Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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www.BLUEANDGOLD.com NOV. 7, 2016 59 IRISH IN THE PROS BY MATT JONES F ormer Big East Pitcher of the Year Jeff Man- ship is represent- ing Notre Dame in Major League Baseball's World Series. A member of the Cleveland In- d i a n s ' b u l l p e n , Manship — who starred for the Fighting Irish from 2004-06 — is em- bracing the opportunity to face the Chicago Cubs with history on the line. "It really hasn't sunk in yet," Man- ship told The San Antonio Express- News prior to the start of baseball's fall classic. "It's great to see how ex- cited the city's been, rallying around us." The 6-2, 205-pound native of San Antonio has found his niche with the Tribe the past two seasons. Manship struggled with the Phil- adelphia Phillies in 2014. He then signed with the Indians last season and went 1-0 with a 0.92 ERA in 32 relief appearances after being called up in June. He limited the opposition to 20 hits and 10 walks with 33 strike- outs in 39 1/3 innings. He carried that into this season, when he went 2-1 with a 3.12 ERA in 53 games out of the bullpen. It's a career revival for the 31-year- old. In his six seasons in the majors from 2009-14 with Minnesota, Col- orado and Philadelphia, Manship struggled, compiling a 6.46 ERA with 168 hits allowed in 139 1/3 innings. "This has been a blast," Manship said of the current season. "The chemistry is so good in our club- house. We have a lot of selfless people on this team that would do anything for each other. I think we have all the confidence in the world right now." Through Oct. 26, Manship had made two postseason appearances — one in the American League Champi- onship Series versus Toronto and one in the World Series against the Cubs — and tossed 1 2/3 scoreless innings with two hits allowed, a walk and a strikeout. Here's how Notre Dame's other former players fared in the majors this season: • John Axford (Played at Notre Dame from 2002‐05), RHP, Oakland A's: Finished the season with a 6-4 record and a 3.97 ERA … Appeared in 68 games, the fourth-most in his eight-year MLB career. • Trey Mancini (2011-13), DH, Bal- timore Orioles: The 22-year-old hit a home run in his second major-league at-bat Sept. 20, against the Boston Red Sox … Finished the season 5 for 14 (.357) with three home runs and five RBI. • David Phelps (2006‐08), RHP, Miami Marlins: Pitched out of both the bullpen and in a starting role in 2016 … Finished with a 7-6 record, four saves and a 2.28 ERA in 86 2/3 innings … The Marlins were 47-17 in games he appeared in. • A.J. Pollock (2007‐10), OF, Ari- zona Diamondbacks: Suffered a broken elbow in spring training and didn't make his season debut until Aug. 26 … Hit .244 with two home runs and four RBI in his 41 at-bats. • Jeff Samardzija (2003‐06), RHP, San Francisco Giants: Went 12-11 with a 3.81 ERA during the regular season for the Giants, finishing with 203 1/3 innings pitched — the fourth time in his career he's eclipsed 200 in- nings … Struggled in his lone postsea- son appearance, allowing four runs in two innings in game two of the Na- tional League Division Series against the Cubs, his former team. DEMETRIUS JACKSON MAKES CELTICS' OPENING-DAY ROSTER Former Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson made the Boston Celtics' opening day roster, finding success with the franchise after being selected with the 45th overall pick in this year's draft. The Celtics made room for Jackson, who played for the Irish from 2013- 16, by cutting one of last year's first- round picks, R.J. Hunter. The Celtics have established vet- erans such as Isaiah Thomas, Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart capable of playing the point guard spot, so Jack- son's NBA minutes figure to be few and far between. Jackson scored 1,204 points with 335 assists and 114 steals in three sea- sons at Notre Dame. In six preseason games with the Celtics, he averaged 11.0 minutes, 5.3 points and 2.3 assists per outing. For the first time since 2012, Notre Dame has at least three players on opening-night NBA rosters. That year, four former Irish players — Matt Car- roll, Ben Hansbrough, Troy Murphy and Luke Zeller — earned roster spots. Here are the other former Notre Dame players on NBA rosters: • Pat Connaughton (Played at Notre Dame from 2011-14), SG, Port- land Trail Blazers: Begins his second season in the NBA after seeing action in 34 games as a rookie, and averag- ing 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds. • Jerian Grant (2010-15), PG, Chi- cago Bulls: During his rookie season with the New York Knicks, averaged 5.6 points and 2.3 assists over 76 games … Went to the Bulls in a deal that sent former all-star point guard Derrick Rose to the Knicks. ✦ Jeff Manship And Indians Make Run To World Series Rookie guard Demetrius Jackson, selected in the second round last June with the 45th overall pick, made the Boston Celtics' roster after aver- aging 11 minutes in his six preseason games. PHOTO COURTESY BOSTON CELTICS/GETTY IMAGES JEFF MANSHIP