I hear there's some sort of football game going on today. Which gives me the perfect excuse to post about Kelley Washington - special teams standout for the Patriots... and former roommate of Josh Beckett.
Back in 2000, Kelley was a fourth-year minor leaguer for the Marlins organization, playing 3B for the Kane County Cougars in the Midwest League. Josh had just been drafted in 1999 by the Marlins, and was also playing for Kane County. Kelley was in his last minor league year -- he was struggling and would leave for college football in 2001; Josh was in his first minor league season and about to rocket up through the minors. And the two were thrown together as roomies, and still remain friends now.
'[Josh] was intense,'' the New England Patriots wide receiver recalled between Tuesday's double sessions at the team's Gillette Stadium training camp. ''He knows what he wants and he's a real tough competitor. That's what's got him to this point in his career.'''A lot of the players I played against are playing in the major leagues now,'' said Washington. ''It's gratifying to me just to see that they've made it.''
The two have traveled different routes - Washington makes his living with his hands, Beckett with his right arm - but as teammates on the Kane County Cougars they shared a number of similarities.
''I haven't talked to Josh Beckett probably in about a year,'' said Washington, ''but it seems like every time we see each other we catch up just because we were roommates and spent a lot of time together when we did play baseball together.''
Also from August 2007:
Beckett said Washington stood out in more than two sports."Even as a baseball player, he was a good basketball player. He always had that urge to play basketball, and I thought that's what he'd do," Beckett said last week in the Red Sox clubhouse. "He has all of the tools and he's an unbelievable athlete. I guess when you're that good, you can do whatever you want."
Washington was likewise impressed with Beckett when they played together from 1998-99 for the Marlins Single-A affiliate.
"I knew from actually the first day I met him that he had some type of presence about him," Washington said. "Once he got on the mound it was just like, wow, give him a couple of years and he's going to make it.
"And he did."
From November 2007:
You roomed with Josh Beckett as a minor leaguer. Do you still keep up with him?Yeah, I just saw Josh at his "Beckett Bowl" event. Every time we see each other, it's like you never left because we spent so much time together.
Did you ever get to face Beckett in batting practice?
Oh yeah. It's tough. Even in the minors, anybody can hit a fastball, even if it's 95 miles per hour, but his curveball is just basically unstoppable. He's just doing the same thing now that he did back in the minor leagues. I always knew that one day he'd be performing like he does at the Major League level. He hasn't disappointed anybody. You always knew he was going to be great.
My favorite question, though, is from this piece in the Sporting News from yesterday- from February 2008:
As for Josh Beckett, your old roommate: Cocky player or the most cocky player ever? You can only pick one.(Laughs) Cocky player. Cocky, confident player. In a good way.
What was your take on Beckett when you first met him?
I knew he was a high school phenom. He was a first-round pick and I knew he was going to make it one day. He carried himself in a manner where he knew he was good and it was just a matter of time for him to make the majors. It was a good opportunity for me to meet him and be roommates with him and get to know him.
on February 3, 2008 8:46 PM
I hate football. The thing I liked most about watching the first, second, and third quarters of the game (it's sometime in the fourth quarter, 14-10, Pats just scored, my brother just informed me--I'm not watching any more) was that Wes Welker has the same number as Eric Gagne. I don't know anything about the Pats, except that they're good, but I'm now predisposed against Welker.
Also, there were a 44 (like Brandon Moss), a 33 (Tek), a 13 (Cora), a 10 (Coco), a 7 (Drew), a 19 (Josh), a 72 (Kottaras), a 39 (Snyder), a 31 (Lester), a 24 (Manny), a 25 (Lowell), a 34 (Papi), a 61 (Buchholz), an 18 (Dice-K), a 41 (Corey), a 15 (Dusty P), and a 58 (Paps, of course). I had fun screaming, "GO SNYDER!" to the confused looks of the football aficionados at the party I went to (and left early).