By David Laurila
Motivated by a called-third strike, Kevin Brown worked his way to pro ball.
A native of Northboro, Mass., and a graduate of Algonquin Regional High School, he was drafted out of Bryant University this year by the Chicago Cubs in the 22nd round.
Brown, who celebrated his 23rd birthday on the day the Red Sox won the World Series, spent his first professional season in the Arizona Rookie League and with Single-A Boise.
New England Baseball Journal: Did you get drafted after your junior year?
Kevin Brown: “No. I talked to a few teams, but after a good start didn’t finish all that strong. I still thought I had a chance to get drafted, it just didn’t happen. I was a little hurt by that, but it ended up for the better. I went to play on the Cape that summer (for Orleans) and learned a ton. I realized, ‘Wow, it’s a good thing I didn’t get drafted.’ I wasn’t ready for pro ball. Plus, I could go back for my senior year and get my degree.”
NEBJ: How did you perform on the Cape?
Brown: “I actually got in kind of weird funk, but you don’t become a good player unless you struggle. And I struggled pretty badly. I learned from that and it made me a better baseball player. I went into my senior year with a whole new outlook on things. In the past, my attitude was, ‘I really want to get drafted.’ Now it was more, ‘I’m going to give it everything I have, and if it doesn’t happen, it just isn’t in the cards.’
“I learned to trust the process and not freak out about results. My coaches at Bryant did a great job with me on that, especially Coach (Mike) Gedman. He was my hitting coach, and while he was awesome with mechanical stuff, it was the mental side of the game where he really helped me. I’m sure he learned a ton from his dad (former Red Sox catcher Rich Gedman). When I started to worry less about results, the results started to happen.”
NEBJ: What were your draft expectations this summer?
Brown: “After scout day last fall, I started to get letters. I got ones from the Mariners, Reds, Cubs, Rays, Yankees — a fair amount of teams. I didn’t hear anything from the Red Sox. I didn’t know who would pick me up, but I expected to get drafted. We had a really good group of guys, so I knew scouts were going to be at our games. It was really just up to me to perform and for us to win ballgames. That’s what we ended up doing. I got my degree ,and we went to a regional and beat Arkansas. It was a perfect year for me to go out on.”
NEBJ: What did you study at Bryant?
Brown: “I was a politics and law major, with a double minor in sociology and business administration. I took my education seriously. My whole life, I wasn’t allowed to play baseball unless I got the grades. That was instilled in me when I was young. And if you don’t have good grades, you can’t really play Division 1 baseball. I tell that to every kid I do lessons with.”
NEBJ: Why did you choose Bryant?
Brown: “I didn’t really have a lot of options. The coach at Bryant liked me, so I had an opportunity to play Division 1 baseball there. It was also close to home, so my parents could get to my games. A few Northeast Conference schools recruited me a little late in the game, but by then I was already committed to Bryant.”
NEBJ: What were your most notable games at Algonquin?
Brown: “My freshman year, I was on the varsity, and we won the state championship game. I was a defensive replacement the whole year. In the seventh inning of that game, there were runners on first and second and I was in left field. We were up by a run. A kid hit a line drive down the left-field line and I ended up making a great catch. The next day, the newspapers had stuff like, ‘What can Brown do for you?’ and ‘Glove at first sight’ It kind of gave me a taste of, ‘Wow, baseball can be pretty good to you.’
“My sophomore year, we were back in the state championship, and I was starting at shortstop. We had some really good ballplayers in that group. Dan White went on pitch at UMass-Lowell. Rob Nicholas pitched at Franklin Pierce. Dave Teggert ended up being the kicker at UConn. John McKenna went to UMass. We lost in the championship game. It was a 3-2 ballgame — I can laugh about this now — and we had a runner on third base. I was up against Kevin Scanlan from Lincoln-Sudbury, and he threw three pitches right down the middle. I took all three to end the game.
“A week later, I went to Cressey Performance to work out, and there were all the Lincoln-Sudbury kids. That made for some real motivation. I became driven to become stronger and a better baseball player. Seeing those guys celebrate a state championship, and then working out with them, really pushed me.
“I ended up playing with two Lincoln-Sudbury kids at Bryant. They’re going to have excellent careers there. Carl Anderson is already on his way. He had a great year last year. Dan Celluci was a freshman and will probably start at shortstop this coming year.
NEBJ: What was it like to work with Bill Buckner, the hitting coach in Boise?
Brown: “It was awesome. He knows the ins and outs of the game. It’s a shame that play is associated with him, because he had an amazing big-league career. He’s a great guy, and kind of a quirky guy. The first day I was there, he started pumping out pushups behind the L screen before he threw BP. It was like, ‘OK, here we go.’ And he was bringing it pretty good. He was a little southpaw, just throwing fire. I got to sit on the bench and shoot the breeze with him. He liked that I had played for Rich Gedman’s son, although it probably made him feel old.”
This article originally appeared in the November/December 2013 issue of New England Baseball Journal.
Twitter: @DavidLaurilaQA
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