As The Afternoon Break first pointed out in the links section on Monday, former Cavalier baseball star Sean Doolittle has been called up to the Oakland A’s.

Doolittle, who played at Virginia from 2005-07, was a two-time All-American and the 2006 ACC Player of the Year. He posted a 22-7 record and 2.23 ERA at UVa, ranking him No. 4 all-time in program history for wins. He also piled up 243 strikeouts, good enough for seventh in the books. With 167 RBI and 125 walks earned, Doolittle sits second in both of those categories for a Cavalier career.

Originally drafted as an infielder by the A’s, injuries derailed Doolittle’s chances there in the pros. Oakland opted to try Doolittle back on the mound and he has become of the year’s most surprising success stories. He pitched in just 16 combined games this season in the minor leagues, rising from Single A to Triple AAA in a whirlwind that’s exciting for his family.

A’s manager Bob Melvin said Doolittle’s rise is a good story. He missed all of 2010 and played in just one game in 2011.

“It adds to the story,” Melvin said. “Even if he was just a pitcher, hadn’t pitched above Single A and suddenly he’s in the big leagues, it’s a good story. Based on the fact that he was a position player in this organization and now he’s made his way to the big leagues so quickly, I don’t recall ever hearing about a guy switching positions and making it to the big leagues so quickly. Credit to him and his perseverance in this game.”

Doolittle isn’t the only former Cavalier having a good week on the mound. Danny Hultzen was named the Southern League Pitcher of the Week on Monday after going 2-0 in two starts for the Jackson Generals. His line in those two games? 0.00 ERA in 11.2 innings pitched with 12 strikeouts. Hultzen’s Virginia teammate Tyler Wilson also had a good start on Monday for the Frederick Keys. Wilson did not allow any runs and tied his career high with 7 K’s in a winning effort.

Hoo-Tube Video Of The Day

The Afternoon Break includes a daily video. Today’s pick is a blast from the past featuring Jason Cain. The Stache apparently has a new nickname too: The Energizer.

Break Links

• The football message board has threads on UVa’s tough schedule and Virginia’s 2001 win over Georgia Tech (the hook and lateral game). There’s also this thread on seating choices.
• On the men’s basketball board, 6-2 Hoo asks about your favorite wins and most disappointing losses of the past season.
• The baseball board is following the Major League Draft and Branden Kline went in the second round to Baltimore.
• The Corner variety pack of threads: Booker’s Bourbon, online photo storing sites, and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

Daily Retweet

This portion of the break looks at TheSabre.com’s favorite Twitter retweet of the day. Follow @thesabre.

Today’s retweet is from UVa pitcher Branden Kline (follow @Half_n_Half16), who the Baltimore Orioles just selected in the Major League Baseball Draft’s second round with the No. 65 pick.

‏@Half_n_Half16: Just wanna thank everyone for the thoughts and messages. I really appreciate all the love and would not be here without everyone #Blessed

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 5th, 2012 at 2:36 pm and is filed under The Good Ol Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.