ON THEFAST TRACK
Norm Davern knew it practically from the moment he pushed “play” on the VCR. There was his 15-year-old son, Mike, skinny as a cotton thread, hurling fastballs in front of coaches at a Stanford baseball camp. After the second blistering pitch, one coach exclaimed, “Forget Stanford! This kid is going straight to the pros.”
Mike Davern knew it later that summer, when scouts cooed over him after an all-star game.
They had always known the right-hander was good; now they realized he was capable of something more than an outstanding high school career.
Why did it take them so long?
Didn’t they realize he threw the ball faster than anyone else at every level, from tee-ball league to high school? Didn’t they notice when his Little League coach put him at third base because he was the only kid capable of throwing the ball across the infield? Didn’t they hear former Dodger and Angel reliever Don Aase, his pitching coach, when he told the youngster in backyard drills that he had the liveliest arm he had ever seen?
Mike Davern didn’t buy into the hype simply because he was more of a standout in basketball. The Brea Olinda High shooting guard had a sweet shot and was such a natural that the only three capital letters he recognized in succession were NBA, not MLB.
Then his sophomore year rolled around. His fastball was clocked consistently in the 91- to 94-mph range. His basketball career, meanwhile, slammed head-on into a reality check. “I was a 6-4 white guy,” said Davern, now a senior. “I could see the guys in the NBA and I told myself I had no chance.”
All of which led him to the whirlwind of baseball events that followed. There was an appearance with the junior national team last year in the Junior Pan Am Games in Venezuela. There were appearances in high school all-star games and in the fall league, where he faced minor and major leaguers. (Davern was particularly pleased when he struck out Gabe Kapler, the former Detroit Tiger who went to Texas in the blockbuster Juan Gonzalez trade.)
“I would say, talent-wise, he’s right up there with the Jaret Wrights and those guys,” said Brea Coach Steve Hiskey, whose pitching staff includes the most formidable ace in Orange County. “His fastball is the No. 1 reason why people are interested in him, but he can do more than that. He can throw the ball over the plate and he’s got other pitches to go with it.”
Davern has accomplished a lot at 18. And the best part? He’s just getting started.
“I’m just stoked, really,” Davern said. “I know what I’m capable of, and I haven’t even come close to reaching my potential. According to the projections, I guess a lot of people think I’m really good. I feel with a little work, coaching and development of my natural and physical [attributes] I should really be good one day.”
Baseball America has predicted Davern--its eighth-best high school prospect--will be selected as the 18th overall pick in the June 3 amateur baseball draft.
If that is the case, Davern said, he would forgo his scholarship to UCLA and enter the minor leagues with a sizable signing bonus. The average bonus for a first-round pick is $1.8 million, according to Baseball America.
“Basically, it’s too much money to pass up,” Davern said. “Education’s important, but I can always come back. Right now my fallback is UCLA. If everything falls apart in the draft, I’m going to UCLA--and that’s not a bad thing, that’s fine.
“Going pro is just the cherry on the top. It’s a quicker route to the major leagues. I’ve had it explained to me, and usually it would take about four years. You go to instructional league, you go to A-ball, double-A, triple-A and the majors.”
Davern likes a plan offered by the major leagues in which he would be able to play baseball and work toward his degree. The plan would allow him to play from April to September, then take expense-paid classes in the fall and winter.
Nonetheless, Davern’s father and Brea’s Hiskey said the jump from high school to pro baseball has its risks.
“The issue is whether the risk of passing on college can be adequately compensated by major league baseball, and it’s difficult to assess,” Norm Davern said. “Baseball America has him ranked pretty high, but that isn’t a guarantee. We really have to wait and see what develops. If he develops well, things look good, but anything can happen. There’s injuries . . . “
There’s also homesickness.
Said Hiskey: “Imagine an 18-year-old kid stuck in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who has never been away from home before. Sometimes they can’t handle it. Suddenly it’s, ‘I have to wash my own clothes?’ And most guys don’t make it to the major leagues. It’s only a small percentage that do.’ ”
Hiskey will get his chance to nudge Davern’s career along this season as he helps him develop his fledgling curveball and changeup, pitches he will need at higher levels of competition. Davern never threw anything but fastballs until his freshman year.
It may seem strange, but Davern still has a lot to prove at the high school level. He compiled a 2.13 ERA last season, going 6-0 with 63 strikeouts and 20 walks in 52 2/3 innings, but he missed a crucial stretch of games while traveling with the junior national team, and the Wildcats missed the playoffs.
The biggest obstacle Davern must overcome is his mindset.
“I kind of get lazy, play down to the high school level,” Davern said. “I do so much better against minor leaguers and in national tournaments than I do in high school. I’ve never really had an outstanding high school season, which I should have had.”
Assuming all goes well this season, Davern should get a chance to fulfill his dream. And if he does, he’ll know who to thank.
“I just have God-given talent. I’m lucky, basically,” he said. “Anybody who was born with a natural arm could do this.”
