April 25, 2006

Staring into radar guns is nothing new for Villanova's star pitcher, junior Kevin Mulvey. After college scouts started trailing him during his junior year at Bishop George Ahr High School, the radar guns have become a fixture at the ballpark when Mulvey is on the mound.

Their presence increased when he landed a spot on the Bergen Beach Athletics, coached by Steve Bort in Brooklyn, New York, a team that has featured the talent of Johnny Damon, Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez, and Todd Helton. Alongside players he now faces in college - such as Pete Parise (Pittsburgh) and Robbie Hine (Seton Hall) - as well as his Villanova teammate Rob Parks, Mulvey impressed scouts as his team went on to win the High School World Series in Ohio.

After being named a High School All-American by Collegiate Baseball in 2003 for his stellar senior season, in which he struck out 100 batters and recorded a 0.88 ERA, Mulvey had a decision to make. Despite being a 34th round pick of the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2003 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft, he decided to pass up the early invitation to play professionally. With that decision came another. While he was heavily recruited by Big East colleges in the Northeast and a few in the South - namely Coastal Carolina, East Carolina, Richmond, and Maryland - Mulvey finally settled on Villanova. Not only did Villanova offer an ideal location - "it's close enough in case I need to get home, but far enough away so that I could have some distance" - and challenging academics - "it's a great school" - but it also had the competitive baseball atmosphere that Mulvey was looking for: "we play in a great conference, the Big East Conference, and have traveled to a ranked opponent each year I've been here in our out-of-conference schedule."

Because of Major League Baseball's rule, which mandates that student-athletes at a four-year college must stay in school for at least three years before they become re-eligible for the professional draft, Mulvey has had the past two and a half seasons to focus on his development without the immediate pressure of the draft, something which brings him no regrets: "I definitely made the right choice coming here, especially in the way that I have matured both mentally and physically. I wouldn't be where I am today if I didn't decide to go to school." He said that the Villanova coaches, Head Coach Joe Godri and Assistant Coaches Rich Clagett, Doc Kennedy, and Rod Johnson, have all been integral in his growth, both as a person and as a ballplayer.

Now that he's nearing the end of his three-year commitment to college, the radar guns have returned, with a flourish. In a recent game against Pittsburgh on April 15th, there were more than 50 professional baseball scouts and talent evaluators in the stands. Despite the intensity of the stressful atmosphere, Mulvey maintained his composure on the mound. In front of the scouts and 500-plus fans, he had nine strikeouts and retired 14 straight batters in his third straight complete game. Because "baseball is all mental," Mulvey explains that the previous experience of pitching in front of scouts for the last four years has helped him to "focus out any outside interference" and just concentrate on placing the ball over the plate.

It is this placement that has been key in Mulvey's development this season. Out of his arsenal of pitches, Mulvey's favorite is his fastball, explaining that it is "the most versatile pitch" because he can "throw it at any time," either to get ahead or to come from behind in the count. While he consistently threw in the high 80-mph range in high school, Mulvey's fastballs now register in the low 90s. Because the metal bats that college players use allow some of the hitters to be "just as good as professional hitters" Mulvey says that "being able to spot the ball where [he] wants has been key this year" since hitters have "to be able to spot the fastball to hit it."

While his fastball is arguably his best pitch, the scouts have also been impressed with his change-up, a pitch that Mulvey says he has also spent much of his college career working on. He also thinks that his curveball is a lot better as well, making his slider his "out pitch" since high school.

Despite being an all-around player in high school, playing shortstop on his off-pitching days and batting .320, college has limited Mulvey's playing time. He now only takes the field as a starting pitcher. Not that he minds, saying "it's kind of a luxury not having to hit" because "it's a distraction when you're pitching and have to worry about hitting as well." However, it was "tough at first" to make the switch from playing every game in high school to pitching only one out of every five games in college. However, as he has matured, he has learned to get into a routine when he's not in the starting line-up. After he gets his throwing done, he assumes the role of a cheerleader and encourages his teammates from the dugout.

As serious as Mulvey is about baseball, he also is known for his game-day antics, both on - and off - the field. Not only does he enjoy keeping the mood light in the dugout, but he also likes to venture up into the press box to check up on the business side of the game. According to Mulvey, "I try to find anyway to have fun at the ballpark when I'm not pitching. I like to clown around with everyone and try to get to know everybody that's involved with the Villanova baseball team. You have to have fun while you're at the games."

He also likes to throw around lefty on the field. With a potentially professional-worthy right arm, such an act might seem like another one of Mulvey's antics. However, the serious ballplayer side of him has an answer: "It's something that I've worked on since high school. As a switch hitter in high school, throwing left-handed came natural to me. You never know if you're going to get hurt. If you hurt your right arm, you might have to throw lefty some day." Despite the serious answer, Mulvey is under no delusions, knowing that his left cannot compare to his right arm: "my left throws like low 70s, nothing real big."

Despite his ability to tune out distractions and keep the mood light around the clubhouse, it is nearly impossible to completely ignore the radar guns and the draft buzz that has surrounded him this season. He has already decided to leave Villanova after the season, saying that he "would love to pitch for a team that would give me a chance to get to the major leagues as quickly as I can and who will treat me fairly."

However, he knows the season is far from over. Even though the Villanova Baseball Team has not been doing that well in the Big East (5-9), they are 20-18 over all. With four more Big East series left to play (Cincinnati, Louisville, Notre Dame, and West Virginia), Mulvey knows that he and his teammates are "definitely still alive." Since the expanded Big East Conference means that eight out of twelve teams make the playoffs, instead of last year's four, Mulvey says that "we have a chance until the last game."

Playing hard when the season is not going as well as could be hoped for is a lesson Mulvey learned from his all-time favorite player. Growing up in the tri-state area, it comes as no surprise that Mulvey has been a Yankee fan since he was young. Although it was a "dead era" for the Yankees, Mulvey admired the way Don Mattingly played the game: "He was undersized, but always played 100%, even though he was always on a losing team when he was there. Just him showing that kind of effort inspired me."

Taking the advice of his idol, Mulvey, for one isn't giving up. "We have a great bunch of guys. We've stayed confident, and we're still playing hard. Hopefully we'll turn this thing around."