HOWARD MAKES 17-ROUND RISE FORMER WESTLAKE STAR'S SUCCESS AT MIAMI MEANS BIG DRAFT BOOST.Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer Kevin Howard Kevin C. Howard (born June 25, 1981 in Hinsdale, Illinois) is a infielder in Minor League Baseball who plays for the Jacksonville Suns in the Double-A Southern League. paused only briefly for the news he'd been waiting three years to hear. Teammates couldn't tell whether he was excited or disappointed. Howard just went back to fielding ground balls. The former Westlake High star had decided to focus on his development rather than the opinions of others or the path he might take to become a major-league baseball player. That's' how he coped when his stock plummeted in the 1999 professional baseball draft. Always a winner, Howard was reminded things won't always go his way, which he now realizes isn't always so bad. ``He's very resilient See resiliency. ,'' said his mother, Pat Howard Patrick William Howard, usually known as Pat Howard or Paddy Howard (born 14 November 1973) is head coach at Leicester Tigers and a former Australian rugby union international who played centre or fly-half. He was educated at Queensland University. . ``He deals with adversity ad·ver·si·ty n. pl. ad·ver·si·ties 1. A state of hardship or affliction; misfortune. 2. A calamitous event. . That's something that's going to be very important, because there will be a lot of setbacks to overcome in professional baseball, even once he gets to the major leagues.'' The 1999 draft was the setback setback In architecture, a steplike recession in the profile of a high-rise building. Usually dictated by building codes to allow sunlight to reach streets and lower floors, the building must take another step back from the street for every specified added height interval. that started Howard on a journey he calls ``probably the best three years of my life.'' He reluctantly headed to the University of Miami This article is about the university in Coral Gables, Florida. For the university in Oxford, Ohio, see Miami University. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida,[2] UM,[3] or just The U to prove he was better than a 22nd-round selection, his place in the draft. However, as the notion of proving everyone wrong faded, Howard gained a College World Series championship, experience on the U.S. National Team, numerous honors and a greater appreciation for college. Thus, he won't complain even though his one-time dreams of becoming a first-round draft pick again went unfulfilled this spring. Instead, the infielder in·field·er n. Baseball A player assigned to the infield. Noun 1. infielder - (baseball) a person who plays a position in the infield is satisfied he was selected in the fifth round by the Cincinnati Reds and is about to embark on Verb 1. embark on - get off the ground; "Who started this company?"; "We embarked on an exciting enterprise"; "I start my day with a good breakfast"; "We began the new semester"; "The afternoon session begins at 4 PM"; "The blood shed started when the partisans the professional career many have anticipated since his days as a member of Little League World Series teams and as a high school All-American. ``I'm happy,'' Howard said. ``I'm happy with having gone to Miami and I'm not disappointed about the draft. I really am happy.'' Perhaps he felt the need to reiterate re·it·er·ate tr.v. re·it·er·at·ed, re·it·er·at·ing, re·it·er·ates To say or do again or repeatedly. See Synonyms at repeat. re·it that sentiment because this was a story detractors insisted wouldn't have a happy ending. Howard, not known as a strong student, wasn't supposed to survive academically at a university. On the baseball field, his speed and defensive skills weren't expected to compensate enough at the higher levels for his slender Slender “though well-landed, an idiot.” [Br. Lit.: Merry Wives of Windsor] See : Stupidity build. And the pricey Pricey Term used for an unrealistically low bid price or unrealistically high offer price. pricey Of, relating to, or being an unrealistically high offer. An offer to sell a security at $50 when the current market price is $47 is pricey. demands he'd made three years ago spurred the draft freefall and brought lingering lin·ger v. lin·gered, lin·ger·ing, lin·gers v.intr. 1. To be slow in leaving, especially out of reluctance; tarry. See Synonyms at stay1. 2. criticism about his greed. Howard, 21, admits he was intent on proving people wrong during his freshman season but later changed his thinking. ``I just wanted to go out there and have fun and play and not really worry about the draft and not worry about getting stressed out about it,'' Howard said. ``Because it's something that you can't control. You can just control how you work and how well you prepare. You can't control how other people look at you, you can just do your best to try to do as good as you can. After the experience in high school, I wasn't going to let the draft upset me again. ... I truly didn't care. I didn't care where I went at all. Yeah, you get more money as a first-round pick, but the real money you make isn't going to be in your signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join that company. These are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive to the employee e.g. if the annual salary is lower than they desire. , it's going to be when you get to the big leagues. ``So no matter how I got drafted, whether it was the first round or the 50th round, I was sure I could make it to the major leagues. That's all I'm worried about.'' In high school, Howard stayed home from school awaiting draft news. This time, he let his teammates track the selection process. Junior pitcher Kiki Bengochea, who has signed with the Texas Rangers Texas Rangers, mounted fighting force organized (1835) during the Texas Revolution. During the republic they became established as the guardians of the Texas frontier, particularly against Native Americans. , was among those in the Miami