Baseball coach David Esquer’s got another quality class on his hands this year, the No. 24 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball (magazine).

The 2009 baseball class includes seven pitchers, a catcher and seven infielders/outfielders. Pitching is definitely the high priority, considering last year the Bears had a frankly horrendous team ERA of . They grabbed a big name in Justin Jones, a big lefty from Oakdale High. Jones was drafted in the seventh round of the MLB Amateur Draft by the Chicago White Sox in June, and had 118 strikeouts and a 0.42 ERA as a senior. Not too bad.

The big name at the plate and in the infield is Tony Renda, a shortstop from Serra. Renda was an All-American his senior year and batted .486 his junior year. But the thing that Renda is most famous for is his association with infamous steroidy shady guy Greg Anderson. That could bring some fun and intrigue to Evans Diamond in the spring.

If you can’t wait for Cal baseball to start, check out the alumni game on Oct. 25 at 1 p.m.

Although he’s still listed on the official Cal athletics website, word around the net is that Cal baseball hitting coach Jon Zuber has been fired.

Considered one of the greatest players in Cal baseball history during his playing days, Zuber served as the Bears’ hitting coach for the past five seasons. This past year, the team under his direction batted .298, third-best in the Pac-10. At the end of the season, five Cal hitters were drafted in the MLB Amateur Draft, including three in the first two rounds.

The Bears finished the season with a 24-29 record overall and a 9-18 conference record, second-worst in the Pac-10.

But the question remains: Will Evans Diamond announcer Ed Zuber (father of Jon Zuber), resume duties next season even after his son got the axe? Stay tuned…

With the first pick of the second round (50th overall), the Washington Nationals select … Cal second baseman Jeff Kobernus.

Turns out the scouts weren’t lying to Bears coach David Esquer when they told him Kobernus wouldn’t last past the third round. Kobernus is a tall, lanky middle infielder with good range who helped his own cause by spending the last month or so of the 2009 season in an unconscious state every time he picked up a bat.

And as we speak, Bears right fielder/first baseman/designated hitter/pitcher Blake Smith is drafted with the 56th overall pick by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Smith and Jackson were the ones who got all the hype going into 2009, Smith mostly because of his performance last summer with the Team USA Collegiate National Team.

(Click here to read more…)

After months of waiting and wondering where he would go in the 2009 MLB Amateur Draft, former Cal baseball center fielder Brett Jackson will simply be trading the block “C” on his cap for one of a slightly different shape.

Jackson, who was projected by most mock drafts to go in the mid- to late-first round, was drafted No. 31 overall by the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday evening, becoming the fourth-highest pick in Cal program history and the third first-rounder that coach David Esquer has produced at the Bears’ helm. The Orinda, Calif., native was the 10th outfielder drafted and gave Cal a first-round pick for the second straight year. The Toronto Blue Jays drafted David Cooper 17th overall in 2008.

(Click here to read more…)

If you read the preview for Cal’s midweek matchup against Stanford, then you’ve already heard that the Bears are pretty serious about the newest addition to the clubhouse: the video game ‘Rock Band.’

The gift came as a surprise from former Cal great Conor Jackson, who supplied the game to go along with the new TVs sent to the team before the season started by Jackson and Xavier Nady. Needless to say, it’s been a popular present.

But with that said, the question that is burning in everyone’s mind is obvious: Who’s the clubhouse king of Rock Band? (Click here to read more…)

10:34 — Just got back from my quick visit to the dugout and field (had to do it — I had the creds, and I used ‘em!) and it was supremely cool. Guys looked upbeat, happy, talkative (their quotes are essentially unusuable banter however … Thanks Mike, Daniel and Todd … for nothing)

Thanks for all of you who tuned in to the live blog this evening. Hope you got something out of it and had a little fun. Matt and I definitely did. Keep checking back at dailycal.org for more Cal baseball coverage, as always, and have a great night!

10:17 — And it’s over, blessedly for the Bears. Braunecker with the comebacker to Smith who throws to first for the final of the game. Cal will leave this place winners tonight, as the most perfect song imaginable comes on — Lights by Journey.

10:16 — The plot thickens. Johnson doubles to right, but it’s not deep enough to drive in Poppert who has to hold up at third. Runners on second and third, two out.

10:14 — Bernatz grounded out to second, Lipkin struck out. That leaves Poppert as the last hope. And he delivers with a ringing single over Kobernus at second to drive in Zach Kim. Two out, the tying run at first base. Johnson’s at the plate. 4-3 Cal. (Click here to read more…)

Cal baseball is three weeks into the season, and I think the time is right for a few interesting details about the team that have emerged over the course of the past few weeks.

Deceptive Power

Remember the explosion of home runs during the Bears’ last home stand? Don’t be too excited about that power, says first baseman/right fielder/starting pitcher/Captain America (unconfirmed) Blake Smith.

“(Against UC Riverside) was a weird day for the wind here. The wind is normally never like this,” Smith said after the February 20-21 series. “You saw more home runs in three games than I think we had in the whole first month last year. It’s not going to be like that.”

Cal has eight home runs on the year so far, three of those from sophomore first baseman/outfielder Mark Canha (your Pac-10 Player of the Week). (Click here to read more…)

Alright, folks, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover in your Friday Cal baseball update, so let’s hit the ground running.

I got a chance to sit down with outfielder/first baseman/pitcher (yeah, I know) Blake Smith and center fielder Brett Jackson earlier this week, and the duo were both revealing and pleasantly talkative. There are too many great quotes to fit in just one blog post, so I’ll include more in another update down the road.

First off, the big news: Smith is indeed slated to start this season.

“I think tentatively I’m set to start on Sunday against Vanderbilt,” Smith said. “I’m excited. It’s going to be interesting to see how it works out.” (Click here to read more…)

I sat down with coach David Esquer the other day to discuss the early developments of the Cal baseball team. Here are some of the highlights of the interview:

On adjustments to the pitching and defensive lineups:

“We’ve probably got to try to establish the pitching roles. We’ve got guys who’ve put themselves in position through the fall, but nothing’s in stone. (There will probably be) a couple infield adjustments. Try to put people in the right spots, but we’re gonna have a few kids who’ll play multiple positions. No lineup will be set until 20 games into the season, I would imagine. It’s not gonna happen quick. We’re not gonna come out of the chute and play the same lineup every day.” (Click here to read more…)

A few days ago, someone posted a comment on my previous blog post asking for a breakdown of the Cal baseball team’s freshman class. I’m a little ashamed that I didn’t think of that myself, so I did some research to hopefully amend my mental slip.

In order to keep from a giant, War and Peace-like blog entry, I’m sticking to discussing just the true freshmen. With that said, here’s the SparkNotes version of the freshman class for those who are short on time: This class is good. Real good. (Click here to read more…)