Dan McGrath was just nine years old when he watched the Boston Red Sox break an 86-year drought to win the 2004 World Series and now, as a 17-year-old, the promising Australian baseballer has signed a six-figure deal with the famous MLB club.
Growing up in a fanatical baseball family from Melbourne, McGrath has been a Red Sox fan all his life.
The promising young pitcher is currently preparing to help the Melbourne Aces progress past Perth in the Australian Baseball League championship series beginning on Friday, but now has a much bigger goal for 2013 and beyond.
A product of the MLB Australian Academy on the Gold Coast, McGrath will finish year 12 and complete his VCE at Whitefriars College in Melbourne in November before fully turning his attention to baseball.
McGrath was at home on Tuesday night when the family received the call from Red Sox Australian scout and Australian national coach Jon Deeble.
He’s already been to Boston several times to watch the Red Sox play as a spectator, and McGrath didn’t hesitate in leaping at a chance to one day take the mound at the fabled Fenway Park.
“It was an easy decision in the end. Jon Deeble called us and mum said we’d let him know within ten minutes and she called him back twenty seconds later,” McGrath said.
“It was pretty unbelievable actually, it’s always been a childhood dream to play for the Boston Red Sox.”
McGrath is planning on heading to the Red Sox spring training facility at Fort Myers, Florida in April for three weeks to get a taste of what to expect in 2013.
However, the MLB Australian Academy has already given him a fair idea as it’s modelled on what it’s like to be a minor league player in the United States.
Spending a couple of months at the facility each year for the past three years, McGrath would train in the morning, play a match in the afternoon and then complete his school work in the evening for six days straight each week.
The director of Major League Baseball International in Australia, Tom Nicholson believes the rigorous schedule has prepared McGrath well for the next phase of his career.
“He’s actually our 171st graduate that has come out of the MLB academy and to be able to have such numbers at that level validates what we’re doing in this territory,” Nicholson said.
“By the end of the season they’ll have a 45-50 game schedule completed … it’s taxing.
“These guys are pushed to the limit but they also get a taste of what professional ball is all about.
“I know his family are huge Red Sox fans, so this is like all their Christmases come at once.”
© AAP 2012Recommend this story.
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The Crowd Says (7) | Page 1 of Comments
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February 9th 2012 @ 5:49am
Bobby Sports said | February 9th 2012 @ 5:49am | Report comment
Hey your stats on his age are wrong he would have been around 9-10 when the sox broke the drought
February 9th 2012 @ 6:05am
bgands said | February 9th 2012 @ 6:05am | Report comment
So in 04 he was 4, and in 12 he is 17? Does the math in Australia work different too?
February 9th 2012 @ 6:09am
J Martin said | February 9th 2012 @ 6:09am | Report comment
Evidently math was not Mr. Horne’s best subject. Please re-read the first paragraph then do the math. If McGrath was 4 when the Sox won in 2004, how can he be 17 in 2012?
February 9th 2012 @ 8:42am
SfSoxfan said | February 9th 2012 @ 8:42am | Report comment
Math has never been my strong suit, but it seems to me that he was a lot older than 4 when the Sox took the series….
February 9th 2012 @ 9:33am
Teddysoxfan said | February 9th 2012 @ 9:33am | Report comment
My high school math teachers said that not all nembers are real. There are also imaginary and complex, not to mention irrational. I’m pretty sure that Mr Horne must have used one of these (I’m thinking irrational) when calculating the young man’s age, but I know that he was using imaginary numbers when he quoted Tom Nicholson saying that it was validating “to be able to have such numbers at that level…”. WHAT NUMBERS? No numbers were ever given. So all we know from this article is that Dan McGrath comes from Australia, he may be 17 (or 12 using real numbers), and he had good imaginary numbers. Not the best reporting.
February 9th 2012 @ 9:37am
Tristan Rayner said | February 9th 2012 @ 9:37am | Report comment
You guys could be Mathletes. Thanks – I’ve corrected this AAP article.
February 9th 2012 @ 4:09pm
B.A Sports said | February 9th 2012 @ 4:09pm | Report comment
Well maths aside this is great news for the kid. It was getting reported in Boston media today ( i heard it on WEEI – a local sports talk station). Stories are that he has signed with the Sox for less money than he was offered from other organisations. I just hope he realises the dream and doesn’t get traded before he gets a chance to play at Fenway. But a teenager who can throw 90miles plus is very exciting for the fan base.
Good luck to him. – And Go Sox!!