coaches' office listening to the draft on the Internet instead of practicing. Bengochea ran downstairs to tell Howard he had been picked by the Reds, making him the first of seven Miami players taken in this year's draft. ``I told him and he played it off and was like, `OK, now lets get back to practice,' '' said Bengochea, noting the lack of emotion was typical of Howard's team-first, business-like approach on the field. ``He was excited about the draft,'' said Miami teammate and fellow draftee Matt Dryer. ``But I think he was more excited that the whole thing would be over with since he'd been waiting for this for three years. When we heard who was drafted, he was more excited for me than I was and he seemed more excited for me than himself.'' The fact Howard gained little weight and both he and the team struggled in relation to previous seasons were cited as possible reasons Howard wasn't selected sooner. ``Coming in a few years ago, there was talk that he was on his way to being a No. 1 pick; that's what he was supposed to do,'' said Bengochea, who had often discussed the draft with Howard. ``Coming into this year, everyone expected him to go in the first round, second worst-case scenario worst-case scenario n → Schlimmstfallszenario nt . But Kevin had been disappointed before, so I think he tried not to set his sights on any specific round. The draft's a funny thing, anything can happen and you can't control it.'' What Howard can control is his preparation. That's why he's spending his summer back home working out and on a strict diet - hoping to add bulk to his lean 6-foot-3 frame - rather than rush into negotiations. Pat Howard helped instill in·still v. To pour in drop by drop. in  stil·la tion n. such thinking in her son. It was
no secret she didn't want him to sign out of high school.
``I really did want him to go to college because college is so valuable,'' she said. ``I always felt if Kevin was a good player in high school, he'd be a good player in college and that couldn't hurt him. And when he goes pro, it's a profession, it's a business. He would have missed that college experience that I know he would have regretted not having. ... ``Plus, when he came out of high school, he was just 170 pounds. Your body is not ready at that point to play 165 games a year. He was used to playing 20 games in high school. That's a big difference and his body wasn't ready for it. I didn't want him to fail because of that. Those are things I'm aware of.'' Contrary to popular belief, she said money was not an issue. ``It never was,'' she said, pointing out how expensive it was for her to fly back to Miami for almost every home game the past three seasons. ``Kevin has never been in baseball for the money. Kevin doesn't care about money. He uses the same glove and cleats year in and year out. We have to tell him, `Buy a new glove, that one is falling apart.' '' The Hurricanes never sensed he didn't want to be a part of their team. Today, Howard's experience is an inspirational in·spi·ra·tion·al adj. 1. Of or relating to inspiration. 2. Providing or intended to convey inspiration. 3. Resulting from inspiration. example for other local players disappointed by the draft. He spoke so favorably fa·vor·a·ble adj. 1. Advantageous; helpful: favorable winds. 2. Encouraging; propitious: a favorable diagnosis. 3. about college life that former Granada Hills shortstop Ryan Braun
Ryan Joseph Braun, nicknamed The Hebrew Hammer was convinced Miami was the place for him after making a recruiting trip there last fall. ``There's no question he came here to improve his status in the draft, which he did quite a bit,'' Miami coach Jim Morris He spent most of his childhood moving to different cities. said. ``But he never acted like he didn't want to be here.'' The Hurricanes were glad to have Howard. His willingness to sign autographs, pose for pictures with kids or attend the Little League games to which his younger fans invited him, made him instantly endearing en·dear·ing adj. Inspiring affection or warm sympathy: the endearing charm of a little child. en·dear . Fans have twice voted Howard the team's most popular player. ``Everybody loves him,'' Dryer said. ``The fans, coaches, other players, they all like him. That can be important in making it as a professional.'' However, there is far more to like about Howard than his personality. He batted a team-high .413 as a freshman and made defensive plays that ended up on national highlight shows. He was named Baseball America's 2000 Freshman of the Year. After winning a national title as a sophomore, Howard batted .299 with a team-high 18 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in for the USA National Team during its international summer tour. He entered his junior season as a preseason All-American and went on to hit .363 with 52 RBI and 12 home runs. ``He's as ready as he can be at this time,'' Morris said. ``He's played for a national-championship team, he played for the USA National Team last summer. He worked hard for three years here. He's done everything he can do. ``He's done everything he can to make sure he's ready to move on to the next level when he has the chance, which is there now. He was outstanding before we got him, but he definitely improved quite a bit.'' Howard is convinced - even if some others aren't. ``He believes he's going to be in the big leagues,'' Bengochea said. ``I wouldn't argue with that. He has an excellent chance. The level of competition I've seen so far in the minors, he's going to stand out, especially early on. ... ``It's a long way to the big leagues and a lot of things can happen, but if there's anyone I'd bet on to succeed in the big leagues, I'd bet on Kevin.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos Photo: (1 -- color) KEVIN HOWARD (2) Ex-Westlake High star Kevin Howard, center, played well at the University of Miami, and the Cincinnati Reds took notice. He moved up nicely in the draft. Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion