Oakland Athletics Relief Pitcher Jay Witasick Returns to UMBC to Discuss His Experiences in the Majors
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THE RETRIEVER WEEKLY SPORTS October 15, 1996 PAGE 19 Oakland Athletics Relief Pitcher Jay Witasick Returns to UMBC to Discuss His Experiences in the Majors r NEWS, from Page 16 In 1995, Jay's development as a ranges anywhere from 88 to 98 miles up all the baseball cards that his fans Before Jay left the UMBC base- obligation to a Wilson glove con- ■r professional pitcher landed him with per hour. His secondary pitches in- would ask for him to sign. Only upon ball field, coach John Jancuska told tract which he had to make some scholarship to attend Brevard Jun- the Cardinals high Class A subsidiary clude a breaking ball and changeup. returning the signed cards, Jay's girl- him that if there was ever anything appearances for, and his schedule ior College in Melbourne, Florida. in St. Petersburg, Florida. He relo- He had one win and one loss as a friend would return the better, more he needed that he need not hesitate for baseball training there's no tell- Jay couldn't thank his high school cated that very year to the Little pro in Oakland. His only win came valuable cards to the fans that wrote to let him know. "I'll be here till Fri- ing when Jay Witasick will ever be coaching staff enough for prepar- Rock, Arkansas affiliate for the re- off of a late inning victory over the the nicest and most sincere letters. day coach, I'll see you sometime be- seen back home again. It is good to ing him for the long road ahead of mainder of the season. At the con- Chicago White Sox. The lone loss The obvious baseball card collectors tween now and then," said Jay see Jay Witasick did not forget his him to the majors. He mentioned clusion of the 1995 season, Jay was occurred in Toronto and Jay has Joe would get stuck with the bottom of Witasick. roots and where he came from. He C. Milton Wright coach Jim Miller, renowned all over the minors as a Carter to thank for it. Witasick had a the line brand of cards because they With Jay's schedule there was re- even took my advise about not giv- as well as pitching coach Mr. twenty one year old "phenom." count of two balls and two strikes were only doing it for the money. ally no way of telling when his coach ing batters anything to hit, after he Fieldhouse. It was precisely this promising in- against Carter, but when Jay went to would ever see him again. From his already has two strikes on them. ' Upon completion of his rookie formation which sweetened the pot his bread and butter pitch (his 'Season at Brevard Junior College, in the trade between the Oakland A's fastball), Carter anticipated the pitch Jay was drafted by the Houston and the St. Louis Cardinals. The Car- and drove it out of Sky dome for some Astros in the 1991 summer draft. dinals traded Jay Witasick along with late inning heroics. Witasick went in the later rounds three other minor leaguers for veteran "I fell into a pattern," admitted pf the draft and felt that signing in starter Todd Stottlemyre. Witasick of the home run he let up 1991 would not be in his best in- After the trade, Witasick was as- that cost him the game. He let Carter ferests. He wanted to transfer to a signed to a AA farmclub with the see his fastball three straight times, four year university like UMBC to Athletics. In mid-August Jay got the even though he had two strikes on pursue his education as well as bet- call he had been waiting for all of his him. ter himself as a baseball player. Jay life. He skipped AAA altogether What struck me about Jay Witasick could have taken the easy way out when the A's called him up to fill out is that he is very down to earth. His and signed with the Astros in '91, the pitching roster late in the 1996 signing bonus was six figures, but but he chose to stay in school and season. During his stretch in the refused to brag or elaborate on the polish his pitching skills in a Divi- majors, Jay