Mike Goetz

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<a href=http://www.addictsports.com/baseball/showthread.php?p=467221#post467221 target=_blank>Brewers quick to sign draft picks</a>

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<b><font size=4>Goetz works out with team</font>
Club's 25th-round pick takes batting practice at Miller Park</b>

MILWAUKEE -- Mike Goetz had been to Miller Park before. He even played two games at the stadium this season with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
But Thursday was different for Goetz.

One month ago, the outfielder was finishing papers and studying for tests as a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. On Thursday, the recently-signed draft pick realized a lifelong dream of wearing a Brewers uniform.

He wasn't in the dugout for more than five minutes before the first autograph seeker sought him out.

"You know I'm not a real Brewer, right?" Goetz told the fan before autographing a Brewers license plate.

With no name on the back of his No. 25 jersey, a fitting number since he was drafted in the 25th round, it didn't stop Brewers fans from asking for autographs while asking each other who the new guy was.

In front of the fans arriving early enough to see batting practice, Goetz took warm-up swings and stretched in front the Brewers dugout. Watching nearby was his family and regional scout Harvey Kuenn Jr., who was in charge of scouting Goetz and said he's known about the young ballplayer since high school.

"Number one, he's got great work ethic, and number two, he knows the strike zone and he gets on base," Kuenn Jr. said of Goetz's .579 on-base percentage. "He's a pesky player. He's a line-drive hitter."

In batting practice, Goetz hit several line drives and showed why he'll likely end the college baseball season as the NCAA Division-I leading hitter with his .493 batting average. Goetz is the second recent draft pick of the Brewers to lead the nation in hitting. Rickie Weeks accomplished the same feat at Southern University.

On Wednesday, Goetz was sitting in his apartment a day after getting two wisdom teeth pulled when he got the call from his parents to congratulate him on being drafted.

"It's a dream come true," said Goetz, who will report to the Rookie Arizona Summer League Arizona Brewers. "It's probably been on my mind every day for the last six or seven years. Yesterday was the day I was waiting for, for a long time."

As for how a guy who leads the nation in hitting doesn't come off the board until the second day of the draft, Goetz had one explanation.

"I don't know if I have any necessarily standout tools like some of the guys that went before me," he said. "The draft is a strange thing. Maybe they're not necessarily looking for a great player but a player with great tools."

It was fitting that Goetz, a lifelong Brewers fan, was drafted by the local team.

"Out of all places to go I end up here," Goetz said. "I said all along I'd love to be drafted by the Brewers. I said even if I wasn't drafted I'd love to just sign with the Brewers."

Brewers scouting director Jack Zduriencik said the team always loves to draft a local player or two, and taking a local prospect reminded him of one of his previous jobs.

"At one point in time, when I was scouting director in Pittsburgh, I grew up in the area so that was a dream come true to be in your hometown," Zduriencik said. "So the kids that have a chance to play here they have to be tickled pink."

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Player: Mike Goetz
Date: 09/01/2007
Action: Transferred
From Team: Helena Brewers
To Team: Huntsville Stars

[645]

Player: Mike Goetz
Date: 03/30/2008
Action: Released
From Team: Huntsville Stars
To Team: Free Agent