about the partnership for VU Commodores that you can read here.

* Price has continued a postgame tradition that he started at Vandy. "After his team wins a game that he started," Jenkins writes, "he stands outside the clubhouse, congratulating everyone on their way inside, making sure to enter last."

* In the sidebar, which can't be read online, Baseball Prospectus' Joe Sheehan writes that Price will probably be called up as a reliever, filling the same role that Joba Chamberlain had with the Yankees last season.

* Added Sheehan: "Price has major-league-ready pitches that include a mid-90s fastball and a big, biting slider. He also has superior command, having struck out 68 wand walked just 19 in 71.2 innings through Sunday. As Chamberlain did, Price would most likely work off his two best pitches as a reliever, largely putting his above-average changeup away until next season...For the Rays, adding Price to their bullpen mix would be like a great trade-deadline pickup."

UPDATE: If you need another reason to buy the issue, two former Commodores are highlighted in the football preview. Jay Cutler, the 12th-ranked quarterback, is listed as a "sleeper," with SI writing, "after being diagnosed with and treated for Type I diabetes in the off-season, he has regained much of his stamina and arm strength." Meanwhile, Earl Bennett is listed as an "impact rookie," with SI noting that "the SEC's all-time leader in catches, at Vanderbilt, should rise quickly on Chicago's thin depth chart."

Photo [tampabay.com]

Commodore Banter (7/29)

Former Vanderbilt pitcher David Price was dazzling over eight innings Monday night, allowing just hits and striking out seven in Double-A Montgomery's 9-2 victory. While both hits were home runs, Price (5-0) retired 24 of 26 batters.

After witnessing another dominating performance, Brad Shephard of The Huntsville Times asked the question: Should Price expect the call-up soon?

"I just take it one game at a time down here and expect a call every morning saying I'm going to Tampa," Price said. "Until I get that call-up, I'm working hard, anxious. I want it more than anything.

"Every day, it crosses my mind. Every time I see professional baseball on TV, I say I can play with those guys and compete against those guys."

Meanwhile, make sure to check out this hilarious column called Why We Love David Price by The Love of Sports. Among the many highlights:

Next time you’re in a discussion with your friends about who’s going to emerge from the American League, toss this one out there:

“I really like Tampa’s chances. I mean, they’ve been in the thick of it all season long, and David Price will be a huge difference maker down the stretch.”

Your friends will think you’re a little left of center. Don’t worry about it, though. Sit back, watch Tampa Bay call him up and you’ll be proven to be a genius. You can thank me later.

Meanwhile, there's a great story about Price's former teammate, Casey Weathers, who went from an being an outfielder to an Olympic pitcher seemingly overnight.

SI.com included Memorial Gym on its list of the the nation's best sports venues. Make sure to check out former Commodore Bill Trocchi's great description of Memorial.

In football news, looks like there is going to be some competition at kicker, where incoming freshman Ryan Fowler will challenge incumbent Bryant Hahnfeldt for the starting job.

"I see I have a senior in front of me. Bryant's the kicker, and he's a great kicker," Fowler said. "I'm just coming in to add a little fire, a little competition, and maybe that'll spice it up a little on special teams. I just want to provide the competition that's needed for Vanderbilt to rise to that next level."

As an undrafted free agent, former Commodore Curtis Gatewood is playing with a chip on his shoulder during camp with the Redskins.

Vanderbilt's season opener at Miami of Ohio (6:30 p.m. CT) is going to be the first ESPNU event to be broadcast in HD.

Gordon, Neltner reunited in Turkey

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Former Vanderbilt basketball players Alex Gordon and Ross Neltner will be playing together for a professional team in Bursa, Turkey, reported Brett Hait of The Nashville City Paper.

Neltner signed a contract earlier in the summer and Gordon followed suit last week after mulling options from teams in France and Germany.

“I always told myself that if I had the opportunity to go play with somebody I knew, I was going to take that,” Gordon said. “That came about and it’s going to be a good experience for me, being out of the U.S. and being out of my element and playing with somebody I know.

“We already have a chemistry that most people don’t have. It should be great.”

Bursa finished 12-18 last season, but you can bet that Neltner and Gordon are ready to right the ship.

“Maybe I’m a little naïve going into international basketball, thinking we can make a huge difference, but we’ve always been on winning teams,” Neltner said. “Hopefully we’ll bring that winning mindset and winning mentality over there.”

Neltner and Gordon plan to head overseas following a wedding in Indianapolis on August 9. The friend getting married? None other than former Vanderbilt teammate Dan Cage.

Bears already falling in love with Bennett

This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who watched him play over the past three years, but Earl Bennett is making huge strides early in training camp with the Chicago Bears, writes Larry Mayer of chicagobears.com.

The third-round pick has impressed Chicago with his speed, quickness and hands. Some highlights include a leaping catch with a defender all over him, a sliding catch on fourth down to keep a drive alive during a two-minute drill and a big 26-yard grab on a skinny post in another two-minute drill.

“He seems to make a couple big plays each day,” said Bears coach Lovie Smith. “But we expected that out of him. He’s a good football player. He made a lot of catches at Vanderbilt, and hopefully it’ll continue.”

The coaching staff could not say enough good things about Bennett, who seemed to spend the entire summer studying the playbook.

“He’s a great route runner,” said Greg Gabriel, the Bears’ director of college scouting. “He’s got excellent hands and he’s very good after the catch. On top of that, his character is impeccable.”

“He’s having a real good camp,” said offensive coordinator Ron Turner. “He’s made great strides in the little time he’s been here. He’s very intelligent, which helps. We’re moving him around more than I anticipated we could at this time, and mentally he’s handling it really well.”

“His play speed is a lot better than it was when he first got here, and I think a lot of it is he’s more comfortable,” Turner added. “He’s getting a feel for the system. When he first came in, he was thinking so much he couldn’t really run.”

Both Bennett and the coaching agree that he has improved tremendously from the team's mini-camp and OTAs in the off-season.

“I stayed in the playbook, stayed looking at my sheet and notes that I took, and just come out here and try to relate it to the field," Bennett said. "Just staying focused and working hard—mental preparation—that’s the key thing out here. When you add those it gives you the edge when you’re on the field.”

Bennett has also worked hard to come off the line of scrimmage with more explosiveness. Still, despite his success, Bennett isn't taking anything for granted.

“There are older guys here who have already proven themselves,” he said. “I just have to come out and prove myself all over again, like when I went to high school and when I went to college. Now I’m in the pros and I just have to continue to get better and improve on the little things.”

We don't doubt that he will.

Photo [chicagobears.com via AP]