By Jordan Schwartzberg
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
Many MLB draft picks, when selected, don’t experience a lavish party with cameras everywhere and reporters dying to interview them. Unlike the NBA and the NFL, the major leagues draft players in 40 rounds spread across three days. Many baseball players do not get a glamorous draft day experience. For most players, their draft day is, well, rather humble.
Jack Graham is the current Aberdeen Ironbirds, general manager. Graham played catcher for Kenyon College and was selected in the 38th round of the 2012 MLB draft. He is the epitome of humble.
“Jack was a terrific player that didn’t need the spotlight on him at all,” his former college coach, Matt Burdette, said. “He was a very humble guy with a great baseball pedigree. A guy who had every right to be boastful and egotistical yet chose to be the complete opposite of that.”
This is the draft day story of Jack Graham.
He was sitting at his community pool checking the MLB Draft Tracker app on his iPhone underneath the sweltering Alabama sun. In the background, he could hear the gleeful screams of the neighborhood children, but they weren’t being too loud. The scent of the chlorine filled the air. Time was running out as the draft clock hit round 30.
Rounds 30 – 37 passed, and then round 38 popped up on the app. The Orioles had the 4th pick of the round, and Graham believed that if there was ever a time to be selected, it was then. After all, his uncle was the director of player development for the Orioles and had told Graham that if the team had picks left and he was the best fit available, they would take him. Picks 1 – 3 occurred, and then, exactly as Graham had predicted, his name popped up on the screen.
“I saw my name pop up and immediately took a screenshot,” Graham said. “My phone began to blow up a bit. I had some old friends text me, a couple of old coaches. It was surreal. I knew from that day forward it was time to improve upon myself.”
Graham, who was born in Minnesota but grew up moving from state to state, was always focused on becoming the best person and player he could be.
“On more than one occasion, we would get to twenty-something more than once, and a ball would sneak by,” said Aaron Graham, Jack’s dad. “When this happened, I’d say, ‘That’s good enough, let’s call it a day.’ With baseball thread marks on both arms and tears of determination caked with mud from the dirt around home plate on his face, he’d say, ‘Throw the ball, we’re starting over!’ At a young age it was clear he was going to do everything physically possible to succeed.”
Baseball was ingrained into Jack Graham’s life. He had been playing since he was 4, and ended up catching for 16 seasons and playing 20 seasons of organized baseball. He says he had more pop when he got drafted than one would think for a 5’10’’, 190-pound player.
His whole life revolved around baseball, so when he was released from the Orioles organization in 2014, he jumped at the opportunity to become a bullpen catcher with the Delmarva Shorebirds, an Orioles minor league affiliate.
With the Shorebirds, Graham got the chance to work with many players who are now either current or former Orioles stars. He worked with the likes of Trey Mancini, Chance Sisco, Austin Wynns, Mike Yastrzemski and Donnie Hart.
On Sept. 1, 2014, Graham left the Shorebirds clubhouse for the final time after packing his bags.
“It was an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world,” Graham said. “I had friends who graduated college and were stuck working entry-level, soul-crushing jobs for three years, while I got to play pro ball. I didn’t make it to the big leagues, but it’s an experience I wouldn’t trade for the world.”
That was the entirety of Jack Graham’s playing career, and he wouldn’t have changed a thing about his draft day experience.
No MLB TV video crew, no lavish party, no post-draft interview, and no hats on every counter and every wall. A humble draft day and a modest career. Just how Graham says he likes it.