DELUSIONAL CUBS FAN

Brett Jackson, Cubs 2009 First Round Draft Pick

It’s 2009 Amateur Draftravaganza!

Hey Cubs fans, it’s the baseball draft time!  Isn’t that awesome?  At least that’s what Major League Baseball wants you to think, and they’ve hyped up the 2009 amateur draft like never before.  They’ve seen how much attention the NFL and NBA drafts and finally decided to get in on some of that the action.

Unfortunately, unlike football and basketball, college baseball gets very little coverage.  There’s just not that much (any?) demand to watch amateur baseball.  No matter how big of a college baseball star you may be, even the biggest baseball fans have never heard of you.  No matter who the number one pick is, noone has ever heard of him.  Only the guys on MLB Network claim to have, and even those guys are faking it.

But if you’re a die hard Chicago Cubs fan, you still want to know who the Cubs drafted in the first round.

So here we go, drum roll please….

Chicago Cubs Draft Outfielder Brett Jackson

In the 2009 MLB amateur draft the Chicago Cubs had the number 31 overall pick in the first round (the second to last pick).  The Cubs used their first round draft pick to select 20 year old outfielder Brett Jackson from the University of California.

Going into the draft he had been ranked the second-best college athlete by Baseball America.  The 6-2, 210-pound lefty hitter batted .321 with eight home runs, 41 RBIs and 42 runs scored in 53 games for Cal this season and was a .303 hitter in his three-year career.

Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken said he was surprised Jackson was still available to the Cubs in the 31st spot.  “Thrilled we could acquire a player like Brett Jackson,” Wilken said. “He plays the game hard, has a chance to be a true center fielder. I think he has a chance to be a frontline center fielder, an everyday player, with a chance to hit with some power and hit with some average.”

And what did Brett Jackson say?

“I‘m a big Cubs fan,” Jackson said. “I’m honored to be with this organization. Honestly, truly, I was hoping to be with the Cubs the whole time and couldn’t believe it when my name was read.”

Wow, he wanted to be a Cub?  Well alright buddy, careful what you wish for!  And welcome to the Chicago Cubs.

I hope you do better than Ryan Harvey, Bobby Brownlie, Luis Montanez and Ben Christensen were.  The last ten years have only seen one of the Cubs first round picks, Mark Prior, make it to the majors so far.  And though he seemed awesome at first, he really didn’t pan out.  (But he is still collecting a paycheck from the San Diego Padres)

So Brett Jackson, I hope that this is the year you change all that and become a superstar.  Congratulations on being drafted by the Chicago Cubs and this Bud’s for you.