North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: A Draft Day Dream
6/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 7, 2005
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH -- Matt Devine and Mike Jensen took their earphones off and tried not to give away their secret.
They were sitting in their apartment with NC State closer Joey Devine, and a handful of other friends and family, waiting to hear the results of the first round of Tuesday's Major League Baseball draft.
But Jensen and Matt Devine, Joey's older brother, were three picks ahead of everyone else, because they were listening to the draft live on satellite radio, while Joey Devine and everyone else watched the draft transpire on the Internet, which had about a five-minute delay.
Joey knew something was up, but he waved off his brother and his teammate. "He was sitting there saying, `I don't want to hear what you heard,' " said their father, Larry Devine. "He wanted to see his name pop up on he screen."
Sure enough, at No. 27, Joey Devine's name was announced as the first-round pick of the pitching-rich Atlanta Braves.
"I can't express the feelings I had," said Joey Devine, a three-time All-ACC performer and All-America reliever who owns the NC State career record with 36 saves. "I got chills from head to toe. It was almost like it shocked me, caught me off guard.
"As time has gone by and I have tried to grasp what has happened, I can't be any happier. I am with a great organization and the Atlanta Braves have given me a great opportunity."
Devine's phone started ringing off the hook. He talked to his mom, Lynn, who was locked in her office at a bank in Junction City, Kansas, where she is a mortgage loan officer, following the www.mlb.com webcast of the draft.
He talked to his advisor and soon-to-be-agent, Bobby Barad, who called to say congratulations.
And he talked to Braves area scout Billy Best, who lives in the Triangle and befriended Devine pretty much since the first day he stepped on campus. The Braves had been keeping an eye on Devine since then, culminating with this year's Duke series, when legendary Atlanta scout Paul Snyder, still recuperating from a heart attack, came to watch Devine pitch against the Blue Devils.
When Devine blew away six Miami batters in the ACC Tournament down in Jacksonville, Fla., in front of a regiment of radar guns and major league scouts, his stock had risen just about as high as it could go.
All that was left was waiting for Tuesday to get arrive and the clubs to start calling names.
But even with good recommendations from Best and Snyder, the Braves don't generally go for college pitchers - at least not since John Schuerholz took over as the team's general manager in 1990. It is the first time Schuerholz has taken a college pitcher in the first round since 1987, when he drafted Kevin Appier from Antelope Valley College as the general manager of the Kansas City Royals.
The Braves, who have won the National League East Division 13 straight years, haven't drafted a college pitcher in the first round since 1987 as well, when they took Georgia's Derek Lilliquist. (The Braves and Schuerholz did take Dan Meyer from James Madison with a first-round compensation pick in 2002, the No. 34 pick overall.)
"They normally go with a high school guy or a position player of some sort," said Devine, who became the first NC State player taken in the regular portion (non-compensation) of the draft since Dan Plesac was selected by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1983. "Them giving me that opportunity as a college right-handed pitcher, I am just blessed."
Devine has the potential for rocketing through the minors just like his former teammate, Chad Orvella, who made it to the majors in only a year and a half. Orvella, a former shortstop for the Wolfpack, was recently called up by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a middle reliever.
The Braves need some bullpen help, now and in the future. New closer Danny Kolb, signed in the off-season from Milwaukee, has already been replaced in that role by Chris Reitsma. The Braves lack closing prospects throughout their minor league system.
For now, Devine is headed to the beach. Best told him on Tuesday that he is slated to report to the Class A Myrtle Beach (S.C.) Pelicans by June 20. Devine knows the area: He pitched in Myrtle Beach while playing for Team USA last summer.
"It's been a great three years for me at NC State," Devine said. "I can't even express what it has meant to me to play here and come out to the yard every day with my teammates. I want to thank and pay tribute to my teammates and my coaches.
"I wouldn't be in this position without them."
Contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
