Here is just a sample of the excellent content being regularly written in the
Monty Brewster Baseball Association. Props to Simon Wright (SpaceNinja), owner of the Salt Lake City Missions on this "Player Spotlight" as we call them. Enjoy!
There's a
James Watkins in every town in America.
Just ask his family and friends back home in Koosharem, Utah: James was as close to a sure thing as you'll ever see. A million dollar arm with an attitude to match, Jamie had dreamed of pitching in the big leagues since he was old enough to run the bases. Every day he spent hour after hour throwing a worn out tennis ball against the side of the old barn, refusing to quit until he could hit dead center every time. Every night was spent learning the ins and outs of the game with his father, Leroy Watkins, former A ball catcher and current farmer.
Born into hearty, farmer stock, James grew fast and grew strong. As a second grader, he was already the size of kids twice his age, and could hold his own against them on a pitcher's mound. As he matured, he got even stronger, and quickly became a local phenom. No one with his kind of talent had come out of the county since, well, since Leroy Watkins thirty years earlier.
"It seemed like every day, Jamie would track me down to show off some new pitch," said his high school coach, Mike Graham. "Like a seventeen year old with a 95 mile per hour heater needs to be mucking around with sinkers and sliders. That kid was something else, I'll tell ya. Best pitcher this school ever had."
But James Watkins wasn't content being the best pitcher in tiny little Koosharem.
James wanted to be the best in the world.
His father respected his dreams, but wouldn't let him get carried away. James studied as hard as he practiced. He was a bright, dedicated boy, and by the time he graduated, he had earned a scholarship to college, by virtue of his grades, not his heater. He turned it down, however. College wasn't where he wanted to be. Like he had known since he was only five, he belonged in the major leagues.
And yet, the major leagues didn't come calling. Striking out farm boys in Koosharem might impress locals, but it doesn't bring in the scouts. His fastball was impressive, but the bigs found his other pitches wanting. "Sure, he had great heat, and great control, but no stuff whatsoever," reports one top scout under the condition of anonymity. "And that's the kinda thing you can't teach. Punk throws five, six other pitches, and they all stink. Curveball don't break. Changeup don't fool no one. And the less said about that knuckler crap, the better."
Watkins, determined that he had what it takes, spent his life savings to travel across the country and attend try-outs. But day after day, he got the same response. He just wasn't a major league calibur arm.
Resigned, he returned home to Koosharem to forge a new life. He took over the farm from his pa, and attended college classes at night. But he still threw that old tennis ball against the side of the barn, and dreamed of what might have been.
And baseball wasn't done with James Watkins, not by a long shot. Seven years, a marriage and two kids later, the Salt Lake Missions rolled into town, looking for young arms to fill out their minor league system. A resigned and unoptimistic Watkins tried out at the insistence of his wife Janet, and was offered a shot throwing for the A-ball St. George Dragons.
The Dragons wouldn't pay him, nor would they even give him a chance. He was just a place-holder. A loose arm, a local scrub until the team could start importing real talent. But for James, it was a chance to throw again, to walk the grass and to feel the rawhide in his hands.
There was no miracle for Watkins, at least not at first. He showed for every game that season, but pitched just three games. He was rocked each time, and finished his first professional season with a 9.00 ERA.
The big roster cuts came, and Watkins rightfully expected to head back home without a job. Certainly better performing pitchers than he were sent packing. But somehow, for some reason, someone saw something in James that season. A flame, a spark, a drop of potential. And James was not only asked to return the next season, but asked if he would like to be a full-time starter.
The offseason was a hard one for Watkins. He spent the long winter months working to get his 26-year old body back into 18-year old shape. This was his big chance, his only chance, and he needed to make the most out of it. Even if he failed, he needed to try. He needed to know if all those scouts were right. He needed to know if he had what it takes.
There's a James Watkins in every town in America. A washed-up, ex-high school star who wasn't as good as everyone thought. A million young bucks with hopes and dreams, and none of them have what it takes.
But James Watkins is different.
James Watkins most certainly has what it takes. He has heart.
In his first professional start, Watkins picked up the loss, but only gave up two earned runs and struck out 12 over eight innings. Most thought it was a fluke. It wasn't. In his next start, James struck out 14. Next time, 9. Next time, a league record 18.
It wasn't long before management noticed, and rewarded him with a promotion to the AA Sundance Warriors. Most expected him to stumble, that it was just luck. Again, it wasn't. He racked up 15 Ks against the Spokane Storm in his first start, and hasn't let up since.
Watkins' K/BB rate this season, the metric many analyists consider to be the best for determining a pitcher's potential, is 4.77. That's the second best in professional baseball, anywhere in the world. The only better rate belongs to a man you may have heard of, by the name of Steve Nebraska.
Will Watkins' journey end in heartbreak? Or will he someday achieve his dream of pitching in the big leagues? Only time will tell. He still has a long, long way to go, and there is still much more of this story to be told.
But no matter what happens, you can be sure of one thing. James Watkins will never quit trying, and will never quit dreaming.
(If you're curious, Watkins was a computer generated one-star prospect with poor-good-good-good ratings, and no chance of ever making the bigs. But improbably, in this past season, his talent has improved to average-brilliant-brilliant-brilliant, making him a hell of a prospect even at 26 years old. Expect him to be beating the Lexington Lightning
in the bigs within a year or two.)