When Ryan Klesko was going into his junior year in high school in California, he was one of the top-rated pitching prospects in the country.
“I went into that season throwing the ball 91 to 93 miles per hour,’’ said Klesko, who went to Westminster High in Orange County.
But Klesko strained a ligament in his elbow and had to shut down, pitching very little his junior and senior seasons. He said his coach told him it was tendinitis but rest didn’t help. Meanwhile, Klesko continued to play in the field at first base but his pitching stock dropped so much that he was wasn’t taken until the fifth-round by the Braves in the 1989 amateur draft.
The Braves had drafted Klesko as a pitcher but he planned to play baseball at Arizona State. When the Braves were in Los Angeles to facing the Dodgers that summer, they called Klesko to ask if he would be willing to drive up to L.A. and take some batting practice.
“The Braves told me, ‘I know you can’t pitch right now but we would like to see you hit,’’’ said Klesko, who stood 6 f00t 3, weighed 220 pounds and would eventually be nicknamed “Thumper.”
“I was planning on going to Arizona State but I decided to go up to Dodger Stadium and take some swings,” he said. “The first couple of swings, I was sweating a lot and was pretty nervous. But then I put about 14 of the next 20 pitches in the seats. The next day I came out, I think I hit eight out of 10 out and almost hit one out of the stadium.’’
Then-Braves general manager Bobby Cox was impressed and offered Klesko bonus money that a late first-round pick would get.
“They gave me a good bonus and a scholarship in case something happened,’’ he said. “I talked to my mother and we decided to go for it. A couple of weeks later, I was in the minor leagues.’’
And some $60 million in salaries and 18 years later, he would retire without ever throwing a pitch.
