Lord Sun
06-16-2004, 11:26 PM
Battaglia weighs options - a career in baseball or chance at football
Kerry Rodd
The Pine Journal
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 16th, 2004 01:27:11 PM
What a dilemma to be in! Cloquet’s Tim Battaglia is in the midst of making a tough decision. Does he keep trying to hitch on with an NFL football team or does he take less money, but a sure thing, and go play minor league professional baseball?
“It’s been tough trying to figure out what to do and the waiting has been difficult,” mentioned Battaglia on Monday. “I got drafted in the final round by Cleveland and then I had the football tryout with Dallas, so it’s been kind of a waiting game.”
A number of professional baseball teams had high interest in Battaglia last year, and again this year, but because he couldn’t give baseball an answer about signing with them, no team would pick in him in the draft. That is, until Cleveland used their final choice in the 50th round.
“Most of the baseball teams knew I wanted to at least look at some offers and give football a chance,” commented Battaglia. “I’ve had a lot of anxiety while I try to figure out what to do.”
Part of Battaglia’s problem is that last week he attended a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys. The tryout was by invitation only and the Cowboys only brought in four players with the intention of signing one of those players.
“It was a great experience and I felt that things went really well,” recalled Battaglia while attending a Cloquet VFW baseball game. “I caught every ball they passed to me and I ran a very good 40-yard dash time.”
Battaglia worked out with three other receivers, all of whom were Divison I, and felt the opportunity was invaluable.
“I was pretty nervous, but as the workout got going I relaxed and just enjoyed it,” said Battaglia. “The three other guys were from Georgia, Iowa and Akron State.”
Attending the workout were the head coach of the Cowboys, Bill Parcells, and owner Jerry Jones.
Further complicating the situation is that Cleveland is willing to sign Battaglia to a minor league deal and give him the chance to play all summer in the minor leagues; however, the money is small potatoes compared to what he would make in the NFL. However, if Battaglia doesn’t sign soon the Indians could get impatient and just move in another direction.
At this point it appears that Battaglia would be assigned to Cleveland’s rookie team in North Carolina and would have to spend his time trying to learn the craft of pitching.
“Timmy has a couple of things going for him,” said his college coach at UMD Scott Hanna. “Tim can throw the ball in the 90s, which is what the major college guys are throwing, and he will focus on just being a pitcher.”
Considered one of the greatest athletes in the history of UMD, Battaglia would be able to forget about playing football and forget about playing the outfield in baseball. In other words he could be focused on just pitching and that would give him a great chance of moving up the ladder in professional baseball.
“Scouts have told me that with his velocity he has a great shot,” commented Hanna. “Tim’s ball just doesn’t move as much as the guys playing Division One, but he hasn’t just focused on being a baseball player like they have. Give him that kind of coaching and I know he can easily make it to the next level because he is such a great athlete.”
Battaglia is also an appealing project for the NFL because of his size, speed and strength as a receiver. Standing almost 6 feet 4inches and 205 pounds, he is a player who could be a great possession-type receiver. Given the fact that Battaglia has phenomenal hands it makes it even more appealing for NFL teams to possibly look seriously signing him to a contract. The problem for Battaglia is getting short and the window could close quickly if he doesn’t act soon.
“That’s been the difficult thing for me,” explained Battaglia. “I am waiting to her from the NFL and I need to make sure if I decide to go play baseball I have to make sure I have my heart in it.”
The good news for Battaglia is he graduated this spring with a degree in business at UMD and he can always move on to life after sports if need be.
“It is a comfortable feeling know I’ve got that degree,” stated Battaglia. “I can always come back to my education if I need to.”
So at this point it is a game of wait-and-see with Battaglia who expects to make a decision within the next couple of weeks.
Ironically one of the quarterbacks throwing to Battaglia in his workout for the Cowboys was Drew Henson who played college football at Michigan, but opted to play minor league baseball until a few months ago.
“It was something you will never forget,” said Battaglia. “They paid for everything. They flew me down there, put me up in the hotel and they paid for my meals. It was a first class deal all the way.”
