The “seven weeks” refers to the Ivy League’s recently-instituted seven-week rule, which mandates seven weeks of dead time for each team during which they cannot play or practice. The rule has been met with protest by scores of athletes, but if the move was the motivation behind Kropf’s departure, he would be one of its first concrete casualties.

If the transfer was instead motivated by playing time, it would appear more puzzling. With Mann’s continued growth and the return of former All-Ivy catcher Brian Lentz to Cambridge after a year off from school, Kropf was unlikely to see a great deal of time behind the plate. The void left at third by Nick Carter ’02 could very easily be filled by one of the team’s athletic freshman infielders. But at Vanderbilt, Kropf would seem to face even stiffer competition for daylight.

Vanderbilt junior Jonathan Douilliard, a Seattle Mariners draftee out of high school, has already been named the starter at catcher. Kropf joins three other catchers who will look for time behind him.

The Commodore roster also contains several potential starters at third. And new Vanderbilt coach Tim Corbin, the Baseball America National Assistant Coach of the Year in 2000, is known as one of the nation’s best recruiters—meaning that playing time likely won’t come any easier for Kropf in 2004.

Around the Horn

Former Crimson ace John Birtwell ’01 was named the Detroit Tigers’ Minor League Co-Pitcher of the Year last September after a 58-game relief stint with Class A Western Michigan. Birtwell went 7-2 with a 1.59 ERA and struck out 101 batters in 79.1 innings… With Lentz back in the lineup and a sudden, unprecedented logjam at catcher, Walsh has worked Mann out at first base and Lentz in left field to make a platoon situation possible… The Crimson will open its season during spring break against several Florida teams, then begin its home campaign against Rhode Island on April 1.

—Staff writer Martin S. Bell can be reached at msbell@fas.harvard.edu.