JSU Baseball Pitcher Picked by Texas Rangers
in MLB Draft

Photo: JSU photo/Illustration by Bran Strickland/The Anniston Star

By Bran Strickland
Star Sports Editor
06-07-2008

King for a day: Gamecock hurler picked by Rangers

Reprinted here in its entirety.

JACKSONVILLE — Justin King admits that the last half-decade of baseball has been a roller coaster.

But unlike most roller coasters, King will be in control of its next move.

The Jacksonville State junior, and Jacksonville High product, was selected by the Texas Rangers on the second day of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft on Friday. King's selection came in the 30th round as the 903rd overall pick, and he becomes the first Calhoun County native to be selected since Matthew Maniscalco in 2003.

With one year of college eligibility remaining, King must now decide whether to return to Gamecocks or begin his pursuit of what he called his "lifelong" dream with a five-figure signing bonus staring him in the face.

"I've got to get on plane in a week," said King, a 6-foot-5 hard-throwing right-hander. "I'll probably make my decision in two or three days."

With the ball — and his athletic future — in his hand, it's a far cry from where his professional prospectus was at times over the last few years.

As a varsity player for Jacksonville High, he broke into the rotation as a sophomore. Though he wasn't a 90 mph regular then, his first high school coach knew the talent was there for the then tall and lanky 10th-grader to reach the show.

"Sure, somebody was going to draft him," said Rusty Burroughs, now a professional fisherman. "Even when he was young, he threw really hard. You could see the potential there.

"A big tall right-hander like him, as hard as he's throwing now … that's going to be hard to hit."

After his high school days, King signed on at Alabama. In Tuscaloosa, though, King never played in a game and left after just one semester.

Returning to his hometown of Jacksonville, he latched on with the Gamecocks where he struggled to find control of his blistering fastball. Before long, it was discovered that his wildness had nothing to do with baseball ability. It was far deeper.

King had circulation issues in his pitching arm, which caused him to lose sensation in his fingers, making his hand feel numb. Without a true feeling for the ball's seams, he would need surgery, or baseball would be a fast fading memory.

After going under the knife shortly after the 2007 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament, King made a full recovery in the Gamecocks' 2008 season when they won the regular season conference title. The recovery was a work in progress for much of the season as King went 3-3 with a 6.49 ERA.

But among the ups and downs this season, more than one club saw something they liked.

King said the New York Yankees appeared the most interested in his services. He traveled to Tampa to work out for the club, where he said he was consistent in the 93-94 mph range on the radar gun, topping out at 97.

In all, he said more than a dozen clubs had contacted him — but none of those included the Rangers before Friday.

"I got the call (Friday morning). They told me to be prepared to go pretty soon," King said. "Nothing ever happened.

"Then I got a call from the Rangers. They said they were about to draft me … it was out of nowhere."

Just hours after being drafted, King admited he knows little about the Rangers.

"A little more than when (Jarrod) Saltalamacchia got traded for (Mark) Teixeira," said King, referring to the seven-player trade between the Braves and Rangers last season.

Over the next few days, King will brush up on his knowledge of the club once partially owned by president George W. Bush.

He'll talk to his coaches and parents, think about his Gamecock teammates, his "great friends" as he called them. And his future — wherever it may be.

"I'm excited," King said, "but I'm nervous, too."

Nobody said roller coasters were predictable. Even if you get to say "go."

See story at The Anniston Star's website: www.annistonstar.com .

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