Jay Sokol is the General Manager for the Delaware Cows of the Great Lakes League. Jay graciously allowed me to ask him a few questions regarding the team via email.
Thanks Jay for taking the time to answer these.
(Summer Ball) How long have you been the GM of the Delaware Cows?
(Jay) Officially since 1999, but I've been doing the same tasks of a GM since 1997.
I love the name of your team, how did the name come about?
In 1991 when our team was first organized, we scheduled home games in both Delaware, Ohio and Columbus (Delaware is about 15 miles from the outskirts of Columbus). We chose the name "Central Ohio" to represent both locations. Our first major sponsor was Wendy's Restaurants (home office is in Columbus). Taking the first letters from Central, Ohio and Wendy's, we came up with the acronym COW.
In your opinion, who are some of the best players to ever don a Delaware Cows
uniform?
A few who come to mind are...
Matt DeSalvo (Marietta College) Made all-league with us in 2001 and holds our team season record for lowest opponent's batting average yielded (.116). The Yankee brought him up a few weeks ago and he was very impressive in his first two starts.
Brian Bixler (Eastern Michigan). Played for the Cows in 2002 and was a 2nd round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004. Earned Summer All-American honors from Baseball America who also named him our league's top pro prospect that year. Currently he's in AAA hitting .358. He had a great spring training and there was talk that he might stick with the parent club.
Steve Stanley (Notre Dame) Played the same year as DeSalvo and led our team to the 2001 Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League regular season crown with a record of 31-7. Steve was the league's co-MVP and also a Baseball America Summer All-American. A fantastic kid who always found a way to get on base! He retired last year from pro ball not having made it past AAA, but is ranked third on the NCAA Division I list of most career hits.
Matt DeSalvo (Marietta College) Made all-league with us in 2001 and holds our team season record for lowest opponent's batting average yielded (.116). The Yankee brought him up a few weeks ago and he was very impressive in his first two starts.
Brian Bixler (Eastern Michigan). Played for the Cows in 2002 and was a 2nd round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2004. Earned Summer All-American honors from Baseball America who also named him our league's top pro prospect that year. Currently he's in AAA hitting .358. He had a great spring training and there was talk that he might stick with the parent club.
Steve Stanley (Notre Dame) Played the same year as DeSalvo and led our team to the 2001 Great Lakes Summer Collegiate League regular season crown with a record of 31-7. Steve was the league's co-MVP and also a Baseball America Summer All-American. A fantastic kid who always found a way to get on base! He retired last year from pro ball not having made it past AAA, but is ranked third on the NCAA Division I list of most career hits.
I really enjoy trying to find the "prospect" that normally doesn't get a lot of national attention. Can you give the readers of Summer Ball the names of a couple of your players that might fit into this category.
It's hard to say until they get here, but Nathan Baker (LHP) from 'Ole Miss is having a great freshman season as is his teammate Jordan Henry... though I'd have to say that Baker was rated by Baseball America as one of the top 150 prospects last year in high school, so he already has had some exposure. From last summer, the first "sleeper" I think of is Brandon Turner, a sophomore at Mississippi State. He somewhat reminds me of Brian Bixler... good all-around skills. Right now he's leading the Bulldogs in hitting (.414). If he can just stay healthy. Unfortunately, he was injured a few times last summer and did not have the opportunity to show Delaware what he really could do!
Thanks Jay once again for answering these. Good luck with this season
