Every kid who has ever put on a baseball glove or hit a ball off a tee has the same dream: making it to the major league.
But contrary to Hollywood’s fairytale endings, reaching the big leagues isn’t simple. Many talented college baseball players will not even be drafted, while others will toil in the minor leagues for years before finally having to give up the game they love.
Even with those daunting odds, though, legions of dreamers strive for a career in the pros. Duke is home to its fair share, including senior Dennis O’Grady.
“I think anyone’s goal who plays college baseball would be to make it to the big leagues and work your way through the minors,” O’Grady said.
O’Grady starred for the Blue Devils his junior year, finishing in the top five on the team in both batting average and RBI. He sees himself as a pitcher at the next level, though. He realizes he still has work to do.
“I probably need to work on my off-speed pitches and just being more consistent,” he said. “I’ve done it for three years now, and I feel like I’ve learned enough that I need to lead the team and be the most consistent guy on the team.”
If O’Grady hopes to toe the rubber in the majors, he has two former Blue Devils to emulate. Scott Schoenweis, drafted out of Duke in the third round in 1996, was a quality relief pitcher in the majors for more than a decade before being released by the Boston Red Sox earlier this season.
Meanwhile, fellow Blue Devil Chris Capuano was drafted in the eighth round in 1999, breaking into the majors with Arizona in 2003. Primarily a starter throughout his career, Capuano was an All-Star in 2006 but struggled the following year, returning to the majors this summer for the first time since 2007.
But not every Duke player has had the success of Capuano and Schoenweis—or at least not yet. Jimmy Gallagher is one example of a talented former Blue Devil who is slowly working his way through the minor leagues. Drafted in the seventh round by the Chicago White Sox in 2007, the outfielder is now in his first full season in Double-A ball.
“I’ve had that steady progression that you kind of hope for if you’re in this game,” Gallagher said. “Haven’t gone too fast, haven’t gone too slow. Obviously you want to get to the big leagues as soon as possible, but I’ve had a steady progression every year…. You kind of feel like you’re knocking on the door a little bit, but there’s some things you have to take care of down here [in the minors].”
But life in the minor leagues isn’t nearly as glamorous as it is in the MLB. The average Double-A player, for example, earns only $1,500 a month. Players travel constantly—and on buses rather than private jets.
All this means long and strenuous hours for minimal financial gain. For Gallagher, though, it is a reasonable price to pay to continue playing.
“Once you head out for spring training, it is baseball every single day from February through the beginning of September,” Gallagher said. “You don’t get a whole weekend or anything like that off, you look forward to that day off down the road. You’ve got to love the game, and it’s certainly a grind, but there’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
For players like O’Grady, getting drafted and making it into the minor leagues provides the one chance they need to show their worth and continue playing the game they love for a living.
“All I really want is a shot, and I think I can do a lot with that,” O’Grady said. “You work hard, you get better, and you increase your ability and a lot of times you just get lucky. As long as you get a shot, you get picked in those 50 rounds, you can always work harder, get better, and reach your goal.”
And to make the most of that one shot against the overwhelming odds, one characteristic becomes paramount—faith in your abilities.
“You’ve got to believe in yourself, that’s the biggest thing,” Gallagher said. “I’ve always believed in what I was capable of doing. I always felt I was capable of playing at this level.... Just believing in yourself and having that conviction that you’re good enough to play with the best.”
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