Our Samardzija Spy Reports From Florida

Thanks to Reader Nick for this report, as he attended Jeff Samardzija's Daytona Cubs debut Friday night.

"I just got back from the game and as a lifelong Cubs fan I am excited about what I saw. There is no way he'll be in Daytona for more than a couple of months. He just seemed to overpower most of the Brevard County hitters. He pitched five innings and gave up five hits and one run, which was unearned. The thing is, even when he did give up a hit, no one seemed to get any decent contact off of him. His pitches were all moving pretty well. He always looked pretty calm on the mound, even when he got into some trouble in the fifth. He topped out on the radar gun at around 95 m.p.h.

"There were Notre Dame fans scattered around the park. I saw a bunch of Irish jerseys, hats, T-Shirts, etc. The funniest part of the whole night came as he went to the mound for the first time, the PA system played the USC Fight Song. I'm sure they were trying to play with his head, but as the people around me were saying, when you've played in front of 100,000 people, playing in front of maybe 1,000 in Viera, Fla. isn't going to do you much good. Throughout the game, though, they played other fight songs which I don't think many people realized, but it was pretty funny nonetheless.

"Also, whoever put together the game program had a pretty good sense of humor.  There was a picture of each starting pitcher. The Manatees' starter was on one side and on the other was a signed picture of Samardzija in his ND football uniform. There was an ad underneath saying something like 'If you want a real autographed picture, a Web site would sell you one for $34.95.

"Underneath that, the program had a picture of Matt Leinart sitting in a chair with his feet on a football and a little thought bubble that said: 'At the end of a long day of dragging my knuckles on the ground because of a championship ring, I like to kick back, put my feet up and watch replays of my highlight video scoring the winning TD because everyone was afraid to tackle me.' Next to that in the program was a USC logo and a couple pages later there was a full-sized picture of a newspaper photo of Pete Carroll holding up the National Championship Trophy ball.

"There was a rumor Charlie Weis was at the game, but I didn't see him. He might have been in a box somewhere, though."

Reader Nick, thanks for the update. If anyone else happens to go to a Samardzija start this year, e-mail us here beforehand and we'll try to set you up as a potential guest blogger.

-By Michael Rothstein of The Journal Gazette

Comments

[Matt J.]

One wonders who in the front office is a USC alum after reading all that "trying to get into his head" stuff.

[david]

What game were you watching, Nick? The Manatees were making really solid contact with Samardzija's pitches. His fastball hovered at 91 mph for 4 innings, but he was able to pump it up to 95 in the 5th. Most of the hitters weren't overpowered, either. They were getting around on the ball just fine -- they weren't late. I think that Will Inman outpitched Samardzija to be honest. I DID notice the fight songs too.... I laughed. I got to meet Jeff after the game on his way to the tour bus and got a picture with him. He's a great guy. You could tell he is used to cooler weather, though, because he was in shorts/short-sleeves after the game while the rest of the Floridians (like myself) were absolutely frozen in the low-60 degree weather.

[Mike Evans]

Matt J.
Im not sure what game YOU were watching. Every hit I saw was dink or a ducksnort that barely made it out of the infield. None were really solid hits. Even a couple broken bats were a result of not catching up to Samardzija's fastball. My kids and I were actually sitting behind the Daytona player who was keeping the pitch count and working the juggs. Needless to say we saw him constantly at 95mph and touching 97 a couple of times. I thought he looked great, so I guess we'll agree to disagree.