3afan
06-09-2004, 08:52 AM
La Grange's Bailey could be the next Texas pitching phenom
08:49 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 8, 2004
By TODD WILLS / The Dallas Morning News
BRENHAM – Homer Bailey coils his tall, lanky frame and lets go of another fastball. It crashes into catcher Lance Schramm's mitt, the pop heard 'round Brenham.
"How fast was that going?" asks a fan seated behind home plate. "Send a kid to check out the radar gun."
"We can't," says Kathy Ferguson, the coach's wife. "It's too crowded around here. They might get lost."So it goes with the uproar over La Grange's Homer Bailey. The first Texas high schooler taken in the baseball draft Monday (seventh overall by Cincinnati), Bailey is the probable starting pitcher in the Class 3A semifinals against Llano today at Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
In the opening game of La Grange's 3A regional final series last Thursday, fans were crammed everywhere to see the 6-4, 185-pound senior show his stuff. They filled the bleachers and lined the berms along each foul line at Blinn College's Leroy Dreyer Field.
The setting in Brenham wasn't unusual for Bailey, who could join a long line of Texas-bred pitching sensations that includes Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Josh Beckett.
One estimate had 43 scouts on hand to watch one of La Grange's first scrimmages this spring. At least 2,000 fans swarmed to see him Thursday in Brenham.
Bailey, who combines a quick wit with a say-what's-on-my-mind attitude, seems to understand what all the fuss is about.
"Why did people want to see Josh Beckett?" Bailey said. "Because they want to see something special."
Latest in the line
Legends are built at different intervals. Ryan was an unknown until scout Red Murff discovered him his junior season at Alvin High School.
Ironically, Jon Peters from right here in Brenham became a Texas baseball legend with a 51-game high school winning streak.
Ryan, of course, went on to the Hall of Fame as baseball's all-time strikeout leader. Peters, 33, works in the insurance business.
No one can predict how Bailey's career will unfold. They only know when his potential was first realized – around 14 or 15 years old.
His coach at La Grange, Ralph Ferguson, says he knew when Bailey was a freshman. He knew after one of the team's first practices, when Bailey gave up three home runs in a morning practice. He took some simple advice from his coach – "I'm not interested in throwing hard; hit spots," Ferguson said.
Bailey's fastballs started hitting the catcher's mitt instead of bats. He never played in a junior varsity game.
David Bailey, Homer's dad and youth league coach, knew the summer before when a select league coach from Louisiana approached him three times about "the kid" that had pitched against him that morning. Finally, that coach admitted he wanted to recruit the player. Bailey traveled with the team, specialized in pitching and became the ace.
"That's where he turned the corner," said David Bailey, who pitched in college at Houston.
So when did Homer know?
"I don't know," he said. "I just pitch."
That's how Bailey dazzles scouts. He "just pitches" with a fluid delivery that produces a 94-95 mph fastball, a solid curveball and a changeup. Bailey has had smooth mechanics since he was 9 and started working on his delivery with his dad.
"I wish I had a videotape," David Bailey said. "It hasn't changed at all."
Homer Bailey finished his freshman season by winning both games at the state tournament and earning MVP honors. But his biggest moment that year might have been the regional semifinals, when he defeated Cincinnati Reds reliever Ryan Wagner and Yoakum, 6-2, avenging La Grange's only loss in a 30-1 season.
Bailey returns to the state tournament this week with a 14-0 record, 0.49 ERA, 187 strikeouts and only 15 walks. Opponents are batting .106 against him.
Only goose eggs
Bailey has turned the small town of La Grange (pop. 4,744) on its egg carton.
Bailey's family was known around here for eggs before baseballs. Bailey, who turned 18 on May 3, was raised on a 350-acre farm between La Grange and Flatonia, where his father is an egg farmer.
The Baileys have 70,000 chickens. Homer Bailey did chores around the farm, maybe helping put up fencing. He didn't go near the chickens.
