Fifth-year senior pitcher Dan DeLucia was selected Friday in the 35th round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Detroit Tigers. The left-hander from Columbus and Bishop Watterson H.S. was on his way to Bill Davis Stadium to hit some baseballs when he got the call that he was chosen in the draft.

“I am ecstatic,” DeLucia said. “This has been a dream of mine for years to get drafted and have an opportunity to play professional baseball and I am just so grateful that the Tigers are giving me that opportunity.”

DeLucia, a dedicated and determined young man who came back from Tommy John surgery in 10 months to pitch for the Buckeyes, compiled a 3-3 record and a 4.70 ERA in 51.2 innings pitched during the Buckeyes’ 2008 season.

DeLucia’s career numbers are most impressive: a 24-13 record and 3.91 ERA in 317.1 innings pitched. He started 52 times and limited opposing batters to a .263 batting average.

“I was honestly surprised to be drafted,” DeLucia, the first three-time captain in 125 years of Ohio State baseball, said. “I am just so happy that Detroit considered my entire five-year career at Ohio State rather than just what I did this year coming off the surgery.”

DeLucia joins another left-handed Ohio State pitcher, junior J.B. Shuck, in this year’s MLB Draft. Shuck went in the sixth round to the Houston Astros.

Junior centerfielder/pitcher J.B. Shuck was chosen Thursday in the sixth round of the Major League Baseball First Year Player Draft by the Houston Astros. The left-hander from Galion, Ohio and Galion High School was the Astros’ fifth choice in the draft and he was the 182nd player taken overall. The first six rounds of the draft were completed Thursday.

“I got the phone call about 9:45 p.m. last night,” Shuck said Friday, “about two minutes before I saw my name pop up on the internet. I was home in Galion with my family. I was getting pretty nervous toward the end of the night, but it sure was a relief when the call came. It got wild when the call did come through and it was very exciting.”

Shuck, 5-11 and 185 pounds, is coming off a fine junior season in which he was chosen third-team all-Big Ten Conference as both an outfielder and a pitcher. He led the Ohio State pitching staff with 76 strikeouts and an opponents’ batting average of .216 while posting a 5-3 record and a 4.29 ERA.

Offensively, Shuck was second on the team with a .356 average and he led with 47 runs scored and 22 stolen bases (26 attempts).

“A gritty baseball player,” is how Shuck was described by new Astros scouting director Bobby Heck in an article on the Houston Chronicle’s web site.

Shuck, the seventh Big Ten Conference player selected in the draft, is the 18th Buckeye since 1994 to be drafted in the top 10 rounds. The list of Ohio State players that have been drafted in the top 10 rounds since 1990 include:

Year Rnd. Buckeye Team
2002 1st Nick Swisher Oakland A’s
2007 *1st Cory Luebke San Diego Padres
2006 2nd Ronnie Bourquin Detroit Tigers
1991 2nd Mike Durant Minnesota Twins
2004 3rd Scott Lewis Cleveland Indians
1991 3rd Blasé sparma Atlanta Braves
1994 4th Matt Beaumont California Angels
1992 5th Scott Klingenbeck Baltimore Orioles
1992 5th Jamie Taylor Cleveland Indians
1991 5th Tim Smith Oakland A’s
2008 6th J.B. Shuck Houston Astros
2003 6th Christian Snavely Toronto Blue Jays
2007 7th Matt Angle Baltimore Orioles
2003 7th Matt Davis Cleveland Indians
2006 8th Jedidiah Stephen Baltimore Orioles
1998 8th Mike Kremblas Toronto Blue Jays
2007 9th Eric Fryer Milwaukee Brewers
2002 9th Doug Deeds Minnesota Twins
*Supplemental selection

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The baseball jersey – No. 13 – of Marty Karow, a member of the American Baseball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and a 25-year coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes baseball team, was retired Saturday, May 10 by the athletics department…33 years to the date after his last home game as Ohio State coach.

Karow, a 1927 Ohio State graduate, seven-time Buckeye letterman (three each in football and baseball and one in basketball) and 1926 football captain and All-American, returned to Ohio State in 1951 after a successful coaching career at Texas, Navy and Texas A&M.

In his first season at the helm of the Ohio State baseball program, Karow led the Buckeyes to a conference-best record of 10-2 (23-15 overall) and their first appearance at the College World Series. Ohio State would make three more trips to the CWS under Karow, capturing the coveted national title in 1966.

After finishing as the national runners-up in 1965, falling to Arizona State, 2-1, Ohio State convincingly defeated Oklahoma State, 8-2, to bring home the program’s first national title in 1966 with a 27-6-1 record. Steve Arlin, Chuck Brinkman, Russ Nagelson, Bo Rein and Ray Shoup were all chosen as All-College World Series selections. As a team, the 1966 national champion Buckeyes posted the lowest earned run average in Ohio State history with a 2.11 ERA.

The Buckeyes won a total of five conference titles with Karow at the helm, including three consecutive crowns in 1965, 1966 and 1967. In all, the legendary coach led Ohio State to 16 Top 3 finishes in the Big Ten and, at the time of his retirement in 1975, he owned the school record for all-time wins with 479. His 25 years served as head coach are the most of any Ohio State baseball coach in the first 125 years of the program.

Karow retired with a .583 overall winning percentage, a mark that included a win in his last home game as coach: 1-0 over Michigan on May 10, 1975. He passed away in 1986, three months shy of his 82nd birthday.

