James Shields' path to World Series began in the Valley
HIGH SCHOOLS
The former Newhall Hart pitcher who is building a reputation for staying cool in big games is scheduled to start Game 6 for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Around this time of the year, Tampa Bay Rays right-hander James Shields usually makes an appearance at his alma mater, Newhall Hart, to give a talk to the current baseball players.
Shields, however, has been busy pitching in the World Series. If necessary, he would start Game 6 against the Philadelphia Phillies, scheduled for Thursday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
"What a thrill for him," Hart Coach Jim Ozella said.
Ozella teased Shields last year when he dropped by.
"I told him, 'I don't know who James Shields is,' " Ozella said. "Everyone around here calls him Jamie."
Jamie Shields was the best high school pitcher in the San Fernando Valley area in 1999, finishing 11-0 when Hart defeated Santa Maria Righetti, 10-9, to win the Southern Section Division II championship at Angel Stadium. Shields got the final out with a strikeout.
His father, Jack, remembers how calmly his teenage son handled the pressure of pitching in a major-league ballpark nearly 10 years ago, and not much has changed.
"It holds more true today than ever," Jack said. "That's why they call him Big Game James. He picked up that name in the minor leagues and now it's starting to stick in the majors."
Shields grew up not far from another standout local pitcher, Jeff Suppan, who attended Encino Crespi in 1993 and was the National League Championship Series MVP in 2004 for the St. Louis Cardinals.
There's something in the air, or more likely, something about playing high school baseball in the San Fernando Valley area, that prepares a pitcher for the pressure of the major leagues.
It started more than 50 years ago with Hall of Famer Don Drysdale, who graduated from Van Nuys High in 1954.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Valley went through a baseball boom, with powerful youth leagues sprouting up from Northridge to West Hills and Santa Clarita to Simi Valley, and look at the pitchers produced.
In the 1980s, there was two-time Cy Young Award winner Bret Saberhagen from Reseda Cleveland, Cy Young Award winner Jack McDowell from Sherman Oaks Notre Dame and closer Rod Beck from Van Nuys Grant.
In the 1990s, there was Suppan, Russell Ortiz from Van Nuys Montclair Prep, Randy Wolf from Woodland Hills El Camino Real and Jon Garland from Granada Hills Kennedy.
