LatinoSports.com
New York - Last Tuesday after school, Miguel Vasquez was in his bedroom in the Kingsbridge area of the Bronx doing homework, getting some needed rest and he heard his mother scream. It was the first day of the annual Major League Baseball amateur draft and the talented shortstop/center fielder at nearby DeWitt Clinton High School was projected to be picked by a team.
“I woke up and said, ‘what’s all this noise’ and my mom told me that I got drafted,” explained Vasquez this week about his selection, number 502 in the 17th round by the Kansas City Royals. A dream came true. “I was so happy when she (Ana) told me. My mom called everyone she knew, my family and friends called me on my cell phone.”
This is what happens when a young prospect from the Bronx, the Vasquez family is from the Dominican Republic, gets the call to possible stardom. One in so many will get that call and he was one of the top selections from the New York area. The two day draft process doesn’t get the hype and coverage that is seen with the national Football League and National Basketball Association drafts.
But it is an event and Vasquez, at 6ft-185 pounds has all the attributes of a Major League player. Scouts the past few years have observed a quick and compact swing at the plate, strong arms, speed and good range on the field. This past season at Clinton, the 18-year old batted .510, had 24 runs batted in with four home runs and 13 stolen bases and was coached by Ray Ramirez who also guided his player with the pressure of being a possible draft choice.
“This is a dream come true,” said Vasquez who will probably take his talent and remain Kansas City property as he continues to develop at Indian River College down in central Florida. The community college is a good baseball school, and though a 17th round pick in the draft is considered respectable, the money and contract is not.
So there is more time to improve and the Royals, a young team developing talent will take their time and make another contract offer next year. It is a part of the process when a young person gets drafted from the Bronx and surrounding areas of New York.
The last known player with talent that got drafted from the Bronx was former New York Met Bobby Bonilla, the Lehman High School product who also took his time and later became one of the highest paid players in the game with a career stopped because of injuries.
And Vasquez is one of the few from Clinton to get a Major League call. The last prominent player, Pedro Borbon Jr. the left hander pitcher in 1986 who made his rounds with the Chicago White Sox and Atlanta Braves. “I am going to college instead of rookie ball because I think I will be better off,” he said. “I’ll be more prepared when I go off to rookie ball next June.”
The Royals organization made the suggestion to attend college and Vasquez is appreciative. The senior is a scholastic athlete and will graduate in two weeks with honors. “They are helping me,” he said about the Royals, “and I’m great for that and I am looking for what is best for me.”
In the meantime it will be baseball this summer playing for the New Rochelle Robins at City Park up in the Westchester County area of New Rochelle. The last major Dominican ballplayer to come out of the New York City school system is one of those successful big money players, Manny Ramirez of the Boston Red Sox from Washington Heights.
