Second former BHS baseball player, Gugel, inks with Phillies

I stand corrected again. I thought that scouts didnt take the small town muckdog talents as serious as other favored minor leagues. My bad. ("the box says shut up gabor"). Thanx Hilly !

Perhaps we will see him in action when Williamsport visits Batavia.

Congrats Ryan. Great coverage, Hilly.

CONGRATS RYAN!

This kid is the best catcher since Johnny Bench. He was way overlooked in this silly draft. This is the best move the Phillies made since signing hall-of-famer Mike Schmidt. I expect good things from this kid. Good luck Ryan!

He played for GCC and UA. They aren't top schools for baseball. Saying he is the next Johnny Bench is like saying I am the next Gretzky.

Good Luck Ryan! make Batavia proud.

This is a great boost for support of local baseball. I hope this leads to increased interest in Muckdog baseball as well, one of our greatest local assets. It's great to see our local boys progress through the ranks. Keep your eyes on Oakfield-Alabama's AJ Kehlenbeck.

Mr. O'Brien,

You don't have to play at a big time school to be a big time product. Look at one of the greatest wide receivers the Buffalo Bills ever had, Andre Reed. He didn't even get offered a D1 football scholarship. He had to settle for a D2 program. This Gugel kid is a hidden talent. I watched this kid take batting practice at GCC. He was knock 'em over the wall effortlessly.

Don't be so critical!

Posted by ken darch on June 15, 2009 - 6:19pm
.....
You don't have to play at a big time school to be a big time product. Look at one of the greatest wide receivers the Buffalo Bills ever had, Andre Reed. He didn't even get offered a D1 football scholarship. He had to settle for a D2 program. This Gugel kid is a hidden talent. I watched this kid take batting practice at GCC. He was knock 'em over the wall effortlessly.

Ken, I believe Gugel is on his way to an impressive career. Natural athletes will always find their way...your example of Andre' Reed is perfect.

Comparing this kid selected in the 50th round to Andre Reed is ridiculous. Yes, Reed played at Kutztown State, a Division II School, but he was hardly going unnoticed by the NFL Scouts while he was there. Being drafted in the fourth round is generally a pretty good indicator a college football player has some significant talent.

THIS kid was not selected in the 50th round. That was Chris Page who was drafted in the 50th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
THIS kid, in question is Ryan Gugel, gone undrafted, but he is now a professional baseball player, becoming the second former Batavia baseball player to sign a deal this week (the first was Page).
Per the article:
"Gugel signed a free agent contract with the Philadelphia Phillies - former parent club of the Batavia Muckdogs - this weekend.

The catcher had a .425 career batting average at Batavia with 22 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 50 RBIs.

He then went to Genesee Community College where he hit .440 with 26 doubles, six triples, eight homers, 19 stolen bases and 82 RBIs for the Cougars in two years. He then continued his baseball career and education and the University of Albany.

At Albany, he started all 55 games as a junior and hit .297 with 12 doubles, a triple and four home runs. He also had an incredible .972 fielding percentage behind the plate.

He batted .303 with nine home runs and 49 RBIs as a senior. Gugel had a .953 fielding percentage as well as hitting 11 doubles and two triples.'

He may not be an Andre' Reed or a Gretzky, but it looks like he has a future.

Well, good luck to him and hopefully his college degrees will afford him a living when his baseball dreams don't.

Posted by Andrew Erbell on June 15, 2009 - 9:00pm
Well, good luck to him and hopefully his college degrees will afford him a living when his baseball dreams don't.

Andrew, you sound like me. Of the hundreds of kids who are high school athletes, only a small percentage of them make the big time. I, also, hope that they take advantage of the education presented to them.
However, I guess I'm the ultimate dreamer. I can't, like you and sight unseen, judge his ability or lack of.
You have him written him off before the ink is dry on his contract.
What basis did you make this determination?

How sad, we get so few professional athletes out of some pretty great small schools. I think it was Spiro Agnew who coined the term Nattering Nabobs of Negativity. Western New York is full of them.
Hope you both go all the way Chris and Ryan!

Reality. "Undrafted, signed to a minor league contract...." He will be playing single A ball, having graduated from a four year college. There are apparently about 2,000 other players this year alone coming into professional baseball better than he is. At least he'll be able to have a beer after the game. Most of his teammates won't.

"How sad, we get so few professional athletes out of some pretty great small schools."

You do know the reason for that, right?

I don't put too much stock into the ability of MLB scouts to correctly prognosticate future stars.

Keep in mind, Mike Pizza, who could legitimately challenge Johnny Bench as one of the all-time greatest catchers, was a 39th-round pick.

