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He realizes he should be soaking it all in and cherishing every moment. And he’s trying, he really is.
Then again, Black, 19, is a classic perfectionist. If he threw a 28-pitch perfect game, he’d probably grind his teeth over the one pitch that didn’t go his way.
In his first appearance for Team USA on June 20, Black struck out five of the eight batters he faced from North Adams (Mass.), a New England Collegiate league team.
“I called my dad that night and he said, ‘Hey, you did good,’” Black said Friday while traveling with Team USA. “But he said I sounded like a grumpy old man, complaining about everything. I know I’m so hard on myself if everything is not where it has to be and it has to change. There are those times when I go out and everything feels good but I can always find something that I could have done better.”
Black, a freshman from Dallas Baptist University, spent two impressive weeks with the Loggers earlier this month, going 2-0 with a 0.67 ERA in three appearances (two starts) before heading off to try out for Team USA.
Team USA’s 20-man roster is already set. Black and Loggers catcher Trevor Coleman (Missouri) are both trying out for two of 15 remaining alternate spots. The alternates will be named no later than Monday and Black and Coleman could return to La Crosse as early as Tuesday.
“If I was selected, I still haven’t decided what I’d do,” Black said. “The alternate thing was not on my mind but I guess it will be decided when it comes around. I can come back (to La Crosse) and that would be awesome.”
Black said he doesn’t regret the Team USA experience, regardless of what happens with his final roster status.
“When I was given the opportunity to do this, I was pretty much like, ‘Yes,’ right away. I didn’t even question it or anything. This is such a big honor and that first time you actually get to put that jersey on, it’s twice as big. During the National Anthem, you get the tingles and everything. I haven’t looked back.”
It’s not hard to figure out why Black’s baseball stock is on the rise: He’s a 6-foot-4 right-hander who throws 94 to 95 mph and has only been pitching seriously for three years.
Black started out as a catcher on his high school team in Amarillo, Texas.
“It wasn’t until the summer after my junior year that anyone saw me pitch,” Black said. “From then on, I decided (pitching) was it for me. I think that’s where I got this attitude that I had to be perfect. Nothing’s come easy. I’ve worked hard and it’s finally starting to pay off.”
Black was selected by the Mets in the 41st round of the 2006 draft. He said the Yankees called him during the 18th round and told him they’d sign him and follow him for a year if he went to a junior college.
The lure of pro money didn’t appeal to Black at the time because he knew he wasn’t ready.
“I really had no idea what I was doing at the time as a pitcher,” Black said. “I could throw hard and that’s it.”
Black said he basically taught himself to pitch. He threw one inning as a freshman and was clocked at 81 to 84 mph. A year later, he was 84 to 86, then 87 to 90 as a junior and by his senior year he was in the 90s.
“I’ve never had a lesson,” Black said. “It’s been through repetition, throwing with my dad (Victor Sr.) in the front yard; it all just came together. I’ve had some glitches in my motion that coaches have helped me with but I’ve never had trouble with my mechanics. It’s practically all natural and I developed it and tried to make it work and it has so far.”
Loggers pitching coach Chris Carlsen said Black is at a “different level” than the majority of right-handers in the Northwoods League.
“He’s so effortless,” Carlsen said. “Mechanically, he’s very sound and he’s got an electric arm and knows how to use it. Now, he has to become a pitcher instead of a thrower. I think he will do that because you can tell he loves to talk pitching. I feel like there’s a lot I can learn from him, too.”
Joel Badzinski can be reached
at (608) 791-8402 or joel.badzinski@lee.net
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