baseballa19

[Baseballa19]

I coach about 45 miles northwest of Orlando.

Best players I played against? I pitched twice against a Boone High School team that had Ron Karkovice and Joe Oliver, both future big leaguers, in the lineup. Don't get the wrong idea. I was a catcher. They didn't want to waste good pitching against the State Champs to be. In college, I played against Paul Aussenmacher,Bobby Thigpen, Robbie Thompson and Mike Stanley. I was in the same rookie camp as Jay Bell and Gene Larkin and Yorkis Perez (he was 15 at the time). As a coach, we've faced some pretty fair players. Here's a list of kids we played OR that I saw against other people:

Zack Grienke - Apopka High School - played SS and hit a BOMB!
Bronson Arroyo - Brooksville Hernando - played SS.
Prince Fielder - Summer AAU team
Felipe Lopez - Lake Brantley High School
Jason Varitek - Lake Brantley High School
Tim Raines Jr. - Seminole High School
Mark Bellhorn - Oviedo High School
Johnny Damon - Dr Phillips High
Mike Maroth - Boone High School
Lenny Dinardo (Red Sox bullpen lefty) - Alachua Sante Fe High School

Some other guys from Central Florida that I didn't see:
Tim Wakefield - Melbourne
Tom "Flash" Gordon - Avon Park
Paul Wilson - Boone High School
Dave Martinez - Lake Howell High School
Ed Taubensee - Lake Howell High School
Dwight Gooden - Tampa
Gary Sheffield - Tampa
Tino Martinez - Tampa