Baseball Hello: Dominic Clementi
In for a unofficial visit today on Michigan baseball's first day of practice for the 2014 season, Dominic Clementi has given a verbal commitment to the Maize and Blue, becoming the second player to pledge to the 2016 class. He's a 6-1, 170-lb. outfielder out of Arrowhead H.S. in Hartland, Wisconsin (in the western suburbs of Milwaukee). He reportedly had also considered Illinois and Iowa.
Prep Baseball Report, which has Clementi ranked #6 in the state of Wisconsin for the 2016 class and #49 overall in their 10-state coverage area, posted this scouting report following the Class of 2016 Top Prospect Games in July 2013:
Athletic build, lanky frame, 6-foot-1, 170-pounds, projectable frame. Offensively hits from a slightly open stance, short stride. Active lower half, solid balance. Advanced bat speed, creates bat lag, whip through the zone. Short path, slightly uphill, occasional gap to gap approach. High level defender in the outfield, plays through the ball aggressively, clean exchange. Plus arm from the outfield, loose arm action, over the top slot, carries well, 88 mph from the outfield. Clementi is one of the top outfield defenders in his class, showed excellent range. High level bat speed, showed the ability to hit at a consistent rate.
Clementi joins Michigan's first 2016 commit, right-handed pitcher Karl Kauffmann (Hello post), who's ranked #1 in Michigan and #6 overall by PBR.
I'm not sure when Michigan last had a player from Wisconsin on its roster (there are none currently), but seeing the coaching staff successfully delve into that territory is interesting given that the University of Wisconsin no longer fields a D-I baseball team (they do have a club team).
Dominic Clementi (source)
January 24th, 2014 at 10:11 PM ^
Bakich seems to be killing it in recruiting. I cannot wait for this season.
Going to buy a game pack and head to the new and improved Ray Fisher Stadium this season.
Very excited the stupid B1G scheduling has finally put ohio back on the slate. But a little down that state has rotated off. I can only imagine it's going to get worse in 2014-15 with the misfit toys coming into the conference.
January 25th, 2014 at 9:54 AM ^
that was his MO when he came here. A relentless recruiter. Anxious to see how we do this season.
January 24th, 2014 at 10:37 PM ^
Sounds like a great baseball name...
January 25th, 2014 at 12:09 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 4:24 AM ^
uniform #21?
January 25th, 2014 at 12:48 PM ^
January 24th, 2014 at 11:19 PM ^
Earlier this week, southpaw pitcher Bryce Kelley visited Michigan. He's from Rockford and is the #7 player in the state of Michigan in the 2016 class, according to PBR. They have him at #65 overall. Michigan State and Wichita State are among the other schools interested in him. Prior to his Michigan visit, Chris Webb reported that Wichita was the first and only school to have offered him. Apparently a Michigan State fan, he nevertheless had a very good visit to Michigan. Here's a PBR scouting report from July 2013:
Kelley had a good showing at Top Prospect Games. He sat primarily between 79-83mph. His arm worked quick. He did struggle with command a bit but overcame it in his two innings of work. His breaking ball showed some tilt and bite although he did leave it armside a bit. Certainly has upside at 6-foot-1, 170-pounds. Time on his side.
Michigan is also interested in Kelley's teammate at Rockford, Jack Weisenburger, a right-handed pitcher/outfielder, and another 2016 prospect. His PBR rankings are #6 for Michigan and #40 overall. I've been told he has a family tie to Michigan, although I haven't been able to confirm exactly what. The obvious guess is that he's related to—perhaps a grandson of—the Jack Weisenburger who played both baseball and football at Michigan in the 1940s and was the starting fullback for the 1947 Mad Magicians team. He was the MVP of the 1948 Rose Bowl.
January 24th, 2014 at 11:55 PM ^
Class of '16. So that makes him a sophomore. College decision before playing his second year of HS ball...amazing.
January 25th, 2014 at 1:13 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 9:23 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 9:50 AM ^
Only rarely will a player get a full ride. You get 11.7 scholarships to divvy out among a maximum of 27 scholarship players (the remainder of the 35-man roster must be nonscholarship/walk-on). Also, anyone getting athletic scholarship money must get at least a 25 percent ride. For a good rundown of all this, see Baseball Scholarships 101.