In the summer of 1967, Karow was selected as one of three USA Baseball Team coaches. Team USA won gold that year in the Pan American games by becoming the first U.S. team to defeat Cuba in international competition. It was one of Karow’s proudest moments as a coach.

Karow was represented at the jersey retirement ceremony by a contingent of his former players including Ray Shoup, Arnold Chonko, Bruce Heine, Dick Ernst, Richard Clouse and Dick Finn, an Ohio State captain and assistant coach under Karow who took over as head coach for 12 seasons following Karow’s retirement.

Karow’s jersey number, and the retired jersey numbers of Fred Taylor (#27) and Steve Arlin (#22), are now permamently displayed at Bill Davis Stadium on the right field wall and also on the “arches” on the stadium concourse.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Ohio State’s final home Big Ten Conference weekend of the season – May 9-11 vs. Illinois – will be a celebration of 125 years of Ohio State baseball that will feature two legendary coaches being honored for their accomplishments.

Marty Karow, Ohio State skipper from 1951 until 1976 and who led the Buckeyes to four College World Series, winning the national title in 1966, will have his jersey – No. 13 – officially retired by the athletics department in a ceremony between doubleheader games May 10.
Bob Todd, the winningest coach in Ohio State history with more than 800 wins in his 21 seasons as Ohio State coach, will be honored before the Friday, May 9, game on his induction into the American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame.

Karow, who won a then-record 479 Ohio State games, will be only the third individual to have his jersey retired. Fred Taylor, Ohio State’s first baseball All-American, had his No. 27 retired in 2003. Steve Arlin, the great Ohio State pitcher who led the Buckeyes to back-to-back College World Series and to the 1966 CWS championship, had his jersey No. 22 retired in 2004. Karow’s jersey will be retired 33 years to the date of his last home game as coach: a 1-0 win over Michigan May 10, 1975. He passed away in 1986, three months shy of his 82nd birthday.

Todd, who has 947 career victories in this, his 25th season as a collegiate head coach, has guided Ohio State to six of its 14 Big Ten Conference championships and he has also led the team to a Big Ten record eight Big Ten tournament titles. In addition, he has led the team into 12 NCAA tournaments. Todd has done more than win championships at Ohio State, though. He was the driving force behind the fund raising efforts and the building of the majestic Bill Davis Stadium.

The Illinois weekend will also be an opportunity to celebrate the current student-athletes as well as the past accomplishments of those before them. Among the efforts planned for the weekend:

Ohio State’s baseball captains –151 different individuals have served as captain over the years including this year’s captains, Dan DeLucia and Justin Miller – will have their annual captain’s breakfast Sunday morning.

This year’s four seniors– DeLucia, Tony Kennedy, Chris Macke and Rory Meister – will be honored on the field prior to the 1 p.m. Sunday game.

In conjunction with the Diamond Club, the baseball program’s booster organization, a BBQ picnic will take place on Saturday and will be open to the public for a minimal charge with all proceeds benefiting the baseball program.

A display of past Ohio State baseball trophies, including Big Ten Conference championship trophies and the 1966 College World Series trophy, will be assembled at Bill Davis Stadium throughout the weekend.

CWS and Big Ten Recognition Plaques
Permanent recognition will also be added to Bill Davis Stadium. The retired jersey numbers will have a permanent place on the outfield walls and jersey plaques and bios for Taylor, Arlin and Karow will be placed on one side of the arched wall in the stadium concourse.

On the other side of the arches, the side facing Borror Drive and the entrance to the stadium, Ohio State’s College World Series years – 1951, 1965, 1966 and 1967 – will be displayed along one end and Ohio State’s Big Ten Conference championship years – 1917, 1924, 1943, 1951, 1955, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1999 and 2001 – will be displayed on the other end.

In addition, “Ohio State” and “Buckeyes” will adorn the tops of the dugouts similar to the way those brands are displayed in the end zones at Ohio Stadium and on the end lines on the basketball floor at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. A new back stop behind home plate will also be installed.

Tickets for the weekend games are available at the Ohio State University ticket office in the Jerome Schottentein Center, online at OhioStateBuckeyes.com or by calling 1-800-GO-BUCKS.

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Courtesy OhioStateBuckeyes.com

Former Ohio State left-handed pitcher Josh Newman has been promoted to the Major Leagues by the Colorado Rockies.

Newman, 25, received the call after he had returned home to Columbus upon completion of his season with Triple-A Colorado Springs. The Rockies purchased his contract and placed him on their active roster.

Newman went 3-2 with a 4.06 ERA in 55 relief appearances this season for Colorado Springs. His best professional season came in 2006 when he posted a 9-5 record with two saves and a 3.16 ERA for Double-A Tulsa of the Texas League. He earned a spot in the Texas League’s all-star game and pitched a scoreless inning for the North team.

“Josh Newman pitching in the Major Leagues is really not a surprise to us,” Bob Todd, Ohio State baseball coach, said. “We thought that he had the ability to pitch in the big leagues when he pitched for us. He always had a tremendously positive attitude and a great work ethic.”

While at Ohio State, Newman compiled a 32-21 record with a 4.20 ERA in four seasons. He was a first-team All-Big Ten selection as a senior in 2004 and earned Academic All-Big Ten honors from 2002-2004. He ranks third all-time at Ohio State in wins, innings (369) and strikeouts (291).

Drafted originally by the Cincinnati Reds in the 31st round (921st overall) of the 2003 draft, Newman returned to Ohio State for his senior season before the Rockies drafted him in the 19th round (560th overall) in 2004.

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