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But in another aspect, there are similarities. Lin was undrafted out of Harvard. Thames hit .407 his junior season at Pepperdine but a torn quadriceps muscle late that spring made him fall to the seventh round. In baseball terms, not a lot of major leaguers came from that draft.

http://espn.go.com/blog/sweetspot/post/ ... lin-of-mlb

What a random and pointless article.

I can't see one similarity between two players.

So you're saying Eric Thames is an Asian temporarily overachieving in a sport typically not dominated by his ethnic group who only gets the media play he does b/c he plays in the biggest market for a team that should be renamed the NY Epic Fails?

you guys are ridiculous... espn sweetspot wrote the article and the title of it. it is jays related. this is a jays forum...

They compared the 2 because they were/are both ranked 467th in their top 500 for each sport. Thanks for posting (not sure why some are attacking the OP).

Relentless88 wrote:They compared the 2 because they were/are both ranked 467th in their top 500 for each sport.

What an incredible similarity. This deserved a full article on ESPN? There was literally nothing more worthwhile to write about?

Like kwame said; I dont see a single similarity.

-MetA4- wrote:

Relentless88 wrote:They compared the 2 because they were/are both ranked 467th in their top 500 for each sport.

What an incredible similarity. This deserved a full article on ESPN? There was literally nothing more worthwhile to write about?

Like kwame said; I dont see a single similarity.

I agree, but this is ESPN we're talking about. Any time they can mention Lin or Tebow, you know they'll do it.

Hmmm... 7th rounders becoming full-time MLB players is not common, but happens. Undrafted basketball players becoming NBA starters... Lin is one of the extremely few to ever accomplish that. I think Joel Anthony is the only other guy in the league right now that is an undrafted starter.

I think someone was listening to the Fan 590 this morning. But, really there is no similarities.

Homer Jay wrote:Hmmm... 7th rounders becoming full-time MLB players is not common, but happens. Undrafted basketball players becoming NBA starters... Lin is one of the extremely few to ever accomplish that. I think Joel Anthony is the only other guy in the league right now that is an undrafted starter.

Im sure theres more than that - Jose Calderon is undrafted im pretty sure

Homer Jay wrote:Hmmm... 7th rounders becoming full-time MLB players is not common, but happens. Undrafted basketball players becoming NBA starters... Lin is one of the extremely few to ever accomplish that. I think Joel Anthony is the only other guy in the league right now that is an undrafted starter.

Jose Calderon says hello.

Also, just off the top of my head, both Garbajosa and Jamario Moon were undrated players who started for the Raptors.

It's really not that uncommon.

Parataxis wrote:Also, just off the top of my head, both Garbajosa and Jamario Moon were undrated players who started for the Raptors.

It's really not that uncommon.

Calderon and Garbajosa were both free agent signings. You can literally count undrafted players that ended up being decent players over the past several years with your fingers, so yeah It is pretty uncommon. Regardless, comparing baseball to basketball is pointless since a number of late rounders make the big league, but

kwamebargnani wrote:

Parataxis wrote:Also, just off the top of my head, both Garbajosa and Jamario Moon were undrated players who started for the Raptors.

It's really not that uncommon.

Calderon and Garbajosa were both free agent signings. You can literally count undrafted players that ended up being decent players over the past several years with your fingers, so yeah It is pretty uncommon. Regardless, comparing baseball to basketball is pointless since a number of late rounders make the big league, but

All undrafted players are free-agents. That's what happens when you don't get drafted. Neither Calderon nor Garbajosa were drafted, ergo they're undrafted players.

Like I said, off the top of my head, three undrafted player starters from the Raptors, probably more. So really, not that uncommon. Obviously, it's more likely that drafted players become decent (and more likely still that 1st rounders do, etc...) but it's not like winning the lottery (the real one, not the draft one)

Parataxis wrote:

kwamebargnani wrote:

Parataxis wrote:Also, just off the top of my head, both Garbajosa and Jamario Moon were undrated players who started for the Raptors.

