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Los Angeles Dodgers drafts St. Olaf baseball star Michael Ludwig

By Le Ann Finger '85
June 5, 2003

Mike Ludwig
Ludwig
The Los Angeles Dodgers on June 4 drafted St. Olaf College baseball and basketball standout Michael Ludwig of Blaine, Minn. Ludwig, a first baseman, is a 2003 graduate of the college.

The Major League Baseball First-Year Player draft ended June 4, with 1,480 high school and college players being drafted into the major leagues. The Dodgers selected Ludwig in the 37th round, as the 1,111 overall pick.

Ludwig is the only player from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) to be drafted by the major leagues. The last St. Olaf graduate to be drafted into the majors was Colin Brackeen in 1997 by the Toronto Blue Jays.

Ludwig earned the MIAC All-Conference award twice in his career and was named to the NCAA All-Region first team in May 2003. He led the Oles to a MIAC conference tournament championship with a .367 batting average, four home runs and 33 runs batted in. As the Ole first baseman, he completed 328 changes without any errors.

Ludwig led the league in 2002 with seven home runs and ended his St. Olaf career with 13 home runs.

"This is a dream come true for me to get a chance to play major league baseball," Ludwig said Wednesday. "I report next week to Vero Beach in Florida for Rookie Ball."

Dodgers scouting director Logan White chose 50 players from high school and college. Nine of the first 14 picks were pitchers, but 14 of the final 15 taken Wednesday were position players. Of the 20 pitchers taken, 11 are righties and nine are lefties. At 6 feet, 6 inches tall, Ludwig is the tallest draftee for the Dodgers' recruiting class.

Ludwig was also a basketball standout at St. Olaf, moving into second place in the all-time scoring list with 1,635 career points and 500 career rebounds.

St. Olaf College is a residential college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). St. Olaf has 27 intercollegiate athletic teams, which compete at the NCAA Division III level as a member of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC).

Contact David Gonnerman at 507-786-3315 or gonnermd@stolaf.edu.