I doubt if anybody outside of the ND fans really had any idea who Jeff Samardzija was and even ND fans really had no idea that he was anything more than a decent WR who happened to play baseball as well. He was good but not great. Well that has certainly changed. Here's an article from Baseball America. By Will Kimmey April 13, 2006 Jeff Samardzija spent part of Tuesday afternoon doing his best Bo Jackson imitation. He was wearing football shoulder pads and holding a baseball bat and glove as a photographer guided him through various poses, trying to find the perfect one to appear on a poster Notre Dame will distribute next weekend. That's when Samardzija will pitch against Rutgers in a Friday night baseball game before playing wide receiver in Saturday's Blue-Gold spring football game. "I'm just in college doing it, whereas (Bo Jackson) did it on next level," Samardzija said. "I'm just having fun--you've got to take advantage of it while you can." Don't get thrown off by Samardzija's humble understatement. In the last nine months, the 6-foot-5, 215-pound junior has put himself in position to join Jackson as am early pick in football and baseball. After combining for 24 catches for 327 yards in his first two years at Notre Dame, Samardzija set school records with 77 receptions and 15 touchdowns in first-year coach Charlie Weis' wide-open offense, earning consensus All-America honors in a 2005 football season that ended with Notre Dame in the Fiesta Bowl. The success secured Samardzija's spot on the depth chart, so Weis allowed him to skip some spring practices for the first time in his college career to concentrate on baseball. The extra time on the diamond has allowed Samardzija increase his velocity, improve his secondary pitches and correct some of the little things his athleticism alone didn’t overcome during his first two seasons in the Notre Dame weekend rotation. Now, in addition to NFL draft analyst Mel Kiper projecting Samardzija as the No. 1 wide receiver in the Class of 2007, baseball scouts see the righthander as a potential first-rounder as well. He could be a Top 50 pick in both sports. That leaves Samardzija with a decision to make--eventually. "I'm an athlete playing baseball and football, which is the proper way to say it. I love both of them," said Samardzija, who hopes to get drafted in June and play baseball this summer before returning to Notre Dame for fall football practice in August. "I'm not worrying about making a decision. I get asked everyday, multiple times. It's tough because I want to give someone an answer, but I don’t have an answer. This is the politically correct answer, but it's the truth. Many times I've tried to make myself decide, but I can't do it." Notre Dame baseball coach Paul Mainieri doesn't doubt Samardzija's resolve, commitment or work ethic. The coach never considered not getting the righthander back for this season, even while he watched No. 83 start the football season with a TD catch in eight straight games. "I've had four or five organizations' scouting directors tell me, if football was not in the equation this kid is a first-round pick in baseball," Mainieri said. "That's face-to-face conversations. This kid is serious about being the best baseball player he can become. Just because he's a consensus All-American in football doesn’t mean he's not going to try to be the best baseball player he can become." Samardzija, whose first home start of 2006 drew an Eck Stadium record crowd of 3,028, will start the first game of a Thursday doubleheader against St. John's (12 p.m. EDT on CSTV) in a battle of the top two teams in the Big East. Notre Dame (24-8, 8-1) has won 14 straight games, while St. John's (22-8, 8-1) carved out a 13-game win streak earlier this season and has won 15 of its last 16. Samardzija went 13-4, 3.47 with 98 strikeouts in 143 innings as Notre Dame's Sunday starter his first two seasons, and though his 4-1, 4.04 record with 23 strikeouts in 42 innings aren't more impressive at face value, he's developed into a better pitcher. He's a fresher pitcher, for sure, thanks to Weis' allowing him to miss nine of the 15 spring football practices. Samardzija has touched 96 mph in every outing this season, and pitches at 92-93--which was about his peak velocity in previous seasons. With no fall practice to build upon, Samardzija is just getting the feel of his breaking ball and changeup and showed progress by tying a career-high with eight strikeouts against Pittsburgh two weeks ago. "It's been amazing, my legs are there every weekend," Samardzija said. "Last year, I'd practice (football) three or four times per week and pitching on Saturday or Sunday, my mechanics were off. Lots of bad habits were coming in those three or four weeks of spring football. This gives me more time to work on little things like mechanics, offspeed pitches, and just getting in front of a mirror and doing dry stuff." Three weeks ago, Notre Dame pitching coach Terry Rooney helped Samardzija change his breaking ball grip. He always had thrown a curveball from his three-quarters arm slot, but both pitcher and coach thought they could find more success by switching to a slider. The lesson lasted about 20 minutes, and Samardzija used the next three or four days of practice to experiment with the new pitch before unleashing it in a game. The hard-biting low-80s slider quickly became his second-best offering, and he has recorded 13 strikeouts in his last 13 innings. That's the kind of daily maintenance most college coaches and players take for granted during the season, but it was one of the first experiences of that kind for Samardzija. "Before it was kind of on-the-go," Rooney said. "Now what we're able to do is maintain his strengths and improve on his weaknesses, where before we were just hoping to maintain his strengths and mechanics. "The first two years, confidence and athleticism won him games, now he's developing as a pitcher. His secondary pitches are starting to come. Now he's the whole package." Jeff Samardzija Further proof is that I now know how to spell his name, previously I just referred to him as JeffS.
:idea: I wish we could place examples like Samardzija in every classroom. There's too many kids out there who're dreaming of the NFL or MLB who aren't doing their homework and who don't comprehend what this young man has done. He's maneuvered himself into a position where he will have a prestigious college degree in hand, along with multiple, lucrative offers in sports and business...at the age of 21. Every day I see kids who're made fun of, because they work hard and try their best. They're called names like "schoolboy" and "nerd" by jealous, lazy underachievers who secretly admire them. Every 6'5", All-American example that I can point to, helps me out with this problem... ................DD
Sid you better get to the game on Friday night, they are giving out this poster!! Sort of a rip off of the an old Bo Jackson poster.
Well too late Sid...it's a complete Sell Out. The Shark is a big draw these days, your grandson is right! He Rocks!