Ellsbury Does Oregon Proud
Tom Melton
East Oregonian.com
1/9/08
Finding Jacoby Ellsbury in a crowd is not as easy as one would think. Ellsbury in street clothes looks like hundreds of other college kids, or even a high-school age youngster.
Oh, but what a story there is behind the kid who was named by his mother after seeing an advertisement for, he believes, a piece of farm equipment.
Ellsbury was in Pendleton during the holidays with his girlfriend Kelsey Hawkins and her family, and took the time to join me on my talk show on KTIX.
Immediately you find a young man who is humble and mature beyond his 24 years. Of course I'm talking about the kid from Madras who helped put Oregon State on the college baseball map and had a postseason with the Boston Red Sox this past fall that will go down as one of the most memorable ever.
He credits his mom and dad for all the good things that have happened to him - his dad for always taking time to play catch, hit off the tee, or just talk the game with him, and his mom for taking him to all the many events he was involved in with nary a complaint. She loved to watch her son Jacoby.
Growing up in Madras, Ellsbury found other sports to his liking. He became an outstanding basketball player and quality football player as well, until a broken collarbone his junior year ended his hopes as a gridiron prospect. Then he really began to focus on becoming the best baseball player he could become.
OSU's Pat Casey, an outstanding baseball coach in Corvallis and now a legend in his own right, gave Ellsbury a chance to play for the Beaver's - sight unseen - relying on area coaches and the word of people he trusted about this kid from central Oregon.
Did Pat Casey make a great move? It turned out to be one that helped put OSU on the major stage of college baseball. Ellsbury was the cornerstone to the start of the historic run of three straight World Series appearances and back to back titles.
Ellsbury's rise to baseball folklore has been nothing less than amazing. Originally drafted out of high school but not signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the 23rd round of the 2002 MLB entry draft, he was then drafted in 2005 by Boston as the 23rd overall pick in the first round out of Oregon State.
He began his professional career in July 2005 with the Lowell Spinners, a Class A New York-Penn league. Jacoby finished the season hitting .317 with 23 stolen bases in 35 games.
In 2006 Ellsbury began the season as the Red Sox No. 6 prospect in the organization. He began the season with the Class A Wilmington Blue Rocks of the Carolina league, hitting .299 with 29 stolen bases in 61 games and an all-star appearance. He was then promoted to the Class AA Portland Sea Dogs of the Eastern League in July of 2006 where he hit .308 with 16 steals in 50 games and was selected defensive player of the year and base runner of the year.
When 2007 came, Ellsbury started once again for the Sea Dogs and was promoted to AAA Pawtucket on May 4, and his rise was pretty amazing. Jacoby was named to two all star teams and broke the consecutive game hitting streak held by former major leaguers Dave Stapleton and Dave Berg at 19. For the second straight year he was selected by the Red Sox organization as their minor league defensive player and base runner of the year.
With an injury to Red Sox centerfielder Coco Crisp, Ellsbury was called up by the big club on June 30 at Fenway against the Texas Rangers.
Hawkins, his girlfriend from Pendleton, drove Jacoby from Pawtucket to Fenway on that memorable day. "I was sick to my stomach all the way there - the magnitude of what was about to happen was becoming a reality. I thought about what I had said when I was a fourth grader in Madras when I told those that would listen, I wanted to be a ball player in the bigs, and now it was about to happen. It truly was an amazing moment and drive to the stadium."
Once he got to the stadium and was in the locker room he thought things would settle down. As he was putting on his Red Sox uniform, star pitcher Josh Beckett came up to Jacoby for what he expected to be words of encouragement. Instead, Beckett looked him straight in the eyes and said, "Don't screw it up."
As it worked out he didn't screw anything up, but instead played well with a couple of defensive gems, hits and a stolen base.
As the season went on, Jacoby was named Major League Baseball's American League Rookie of the Month for September, and with fewer than 130 at bats he will still qualify as a rookie in 2008.
The postseason found a folk hero in the kid from Madras as he became a cornerstone of the Boston offense and defense. In 11 postseason playoff games prior to the World Series he hit .360 in 25 at bats and stole two bases. In the World Series he hit .438 with four doubles and a stolen base.
In talking with Jacoby Ellsbury you can see first and foremost a real love for baseball and a willingness to be humble, and above all work at his trade.
There'll be ups and downs in Ellsbury's career. That's baseball. But with talent, and most importantly his feet firmly on the ground, Jacoby Ellsbury will continue to have a wonderful baseball career.
Who wants to read about Bonds and Clemens? Let's follow that Oregon kid. The sky just might be the limit for the former White Buffalo.