Both Austin Peay alums playing major league baseball serve as left-handed relief pitchers for the same team, the Baltimore Orioles.
Jamie "Cat" Walker is in his ninth season as a major league pitcher, his second with the Baltimore Orioles. George Sherrill is in his fifth major league season, his first with Baltimore.
Both have overcome obstacles to reach the majors. Walker, after being drafted in the 10th round of the 1992 amateur baseball draft, spent five seasons in the minor leagues before the Atlanta Braves selected him in the 1996 Rule 5 Draft. That following spring the Braves traded him to the Kansas City Royals and he earned a spot on the big-league roster. As a result, he became only the third baseball player in APSU history to play in the majors, following Jimmy Stewart (1963-67, 69-73) and Greg Tubbs (1993).
However, he pitched only 1 ½ years at the major league level before a shoulder injury all but ended his dream. He spent the next three seasons, first recovering from the injury and then reinventing himself in the minor leagues, basically going from an over-the-top throwing motion to a three-quarters, sometime sidearm delivery. He finally came back to the majors to stay in 2002 with the Detroit Tigers. He pitched in the 2006 World Series with the Tigers and signed a three-year free agent contract with the Orioles last season, pitching in a American League high 81 games in 2007. He currently serves as one of the Orioles set-up relief specialists.
Meanwhile, Sherrill's story borders on the amazing. Undrafted out of Austin Peay (1998-99), he spent 4 ½ years toiling in independent baseball, traveling thousands of miles by bus to pursue his dream. But after dominating Northern League hitters early in 2003, the Seattle Mariners signed him to a minor league contract. Almost miraculously a year later he was in the major leagues. In both 2006 and 2007, Sherrill pitched in more than 70 games and became the Mariners primary set-up man a year ago, posted a 2.36 ERA while fanning 56 batters in 45 2/3 innings.
Just prior to 2008 spring training, he was traded to the Orioles and has become the team's closer. He had 23 saves entering Thursday for a team that has surprisingly surfaced above the .500 mark He is one of the team's top candidates to earn American League All-Star consideration. Recently (May 21-27 issue), Sherrill was on the cover of the USA Today Sports Weekly publication. The Baltimore Examiner also featured him in a sports cartoon, calling his Orioles' closer era as The Dawn of Sherrillization.
Sports Information Director recently Brad Kirtley recently visited both in Baltimore to do feature stories for the upcoming APSU Alumni publication?both stories will appear on this web site later this summer. He also sat down with the two?together?for a short question and answer session.
How unusual is it to have the only two Austin Peay alums in the major leagues on the same team?
Walker: “You know playing against George for a couple of years it was good to know there was another Austin Peay alum up here (in the major leagues). Then we got to play against each other, and now getting to know him is even better. It is a good thing having George here. We also have fun with our trainers (Richard Bancells and Brian Ebel). They are Eastern Kentucky grads and we wear them out.”
Cat, did you seek George out once he joined the Orioles?
“I told him the first day of spring if he (George) needed anything, I got his back. Now that he is closing for us, it has been a lot of fun. He brings a lot to the table.”
George, when you were at Austin Peay, did you know who Cat Walker was?
Sherrill: “You see his name plastered everywhere. And you said, who is this guy? I was just a small little blip on the radar at the time, if even on the radar. He was somebody you just kept hearing stories about, somebody you wanted to achieve what he had achieved (getting to the majors). Now we have two up here and maybe those guys there (at Austin Peay) can see us and keep working hard to possibly get here.”
When you are down in the bullpen do you ever talk about classes you had at Austin Peay or professors?
Walker: “Every now and then. During the game, though, we are talking about the game, keeping it loose. But we have talked about (retired Health and Human Performance professor) Dr. (Wayne) Chaffin, how he used to wear me out every day.”
Do you talk about any of your old haunts?
Walker: “Speakeasy and Texas East...I guess they are not around anymore.”
George: “Johnny's.”
Walker: “Johnny's Big Burger across the street, being out there to 4 a.m. I used to kill those burgers every night.”
What other topics come up during the game down there?
Cat: “It varies from hitting to hunting. We got guys from Memphis (Sherrill), Jackson, Miss., Louisiana, Texas, New York. We have a good time. We keep it loose; we rag each other and try to take away our attention from the everyday grind.”
George: We have lot of good ol' boys out there, lot of Southern boys in this clubhouse. The upbringing is a little bit different, guys who don't care so much about ego?they care about each other. It just makes it a lot easier. It makes it a lot more fun, guys going that extra mile for each other.”
Both of you have overcome so much to get here. How do you explain your respective careers?
Walker; “Both of us took the long road to get to the big leagues, I think both of our upbringings, it really helped us out. People helped us out along the way but eventually you are the one who controls things. George and I both never gave up our dreams. Right now we are living dreams.”
Sherrill: “God has taken care of me. He gave me the willpower and the fortitude to keep going on. He gave me some talent as well. He also gave me a good set of parents.”
Cat, you were the defacto closer last year for the Orioles. With this being George's first attempt to close at the major league level did you offer him any advice?
“Oh, no... George has better stuff than me. It is his job. I am glad they gave it to him out of spring. He earned it. Obviously, I am not fit to be a closer. I am an inning guy, maybe, but they want me to be a left-handed specialist. Whatever I can do to help the team I will do. I know George is the same way. If they asked him to start, he would start. That's what you need. I have been fortunate. We have a great group of guys on this team.”
George what have you learned from Cat in your short time here?
“We are kind of the same. Just use your strengths and just go after hitters. We have the same type of mentality. I think everybody here has the same type mentality?just a bunch of bulldogs out there. Just how to approach the game on the field and off the field, he has been just a real good veteran presence as well as a clown in the clubhouse.”
Walker: “I try to keep it loose....With George, you know what you are getting. You know he isn't going to dog it. He is not afraid to toe the hill. We have great guys around us, it is fun.”
George, how do you explain Cat's staying power?
Walker: “It ain't my looks.”
Sherrill: “He just mixes speeds real well. He has deception. They are doing with him here like they did with me in Seattle. Against lefties, his pitches are hard to pick up. I have been told I throw out of my ear, my shirt, whatever, that it is hard to pick up. He has the same type thing where he hides it and all of a sudden it is on you. His change-up is probably his best pitch and probably better suited against right-handed hitters. It's craftiness.”
Cat: “We throw strikes. One thing about George and me, we go after hitters. They are going to have to beat us. That is the way it should be.”
