PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Not all draft days are the same, but can't imagine a more laid back approach to the MLB Draft than Pirates outfielder Ben Gamel following his senior year of high school.
"I remember waking up at 7a on the second day (of the draft) and my advisor at the time pretty much told me where I was going to go, money wise what I was going to get," Gamel said. "He told me to go fishing. That's what I did."
He's not kidding, he really went fishing. He wanted no part of the financial situation. He just wanted to start his pro career.
It's probably good for his sake that he let others handle it.
"If it were up to me I would have signed for a plane ticket," Gamel told 93.7 The Fan. "My mom is a guidance counselor and wanted me to go to school. My agent to this day wanted me to go to school. He still tells me that. It's hard to look back now."
That school who offered a scholarship is baseball power Florida State, but instead he signed late with the Yankees after being drafted in the 10th round in 2010 (325 overall).
"It's something you dream about your whole life, being a baseball player," the Florida native Gamel said. "You want to go play pro ball. My brother was doing it at the time. It was everything I wanted to do."
It would take six years for Gamel to reach the majors, but he said it's hard to be mad about the outcome of becoming a professional player. He doesn't regret his decision to sign out of high school. He would tell those teens to not worry about what round you're drafted in, just embrace the process.
"You can't live and die by the results," the now 29-year-old said. "As easy as it is to say, it's harder to do. Just have fun with it."