Bottom line: Full rides are extremely rare. For top players, scholarships of 40%, 60% or (in rare cases) 80% are more realistic than a full-ride/100% scholarship.
January 25th, 2014 at 10:29 AM ^
Is this an "NCAA thing"? And then to divide it up for a maximum of 27 scholarship players? Geez.
Where's The Mathlete when we need him?
January 25th, 2014 at 10:43 AM ^
Title IX
January 25th, 2014 at 11:19 AM ^
The old number was 13 (the logic being that it is a starting 9 plus a 4-man rotation, I guess). In the late '80s, the NCAA presidents went through a phase where they wanted to pretend they were de-emphasizing athletics, so they cut every (men's) sport by exactly 10 percent. So football went from 95 to 85, because you can't split scholarships in football, basketball went from 15 to 13 for the same reason, hockey went from 20 to 18, and baseball went from 13 to 11.7.
If you look at all of the other men's sports, they will have a maximum scholarship number that is exactly 90 percent of an integer--the integer that used to be the scholarship limit in that sport: Track 12.6, Golf 4.5, Gymnastics 6.3, Lacrosse 12.6, Soccer 9.9, Swimming 9.9, Tennis 4.5, Wrestling 9.9.
January 25th, 2014 at 12:01 PM ^
for that interesting tidbit, Alton. I never knew about any of that, especially the fact that all those other sports you listed also have a decimal point in the middle of their total # of available scholarships.
January 25th, 2014 at 3:01 PM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 9:53 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 9:55 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 10:08 AM ^
Interesting info, especially about the JUCO and NAIA schools. That source I cited says that JUCOs can have up to 24 scholarships. The other consideration is that it costs a lot less to go to one of those schools than Michigan, so a player not on a full ride can much more easily afford to fund the remainder at a JUCO than at Michigan. And with in-state tuition being so much cheaper, in-state recruiting is that much more important in baseball than, say, basketball where it's all full rides.
January 25th, 2014 at 10:09 AM ^
I would add that a lot of serious baseball schools often make the scholarship whole by adding financial aid. A necessary step when competing for talent against the pros.
January 25th, 2014 at 10:36 AM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 11:22 AM ^
I think Vote_Crisler knows what he's talking about here. I was also under the impression that any financial aid to a scholarship athlete counts in the scholarship numbers. That's to prevent schools from using financial aid as a loophole to fund athletic scholarships "off the books."
January 25th, 2014 at 1:44 PM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 10:12 AM ^
because of the MLB draft rules.
January 25th, 2014 at 10:22 AM ^
Because they're eligible for the draft every year, whereas four-year college players must have completed their junior year or be at least 21. (Had to look this up to see what you meant.)
January 25th, 2014 at 10:39 AM ^
24 scholarships vs 11.7
Much easier admission
Lower annual cost even w/ o aid
Can sign a pro contract virtually any time.
January 25th, 2014 at 12:35 PM ^
But it doesn't seem as if Michigan is really competing with jucos for players. I took a look at PBR's rankings, and very few top 100 players are committed to jucos. The biggest problem for Michigan and other Big Ten schools is top players going to southern schools from major conferences (e.g., Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Louisville) rather than staying in the Midwest.
Maybe the juco issue comes more into play for players from the South and West Coast.
January 25th, 2014 at 9:33 AM ^
Clementi is a beautiful baseball name.
January 25th, 2014 at 11:11 AM ^
he's been listening to "Roberto Clemente" references and comparisons his entire baseball life. Not that it's a bad thing in any way, shape, or form, as (IMO) Roberto Clemente is in that so-called "room" reserved for the cream of the crop, best of the all-time best baseball players the world has ever seen.
