Mitch Mustain signs baseball contract with White Sox

[Jumbo]

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/sports_blog/2012/02/usc-football-mitch-mustain-chicago-white-sox-notre-dame-arkansas.html

USC football: Mitch Mustain signs baseball contract with White Sox
February 10, 2012 | 10:55 am    321



Former USC quarterback Mitch Mustain dreamed of one day playing in the Super Bowl. But now Mustain, who has not pitched since his sophomore year in high school, is thinking about the World Series after signing a minor league contract with the Chicago White Sox.

“This is my one shot and I have nothing to lose,” Mustain, 24, said in a phone interview.

Mustain will report to the White Sox’s spring training facility in Arizona in March. He will take part in the extended spring training program and, if he progresses, will likely be assigned to a rookie league team after the June draft.

It's the latest chapter in an athletic career that has featured many twists and turns.

Mustain was a high school football legend in Arkansas and started eight games as a freshman at the University of Arkansas in 2006. That season, however, was full of controversy surrounding Mustain, former Coach Houston Nutt and others, and Mustain was among several players who left the program.

Mustain transferred to USC in 2007 but never won the starting job. He started only one game — the Trojans’ 2010 loss to Notre Dame at the Coliseum.

Mustain had hoped to play in the NFL, but his prospects for getting drafted or signing as a free agent were not helped by a February 2011 arrest in the San Fernando Valley on suspicion of selling prescription drugs. He completed a pre-file diversion program and did not face misdemeanor charges.

Mustain had a brief stint with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League last summer. The Georgia Force of the Arena Football League announced in October that it had signed Mustain.

Those plans, however, were put on hold after a recent pitching session that Mustain said occurred “as ironic as it sounds” in a bullpen at the University of Arkansas.

Mustain had been working out last year in preparation for a possible shot at baseball, but stopped throwing in November.

“I didn’t think it was going to happen,” he said.

But last month, he said, a friend who had played in the White Sox organization contacted a scout in Tulsa, Okla.

“He hit me up on a Friday and said the scout could be here the next Friday,” Mustain said. “So I went out on Tuesday and played long toss to stretch out my arm.”

A few days later, he was on the mound in tennis shoes touching 90 mph on the radar gun.

“I was hitting my spots and my curve ball was on,” he said.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound Mustain signed a contract this week and the White Sox sent him a throwing program the next day.

“I’m hoping to eventually get to 94 or 95 [miles per hour],” he said. “I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Mustain said the baseball chapter of his life will probably be added to a documentary in the works that gained attention last month. Filmmaker Matthew Wolfe posted this clip of the project, tentatively titled “The Identity Theft of Mitch Mustain” on a website. The clip includes Mustain shooting rifles and handguns in the woods.

“I’m not a militiaman by any means,” Mustain said. “I think a lot of that was intentionally vague to draw some attention and see where it goes. We wanted to stir up some reaction, and there was some pretty interesting feedback.

“He had been asking me about stuff, hobbies I have. He was intrigued and wanted to see. We spent maybe 10 or 15 minutes out there shooting a little bit. It’s amazing that from a two-minute clip that people deduced that’s my life.”

[Snaggletiger]

Owned by the forum selection process

[Buzz Killington]

The question is will he play for as many Minor League teams as he attended colleges?

[CCTAU]

Another story of a truly gifted athlete that believed the hype and made piss poor decisions.

[JR4AU]

Another story of a truly gifted athlete that believed the hype and made piss poor decisions.

This

[Jumbo]

I was impressed that he hit 90 on the radar gun.

[Kaos]

Todd says hey...

[Snaggletiger]

Another story of a truly gifted athlete that believed the hype and made piss poor decisions.

Okay, I'm not following the logic here.  He's a "Truly gifted athlete" but he made piss poor decisons, how?  By trying to play QB in the SEC and at USC?  If he's truly gifted, then there's going to be hype...plenty of it.  Those two programs thought enough of him to sign him to a scholarship.  ( I'm assuming here that USC did sign him) 

He might have wound up being the bomb at Arkansas had he rode it out.  Who knows?  He was apparently in a fricked up situation there.  He went to USC hoping to win the starting job.  Can't blame a guy for trying to go big.   

[JR4AU]

Okay, I'm not following the logic here.  He's a "Truly gifted athlete" but he made piss poor decisons, how?  By trying to play QB in the SEC and at USC?  If he's truly gifted, then there's going to be hype...plenty of it.  Those two programs thought enough of him to sign him to a scholarship.  ( I'm assuming here that USC did sign him) 

He might have wound up being the bomb at Arkansas had he rode it out.  Who knows?  He was apparently in a fricked up situation there.  He went to USC hoping to win the starting job.  Can't blame a guy for trying to go big.

How'd that work out for him?

[Jumbo]

How'd that work out for him?

Give em' the heater ricky.

[Godfather]

How'd that work out for him?

He rode the pine well.

[Snaggletiger]

Here's from teh Wiki's

Mustain was one of the most highly decorated high school football players in history, winning every national player of the year award, and was recruited by nearly every major college football program in the United States during the 2005-2006 school year. He played sparingly in his first game at Arkansas, but was named the starting quarterback by the second game of the season and achieved a record of 8–0 as a true freshman starter.

From teh Snaggie's....he also threw for almost 4,000 yards and 47 TD's as a senior.  After leaving a fricked up situation at Arky, he went to one of the elite programs in the country.  Apparently, his talents didn't translate to being effective at the D1 level.  Happens hundreds of times every year in college ball...and in the NFL.  He couldn't make it in Canada or the Arena league so I'd say that was probably the case. 

[AUTiger1]

“I was hitting my spots and my curve ball was on,” he said.

If true and hitting 90 on the gun, then he has a shot to be successful.   Especially if he has a pitching coach that is good.

[GH2001]

His greatest achievement is probably getting Gus Malzahn a D-1 job when no one in CFB had heard of him. 

More proof that Malzahn's offense will never work in the SEC, which further points to shenanigans at the Barn.