Big night for the Blacks

If my insurance agent, Victor Black, doesn't have the MLB (Major League Baseball) network, it's not because he hasn't tried. The new network, available on some satellite systems, will televise baseball's amateur draft beginning at 5 today.

If he doesn't, he and their entire athletic family will be following the draft online. Victor Black, Jr., the former Amarillo High pitcher out of Dallas Baptist University, should go somewhere in the first three rounds of tonight's draft.

Black, Sr., said scouts tell him various things, that his son will be selected anywhere from late in the first round to the third round. Most probable selection for the 6-foot-5 righthander is the second round.

If true, that would make him the highest selection by far of a player from Amarillo. Last year, Amarillo High pitcher Clayton Cook was taken in the ninth round by the Cleveland Indians.

Black was drafted in the 41st round out of high school by the New York Mets, but made the no-brainer decision to go to college. That decision made him thousands of dollars by letting him mature physically and further learn the craft of pitching.

Black's numbers this year aren't overly impressive with a 6-4 record and a 4.16 ERA in 88 innings. But scouts told his dad they look at pitches more than performance. They see a lanky righthander who can dial up to 95 mph on the radar gun with good control.

Should be a big night at the Black household tonight.