Ellsbury's Oregon trail
Kevin T. Czerwinski
MLB.com
2005
There was a time when Jacoby Ellsbury was 13 or 14, he can't remember exactly, that he and one of his buddies were playing in the woods somewhere on his family's two-acre spread in Oregon when he got what seemed like a crazy idea.
The duo decided they would chase down a deer and try and rope it, rodeo style. Boys being boys and believing they were capable of doing just about anything, Ellsbury and his friend actually outran the deer and got the rope around his neck before snapping a picture and letting the animal go.
Ellsbury, 21, the first of Boston's five first-round picks in last month's draft, smiles when he tells this story. While it's a classic tale of teenagers horsing around, or deering around in this case, the story does have some relevance. While it wasn't a cheetah he was tracking down on the African plains, catching up to a deer in full flight in the Oregon woods is quite an accomplishment.
It proves just how fast and agile Ellsbury is. His speed is part of the reason the Red Sox found him attractive enough to take with the 23rd pick in the June draft. And his speed and what he's capable of doing with it is a big part of the reason Boston has no plans on rushing Ellsbury back from the strained left hamstring he suffered Saturday while running the bases in Lowell's 7-5 loss to Staten Island.
Ellsbury, who is hitting .278 with nine stolen bases in as many attempts in 10 games for the Spinners, is hoping to be back on the field by the weekend. He's been receiving treatment and working out and is optimistic that he won't have to miss more than a week of the New York-Penn League schedule.
"It's definitely annoying," said Ellsbury, who also has a homer and seven RBIs. "I'm getting off to a good start here, and I have this little nagging hamstring strain that sets me back a couple of days. It's precautionary now. They just want to give me a couple of days off to rest. They want me to be 100 percent when I get back, nothing less. For sure by the weekend I'll be playing. "Speed is one of my strengths. It's not my only one, but it's one of them. It's something the organization and I don't want to take any chances with. I want to be fully healed. I don't want to go out there if I'm only 75 percent. So I'm just going to wait and get healed up."
Ellsbury's transition from Oregon State hasn't been as dramatic or traumatic as that of some other first-rounders who make their way through the short-season leagues. For starters, he played in the College World Series last month in Omaha, so he's used to pressure situations, big crowds and lots of media attention.
He's also played in the Alaskan Summer League and the Cape Cod League, having grown accustomed to wooden bats long ago. And finally, he did his homework, speaking to several people who played Minor League ball out of college to get a feel for what to expect. And, injury aside, he's been steady.
"He has a real good idea of what he's doing and a real good approach," Lowell hitting coach Alan Mauthe said. "He's very solid as a hitter with a very good swing. I didn't know a whole lot about him other than he played in the World Series. I didn't have a whole lot of information, but then again I didn't want any.
"I wanted to see what I had with him today and what the starting point would be. I wasn't interested in making changes. I just wanted to see him play, and he has a real good idea of what to do, and he's a great kid on top of it. He's pretty committed the way he goes about his business."
Ellsbury says he got a true taste of the Red Sox Nation when playing in the Cape League and then again after getting the chance to take batting practice at Fenway Park after he was drafted. He's glad Boston chose him even though some of his family and friends wanted him to go to Cleveland. Ellsbury is a native American - he's Navajo - and there were many who thought it would be cool if he played for the Indians.
"My little brother thought it would be neat," Ellsbury said with a smile. What's neat now, though, is what he's been able to do at Lowell and what he's hoping to do once he gets back on the field. As for the deer, Ellsbury says he still has a picture of his conquest somewhere.
"We really thought we had no chance of catching it," he said. "But we did. It was pretty neat. A couple of my buddies still don't believe me; they want to see the picture. I have it somewhere. I just have to find it and show them."
If anyone doubts how quick Ellsbury is, it might just be easier to watch him play baseball. Seeing him patrol the outfield and run the bases should be enough to prove how good his wheels actually are.