When I was in grade 7 I caught for a hard throwing lefty pitcher at Maple Crescent park. His name is James Paxton and there was an article about him in the Vancouver Sun today.
Paxton was the first pitcher I caught for that had a good curve ball. He had a dominant one actually. It was a strange situation because I was never a great catcher or even very fond of it but it was house ball and no one else could do it. I remember a lot of sore hands and a few talks where he pretty much taught me how to catch a ball that seemed to have a five foot hook.
I remember one tournament where we played a team from the States. I pitched the first two innings and got rocked. Probably gave up a good 6+ runs but it's more of a repressed memory. I do remember James Paxton coming in in the third and pitching an amazing five innings (we only played 7). When you can strike out and impress American players and coaches you are good. I'm not surprised that he's going to be in the draft on June 9th.
I hope that he goes high in the draft and continues into the major leagues. The article mentions a possibility of James going 20th overall to the Blue Jays but that he could go even higher at about 16th. I hope that he goes as high as possible but I would love it if my favourite team signed my new favourite player.
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