In a year when professional baseball has been plagued with arguments between owners and players over monetary issues, fans have come to believe there are no longer baseball players who simply play for "the love of the game."
Those who have lost all faith need to travel to Jack Coombs Field this weekend and meet junior pitcher David Darwin.
"He's not interested in publicity or stats or anything like that," head coach Steve Traylor said. "He's a guy who is truly interested in the team doing well, and doing anything he can to help the team win. He's a very positive force for our team both on and off the field."
"I try to be humble," Darwin said. "I'm not big on being a showboat or anything like that."
The southpaw from Charlotte is coming off a disappointing sophomore campaign, when he went 4-4 with a 5.83 earned run average (ERA).
"Last year, when we were six pitchers deep, I sometimes threw every day of the week," Darwin said. "And when you throw every day of the week, your arm is tired every single day."
But Darwin was determined to better his game, and at the urging of the coaching staff, he played in the Shenandoah Valley Summer League, a league composed of six teams that each play 40 regular season games.
It was there that Darwin regained the form of his freshman year, when he went 6-3 with a 3.21 ERA. In the Shenandoah League, he was a member of the top pitching staff in the league--with all three of the team's starters, including himself, boasting sub-2.00 ERAs.
"I pitched in the summer leagues, got in the starting rotation and got back in the form that I wanted to be in," Darwin said.
Darwin has always been known as a control pitcher, and he often tries to imitate two of the top control pitchers in the majors, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, when he's on the mound.
"[Glavine and Maddux] just go out there, throw a lot of strikes and move the ball inside-outside," Darwin said. "I watch those guys every time I get a chance and learn from how they pitch, how they set up batters and their mound presence.
"I was always able to throw strikes. I didn't throw hard, but I could spot the ball. When I talked to high school players above me who had been drafted, they said, `If you can move the ball, you'll be set.' So I always worked on hitting the outside and inside corners."
It was Darwin's mound presence that first impressed Traylor when the southpaw was a sophomore in high school attending the Duke baseball camp.
"He had a very good work ethic, a good positive attitude, and he was just a kid that stood out in camp that year," Traylor said.
Darwin decided to attend Duke because he knew he would have a chance to pitch as a freshman. And he got his chance, throwing a total of 87 innings in his first year. Since then, he has been a solid force for the Blue Devils, both in the starting rotation and out of the bullpen.
"He's a real good pitcher for us because he's a guy that we can use in a variety of ways," Traylor said. "David is a guy who can be a starter for us, but he can also come out of the bullpen because he's strong and he's pretty resilient."
Darwin will still be used as a starter this weekend when Duke faces Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets played in last year's College World Series, but lost two future major league first-round draft picks from that team, Jason Varitek and Nomar Garciaparra. The first two games will be played at Jack Coombs Field, while Sunday's game will be held at the new Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Traylor said his team is excited about the chance to play in the newest--and possibly the best--minor league park in America.
"I think it's a neat experience for the players," Traylor said. "That's going to be one of the premier minor league parks in America. I think it will be fun for the fans to come out Sunday afternoon. They're going to see a very good baseball game."
NOTE: The first 100 people to come to Sunday's game will receive free t-shirts commemorating the first college game to be played at the DBAP.
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