Banks trying to emulate Moose
03/06/2006TAMPA, Fla. -- The ballpark was a lot smaller, the atmosphere was much quieter and his favorite pitcher was wearing a different uniform. But Blue Jays pitcher Josh Banks still wanted to make sure he had a good seat.
Banks was just 9 years old when Mike Mussina started his career with the Orioles, and the Toronto Minor Leaguer fondly recalls growing up in Baltimore and heading to the ballpark with his dad to watch Mussina pitch. Moose was with the O's until Banks was 18, and the young pitcher did his best to emulate his childhood hero.
Now 23, Banks had the chance to get a much closer look at Mussina when the Yankees faced the Blue Jays at Knology Park in Dunedin, Fla., on Sunday. Banks didn't get the opportunity to meet the New York hurler, but he did come face to face with the style of pitching that he's tried to display while climbing Toronto's organizational ladder.
"We had season tickets growing up. I missed every first day of school," Banks said about going to watch the Orioles with his dad. "When I heard he was pitching [against Toronto], I was in the dugout right away.
"I used to do his move to first base, where he dips his shoulder, but in high school they stopped allowing that," he added with a laugh. "When I was growing up, I always loved to see that good control. So that was kind of my goal when I started throwing. It's worked out fairly well so far."
Banks has harnessed that Mussina-esque control so well that it's hard not to do a double-take when looking at his recent statistics.
Last year, Banks logged 162 innings across 27 starts for Double-A New Hampshire. He only walked 11 batters and struck out 145. During one stretch, Banks went eight straight starts without allowing a free pass.
He takes great pride in the low walk total and is even quick to point out how close he came to keeping the number below 10.
"I walked two guys [in my second to last game], and both of them could've been strikeouts," said Banks, noting that both walks came after working the hitters into an 0-2 count. "It's all right, though. I was trying to keep it in single digits."
Since being drafted by Toronto in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, Banks has quickly climbed through the Minors. He made the jump from Class A Dunedin to Double-A in 2004 and stayed with New Hampshire last season. The 6-foot-3, 195-pound pitcher is going to start this year with Triple-A Syracuse.
"We're going to keep him in the starting role," Toronto general manager J.P. Ricciardi said. "Eventually, he may be a reliever in the big leagues. Only time will tell. ... He's still in the development stages, but he's exactly where he should be at this stage of his career. It's going to be fun to watch him in Triple-A."
The Blue Jays picked up Banks with the 50th selection in 2003 draft. He probably could have been taken higher, but he said some teams expressed concerns about a few of his past injuries. In 2002, Banks suffered a strained elbow ligament, and later he had problems with blisters on his throwing hand.
"Besides my sophomore year [at Florida International University], I had never been hurt before," Banks said. "I had always been able to throw. So I could kind of understand that some teams were worried about that, but the blisters thing, I had never had a problem with that before and I haven't had a problem since."
Banks said the Giants talked to him about possibly taking him late in the first round. He also talked to the Marlins, Blue Jays and Orioles, an organization he thought might have picked him with the 44th selection because it was in his hometown.
"I just kind of listened to everybody that was being picked and waited my turn, and I was still around, luckily, for the Blue Jays to get me," Banks said.
"We're glad we got him. He's done a good job and is developing along. I think coming to camp is important to him," Ricciardi said. "He's got one thing in his favor: He throws strikes and he trusts his stuff. I think that's important.
With the injuries behind him and his statistics displaying nothing but durability, Banks said he figures some of the teams that passed on him are kicking themselves now.
"I'm pretty sure if you look at my numbers against the Giants, they're pretty good in the last two years," Banks said with a smile. "I'm sure they've noticed."
Much like Mussina, Banks has five pitches in his arsenal -- a fastball that can reach 93 mph, a slider in the 80s and a changeup and curveball that register in the 70s.
This is Banks' second Spring Training with the Major League club. He said the nerves he felt in his first spring with Toronto haven't been there as much this time around. The only time any sort of nerves might have crept back was when he was sitting in the dugout watching Mussina.
"That was probably the closest I have ever been to him. It was nice," Banks said. "He looks a lot bigger on TV."
Source: http://toronto.bluejays.mlb.com/
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