Trio of Horizon League Alumni Set to Take the Field on Major League Baseball's Opening Day

March 30, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS -- One of the annual rites of spring is opening day of the baseball season, when 30 Major League teams open a 162-game chase toward the World Series. Three of those 30 teams boast Horizon League alumni this year, when the first pitch is thrown Sunday night (April 1).

Former Wright State University pitcher Joe Smith will be on hand for that initial contest---featuring the New York Mets visiting the defending World Series-champion St. Louis Cardinals---after landing a spot on the Mets' 25-man Opening Day roster. The right-handed reliever split time between Rochester of the (Class A) New York-Penn League and Binghamton of the (Class AA) Eastern League last summer after being selected in the sixth round of the June Entry Draft, but will play for manager Willie Randolph's Mets after posting a 1,35 earned run average in spring training this month. Smith struck out 15 batters in 13.1 innings, while walking only three.

Smith was the League's Pitcher of the Year in 2006, posting a 3-1 record with 13 saves and a 0.98 ERA for the Raiders. The one loss came in the NCAA Championship regional contest. Smith was nearly unhittable during the regular-season not allowing a run in 28.1 innings of work in loop pay, yielding only 12 hits while striking out 37 and holding opponents to a .128 batting average. Overall, his stat line included 63 K's in 55 innings.

Butler University alumnus Pat Neshek starts his first full season in the majors with the Minnesota Twins. Neshek made a strong first impression last summer with a 4-2 record and a 2.19 ERA in 32 appearamces, helping the Twins to the American League Central Division championship. Neshek fanned 53 hitters against only six walks, yielding only nine runs on 23 hits in 37 innings of work in 2006 after being called up from (Class AAA) Rochester. Neshek made his Major League debut against the Texas Rangers on July 6, and earned his first MLB victory against the Detroit Tigers 23 days later.

Neshek helped Butler to the 2000 Horizon League championship, and still holds the Bulldogs' records for strikeouts in a game (18 versus the University of Detroit Mercy on April 15, 2001), season (118 in 2001) and career (280 from 2000-02).

The Tigers begin defense of their American League pennant with former University of Illinois at Chicago standout Curtis Granderson in center field. Granderson played a key role in the Tigers' surprising run to the World Series last season, hitting .260 with 19 home runs and 68 RBI as the team's leadoff hitter. His hit total also included 31 doubles and nine triples, with four four-hit games. Granderson's defensive prowess was equally impressive, as Granderson committed only one error in 157 games in the field. His .997 fielding percentage led all American League outfielders.

Granderson was the Horizon League's Player of the Year in 2002 after leading the circuit with a .483 batting average which ranked second in the nation. His loop-leading 100 hits included 23 doubles and nine homers, as he scored a League-high 76 runs and drove in 45 to pace UIC to the League's regular-season championship. Granderson's total for hits and runs scored are still UIC single-season records.

The rest of the Major League teams begin the 2007 campaign Monday (April 3), when Neshek and the Twins host the Baltimore Orioles while Granderson's Tigers host the Toronto Blue Jays.