Draft Brimful of Promise for Salkeld Despite Loss

So symmetrical, the high school pitching career of Roger Salkeld.

It ended in heartbreaking disappointment when Salkeld uncorked a ninth-inning wild pitch that resulted in Saugus’ 1-0 loss to La Palma Kennedy in the Southern Section 3-A Division championship game Saturday at Dodger Stadium.

A half-hour after the game, Salkeld sat solemnly in the locker room, his right shoulder smothered in ice. “That’s a tough way,” he said, “to lose in Dodger Stadium.”

“I’ll get over it,” he added. “I’m looking forward to the draft.”

Indeed, he should be. Salkeld probably will be among the top 10 players selected in Monday’s amateur draft.

He has come a long way from the day he threw his first pitch in Dodger Stadium as a fuzzy-faced, 15-year-old freshman.

Interestingly, that pitch hit the dirt too. But Salkeld can laugh about that now.

“I came in with the bases loaded and a count on the batter,” Salkeld said, recalling Saugus’ appearance in the 1986 2-A final against Artesia.

“I wasn’t nervous, I was scared ,” he said. “The first pitch, (catcher) Gene Northway called for a curveball outside and I threw it inside. He came out and chewed me out. He said, ‘I called for it outside and I want it outside.’

“When I was on the JV, I just threw the ball. Wherever it went, it went.”

Salkeld pitched a respectable four innings, striking out three in his Dodger Stadium debut. Saugus lost, 9-4, but Salkeld’s trip to the big leagues had begun. Three years, 266 1/3 innings, 30 victories and 404 strikeouts later, Salkeld, 18, is major league material.

Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Baseball America and seemingly everyone who thinks they know baseball have predicted that Salkeld will be among the first 10 players selected.

In which round will he go? Which team will draft him? What kind of signing bonus will he be offered? Wondrous things to ponder for a 6-foot-5, 210-pound kid who just wanted to throw a baseball faster and faster as he grew larger and larger. Wherever it went, it went.

Salkeld, who counts a 90 m. p. h. fastball among his assortment of pitches, said that he would prefer to sign a professional contract rather than attend college. But he has, as a precautionary measure, enrolled at College of the Canyons for the fall semester.

“I’d prefer to sign and get as far as I can as soon as I can,” he said. “But if things don’t go right, I have to go to college. I can’t sit around for a year.”

Exactly which team will draft Salkeld--assuming it is in the first round--is a matter of conjecture. The Orioles, Braves, Mariners, Phillies, Rangers, Cardinals, White Sox, Cubs and Angels have the first nine picks.

Anyone need a hard-throwing right-hander with two championship games under his belt?

Salkeld is not choosy, but he has preferences.

“I’m not leaning toward a team, but I’d love to play for St. Louis,” he said, adding that he is an admirer of Cardinal Manager Whitey Herzog.

It is possible, however, that Salkeld could go unclaimed in the first round. Which is one reason why he tends to not become excited when talk of the draft arises.

“You’ve heard about Rodney Peete sitting around by the phone,” Salkeld said of the USC quarterback who was bypassed on the first day of the NFL draft after a successful college career.

But don’t bet on that happening to Salkeld. Plenty will happen to him in the near future. Maybe even enough to make him forget about the day he let one get away.