All Things Bubba

The 2008 College World Series is underway. Rice plays Fresno this afternoon. It's supposed to be on ESPN.

The Houston Chronicle posted a few photos from Rice College World Series past. None of Bubba, alas. There was one of his teammate, Lance Berkman:


Berkman is having an amazing year. He's half a year older than Bubba, and having the best season of his career (so far). Still has pretty good speed, too, as the Yankees found out.

There was also a photo of the 2003 championship team:


Paul Janish is probably somewhere in the pile, though I haven't been able to pick him out.

Soft Baby J said that was the most fun he ever had in baseball. It's likely to remain that way, at least for the rest of this year. The Reds are not a very good team, and Janish is not doing well. Since this season is probably lost for the Reds, I'd like to see them give Janish a chance. See if he can adjust. He's probably the best defensive SS they have, and the Reds badly need better defense. They are second to last in defensive efficiency in the NL, with only the Pirates below them. They were bad last year, and the year before, and the year before that. Despite all the promises to fix the defense, it's worse than ever.

Their corner outfielders have the mobility of your average brick. Jay Bruce in CF would probably be better off playing one of the corners. Votto has been killing the Reds at 1B. And the left side of the infield has been awful. Keppinger should not be a starting SS, A-Gon is oft-injured and overrated on D, and Encarnacion is probably meant to play a position other than 3B. If Janish can figure out big league pitching, he could be a big help.