"I kept the kids away from there," David Bailey said. "I didn't want any of them to end up with three fingers."
Little did he know that those could be million-dollar fingers. David Bailey said he is confident his son will handle wealth well. The family has hired former Texas pitcher J.D. Smart as an advisor.
David Bailey said Tuesday that the Reds want to wait until the high school season is over before starting negotiations. Homer Bailey also has signed a letter of intent with Texas.
"He'll be fine," David Bailey said. "He might buy a new truck, but he'll just have to remember who his friends are."
Homer Bailey said his self-discipline will guide him through the upcoming changes in his life. Perhaps as an example, he has maintained his affable demeanor throughout La Grange's postseason run.
"Who wouldn't want to be in this situation?" Bailey said after his latest gem, a three-hitter Thursday night. "It's a little crowded, but when you step back and look at the situation, it couldn't get any better."
Class 3A baseball semifinals: La Grange (31-1) vs. Llano (27-9), 8 p.m. today, Disch-Falk Field, Austin
E-mail twills@dallasnews.com
HOMER BAILEY
School: La Grange High School
Class: Senior
Age: 18
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Ht., Wt.: 6-4, 185
Notable: In addition to his 14-0 record in 14 starts, has two saves in five five relief appearances. ... Has allowed 30 hits in 85 2/3 innings. ... Has given up only two home runs, one of them in the regional final against Jasper. ... Threw a season-high 101 pitches against Lorena in regional semifinals. ... Also plays first base and has .406 batting average. ... Has been clocked as high as 97 mph this season.
SCOUTING BAILEY
Three reasons La Grange pitcher Homer Bailey, the seventh pick in the draft, was so attractive to major league scouts:
• Effortless power arm that throws a fastball in the mid-90s; also has a solid curveball and changeup.
• Fields position well, which he showed as a freshman by chasing down a ball that bounced off his leg and getting a key out in the 2001 3A title game against Forney.
• Poise on the mound, much like the Rangers said John Danks was last year after they drafted him with their first pick (ninth overall).
08:49 PM CDT on Tuesday, June 8, 2004
By TODD WILLS / The Dallas Morning News
BRENHAM – Homer Bailey coils his tall, lanky frame and lets go of another fastball. It crashes into catcher Lance Schramm's mitt, the pop heard 'round Brenham.
"How fast was that going?" asks a fan seated behind home plate. "Send a kid to check out the radar gun."
"We can't," says Kathy Ferguson, the coach's wife. "It's too crowded around here. They might get lost."So it goes with the uproar over La Grange's Homer Bailey. The first Texas high schooler taken in the baseball draft Monday (seventh overall by Cincinnati), Bailey is the probable starting pitcher in the Class 3A semifinals against Llano today at Disch-Falk Field in Austin.
In the opening game of La Grange's 3A regional final series last Thursday, fans were crammed everywhere to see the 6-4, 185-pound senior show his stuff. They filled the bleachers and lined the berms along each foul line at Blinn College's Leroy Dreyer Field.
The setting in Brenham wasn't unusual for Bailey, who could join a long line of Texas-bred pitching sensations that includes Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Kerry Wood and Josh Beckett.
One estimate had 43 scouts on hand to watch one of La Grange's first scrimmages this spring. At least 2,000 fans swarmed to see him Thursday in Brenham.
Bailey, who combines a quick wit with a say-what's-on-my-mind attitude, seems to understand what all the fuss is about.
"Why did people want to see Josh Beckett?" Bailey said. "Because they want to see something special."
Latest in the line
Legends are built at different intervals. Ryan was an unknown until scout Red Murff discovered him his junior season at Alvin High School.
Ironically, Jon Peters from right here in Brenham became a Texas baseball legend with a 51-game high school winning streak.
Ryan, of course, went on to the Hall of Fame as baseball's all-time strikeout leader. Peters, 33, works in the insurance business.
No one can predict how Bailey's career will unfold. They only know when his potential was first realized – around 14 or 15 years old.
