June 7, 2004
George Mason senior shortstop Jeff Palumbo will begin a professional career in baseball as a member of the San Francisco Giants. Palumbo was drafted in the 15th round of the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft on Monday, the 460th player overall. Joining him as a draftee on Tuesday was third baseman Nick Shimer, who was selected in the 32nd round by the Philadelphia Phillies. Shimer was the 962nd pick overall.
Palumbo is the first Patriot drafted since 1998 when Mike Huller was drafted by the Giants in the 14th round. Chris Aronson was also drafted that year, going in the 38th round to Anaheim. He and Shimer combined to play 382 games for the Patriots as each started every game this past season.
Palumbo leaves George Mason as the school's all-time leader in hits (283), runs (205), at-bats (865), games played (218) and games started (217) and he is top six all-time in RBI, steals and hit by pitch. This past year, he set the school's single-season record for runs (81) and hits (96). He batted .402 and had a .482 on-base percentage and was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year. He was first-team All-CAA and was the George Mason Male Student-Athlete of the Year.
Shimer was second-team All-CAA this year and he was among the top three in the conference in home runs (17), doubles (22), runs (65), on-base percentage (.466) and slugging percentage (.679). He had an 18-game hitting streak this season, the fifth-longest in school history. Shimer is among the school's top 12 in home runs, doubles, runs, total bases, hit by pitch and slugging percentage.
The Giants will assign Palumbo to their short-season team as a member of the Salem-Keizer Volcanoes in Keizer, Oregon. Action begins there on June 18. Their web site is www.volcanoesbaseball.com. Palumbo could end up playing close to home as the Giants have an A team located in Hagerstown, Md.
Palumbo was the second CAA position player selected in the draft and Shimer was the third. Mike Butia of James Madison was selected in the fifth round. Justin Verlander of Old Dominion was one of two CAA pitchers drafted in the first round as he was selected second overall by Detroit. Bill Bray of College of William & Mary was selected 13th overall by Montreal. Virginia Commonwealth's Justin Orenduff was a compensation pick between the first and second rounds and he was chosen 33rd overall. Also being selected in the top six rounds were Old Dominion's Donnie Smith and Virginia Commonwealth's Cla Meredith
