I bought Powerball and Louisiana Lottery tickets Wednesday evening. Again, even though the jackpots weren’t big. Can’t win if you don’t play.
But odds of cashing a big ticket are as extreme as the chances of Donald Trump sticking to a script when he speaks.
Or of a former District 1-5A high school baseball player — who didn’t even make All-City in Shreveport – possibly being a starting pitcher in the All-Star Game.
That really may happen. A prime candidate to be first on the bump for the American League is Seth Lugo, once ace of the Parkway Panthers’ staff and then a second-team all-conference chunker in his junior season at Centenary. The epitome of a Diamond (in the Rough) Gent has the best credentials among the AL pitchers, leading the league in wins and ERA.
Lugo making an All-Star Game in his ninth season, but only his second one as a starting pitcher in MLB, is a great storyline. Lugo even making the big leagues was unlikely enough, as a 34th-round draft pick, before he soon went through major back surgery, and somehow came out of it better than ever.
Even more unlikely – former Northwestern State All-American David Fry was added to the AL roster with Lugo on Sunday.
All the stars named then were selected by voting from their fellow players, coaches and managers, not fan voting or picks by the ASG managers as had been done previously.
The extraordinarily versatile Fry has had a breakout first full season in Cleveland after coming up last May 1 to post a solid 57-game MLB debut following a torrid 2023 spring training. In the big scheme of things, him making the majors was no small surprise.
The 27-year-old was the “player to be named later” in 2022 when Milwaukee traded for journeyman pitcher J.C. Mejia, who soon flamed out of baseball. Fry reported to Triple-A Columbus and quickly made a name for himself.
Fry can catch or play in the infield or outfield. He even made a couple of late-game, inning-chewing pitching appearances as a rookie. This year, he’s caught, played first base and left field, and been a designated hitter while emerging as one of the most productive batsmen in baseball. It was mind-blowing last month to see the MLB Network doing a segment on Fry ranking alongside Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper and Juan Soto. He’s been that good while not even in the daily lineup – he’s played in 68 of the Guardians’ 90 games.
Another All-Star in that short list of heaviest bats in the bigs: Lugo’s Kansas City teammate, Bobby Witt Jr.
Witt, 24, in his third MLB season, is early in an 11-year, $289 million deal with the Royals. His fiancé is Maggie Black, who like Witt went to high school in Colleyville, 15 miles away from Globe Life Field. They were sweethearts, then he went to the minor leagues and she came to play softball from 2019-22 at Northwestern State.
Fry grew up in Colleyville, but played at nearby Grapevine High School. He graduated from NSU in 2018, the year he led the Demons to the NCAA’s Corvallis Regional and was an All-American first baseman and catcher. His bride, the former Rebekah Burleson, graduated from Riverdale Academy in Red River Parish and collected a diploma a couple of years ahead of Fry at Northwestern. She worked as a recruiter after graduation.
Small world, huh?
Lugo, Fry and Witt are among 32 first-time All-Stars among the 67 players heading to Arlington for next Tuesday’s Midsummer Classic at Globe Life Field. Theirs are not the only great stories – but Lugo and Fry are OUR local great stories.
Conversely, two dozen of the 2024 All-Stars are international products, nine from the talent-rich Dominican Republic and six from Venezuela.
Four rookies earned their ASG invitations, including LSU’s Paul Skenes, who wasn’t even in the bigs on Opening Day.
He belongs. Skenes is one of this year’s most dominant players. We saw that Thursday, when he no-hit Milwaukee for seven innings before being pulled with 11 strikeouts. But without the revised selection system, doubtful the Pittsburgh Pirates’ cornerstone of the future would be in MLB’s showcase so fast.
Some would like to see him start Tuesday night. Not so fast, friends. That is an honor reserved for accomplished veterans – like a late-blooming 34-year-old right-hander, a guy who used to pitch against the Natchitoches Central Chiefs, Parkway’s Seth Lugo.
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com