Published: July 14, 2008 11:12 pm            

Ex-Poet Phelps suits up for Orioles

BLUEFIELD — Baseball players are rarely associated with the Romantic Era of British literature.

Thomas Phelps has already been a Poet on the baseball diamond. He hopes to teach others the wonders of Ralph Waldo Emerson or William Wordsworth later in his life.

“There’s not too many people that are English majors that are professional athletes, in fact there aren’t a lot of people even with their degrees,” said Phelps, a pitcher with the Bluefield Orioles.

“I think it is very important for me to get my degree and be into literature just because it’s fantasy, it’s a way to take you out of the moment.

“Sometimes life isn’t fantastic and being able to jump into a book or a novel, it’s just an easy way to get away from some of the stress of life and jump into someone else’s shoes.”

Phelps was a 38th round draft choice in June by the Baltimore Orioles out of prestigious Whittier College, a Division III school in California known for producing former president Richard Nixon.

Professional baseball really wasn’t in Phelps’ future plans, at least not until his junior campaign when the right-hander posted a 4-5 record for the Poets.

“It wasn’t something that was really on my radar for a while, I wasn’t very good up until this past year. I kind of blossomed in my junior year of college,” said Phelps, who is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA in three starts for the Orioles. “I guess as a little kid this is something I looked forward to so it’s exciting and I’m trying to make the best of it ... .

“It’s been fun, and I’m trying to enjoy it. I’m don’t want to regret anything. The last thing you want to do is take an opportunity like this for granted. Just try to make the best of it and try to make some friends along the way.”

Phelps is currently trying to work his way back from a back injury suffered during his last start. A freak accident then followed that resulted in asprained ankle. He hopes to return soon, and has goals for the remainder of the Appalachian League season.

“It’s not about the numbers. Feeling more of a command for my secondary pitches is the No. 1 goal and being able to stay healthy and stay away from freak accidents,” said Phelps, who mixes a fastball (88-93 mph) with a curveball and change.

“I’ve been lucky enough not to have arm injuries — knock on wood — and the sprained ankle was a freak injury. I hurt it during batting practice, which is ridiculous.”

While Phelps — a Westminister, Calif. native — has enjoyed his stay in Mercer County, he’s far from his favorite getaway in Huntington Beach. There aren’t many opportunities to surf in this part of the world.

“I surfed every day. I’m not super fantastic at surfing, but I like to longboard,” Phelps said. “It’s nice and casual, just get out there to relax. I use surfing to get away from baseball and school and all that stuff.

“It’s really tranquil being out there in the ocean knowing that thousands of miles in any direction, there is no land minus the beach that you are on. It’s just cool looking out on the waves and not seeing an end in sight.”

Phelps hopes that the same happens with his baseball career.

“I’m already here. Life is long enough that if I play minor league baseball until I am 30, I still have 50 years of my life to teach and coach so it’s not like I’m in a hurry to start the second phase of my life,” said Phelps, whose girlfriend is a pre-med student.

“I’m going to stay here and enjoy this while I can because not many people get the chance to do it.”

Phelps figured it was a good time to take the next step in his life.

“I figured if I didn’t take this chance now, it might not ever come,” he said. “Getting here is the first step and anything can happen once you’re here. I’m going to play until somebody tells me to stop.”

If baseball doesn’t work out, Phelps has his life planned out. He’s already got a history degree from Whittier and will return in the fall to compete his requirements for an English degree. Currently boasting a 3.4 grade point average, Phelps is facing a 60-page thesis, but at least the Orioles will pay for his education.

“I want to teach English and maybe history. I’ve got a history degree as a fallback, but I really like and enjoy reading and teaching literature, mainly the classics, the romantics like Emerson and Wordsworth,” he said.

“Eventually, I may try to get my doctorate so I can teach college, but that is going to be a tough road, probably tougher than minor league baseball.”

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound Phelps, who turns 21 on Oct. 12, has allowed 17 hits and six walks, while striking out five in 11 innings on the mound for the Orioles. His win came on June 25 against Elizabethton.

“I just compete, even days when my stuff isn’t good, I try to bear down and make sure I keep the ball down and incorporate the fielders as much as possible and keep them on their toes because if you’re throwing a lot of balls and stuff, they’re going to fall asleep,” he said. “I think just having that overall awareness of how to keep my team in the game is pretty much my strong point.

“You’ve got to be less consumed with the strikeouts and more consumed with the groundball outs. Even at times I get guilty of trying to go for the stats, strikeouts look good, but that’s not all that matters.”

Phelps has a six-year plan. He hopes it includes a promotion to Aberdeen or Delmarva — steps up the Baltimore system — in 2009.

“That’s my ultimate goal is to try and move up a step every year,” Phelps said. “If I can advance a step every year that gives me six years until I am in Baltimore so that’s the ultimate goal.

“There are a ton of minor goals that build up to that. If I can some how achieve all the minor goals, then that ultimate goal will be achieved.”

California and West Virginia are quite different in a lot of ways. Phelps was somewhat ready for the change in climate, thanks to playing in the Northwoods Summer League with the Mankato (Minn.) Moon Dogs.

“In Minnesota, it rains a lot too and I’ve played in other summer leagues so the weather is not so terrible here,” said Phelps, who has played baseball year-round since age 11. “I do like the nice days out here and there is a lot more green out here than in California.

“There are actual forests out here and not huge concrete buildings all over the place.”

Not surprisingly, Phelps is an avid reader who has started Jack Kerouac’s On the Road, a novel that Phelps thanks relates closely to life in baseball.

“He’s talking about American freedom, which is kind like what the minor leagues are like,” Phelps said. “It’s kind of representative of what goes on here, it’s freedom and getting away from life.

“As much as this is a job, it’s a game. We’re getting paid to come out here and throw a baseball. You can’t get much more freedom than that.”

—Contact Brian Woodson at bwoodson@bristolnews.com

        

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