Baseball: Player rankings are released with one big surprise

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Don’t know how much you dig rankings. Me? I think they’re goofy -- mainly because they’re impossible to do correctly.

Anyway, MaxPreps.com recently released its Top-25 baseball player rankings.

This was not a surprise: Long Beach Wilson’s Aaron Hicks made the list. He’s an uber-talent -- from the .507 batting average to the 33 stolen bases to the 66 strikeouts in 36.1 innings pitched.

This was a surprise: Bellflower’s Anthony Gose, pictured, was not on the list. Before the season started, Gose was listed by Baseball America as the 24th-best draft prospect in the nation. He might be the Southland’s true super-weapon with his 95-mph fastball and bat speed which is vapor-trail fast. Some scouts may even say he has a higher ceiling than Hicks.

Come to think about it, leaving Gose off the list was not a surprise -- it was just a giant gaffe.

-- Anthony Stitt

-- Image from www.latimes.com