Baseball. however, are a rare breed. In fact, any active MLB player with a college degree is a rare breed. And Beachwood native Brad Goldberg hopes to be one of them. cago White Sox Triple-A affiliate), something was different about Goldberg. Yes, he threw well. But he is now a college graduate. He grad- uated from Ohio State University this past offseason. graduated college. Many players are drafted out of high school or after their junior year of college, only to never come back and finish their schooling. While Goldberg does not care that many of his Pro Ball teammates did not graduate college, he feels fortunate to be State was one my proudest mo- ments," he said. ease a little bit," he added. "It's defi- nitely a plus to have your degree in any sense of life, and provides me with peace of mind in this difficult lifestyle of a baseball player." might for another player because academics prevented him from playing baseball for two seasons at Ohio State. of playing college baseball was just that: going to college to play baseball. But when he transferred from Coastal Carolina University to The Ohio State University, many of his credits did not. new school. Goldberg, however, had more catching up to do. And during that timeframe, he was not able to pitch at school. people at Ohio State, I had a really good support system. A lot of sup- port, a little maturity and a lot of help from outside sources pushed me through that kind of weird time in my life." of summer collegiate baseball leagues in 2011 and 2012, facing a similar quality of competition as he would have had at school. In 2011, he pitched for the Eau Claire Express of the Northwoods League and, a year later, he was a member of the Chillicothe Paints of the Pros- pect League. With the Paints, Gold- berg threw mostly on weekends as he took summer classes heading into his final season at Ohio State. of took my mind off things," he reflected on being able to pitch in game competitions. senior in 2013 and the results were better than he could have hoped; he went 6-1 with a 2.99 ERA in 15 starts. my teammates," he said. "I put them and the university through a lot, but that was reciprocated well with all the love and support they gave me. It meant a lot to pitch in my senior year." innings), he caught the White Sox's attention. They grabbed him in the tenth round of the 2013 MLB draft. has allowed him to progress rather quickly through the White Sox farm system. plained. "Some great strength train- ing helped. A lot of people around me really helped me buy into what the White Sox are all about. I'm just trying to stay as consistent as pos- sible and the coaches and I are put- ting our minds together to make me a better player. We're trying to building one solid, mechanically sound pitcher." for the Charlotte Knights, leading the team with six saves in seven opportunities. And right-handed hitters hit just .175 off him in that stretch. In his final 15 outings prior to the All-Star break, he was partic- ularly dominant, surrendering just two runs in 16 innings. possible and put people away," he explained. "Nothing crazy. It's going to sound like a cliché, but I'm just trying to stay as consistent as possi- ble. That's the name of the game." keep working hard no matter what. If you put in the work, good things should follow." Laura Wolff/Charlotte Knights |