University of Tennessee Athletics
Hochevar's Debut 'Awesome'
September 10, 2007 | Baseball
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
KANSAS CITY -- It was quite a debut for the Royals' Luke Hochevar. Nearly a full house at Kauffman Stadium. His parents, brother, sister, grandmother, wife Ashley's parents and her brother all in the stands.
And there in the batter's box, in the gray uniforms and the white "NY" on the deep blue caps, were the Yankees. Yikes.
Wearing No. 44, Hochevar came in from the bullpen for Saturday night's seventh inning and nobody noticed that, as he put it, "I was jumping out of my skin."
What does go through a guy's mind during a lifetime experience like that?
"Nothing," Hochevar said. "It can't, it can't. I just try to go out, trust my stuff and execute pitches. You can't go out there and think to yourself, 'This is the Yankees,' or 'Holy cow, this is A-Rod.' You can't allow yourself to do that. You've just got to throw the ball."
Hochevar, the No. 1 pick in the 2006 First-Year Player Draft, did that pretty well for three innings. He shut out the Yankees, gave up three hits and made them strand five baserunners.
"It's not easy going out there the first time against that team," Royals pitching coach Bob McClure said. "It can be nerve-wracking, but he looked calm and confident."
The first batter Hochevar faced, Robinson Cano, notched a high-hopping base hit past second base. But Hochevar shrugged that off and got through his 44-pitch initiation unscathed. He gave credit to catcher Jason LaRue.
"Jason was huge in helping me out and walking me through it," Hochevar said. "He came out to the mound a couple of times and talked to me. He was awesome. Just the way he puts you under his wing -- that was really big of him."
Manager Buddy Bell hadn't seen much of Hochevar.
"I was under the impression that he was a four-seam, 95-96 [mph], more of a power guy," Bell said.
"I was pleasantly surprised, mostly by talking to LaRue, that his sinker was much more than I thought it was. I personally prefer a guy that throws 91, 92 with some heavy sink as opposed to a guy that throws 95, 96 without any kind of movement, so I was encouraged by that."
LaRue was most impressed, though, by Hochevar's presence on the mound despite all of the baserunners.
"Most guys, in their first game, have that deer-in-the-headlights look," LaRue said. "But it seemed like nothing fazed him."
Even so, Hochevar just couldn't seem to control his breaking pitches. When Alex Rodriguez, who had clubbed two home runs against starter Brian Bannister, came up in the eighth, Hochevar plunked him in the left elbow with a pitch.
My, my. Would the Yankees think he was throwing at their basher?
Hochevar could only smile at the outlandish suggestion.
"I think they knew," he said. "It was a curveball. It wasn't a perfect pitch."
Although his first outing came at the end of an 11-5 whipping from the Yankees, for Hochevar personally, things went very well.
"It was awesome," he said. "I wouldn't trade it for the world."
What would Hochevar, years from now when he's bouncing his grandchildren on his knee, tell them that he remembered most about his Major League debut?
He had to laugh.
"It'll probably be hitting A-Rod with a curveball," he said.
At least it wouldn't be about A-Rod hitting a home run.
CHASE HEADLEY NAMED TEXAS LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It was announced last week that San Diego Padres prospect Chase Headley, the starting third baseman for the Class AA San Antonio Missions, has been named the 2007 Texas League Player of the Year. The former Tennessee standout also was named to the Texas League postseason All-Star Team.
Headley, who lettered at UT from 2004-05, was the league leader in batting average (.330), on-base percentage (.437) and slugging percentage (.580). He ranked among the top five in eight different offensive categories.
Over 121 games, Headley had 143 hits, 38 doubles, five triples, 20 hom runs, 78 RBIs and 82 runs scored. He committed just 11 errors in the field.
Headley appeared in seven games with the Padres earlier this summer.