Kerry Rodd
The Pine Journal
Last Updated: Wednesday, June 16th, 2004 01:27:11 PM
What a dilemma to be in! Cloquet’s Tim Battaglia is in the midst of making a tough decision. Does he keep trying to hitch on with an NFL football team or does he take less money, but a sure thing, and go play minor league professional baseball?
“It’s been tough trying to figure out what to do and the waiting has been difficult,” mentioned Battaglia on Monday. “I got drafted in the final round by Cleveland and then I had the football tryout with Dallas, so it’s been kind of a waiting game.”
A number of professional baseball teams had high interest in Battaglia last year, and again this year, but because he couldn’t give baseball an answer about signing with them, no team would pick in him in the draft. That is, until Cleveland used their final choice in the 50th round.
“Most of the baseball teams knew I wanted to at least look at some offers and give football a chance,” commented Battaglia. “I’ve had a lot of anxiety while I try to figure out what to do.”
Part of Battaglia’s problem is that last week he attended a tryout with the Dallas Cowboys. The tryout was by invitation only and the Cowboys only brought in four players with the intention of signing one of those players.
“It was a great experience and I felt that things went really well,” recalled Battaglia while attending a Cloquet VFW baseball game. “I caught every ball they passed to me and I ran a very good 40-yard dash time.”
Battaglia worked out with three other receivers, all of whom were Divison I, and felt the opportunity was invaluable.
“I was pretty nervous, but as the workout got going I relaxed and just enjoyed it,” said Battaglia. “The three other guys were from Georgia, Iowa and Akron State.”
Attending the workout were the head coach of the Cowboys, Bill Parcells, and owner Jerry Jones.
Further complicating the situation is that Cleveland is willing to sign Battaglia to a minor league deal and give him the chance to play all summer in the minor leagues; however, the money is small potatoes compared to what he would make in the NFL. However, if Battaglia doesn’t sign soon the Indians could get impatient and just move in another direction.
At this point it appears that Battaglia would be assigned to Cleveland’s rookie team in North Carolina and would have to spend his time trying to learn the craft of pitching.
“Timmy has a couple of things going for him,” said his college coach at UMD Scott Hanna. “Tim can throw the ball in the 90s, which is what the major college guys are throwing, and he will focus on just being a pitcher.”
Considered one of the greatest athletes in the history of UMD, Battaglia would be able to forget about playing football and forget about playing the outfield in baseball. In other words he could be focused on just pitching and that would give him a great chance of moving up the ladder in professional baseball.
“Scouts have told me that with his velocity he has a great shot,” commented Hanna. “Tim’s ball just doesn’t move as much as the guys playing Division One, but he hasn’t just focused on being a baseball player like they have. Give him that kind of coaching and I know he can easily make it to the next level because he is such a great athlete.”
Battaglia is also an appealing project for the NFL because of his size, speed and strength as a receiver. Standing almost 6 feet 4inches and 205 pounds, he is a player who could be a great possession-type receiver. Given the fact that Battaglia has phenomenal hands it makes it even more appealing for NFL teams to possibly look seriously signing him to a contract. The problem for Battaglia is getting short and the window could close quickly if he doesn’t act soon.
“That’s been the difficult thing for me,” explained Battaglia. “I am waiting to her from the NFL and I need to make sure if I decide to go play baseball I have to make sure I have my heart in it.”
The good news for Battaglia is he graduated this spring with a degree in business at UMD and he can always move on to life after sports if need be.
“It is a comfortable feeling know I’ve got that degree,” stated Battaglia. “I can always come back to my education if I need to.”
So at this point it is a game of wait-and-see with Battaglia who expects to make a decision within the next couple of weeks.
Ironically one of the quarterbacks throwing to Battaglia in his workout for the Cowboys was Drew Henson who played college football at Michigan, but opted to play minor league baseball until a few months ago.
“It was something you will never forget,” said Battaglia. “They paid for everything. They flew me down there, put me up in the hotel and they paid for my meals. It was a first class deal all the way.”