His coach at La Grange, Ralph Ferguson, says he knew when Bailey was a freshman. He knew after one of the team's first practices, when Bailey gave up three home runs in a morning practice. He took some simple advice from his coach – "I'm not interested in throwing hard; hit spots," Ferguson said.
Bailey's fastballs started hitting the catcher's mitt instead of bats. He never played in a junior varsity game.
David Bailey, Homer's dad and youth league coach, knew the summer before when a select league coach from Louisiana approached him three times about "the kid" that had pitched against him that morning. Finally, that coach admitted he wanted to recruit the player. Bailey traveled with the team, specialized in pitching and became the ace.
"That's where he turned the corner," said David Bailey, who pitched in college at Houston.
So when did Homer know?
"I don't know," he said. "I just pitch."
That's how Bailey dazzles scouts. He "just pitches" with a fluid delivery that produces a 94-95 mph fastball, a solid curveball and a changeup. Bailey has had smooth mechanics since he was 9 and started working on his delivery with his dad.
"I wish I had a videotape," David Bailey said. "It hasn't changed at all."
Homer Bailey finished his freshman season by winning both games at the state tournament and earning MVP honors. But his biggest moment that year might have been the regional semifinals, when he defeated Cincinnati Reds reliever Ryan Wagner and Yoakum, 6-2, avenging La Grange's only loss in a 30-1 season.
Bailey returns to the state tournament this week with a 14-0 record, 0.49 ERA, 187 strikeouts and only 15 walks. Opponents are batting .106 against him.
Only goose eggs
Bailey has turned the small town of La Grange (pop. 4,744) on its egg carton.
Bailey's family was known around here for eggs before baseballs. Bailey, who turned 18 on May 3, was raised on a 350-acre farm between La Grange and Flatonia, where his father is an egg farmer.
The Baileys have 70,000 chickens. Homer Bailey did chores around the farm, maybe helping put up fencing. He didn't go near the chickens.
"I kept the kids away from there," David Bailey said. "I didn't want any of them to end up with three fingers."
Little did he know that those could be million-dollar fingers. David Bailey said he is confident his son will handle wealth well. The family has hired former Texas pitcher J.D. Smart as an advisor.
David Bailey said Tuesday that the Reds want to wait until the high school season is over before starting negotiations. Homer Bailey also has signed a letter of intent with Texas.
"He'll be fine," David Bailey said. "He might buy a new truck, but he'll just have to remember who his friends are."
Homer Bailey said his self-discipline will guide him through the upcoming changes in his life. Perhaps as an example, he has maintained his affable demeanor throughout La Grange's postseason run.
"Who wouldn't want to be in this situation?" Bailey said after his latest gem, a three-hitter Thursday night. "It's a little crowded, but when you step back and look at the situation, it couldn't get any better."
Class 3A baseball semifinals: La Grange (31-1) vs. Llano (27-9), 8 p.m. today, Disch-Falk Field, Austin
E-mail twills@dallasnews.com
HOMER BAILEY
School: La Grange High School
Class: Senior
Age: 18
Position: Right-handed pitcher
Ht., Wt.: 6-4, 185
Notable: In addition to his 14-0 record in 14 starts, has two saves in five five relief appearances. ... Has allowed 30 hits in 85 2/3 innings. ... Has given up only two home runs, one of them in the regional final against Jasper. ... Threw a season-high 101 pitches against Lorena in regional semifinals. ... Also plays first base and has .406 batting average. ... Has been clocked as high as 97 mph this season.
SCOUTING BAILEY
Three reasons La Grange pitcher Homer Bailey, the seventh pick in the draft, was so attractive to major league scouts:
• Effortless power arm that throws a fastball in the mid-90s; also has a solid curveball and changeup.
• Fields position well, which he showed as a freshman by chasing down a ball that bounced off his leg and getting a key out in the 2001 3A title game against Forney.
• Poise on the mound, much like the Rangers said John Danks was last year after they drafted him with their first pick (ninth overall).