Leader of the Pack
Clear Creek’s Lindberg has become a national recruit
Matt Malatesta
Jun 29, 2018, 9:22 pm
The 6-foot6, 300-pounder has pulled offers from virtually every high major program Vype
New Clear Creek coach Dwayne Lane has to be happy coming back to the district he called home for several years as an assistant at Clear Lake.
After heading to South Houston High School to get his first head coaching job, the powers that be brought him back home to Clear Creek ISD. The cupboard is not bare in the den.
The lead Wildcat is 2020 national recruit Chad Lindberg, who will anchor the offensive line the next two seasons. The 6-foot6, 300-pounder has pulled offers from virtually every high major program. His size is impressive, but something else has caught college recruiters’ eyes.
“Just watch the opening play of my highlight film,” Lindberg laughs. “It was a game against Friendswood. It was just a nasty, fun play where I finished off a block. After I took a look at my film and compared it to others, I figured I was going to get recruited.”
His first offer came from Colorado last December.
“It went quiet for a few months and then the floodgates opened,” he said. “Now I’m just working on all the facets of my game like speed, strength, flexibility and explosiveness during our conditioning camp this summer. I will try and get to some college campuses as well.”
Lindberg likes to hunt and fish, play a little Fortnite and cook. Cook?
“I’m pretty good,” he said. “My favorite meal is surf and turf.”
Lindberg reached the regional track meet throwing the shot put, but knows his future is on the gridiron.
“I love the Texans and J.J. Watt,” he said. “I really liked watching all the college bowl games over the holidays. Any college game I will virtually watch.”
Which begs the question, what are his thoughts on recruiting?
“I’m looking for a great mix of academics and athletics,” he said. “Also a college program’s history of getting offensive linemen to the NFL. Of course that’s the goal.”
This article appeared in the June edition of VYPE Houston Magazine. You can pick up your issue at THESE LOCATIONS. You can also read it online RIGHT HERE.
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Alex Bregman couldn’t hold back the smile when he was asked who might have had the biggest impact on his decision to sign with the Boston Red Sox.
“My favorite player Dustin Pedroia,” Bregman said of the club's former second baseman and two-time World Series champion.
“He reached out a few times this offseason and talked about how special it was to be a part of the Boston Red Sox,” Bregman said Sunday. “It was really cool to be able to talk to him as well as so many other former players here in Boston and current players on the team as well.”
A day after Bregman's $120 million, three-year contract was announced, he sat at a 25-minute news conference between his agent, Scott Boras, and Boston Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow. Manager Alex Cora, who gave Bregman a hug after he handed the infielder his No. 2 jersey, also was at the table along with team president Sam Kennedy.
Breslow and Cora wouldn't say whether Bregman would move to play second base, Pedroia's position, or remain at third — a position manned by Rafael Devers since July 2017.
A few players, Jarren Duran and Rob Refsnyder among them, and coaches stood behind the seated reporters to listen.
Bregman gets a $5 million signing bonus, a $35 million salary this season and $40 million in each of the following two years, with some of the money deferred, and he can opt out after the 2025 and 2026 seasons to become a free agent again.
Asked why he agreed to the shorter contract with opt outs, he leaned forward to the microphone in front of him and replied: “I just think I believe in my abilities.”
Originally selected by Boston in the 29th round of the 2012 amateur draft, Bregman attended LSU before the Houston Astros picked him second overall in 2015. His family history with the Red Sox goes back further.
“My dad grew up sitting on Ted Williams’ lap,” he said.
MLB.com said Stan Bregman, the player's grandfather, was a lawyer who represented the Washington Senators and negotiated Williams' deal to become manager.
Boston has missed the playoffs in five of the last six seasons and had avoided signing the highest-profile free agents. Boras said a conversation with Red Sox controlling owner John Henry showed ownership’s desire to get back to winning.
“I think it was after Soto signed,’’ Boras said, citing the record contract he negotiated for Juan Soto with the Mets. “We had a discussion. I could tell knowing John back with the Marlins and such, he had a real onus about ‘we need to do things differently than what we’ve done before.’
“This is a point and time where I believe Red Sox ownership was hungry for championship play and exhausted with what had happened the last five, six years.”
Called the “perfect fit” by Breslow, the 30-year-old Bregman joined the Red Sox after winning two World Series titles and reaching the playoffs in eight consecutive seasons with Houston.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be in the playoffs the first eight years of my career, and I plan on continuing to do that here,” he said in his opening remarks. “I’m a winning player and this is a winning organization.”
Coming off an 81-81 season, the Red Sox acquired left-hander Garrett Crochet from the White Sox and signed fellow pitchers Walker Buehler, Patrick Sandoval, Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson during the offseason.
After the pitching moves, they found a right-handed bat, too.
“As the offseason progressed it just became clearer and clearer that Alex was the perfect fit for what we were trying to accomplish,” Breslow said.
Bregman ranks first among players with at least 75 career plate appearances in Fenway Park with an OPS of 1.240.
“He fits like a glove for our organization,” Kennedy said.