A Le Moyne legend exults on draft day
Affronti joins the Athletics organization and says, "It's an amazing feeling."

Wednesday, June 07, 2006

By Matt Michael, Staff writer http://www.syracuse.com/

Direct Link: http://www.syracuse.com/sports/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/sports-0/114967158193570.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

Knowing Major League Baseball's amateur draft wasn't going to start until 1 p.m. Tuesday, former Le Moyne College shortstop Mike Affronti figured he'd sleep in.

Yeah, right.

Too excited to sleep, Affronti was up at 6:30 a.m. And after a long day of watching and listening to the draft on the Internet, Affronti ended the day the way he started it: too excited to sleep.

The Oakland Athletics picked Affronti in the 17th round, the 518th player selected overall.

"It's an amazing feeling," Affronti said. "I worked so hard, and any ballplayer since the time you're little dreams of your name being called that one day."

Affronti, who recently completed his senior season for the Dolphins, spent Tuesday at home in Dix Hills on Long Island with his parents, Frank and Maria Affronti, and his girlfriend, Keri O'Sullivan. His sister, Gina, pulled into the driveway just as the A's were calling Affronti's name.

Affronti said when his name appeared on the screen at about 6:30 p.m., everyone screamed so loudly that they didn't hear his name being announced. But no worries Keri's father recorded the moment on his computer.

"Everybody in the family is just so happy," Affronti said.

Affronti, 22, was named the 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Player of the Year after batting a league-best .389 with a career-high 12 home runs and 54 RBIs. Affronti led the Dolphins to a school-record 38 wins this season, and Le Moyne won three regular-season MAAC titles and made two NCAA Tournament appearances in Affronti's four-year career.

"We're going to miss him, but he set a benchmark for how you're supposed to act and practice every day and those are things we can take from Mike," said seventh-year Le Moyne coach Steve Owens. "I think he'll give it everything he's got and play as long as he can."

Affronti ranks among Le Moyne's all-time leaders in batting average (seventh at .345), hits (fourth with 225), runs (fifth with 140), doubles (third with 47), triples (fifth with seven), home runs (10th with 19), RBIs (third with 140) and stolen bases (ninth with 32).

He's the ninth Le Moyne player drafted since Owens took over the program before the 2000 season, and he's the 28th Le Moyne player selected in the program's history.

A's scout Jeff Bittiger called Affronti soon after he was selected and told Affronti that he'd likely start his professional career with Oakland's short-season Single-A team in Vancouver. Under general manager Billy Beane, the A's prefer to draft college seniors and move them quickly through their farm system. It's part of Beane's "Moneyball," a way to save money because college seniors do not have as much leverage when negotiating their contracts.

The A's were likely impressed by Affronti's size (he's a 6-foot-2, 200-pound right-handed hitter) and his versatility (he can also play third base, second base and the outfield).

"It's pretty rare that a West Coast team drafts an East Coast position player in those (mid-draft) rounds," Owens said. "Somebody saw him down South early, liked him, and checked up on him some more. Mike's excited, and we're happy for him."

Affronti expected to get drafted after his junior year in 2005. But he suffered a broken left forearm that sidelined him for 28 games and ruined his draft status.

It also probably cost him some money, because he would have had more leverage as a junior. But Affronti recently received his degree (a double concentration in finance and applied management analysis), and he said the injury was a "blessing in disguise."

"When I got hurt and I didn't get drafted last year, it was a huge disappointment," Affronti said. "But I came back for my senior year and I had a great time. It was a good baseball year, I got my degree, and I got to spend another year with my friends and teammates.

"I don't think I've had a better year than this year," he added. "And I still got my opportunity (to play professionally), so I have the best of both worlds."