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Medicine Hat's Adam Moser is going to get
his chance in the pro ranks.
SEAN ROONEY
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Adam Moser packed up his belongings
Monday, ready as ever to embark on a professional baseball
career.
A week ago, he wasn’t even sure it
would get out of the driveway.
The 22-year-old Hatter finished his final
season at UNLV, pitching in 34 games for the division one
Runnin’ Rebels and striking out 39 in 42 innings.
June 5 and 6 were circled on the big
right-hander’s calendar: the Major League Baseball Draft.
“Even anticipating the draft coming
up, it’s kind of stressful, kind of hectic,” said
Moser. “You’re waiting for it, counting down and cross
your fingers, hope for the best.”
He’d talked to a few teams and had
high hopes.
But those 48 hours came and went without a
call.
“I was actually expecting it so it
was a bit of a heartbreaker at the time.”
Three UNLV teammates were picked. One was
touted as a first-day selection but went 575th. The others went
1,091st and 1,402nd respectively.
This wasn’t the way things were
supposed to happen. Moser, who transferred to the Rebels after a
year with Midland College in Texas, graduated with a degree in
physical education but had made up his mind to get to the next
level.
“It always crosses your mind;
there’s ups and downs, you hear different things from people.
That’s part of the mental approach I had — I just
told myself it’s gonna happen, it’s gonna
happen.”
His statistics backed up his dream. A
strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.29, a 4.50 earned run average and 5-2
record out of the bullpen were the best he’d ever put up.
“I knew I was in a fight with
everybody else in terms of the draft because I’m a fifth-year
senior, 22, playing against younger guys,” said Moser.
“But I pitched well... what made it a good season for me was
the downs were few and far between and there were plenty of
ups.
“Numbers-wise it was the best season
I had. Our team, we underachieved but it was a good year, all in
all.”
After the draft, coaches told him not to
worry. Some guys don’t get a call from a big league team
until a month afterwards, they said.
Not interested in sitting around, Moser
went to Calgary Friday and threw a quick bullpen tryout with the
Golden League’s Vipers.
“We were blown away,” Vipers
president Peter Young told the Calgary Herald. “We signed him
on the spot.”
That’s when business really picked
up in the Foothills Stadium parking lot.
“I went in the office to sign the
contract, went back out to my truck and my coach called and said
‘I just talked to the Angels, they’re going to be
calling you.’”
Yeah, those Angels. As in, the Los Angeles
Angels of Anaheim. As in so long Calgary, hello Tempe, Arizona
— home of the Angels’ spring training
facility.
The Vipers were good enough to tear up his
freshly-inked contract on the spot once he ran back in to tell them
what had transpired.
“I’m sitting around, waiting
to sign my first pro contract and then I end up doing it two times
in one day,” laughed Moser.
The plan now is a trip south, where
doctors will ensure Moser’s arm — which underwent
surgery to relieve tendinitis a few years ago — is up to
the task. After that he’ll likely be designated for
assignment with the Pioneer League’s Orem Owlz. Orem is a
suburb of Salt Lake City and the Pioneer League is considered
high-end rookie ball.
Just as he was starting to think about
starting his career as a teacher, baseball has pulled him back.
“That can wait,” he said.
“Hopefully that can wait for a while.
“I’m itching to get down
there.” |
