Clinching an American League Pennant, pitching in the World Series and being the biggest celebrity in Nashville can be exhausting. Just ask David Price.
The former Vanderbilt star and No. 1 overall draft pick by the Rays performed the coin toss before the Vanderbilt-Florida football game on Saturday night and welcomed the time to get a breather from his busy schedule.
"I'm definitely still catching up," Price said. "I've been running around ever since I got here. This is my offseason."
Still, Price enjoyed the reception by Vanderbilt fans who have followed his brief, but so far memorable, major league career.
"It wasn't a surprise to me," Price said of the fan recognition. "It's still the same whenever I was here at Vanderbilt. They were great fans when I was here and I wasn't expecting that to change after I left."
Called a "secret weapon" by baseball experts during the Rays' surprising run to the playoffs, Price emerged in the postseason as a saving grace for the Rays who could be counted on in clutch situations. He closed out the ALCS against the Red Sox by recording four outs, three on strikeouts, to put his team in the World Series for the first time in their history. He also recorded a win in extra innings earlier in the series.
Price also had a save in the World Series, the only game the Rays won as they lost the series 4-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
For the postseason, Price struck out eight batters in 5 2/3 innings while allowing only one run.
Price, a famously fierce competitor, is the type of player who loves to have the ball in his hand in crunchtime, and it stems from the way he was brought up.
"Just my younger days, my parents," he said. "They teach me everything I do to win, so that's where I got it from. And I was competitive with my older brothers when I was a kid. So I'd just say being competitive my whole life, with my family."
Regardless of where he's been as a pitcher, Price has been a winner, sporting a deadly combination of a fastball in the mid-ǃÚ90s and a nasty slider. He was named the National Player of the Year for his senior season with the Commodores before being the No. 1 overall pick in the major league draft in 2007.
Although used almost exclusively out of the bullpen this season, the 23-year-old has been pegged as the future of the Tampa Bay starting rotation and looks like he'll build on expectations he already exceeded in an excellent, if abbreviated, first season.
In the meantime, Price will relax, saying he is waiting on a manual from the Rays regarding what he should be doing between now and spring training.
"I'm not doing anything baseball-wise right now, probably won't for another week or two," he said. "Just taking it easy, waiting until next year comes around."
