The call changed their lives, even if they expected the news on the other end. It didn’t matter if the players were called during the firstround or 20 rounds later. It still capped one half of a dream; the other half, of course could only be realized in the future.
Though most of the Nationals are a few years removed from being drafted by a major league team, none have forgotten what that day is like.
“Everyone wants to be one and to have it come true is pretty special,” Nats third baseman Ryan Zimmerman, the fourth overall pick in 2005, said. “The rest of the day you’re floating.”
For the players they pick, the draft will serve as a day they probably won’t forget. Even if they’re a celebrated third baseman like Zimmerman. Or an established closer like Chad Cordero. He was at a practice with Cal State Fullerton when his coach surprised him with news that Montreal had selected him 20th overall.
“That was a total shock to me,” he said. “I was hearing that I’d go in the third or fourth round so when they said first round, I couldn’t believe it. There were a couple guys on my team who everyone expected to be picked higher than me. … It was pretty cool.”
They let him out of practice so he could call his parents. And Cordero remained on an extended high.
“That whole year was like a dream come true,” he said. “It was something I always wanted to happen, but didn’t think would happen. So when it did, that was great and I didn’t want to let it go.”
“You get an adrenaline rush,” said Austin Kearns, the seventh overall pick by Cincinnati in 1998. “But it just depends on who you are. If you dig that kind of thing, you can walk around with your chest stuck out. I was just like, ‘Is this really going on right now?’ I was excited for it to happen.”
Pitcher Jason Simontacchi wasn’t selected until after his senior season at Albertson College in 1996, and was a 21st round pick at that. Not that his draft position mattered that day.
“I was so young back then and was like, OK, great,” he said.”When you first get drafted, players think, ‘Man, I’m going to the big leagues and nothing can stop me. Then they hit the real world of baseball and your life is what happens.”
2007 Draft
» This year’s First-Year Player Draft represents another chance for Washington to stock the minor league system, thanks in part to owning five of the first 70 selections.
» The draft will be televised for the first time, though it will be limited to five rounds on the first day.
