BOSTON - Michael Wacha remembered passing Will Middlebrooks a few years ago back in Texarkana, the small northeast Texas city where they grew up just across the border from Arkansas.
“One of the guys that everyone looked up to,” Wacha recalled Tuesday. “Like he’s walking by, ‘That’s Will Middlebrooks there.’ It’s pretty crazy.”
Texarkana has a population of 36,411, according to the last U.S. census. That’s slightly fewer than the crowd that jammed into Fenway Park on Wednesday night to watch the Boston Red Sox host the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of the World Series.
Middlebrooks was a senior at Liberty-Eylau High School in 2007 when Wacha was a sophomore at Pleasant Grove High, about a 10-minute drive away. Now the two are in the spotlight as World Series rivals.
Wacha, 22, has been a sensation since joining the Cardinals’ rotation in September while Middlebrooks, 25, has seen extensive action at third base for the Red Sox during the past two seasons.
Bob Bruggeman, a high school umpire for 34 years,remembers umpiring behind the plate for five to 10 of Wacha’s starts and talked of his dominance. He said the folks in Texarkana are pumped to watch two of their own on baseball’s biggest stage.
“I’m hoping that right after the Series is over both of them will be able to come back to Texarkana,” he said. “In addition to being a baseball umpire, I’m also the mayor of Texarkana, Texas, so I would like for them if possible to be able to come back to the community to be recognized by the City Council as well as the citizens within the community.”
Wacha’s family will be rooting for both. Wacha and Middlebrooks played on the same American Legion summer team, coached by the pitcher’s father, Tom.
“I don’t think anybody, really, five years ago would have ever expected it, especially two guys from the same team playing against each other inthe World Series,” Tom Wacha said.
In a way, the Cardinals have Albert Pujols to thank for Michael Wacha, who is scheduled to start Game 2 tonight.
St. Louis received the 19th overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft from the Angels as compensation when Pujols left to sign a $240 million, 10-year contract. The Cardinals used the selection of Wacha, who had gone 27-7 during three seasons at Texas A&M, including an 11-strikeout effort against Holy Cross in February 2012.
“He really didn’t start throwing hard until his senior year in high school. He wasn’t like a dominant pitcher,” Middlebrooks said. “He was really good because he knew how to pitch and used all three pitches. Once he got to Texas A&M he got taller and stronger, worked with a lot of good coaches. You look up now and you see 96.”
After rocketing up the minor league system from rookie ball to Class AAA in less than a year, Wacha made his major-league debut May 30 at Kansas City. He didn’t get a decision that night in a rain-interrupted game that ended at 3:14 a.m., but earned his first major-league victory June 11 against the Mets. He was sent back to the minors later that month, brought back for 2½ weeks in August, then recalled again after rosters expanded in September.
Wacha was 2-1 with a 1.72 ERA in 5 September starts, finishing with a near-historic performance against Washington. He was one out from throwing a no-hitter in his ninth start when Ryan Zimmerman hit a chopper just over the 6-foot-6 right-hander. Shortstop Pete Kozma charged, grabbed the ball with his bare hand and threw just a little wide, pulling Matt Adams off the bag as Zimmerman arrived.
“I guess it just wasn’t to be,” Wacha said.
He has been just as dominant in the postseason, beating Pittsburgh in Game 4 of the division series and Los Angeles in Games 2 and 6 of the league championship series. He has allowed 1 run in 21 innings, striking out 22, walking4 and holding batters to a .114 average.
“The first impression that he made was he don’t get scared,” Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina said. “When you see a pitcher throwing strikes, 95, 96, with a good change up and doesn’t get scared, that’s a good sign.”
Wacha is on the right team to learn, with former NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter and staff ace Adam Wainwright as tutors.
“His maturity level for his age stands out a lot,” Carpenter said. “You get here because you have good stuff and you can pitch. You learn through experience on how to behave, how to act off the field, how to act on the field, how to act in the clubhouse.”
Wacha said he has tried to remain calm about playing in the World Series, but at least he knows the folks back home will be happy. After all, Texarkana will have a champion no matter which team wins.
“It’s a huge buzz,” Wacha said. “They’re pretty happy that at least a ring will be coming back there.”
Sports, Pages 19 on 10/24/2013