David Price for NEXT: Fun Facts

A few things you may or may not know about David Price.

by Sean Bartlett

You know that David Price is a dominant pitcher, but do you know which respected coach compared him favorably to Sandy Koufax? Read on for some fun facts about Price, and if you want to see more fun facts, go here.

1) He attended Blackman High School in Murfreesboro, Tenn. (ranked the 84th best place to live in U.S. by Money in 2006), where he had a microscopic 0.43 ERA. According to Wikipedia, he is their only notable alumnus.

2) His favorite baseball player of all time is David Justice.

3) At the age of eight, he was already pitching against kids four years his senior. He is also a tremendous bowler and basketball player, and refuses to be anything but the best at Madden.

4) He was the Rays third No. 1 overall pick in their history. The first two were Josh Hamilton (1999) and Delmon Young (2003). Shortstop Tim Beckham was selected by the Rays with the No. 1 overall pick in 2008.

5) He was chosen by his teammates to introduce president-elect Barack Obama at a Tampa rally back in October.

6) After going 11-0 in 15 starts in Single A and Double A, his first professional loss came as a member of the AAA-Durham Bulls. We assume it's because he wasn't wearing his garters.

7) In winning the Dick Howser Trophy (given to the best collegiate baseball player) in 2007, he joined a list of notable recipients that includes Alex Gordon, Jered Weaver, Rickie Weeks, Khalil Greene, Mark Prior, Mark Teixeira, J.D. Drew, Kris Benson, Todd Helton, Jason Varitek and Robin Ventura.

8) Ever doubt he's the real deal? Check out this praise from Pedro Martinez:

"He's amazing, that kid. He's amazing. That kid is very mature for his time in [the pros], and very talented. Oh my God. God bless him and keep him healthy."

9) And this endorsement from Jim Schlossnagle, his pitching coach during his time on Team USA.

"You think of a lefty, he's got deception like Dontrelle Willis, but he's got more stuff. I've never seen Sandy Koufax pitch, only on video. But I'm trying to think of a really, really loose arm, loose-bodied lefty that has that has a great fastball, and Koufax is the only guy I can come up with."

10) Aside from Game 7 of the ALCS, the most important moment in his life may have come early on in his college career, when he almost quit baseball because of struggles on the field and in the classroom. His college coach, Tim Corbin, explains:

"I talked with him for an hour and was confirming to him that he was in the right place, and these things happen to many people, he was not alone. A lot of things were going to change, and this was just a proving ground in his development as a person and baseball player. After I was done, he gave me a hug like he wouldn't let go. That was the last time I ever had to talk to him about confidence."

Check out David Price's NEXT page right here.

Print Article . Email Article. Subscribe to The Magazine