Todd Cunningham
Falmouth 2009
Outfielder
Jacksonville State
When the man in charge of umpires is rooting for you, you’re doing something right. In the stretch run of Todd Cunningham’s remarkable summer, that’s exactly how it was.
“I know I’m not supposed to root for anybody,” said Sol Yas, the league’s Umpire in Chief, in a story on the league web site, “but I hope he gets a few more hits and reaches .400.”
In the end, Cunningham didn’t get to .400.
But he sure made himself a lot of fans in the process.
Cunningham came to Falmouth with solid credentials, but without the pedigree of some fellow standouts. He hails from Jacksonville, Ala., and he attends Jacksonville State. It’s a good baseball school, but not a big-time baseball school. Cunningham hit .339 as a sophomore.
In Falmouth, he exceeded every expectation that could have possibly been laid out.
From the moment he arrived, he started hitting — and never stopped.
Cunningham led the league in batting average for much of the summer and as late as August 1, he was over .400. If he had finished at .400, he would have been the first Cape League to do it since 1990.
Ultimately, he finished with a .378 average, to go with three home runs and 22 RBI. He won the league’s top prospect award.
For those who watched him on a day-to-day basis, those results were almost secondary, just a validation.
“I think his work ethic is the most important quality Todd possesses,” Falmouth manager Jeff Trundy said. “A lot of baseball people say that and it’s become kind of cliché. But he really is the first one here everyday, taking extra cuts, working with coaches, just trying to get better.”
I’d say it worked.
After the Cape
Cunningham will be back at Jacksonville State for his junior season in 2010. Baseball America picked him as the league’s ninth-best prospect, and compared him to ’08 MVP — and first-round pick — A.J. Pollock.
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