Before they were pros...

College baseball is America 's forgotten pastime. Casual fans can recite the alma maters of middling NBA players like their kids' birthdays. But ask the Schwab where Frank Thomas played his college baseball and football and he's stumped (Auburn). Spring time on college campuses means sundresses and Frisbees on the quad. How about scoring a game at the ballpark? Sorry, too busy trying to score at home. Which brings us to the question, did Jeff Bagwell really star at the University of Hartford ?

He did and apparently someone was paying attention because Bags' .413 average was recorded as the highest career average by a Division I New England college player. Another Killer B, Craig Biggio , was a first team All-America at Seton Hall in 1987 after hitting a robust .407. Lance Berkman smacked 41 home runs and was named National Player of the Year during his junior year at Rice. Staying with the B's Astros , OF Chris Burke was SEC Player of the Year in 2001 and a three time All-America at Tennessee , where his manager, Phil Garner , also played.

There are only two people in this series whose alma mater is widely known. Roger Clemens ( University of Texas ) and Brad Ausmus ( Dartmouth ). But did you know that Ausmus spent his four years in Hanover as a volunteer coach and bullpen catcher because he was ineligible after he signed a contract with the Yankees out of high school?

Recently, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen took a shot at college bookworms saying, "I'm smarter than a lot of guys who go to Harvard . If you take one of those Harvard guys and drop them in the middle of Caracas , they won't survive. But if you drop me in the middle of Harvard , I'll survive." (The A-List smells a reality show). Drop him in the middle of Stanford , and would he emerge with a degree in economics like Astros egghead Eric Bruntlett ?

After Houston's 18-inning win over the Braves in Game 5 of the NLDS, when asked who was to follow Clemens , Garner responded, " Jason Lane . He's a former pitcher. He pitched at USC." It's true. In 1998, he had a 9-2 record with an era of 5.34. That year, Lane teamed with Morgan Ensberg to lead the Trojans to a College World Series. The USC-ND football classic hit home in the postseason. Brad Lidge , a starter and Big East pitcher of the year while at Notre Dame, bet Ensberg on the game and found himself sporting an enemy Trojans sweatshirt in the ensuing days.

Freshman dorms in California housed a number of the Chicago and Houston players. At Cal, last night's hero, Geoff Blum , was the starting shortstop in his first year. Playing for the Long Beach State Dirtbags (yes, that's really the baseball team's nickname) Astros pitcher Mike Gallo earned the nickname "Pepe" because "he acted like he was on caffeine on the time." Gallo said his CWS experience helped prepare him for the WS and that "The Dirtbags will be in my heart when I am out there on the mound." In 1996 and 1997, Houston's Mike Lamb and Chicago 's Aaron Rowand were teammates at Cal State Fullerton , where the both earned All- Big West Conference honors.

Other WS players who attended four-year schools include Neal Cotts ( Illinois State ), Dustin Hermanson ( Kent State ), Russ Springer (LSU), Adam Everett ( South Carolina ), Chris Widger ( George Mason ) and Chad Qualls ( Nevada ).

Twenty of the 25 guys on Houston's roster went to some form of college, while the White Sox have nine. Does CWS experience prepare you better for the big stage of the World Series? Probably not. The Astros led the majors with seven players with CWS experience while the ChiSox were the only team in the majors with none. Go figure.

Now Ozzie, about that reality show...