had the opportunity to exact sum. His agent, Ron Shapiro, sion I program back home. pitch against the Baltimore Orioles. is the same agent employed by such During Jay's junior year, the He faced both Billy and Cal Ripken, famous baseball players as Cal Saint Louis Cardinals picked him Roberto Alomar, Bobby Bonilla, and Ripken and Kirby Puckett. His girl- up in the second round of the 1993 Chris Hoiles. friend, who ran track for UMBC, was 0raft. He started his long journey "There's an understanding among never named by Witasick (probably to the professional level in Johnson pitchers in the pros," says Jay. "You because I didn't ask), but he did re- City, Tennessee with St. Louis' do not pitch inside to Cal Ripken. You fer to her very often. He shared a rookie farm club in 1993. In the don't want to be known as the guy story with the UMBC baseball play- very same year Jay was moved up who ended Cal's streak." ers about how the fan mail is deliv- to the A Class Cardinals affiliate in Despite the limitations of his pitch ered to baseball players in the majors. Savannah, Georgia. Witasick location to Cal Ripken, Jay managed "They come around with your fan moved up yet again in 1994 when to strike him out with his best "heat." mail and just dump it in front of your he went on to play for the middle A Jay's game plan is simple. He knows locker." Nick Vasiliadis/ Retriever Weekly Staff affiliate in frosty Madison, Wiscon- that his fastball is the reason why he He explained that his girlfriend Scholarly Advice: Jay Witasick gives a lesson the UMBC pitching staff will never forget sin. has made it this far. His fastball would go through his mail and line UPCOMING ATHLETIC EVENTS 1996 UMBC Women's Volleyball Schedule Tuesday, October 15th ECAC Invitational VOLLEYBALL vs. TOWSON STATE L, St. John's 3-1 Men's Soccer at American, 3:30 P.M. L, Temple 3-1 .Wednesday, October 16th W, Rider 3-0 WOMEN'S SOCCER VS. LOYOLA, 7 P.M. W, Delaware 3-0 Georgetown Invitational Saturday, October 19th L, Georgetown 3-0 : WOMEN'S SOCCER VS. UNCGREENSBORO, 1 P.M. ' I -mo.iiBrto dniri} asmilsmog ] .aotis: .rtiw rneoj aril sai i < •■:'iWv Air FQCC© Academyio:, 5 10 ii:3b IB3ig 1; gad jil<r. ,noa Men's Soccer at UNC AshevifleT lT.M. 11 • W, Mafquette' ' ■ • Monday, October 21st VCU Invitational Men's Soccer at Winthrop, 3 P.M. W, Howard 3-0 W, Army 3-0 Wednesday, October 23rd W, VCU 3-1 Women's Soccer at VCU, 4 P.M. Volleyball at Loyola, 7 P.M. W, Navy 3-0 UMBC INVITATIONAL HOME EVENTS IN CAPS. W, Loyola 3-0 V Call 455-2129 for results and locations of UMBC athletic events. W, VCU 3-2 W, 3-0 Charleston Southern* L, 3-1 Coastal Carolina* W.3-0 American University W.3-0 UNC GREENSBORO* W, 3-0 WINTHROP UNIVERSITY* W, 3-0 UNC ASHEVILLE* W, 3-2 Liberty University* W, 3-2 Radford University* The Retriever Weekly is now Oct. 15 TOWSON STATE 7RM. Oct. 23 Loyola College TBA available in cyberspace. Oct. 25 LIBERTY UNIVERSITY* 7RM. Oct. 27 RADFORD UNIVERSITY* 2RM. Oct. 29 James Madison 7 P.M. 1 Nov. 2 CHARLSTON SOUTHERN* 1PM. Nov. 3 COASTAL CAROLINA* 11A.M. Check us out at http:// Nov. 8 UNC Greensboro* 2 P.M. Nov. 9 Winthrop University* 3 P.M. www.gl.umbc.edu/~skassl/ Nov. lOUNCAsheville* 2 P.M. retriever. 1996 UMBC Men's Soccer W, 7-1 MARYLAND-EASTERN SHORE L, 3-2 Florida Atlantic L,3-0 Central Florida , Or just click on "Retriever On- Ppd. HOWARD W.4-1 Philadelphia Textile L, 1-0 Mount St. Mary's Line from the UMBC homepage. W, 1-0 Liberty University* W, 2-0 University of Delaware L, 6-1 UNC Greensboro* L, 1-0 NAVY" The following back issues can be viewed: L,2-0 RADFORD UNIVERSITY* W,4-2 COASTAL CAROLINA* Oct. 16 American University 3:30P.M. September 3rd Oct. 19 UNC-Ashville* 1P.M. September 10th Oct. 21 Winthrop University* 3 P.M. Oct. 26 CHARLSTON SOUTHERN* 1P.M. September 17th Oct. 30 ST. FRANCIS 7 P.M. September 24th Nov. 1 West Virginia University 7:30 P.M. October 1st Nov. 8-10 Big South Conference Tournament* October 8th *Big South Games Home Games in CAPS. .