 "Photo: Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor")
How rare is that elusive diamond in the rough? Where should college sports programs begin searching for that aesthetic athlete?
Places baking at more than 1,600 degrees Fahrenheit are a good start. Being lodged under 60,000 bars of pressure is a must.
In Justin Masterson's case, however, scouts should've started looking in his birthplace, Kingston, Jamaica.
From there, they'd travel to Bethel College, a school in Mishawaka, Ind. with barely 2,000 students. A school ahead of the baseball curve when it gave Masterson a roster spot when not one Division I school found him worthy.
At Bethel, and in the Cape Cod League in the summer of 2005, Masterson mastered his nasty sinker and front-office personnel pointed their radar guns in his direction.
From there, he latched on at San Diego State for one season before getting drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the second round of the 2006 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.
Not a diamond in the rough by the strict definition, but a good find nonetheless.
"I've had the confidence to be a great pitcher all along," Masterson said. "I went to a smaller school and really proved that I had the ability to pitch, and whatever route I took to get me where I am I'm not worried about it."
He shouldn't start worrying any time soon, either. Quickly promoted to Double-A from the lower Class-A level - the jump perceived as the hardest in the minor leagues - Masterson is currently blowing away hitters for the Portland, Maine Sea Dogs, an affiliate of the Red Sox in the Eastern League.
Now, on pace to land in the big show sooner than later, Masterson looks back at his baseball upbringing and recognizes the advantages he gleaned from such a humble start.
"I think being the underdog always gives you an advantage in anything," Masterson said. "People always underestimate you, so when you do well it's a pleasant surprise instead of something expected."
Nor does the obscure ascent to baseball prominence hurt from a technical standpoint.
"As you move up (in the minors), guys get more selective and the game becomes more mental than physical," Masterson said. "That's where a lot of guys lose it, (but) my start kept me humble. I know I have to battle every time I go out and, starting at a lower level, I really learned how to get guys out with my mental capacity."
An appearance at Fenway Park, the Red Sox's home, doesn't seem too far away.
"My coaches are just telling me to be consistent, just keep doing what I'm doing and that'll take me where I want to be," Masterson said.
From Jamaica, to Bethel, to Boston, Masterson's steadiness on the mound is developing into a gem of a career on the baseball diamond.
Be the first to comment on this article!