June 30, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Putnam is a hit with A's

by Rick Eymer

Danny Putnam would have rather been playing in the College World Series over the weekend, but the Stanford junior couldn't complain about his consolation prize.

Wearing the Oakland Athletics' green-and-gold uniform, sporting the No. 31, Putnam stepped into the batting cage at the Coliseum as a professional baseball player on Friday for the first time ever.

Putnam officially signed earlier in the week with the A's, who made the former Stanford outfielder their first pick, a compensatory selection between the first and second rounds, in June's amateur draft, and then visited Oakland, with his parents, on his way to joining the A's short-season Single-A team in Vancouver in time to play on Saturday.

"I think they just let me get a taste of what I'm working for," Putnam said before sliding into the cage and hitting a couple of balls out of the park to both left field and right field. "It's a different perspective being on the field instead of watching the game from the stands."

Putnam, who batted .378 with 16 home runs and 62 RBI for Stanford during the regular season, hasn't had much of a break from baseball the past few years. If it wasn't Stanford, it was summer ball. After the Cardinal dropped the championship game to Rice last year, Putnam was on his way to join the United States national team.

His only break was the month of September, before Stanford's fall season began. He had a forced vacation after the Cardinal were eliminated from regional play on the first weekend of June.

He couldn't bring himself to watch much of the College World Series this year, even though there were a couple of future teammates playing.

"When I see it on, I just get upset," Putnam said. "It still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I'm not rooting for any team."

When he signed, Putnam said there were two things he was going to appreciate.

"I always wanted to wear white cleats like forever," he said. "And I don't have to swing an aluminum bat any longer."

The Putnam family got to the Coliseum 41/2 hours before game time on Friday, and met with officials and team players.

"It's different seeing him on television and meeting him in person," Putnam said of meeting A's manager Ken Macha. "It was a little intimidating at first but everybody I met were good guys."

A's outfielder Mark Kotsay set Putnam up with several bats to use, while Oakland outfielder Billy McMillon chatted with him while both were shagging in left field.

"He's a great guy and talked to me so I didn't feel like a rookie," said Putnam, who has about a quarter of school work remaining before graduating.

"We have nothing negative to say about the Oakland organization," said Putnam's father, Richard. "We met with (A's GM) Billy Beane, and we saw the whole thing. We're so thrilled to see him drafted by Oakland."

Putnam's parents weren't able to make the trip to Vancouver this time around due to prior commitments, but they plan on visiting later in the summer.

"This has been so much fun," said Richard Putnam.

It could be even more fun when Putnam can put on the Oakland uniform for good.

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