MLB DRAFT

Wine, Scirrotto selected on Day 3

By Guy Cipriano

Cory Wine will become a third-generation professional baseball player this month. Anthony Scirrotto is trying to become a safety for the Carolina Panthers.

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On Thursday, the former Penn State athletes shared something in common.

The Philadelphia Phillies selected Wine in the 38th round while the Kansas City Royals picked Scirrotto in the 50th round during the final day of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Wine spent four years playing first base for his father Robbie’s baseball team. Scirrotto started 38 games at safety over three years for Joe Paterno’s football team.

Wine, the grandson of former Philadelphia Phillies shortstop and coach Bobby Wine, will likely report to Williamsport next week to begin his professional career with the New York-Penn League’s Crosscutters.

Scirrotto, who signed with the Panthers this spring as a non-drafted free agent, said he’s committed to football and he spent Thursday in Charlotte, where he’s participating in workouts with the Panthers. Scirrotto, a shortstop and pitcher at West Deptford (N.J.) High School, was golfing when he received a phone call from Royals area scout Casey Fahy.

“He explained it out to me,” Scirrotto said. “I have no responsibility right now and this isn’t going to impede with football. It’s just a backup plan if I want to give baseball a shot.”

Scirrotto received heavy interest from scouts throughout his senior year at West Deptford, but his football commitment to Penn State dissuaded teams from selecting him in the 2005 draft. Scirrotto said he was considered a second-to fifth-round talent as a high school senior.

Scirrotto is tied for West Deptford’s career lead with 26 stolen bases and ranks second on the all-time hits list with 131. He has not played a baseball game since his senior year of high school. Scirrotto said he only “took a couple of swings” during his time at Penn State.

Still, he received hints after Penn State’s pro football day in mid-March that the Royals might draft him.

“I’m actually not that surprised,” said Scirrotto, the first Penn State football player selected in the MLB Draft since the California Angels took O.J. McDuffie in the 41st round in 1991. “I knew there was a possibility they would draft me. They called me Monday, so I was probably 95 percent sure. I wasn’t really waiting for them to call (Thursday). But I was kind of anticipating a call.”

Wine, 22, also expected a call after going undrafted as a junior last year.

He anchored the middle of the Penn State’s lineup this past season, hitting .307 with five homers and 41 RBIs. The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Wine spent his entire college career at first base, the position he will likely play in the Phillies’ farm system.

“He has a chance to hit for a lot of power,” Penn State assistant coach Jason Bell said. “He has big-time raw power at first base. He’s flashed it at times and scouts were intrigued by it.”

Wine should have plenty of Phillies’ tales stored in his memory. Bobby won a gold glove for the Phillies in 1963 and served as a major-league coach for the organization from 1972-83. Bobby lives in the Philadelphia suburb of Norristown and works as an advance scout for the Atlanta Braves.

“The Phillies were like everybody else,” Bell said. “They didn’t follow Cory any more or any less. It’s funny how the process ends up.”

Robbie also spent two years in the major leagues as a catcher for the Houston Astros. Having a grandfather and father with professional baseball experience could benefit Cory.

If the Phillies send Cory to Williamsport, he will begin his professional career at a familiar setting. The Crosscutters open the season next Friday against the State College Spikes at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

Wine, who couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, was the second Penn State player drafted this year. The Royals selected Kelley in Wednesday’s 23rd round.

“It’s neat because both of these guys are seniors and they are really close to getting their degrees,” Bell said.

Wine and Kelley give Penn State seven different baseball players drafted since moving into Medlar Field in 2007. The Chicago White Sox selected reliever Drew O’Neil in the fourth round of last year’s draft. O’Neil, who plays for the White Sox Single-A affiliate in Kannapolis, N.C., was also selected in the eighth round by the Cincinnati Reds in 2007. O’Neil was the third highest drafted player in Penn State history.

The Boston Red Sox selected incoming Penn State freshman Renny Parthemore, a right-handed pitcher from District 3 Cedar Cliff High School, in the 18th round of this year’s draft. Parthemore was one of nine players selected from a Pennsylvania high school.