I grew up a Detroit Tiger's fan, but my favorite NL team was the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the superstar of that Pirates team was Clemente, the most talented every-tool player I've ever seen. Yes, better than Mantle, better than Mays, better than Aaron, better than Frank Robinson, the best of them all in the 60's. Many argue that he ranked behind them by using power #'s, but Clemente played at Forbes Field, which was notorious for being a tough park for power hitters. Clemente could and would swing for the fences when needed, but he learned early on to use the dimensions of Forbes to his advantage. Clemente was also hampered by injuries, major injuries, several times in his great career, most often because of the all-out style by which he played. A healthy Clemente would have quite likely have put up 4000+ hits, he was that good, even in his late 30's he was showing no signs of slowing down.
I was in High School and played my very last season of organized baseball (frosh year in HS, seldom-used bench-warmer, then I switched to running track my remaining High School days) during Clemente's final season, 1972. To me, the '71 season ranks among my favorites, as the Pirates, led by Clemente, were World Champs. And Clemente had one helluva season and post-season, putting up some of his best career #'s at age 37, then reaching the 3000-hit plateau the final day of the regular season the following year, 1972.
But to me, just as impressive is how Clemente met his fate, on a humanitarian mission to Nicaragua to help deliver basic necessities to victims of a massive earthquate. He and the entire crew of an overloaded transport plane went down at sea, I believe it was sometime around Christmas 1972. Rest in Peace, Roberto!
January 25th, 2014 at 12:09 PM ^
January 25th, 2014 at 3:52 PM ^
has a lot of good videos on Clemente; here's a short one showing hit #3000:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsmqqPxb_xM
and another talking about both his career and humanitarian work:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2TUiyj3VC0
So much to like about Roberto, anyone not knowing of the man and what he was all about could and would benefit from spending an hour or so using the Googler...
January 25th, 2014 at 11:46 AM ^
Recruiting in all sports is getting out of control. This kid hasn't even started his sophomore baseball season and he is being offered and committing to a college. I wish the NCAA would institute some rules that would slow down the process and the pressure that is put on these kids. Please, let them be kids and make them wait until they are older and more mature before having them make life altering descisions like choosing where to attend college.
(If this keeps up, next thing you know these kids will realize that they committed too soon and idiot fans will then tweet them very rude comments about changing their minds. /s)
January 25th, 2014 at 3:57 PM ^
want someone to tell these kids what to do? I think what they do is up to them and not you or me.
January 26th, 2014 at 1:53 PM ^
January 26th, 2014 at 2:24 PM ^
There was another, more recent transfer—Kyle Bohm, who played at Michigan in 2004 and 2005 (and was a co-captain in 2005), after transferring from Auburn. He was originally from Stevens Point, Wisconsin.
It's interesting that both Bohm and Augustine were transfers. It's obviously been quite a while since Michigan signed a Wisconsin player out of high school.
January 26th, 2014 at 8:18 PM ^
Never been to a Michigan Baseball game. Will have to check one out this season! How do you obtain tickets?
January 26th, 2014 at 8:24 PM ^
I'm fairly certain it's changed to real tickets, but back in my day (early 2000s) you just waltzed in. Maybe someone would take a look at your MCard. Maybe they wouldn't. Maybe they'd take a look at the 40 in a brown paper bag. Maybe they wouldn't.
January 29th, 2014 at 2:30 PM ^
PBR has posted an interview with Clementi in which he says that some of the other schools he considered were Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, and Boston College. Here are a couple more excerpts:
PBR: What were you looking for out of a college program to continue your baseball career at?
Clementi: First of all, we were looking for a quality education. In addition, I wanted to be a part of a family atmosphere and a place that will develop me to my fullest potential not only as a baseball player, but as a person. Michigan is one of the top schools in the United States, the coaching staff, facilities, tradition, and community support in Ann Arbor are unmatched. I also dream of playing in Omaha and I believe with the way Coach Bakich is leading the program, it is a definite possibility to bring Ann Arbor their 3rd National Championship.
. . .
PBR: What is the most memorable moment in your baseball career to this point?
Clementi: No question, committing to my dream school, Michigan.
Recently came across this:
#Michigan got a good one not too long ago in OF Dominic Clementi. Ranked No. 239 nationally: http://t.co/IlfMx9VMYz #GoBlue #B1G
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogersPG) February 25, 2014