It's really not that uncommon.

Calderon and Garbajosa were both free agent signings. You can literally count undrafted players that ended up being decent players over the past several years with your fingers, so yeah It is pretty uncommon. Regardless, comparing baseball to basketball is pointless since a number of late rounders make the big league, but

All undrafted players are free-agents. That's what happens when you don't get drafted. Neither Calderon nor Garbajosa were drafted, ergo they're undrafted players.

Like I said, off the top of my head, three undrafted player starters from the Raptors, probably more. So really, not that uncommon. Obviously, it's more likely that drafted players become decent (and more likely still that 1st rounders do, etc...) but it's not like winning the lottery (the real one, not the draft one)

Garbajosa never entered draft. You're trying to argue a fact. There are not a lot of undrafted players who ended up being NBA starters, and you're using 2-3 players as examples to argue otherwise. Like I said, you can count undrafted NBA starters over the past few years with your fingers

kwamebargnani wrote:

Parataxis wrote:

kwamebargnani wrote:Calderon and Garbajosa were both free agent signings. You can literally count undrafted players that ended up being decent players over the past several years with your fingers, so yeah It is pretty uncommon. Regardless, comparing baseball to basketball is pointless since a number of late rounders make the big league, but

All undrafted players are free-agents. That's what happens when you don't get drafted. Neither Calderon nor Garbajosa were drafted, ergo they're undrafted players.

Like I said, off the top of my head, three undrafted player starters from the Raptors, probably more. So really, not that uncommon. Obviously, it's more likely that drafted players become decent (and more likely still that 1st rounders do, etc...) but it's not like winning the lottery (the real one, not the draft one)

Garbajosa never entered draft

Incorrect. Every player in the world is eligible to be drafted when they are 22, and Garbo went undrafted that year.

Wow, didn't mean to kick up the shyte storm!

Anyway I wasn't really going to factor guys who established themselves in Europe and came over after drafting age. Mainly sticking to guys who went through the system here, and quickly made progress on a NBA team. There is a list on Wikipedia... mostly role players and very few stand out.Bruce Bowen kinda seems like the best undrafted player ever, although if I concede Jose Calderon, who was what only 23 when he came over? Jose is probably the best undrafted player ever, he could end up in the top 10 all time assists if he plays at his level for another 7-8 years.

kwamebargnani wrote:

Parataxis wrote:Also, just off the top of my head, both Garbajosa and Jamario Moon were undrated players who started for the Raptors.

It's really not that uncommon.

Garbajosa never entered draft. You're trying to argue a fact.

Which means he was undrafted. QED. Wow, that was tough.

Homer Jay wrote:Wow, didn't mean to kick up the shyte storm!

Anyway I wasn't really going to factor guys who established themselves in Europe and came over after drafting age. Mainly sticking to guys who went through the system here, and quickly made progress on a NBA team. There is a list on Wikipedia... mostly role players and very few stand out.Bruce Bowen kinda seems like the best undrafted player ever, although if I concede Jose Calderon, who was what only 23 when he came over? Jose is probably the best undrafted player ever, he could end up in the top 10 all time assists if he plays at his level for another 7-8 years.

Ben Wallace?

distracted wrote:
Ben Wallace?

Raja Bell
Udonis Haslem
Brad Miller
Darrel Armstrong
Eric Snow
Jose Calderon
Bruce Bowen
Avery Johnson
John Starks
Alonzo Gee
Earl Boykins
Adrian Griffin
Reggie Evans
Smush Parker
Reggie Williams
David Wesley
Kelenna Azubuike
Anthony Morrow
Carlos Arroyo

Some of these guys weren't perrenial starters.. but most have started in more than half their teams game in at least one season over the past decade, or at least spot started a third of the time. Not many undrafted in the history, but not so rare.

A couple of these guys started for championship teams too. (Avery, Udonis)

How many verrry late Baseball picks have become everyday players? Im pretty sure more have become all-stars in baseball for some reason.