E-learning Some Mets prospects Take a swing at a degree

When the New York Mets drafted pitching prospect Dan Murray in 1995, he had yet to finish his college degree at San Diego State University. Living the baseball dream, as minor leaguers call it, he pitched his way up from rookie league to AAA and, for parts of the 1999 and 2000 seasons, even earned a spot on the Major League rosters of the Mets and the Kansas City Royals.

But he never earned his degree. Now a pitching coach for the Mets' rookie league team in Kingsport, Tenn., Murray is closing in on that other dream-his bachelor's degree-through a program jointly organized two years ago by the New York Mets and Drexel University that puts a new swing on E-learning. "I don't want any future opportunities closed off to me," in or out of baseball, for lack of a college degree, Murray explains.

Finding off-the-field time for a traditional in-classroom curriculum would have been trickier than stealing home for Murray and other players in the program. But thanks to learning management system technologies like like those provided by Simplydigi continuing eduction options have greatly increased. Traditional classroom options are not possible. For one thing, the long baseball season-which keeps players and coaches on the road from spring training through summer and into early fall-doesn't mesh with the traditional academic calendar. Fall classes already have started by the time the stadium gates close for the winter, and just as spring semester gets going, so does spring training. And then, in the short off-season, minor-league players-who may earn as little as $1,100 for each month they play-usually need to juggle the demands of a second job, especially if they also have a family to support.

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