Beating the odds

Finally it hit home.
Andrew Carraway was a member of the work force.
The former standout on the mound at Virginia had a real paycheck in his pocket.
It was the numbers on the pay stub, however, that might jump out.
“We got our first paycheck and that was nice,” he proclaimed recently from Everett, Wash. “The first one was like $400 after taxes.”
Not bad for seven days of playing minor league baseball, right?
Think again.
“They give it to us every two weeks,” he offered with hesitation.
Let it be known, Carraway is not complaining. A lifelong dream is being fulfilled daily: he is playing baseball as a professional.
It helps too, he said, that he landed with a host family that charges just $50 a week for rent and meals. And when he is on the road accommodations and meal money are covered.
“The cost of living is hardly anything. It is a really good set-up that we have,” he said. “The host mom cooks for us and there is tons of food. Really, if we wanted to be we could be financially sufficient, self-sufficient during these minor league months.”
With the long-awaited platform that Carraway is on follows some cruel realities, especially while in the lower levels of the professional ranks.
Drafted in the 12th round by the Seattle Mariners, Carraway was promptly assigned to the Everett AquaSox in the Northwest League, a short-season Class A organization.
“We got into Eugene, Oregon — it was the first road trip that I was on — and I looked and it was at 5 a.m.,” he chuckled. “That was kind of like the ‘welcome to minor league baseball moment’ for me.”
On the field and outside of the lengthy bus rides to road games, Carraway has been near perfect.
Having thrown 91 innings in Virginia’s magical season that finished with a trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., the powers that be with the Mariners organization elected to slot Carraway in the bullpen for the remainder of the season, protecting his arm.
“They wanted to protect me. It was a long season,” Carraway said. “I am really comfortable right now coming out of the bullpen. It really has been nice.”
Carraway, 22, could have elected to leave Virginia after his junior year by relaying that he would accept a cheap signing bonus to secure his services. The right-hander made the decision to float a large monetary figure, however, allowing him to live on The Lawn during his senior year and complete the requirements for his degree on time.
Playing all four years of college baseball may have made it harder on the Georgia native to make it to the ultimate stage, the Majors. In fact, a study by the San Francisco Chronicle said only 42 of the 750 players on active rosters had a four-year college degree.
“I guess it is a stat against a guy that graduated college, but being a minor league baseball player is being a statistic against yourself,” he said. “The odds are against every single person in the minor leagues.
“The odds were against me when I went to UVa. I wasn’t supposed to get a college scholarship for my first year. I wasn’t supposed to be a weekend starter, and I sort of feel like I thrive in that type of environment.”
Returning for his senior season, however, allowed Carraway to continue to prosper under the direction of pitching coach Karl Kuhn in adverse
situations. While it did not always appear to make complete sense, what Kuhn asked of Carraway prepped him for what he faces in every appearance with the AquaSox.
“I think back to my start against Irvine in the NCAA Regional and there were a couple of innings where I had to pitch inside a lot. It was on a big stage, it was a regional of death and I had to pitch against metal bats. That is scary,” he said. “And then I got here in the minors and the pitching coach out here in every pitching meeting that we have, he tells us to pitch inside.
“I was able to have that ability because of this year. It was those little things that I wouldn’t have picked up if I didn’t have this last year. Hopefully, those are the things that will help me move up faster.”