For USC’s Munson, the Price May Be Right Next Time

Two came.

One stayed, turning down a high six-figure contract from the Atlanta Braves to accept a low six-figure scholarship at USC, and Eric Munson figures to use only three-quarters of that.

He’ll be eligible for the draft again next season, his junior year, and he may get what would have been enough to keep him away from the Trojans to begin with: being a first-round selection, which means big money.

“Enough to knock your socks off,” he calls it.

Like Eric Chavez’s socks were knocked off by the Oakland Athletics.

Chavez and Munson were a matched set.

“We had played T-ball together, all the way back to when we were 4 or 5 years old,” Munson says. “But he and I were different when it comes to academics. School didn’t mean as much to him.”

They had come to USC together for a visit during their sophomore years at San Diego’s Mt. Carmel High, and once he could, after their junior years, Trojan Coach Mike Gillespie went after them.

As usual, with talented players, he had to recruit them twice: once during the season and again when the draft came along in June.

Chavez, a shortstop and pitcher in high school, projected as a third baseman in college. The A’s liked the idea and drafted him in the first round, the 10th overall pick in 1996. They offered him $1.12 million, and he signed.

Munson saw it, and also considered his lot. A catcher, he was taken in the second round--67th overall--by the Atlanta Braves.

“We had decided that I would sign if I was taken in the first round or got first-round money,” said Munson, who had USC for leverage but couldn’t pry first-round money from Atlanta.

In 1997, he was the Sporting News Freshman of the Year and on everybody’s freshman All-American team after batting .336 with 13 home runs and 50 runs batted in.

In 1998, Baseball America made him its preseason All-American catcher, and he is the only sophomore on the team, which is selected by major league player personnel executives with an eye toward future professional ability.

Munson has done nothing to dispel their confidence, batting .385, with six home runs and a team-high 26 RBIs through 18 games, most as a catcher, some as a designated hitter.

There is a question as to which he is, for future consideration. His arm is nothing special, so he is working on a quicker release. His mechanics are shaky.

“But remember he’s 19 years old,” said one scout, who asked not to be named. “Look at him that way.”

“And look at his bat,” said another. Scouts are becoming cautious about using their names these days. “You say, ‘well, maybe he has some deficiencies as a catcher,’ but then you say, ‘well, look at those deficiencies in terms of how he hits.’ ”

Hitting will cover a multitude of sins.

UC Santa Barbara Coach Bob Brontsema probably puts it in perspective best of all, while he watches Munson in the batting cage.

“People talk about Mike Piazza not being the best defensive catcher in the world,” Brontsema said, “and they’re about to pay him, what, $100 million?”

Enough to knock his socks off.

THEY’RE CUBS

How young is UCLA? So young that there were 13 freshmen on the 25-player roster for the Bruins’ series against No. 1 Stanford two weeks ago, with predictable results: 18-6, 23-4, 13-9.

So young that the Nos. 5-8 batters in that series were freshmen.

So young that freshman third baseman Garrett Atkins leads UCLA with a .370 batting average.

So young that seven freshmen have started games this season.

So young that the freshman-dominated pitching staff has an earned-run average of 8.25.

So young that the Bruins (8-11) have committed 50 errors, leading to 49 unearned runs, an average of 2.58 a game.

THEY’RE CUBS II

The good news is that Collegiate Baseball named Loyola Marymount Coach Frank Cruz recruiter of the year. The bad news is he got the award for bringing in 10 freshmen, and those freshmen are having to play for the Lions.

They include starting pitchers Billy Traber (0-2, 5.28 ERA), Brian Felten (4-1, 6.65 ERA) and Michael Schultz (1-1, 7.56). And Loyola’s other starter, Ben Bonilla (1-2, 6.67), is only a sophomore. That youth goes a long way toward explaining a staff ERA of 7.08.

But the Lions (9-9-1) are scoring an average of 9.6 runs a game, explaining their record.

SWAP MEET

Even before the word went out last spring at Cal State Northridge to drop baseball, left-handed pitchers Benny Flores and Erasmo Ramirez were ready to drop the Matadors. They saw a team that would not get into the NCAA tournament and wanted to play for one that would, so Coach Mike Batesole, who had done graduate work at Cal State Fullerton, recommended the Titans.

Fullerton Coach George Horton is glad he did.

Flores has a 3-0 record with a 1.08 ERA in four starts, and Ramirez, an All-American as a sophomore, is 1-3 with a 3.26 ERA in six starts.

Fullerton (11-6) returned the favor, somewhat, suggesting to infielders Nakia Hill and Marco Estrada and pitcher Tim Baron, none of whom figured in the Titans’ plans, that they transfer to Northridge.

Hill is batting .382, with five homers and 13 RBIs. Estrada is hitting .229. Baron is 2-2 with an 8.83 ERA, and it is clear that Fullerton got the better of the exchange.

“I think we owe them some cash and a player to be named later,” Horton said.

BUNTS

USC’s 10-2 victory over North Carolina at Homestead, Fla., on Feb. 15 was the 2,000th for the Trojan program. Second-ranked USC (by Baseball America) is 2,007-957-17. . . . Long Beach State’s Paul Day homered in Tuesday’s 21-5 victory over UCLA to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Cal State Northridge’s Kevin Patrick has hit in 13 straight. . . . Last season’s West Coast Conference co-freshmen of the year are going in different directions. Loyola Marymount’s Matt Riordan is batting .423, with three homers and 29 RBIs; Pepperdine’s Steve Schenewerk is 1-2 with a 7.06 ERA. . . . UCLA has gone 330 games without winning while scoring three or fewer runs.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

NCAA Division I Polls

Through March 1

By COLLEGIATE BASEBALL

1. Stanford, 16-1-1, 496 points; 2. Florida, 10-4, 486; 3. Miami, 12-4, 485; 4. Oklahoma, 12-1, 482; 5. Alabama, 11-2, 479; 6. USC, 13-4, 478; 7. Arizona, 22-2, 476; 8. Mississippi St., 8-2, 470; 9. Tennessee, 11-2, 464; 10. Clemson, 12-1, 460; 11. Duke, 17-1, 457; 12. Arizona St., 13-5, 456; 13. Texas A&M;, 13-3, 453; 14. CS Fullerton, 10-6, 449; 15. Wichita St., 2-1, 447; 16. South Alabama, 12-4, 446; 17. Auburn, 12-2, 442; 18. LSU, 7-5, 441; 19. Rice, 12-6, 439; 20. South Carolina, 12-2, 434; 21. Washington, 7-3, 432; 22. Texas, 8-7-1, 431; 23. Hawaii, 17-5, 427; 24. Georgia Tech, 9-4, 425; 25. Florida St., 11-7, 424.

By BASEBALL AMERICA

1. Stanford, 16-1-1; 2. USC, 13-4; 3. Miami, 12-4; 4. Florida, 10-4; 5. Arizona, 22-2; 6. Alabama, 11-2; 7. Auburn, 12-2; 8. Arizona St., 13-5; 9. Oklahoma, 12-1; 10. LSU, 7-5; 11. Rice, 12-6; 12. South Carolina, 12-2; 13. Baylor, 10-5; 14. Washington, 7-3; 15. South Alabama, 12-4; 16. Clemson, 12-1; 17. Texas A&M;, 13-3; 18. Georgia Tech, 9-4; 19. Duke, 17-1; 20. Michigan, 2-3; 21. Tennessee, 11-2; 22. Mississippi St., 8-2; 23. Texas Tech, 11-7; 24. Wichita St., 2-1; 25. Vanderbilt, 10-0.