WASHINGTON - When my family returned to the Washington area in the summer of 2004, after spending the academic year in Hungary, I picked up a print copy of Baseball America and was surprised to read that an infielder from the University of Virginia was among the top college prospects for the 2005 draft.
I grew up in Harrisonburg, Virginia, and followed the Cavalier’s program from a distance, but wasn’t familiar with the name listed in Baseball America: Ryan Zimmerman, who announced his retirement yesterday.
Baseball America, as is usually the case, was right. Zimmerman had a strong year in 2005 for Virginia and was drafted in the first round by the Nationals.