More #1 picks have been busts than have been stars.

Look how many Rule 5 draft choices have gone on to become significant contributors at an MLB level.

Talent is a lot more than what the eye can see.

That said, Gugel has a significant hill to climb.

On the other hand. there are about 5,000 college players that were neither drafted nor signed, so just getting signed is a very handsome accomplishment.

I think it's like 1 percent of all players drafted even ever make it to the major leagues -- even if the percentage is wrong and it's more than that, it's still a relatively small fraction. I think the appropriate response is to wish Mr. Gugel luck and root for his success, not try to tear him down. The odds are against any athlete ever making a living at his sport, not the other way around.

"Keep in mind, Mike Pizza, who could legitimately challenge Johnny Bench as one of the all-time greatest catchers, was a 39th-round pick".

I dont know who he is but his last name sounds delicious ! lol.

um, Piazza.

Darch,
University of Albany is a D1 one school for baseball. But watching a kid hit the ball in batting practice at GCC doesn't mean anything. Comparing him to Johnny Bench at his age is ridiculous. That's my point.

And who cares where Reed went to school. That was a long time ago and comparing football to baseball is apples to oranges

Critics are a dime a dozen. They almost take joy in people's shortcomings. This kid is a good kid who has worked hard and has talent. There has been some good dialogue in these comments why he might succeed. Higher level sports is about catching a few key brakes along the way to the top. Anyone can be capable at any time. Things just have to fall in place. Some luck is huge!

Andrew how did you get so smart on athletics? Were you a one time scout for baseball or football teams, Or did you turn down ALL your offers to play professional sports? Its a lot easier sitting behind your computer screen being negative is'nt Andrew? Gugel is having a dream come true if it ends in A ball or as a WORLD SERIES MVP!!!! Andrew when you were a little boy did you dream of doing what your doing now -Sitting at a computer and bad mouthing people- IF SO LIFE FULFILLED!!!! Gugel get out there and shut this guys mouth! Hey Andrew why Gugel is out there making things happen you could follow along on your computer start here Gulf Coast League Phillies (R)
Carpenter Complex
651 Old Coachman Rd.
Clearwater, FL, 33765
What team was it again that you played on Andrew??

I am criticizing you and your comparison, not the kid.

Mike, I asked the same thing. What basis does Andrew have for determining the boy will fail if he hasn't seen him play?

Jeff Allen wrote on June 15, 2009 - 9:33pm
How sad, we get so few professional athletes out of some pretty great small schools. I think it was Spiro Agnew who coined the term Nattering Nabobs of Negativity. Western New York is full of them.
Hope you both go all the way Chris and Ryan!

Andrew Erbell replied on June 15, 2009 - 9:57pm
"How sad, we get so few professional athletes out of some pretty great small schools."

You do know the reason for that, right?

Maybe Andrew can expand on that cryptic answer. What is the reason?
Should the boys take the advice of those, on here, who hold no hope for their success and just walk away from their dream? Is that what we want from our young people?
I realize that the naysayers have given this a lot of thought and made the determination that their way is the correct way. No offer of encouragement. No local pride in two boys who may make it big. No community support to help motivate the boys. The "correct" way, in their eyes, is to knock down the dream.
Or, could it be that they are avid followers of high school and college level baseball and have watched these boys develop? Did they see something lacking in both boys that no one else noticed? If so, then they have watched them play and might be able to give us insight on why they believe the boys are wasting their time.

If you are including me in the "they" I have said nothing derogatory about the kid, just that its way to early to compare him to Johnny Bench

\Darch,
...Comparing him to Johnny Bench at his age is ridiculous. That's my point.

Did it ever occur to you that the boy's dream might be to be the next Johnny Bench? Saying that is ridiculous is saying that, in your opinion, he doesn't have a chance to reach his goal.
I bet every young player has a role model. I would think that if you polled professional baseball players and asked who (at the age of these two boys) were they compared, they would give you the names of many older successful players.
It isn't a rare event to look at young talent and have that person bring back memories of those who went before them.
Why is that so ridiculous?

As far as derogatory is concerned:
He played for GCC and UA. They aren't top schools for baseball. Saying he is the next Johnny Bench is like saying I am the next Gretzky.

So since you don't have the talent to be the next Gretzky, then it stands to reason that the boy doesn't have the talent to be the next Johnny Bench. What makes you so certain?

No it is ridiculous. Just because someone has a role model doesn't mean that a viable comparison can be made. Its one thing to say he plays with the same style as Bench, its another to say he is the next Bench.

Now take Strasburg. Saying he is the next Ubaldo Jimenez is viable because he already throws consistently in the upper 90s and has been clocked at 103.