Waldrip’s journey lands home
Not many athletes get to experience being selected in a professional sports draft.
It’s even more rare for an athlete to get selected three times by three different teams in a single sport.
Such is the case for slugger Ben Waldrip of Andre Chiefs in the Intercity League.
The 6-foot-6 Waldrip starred at Medford High, graduating in 2009. A broken thumb required surgery and ended his highschool playing days earlier than hoped. Saint Anselm baseball coach Barry Rosen revived Waldrip’s baseball career by adding him to the roster. “He took a shot on me. He’s a great guy and gave me an opportunity,” Waldrip said.
Waldrip spent the next summer season playing for the North Shore Navigators then Cypress Junior College in Irvine, Calif. From there he was drafted for the first time by the Atlanta Braves in 2010, but did not sign.
He moved on to Jacksonville State in Alabama and played a summer with the Orleans Firebirds of the Cape Cod League. The Kansas City Royals selected Waldrip in the 40th round in 2011.
Again, Waldrip did not sign and returned to Jacksonville, where his play helped him selected a third time — in the 10th round by the Colorado Rockies in 2012.
This time, he went pro and played five minor league seasons in Colorado, Washington state, North Carolina and Illinois. Clearly, it has been a hardball odyssey that has taken Waldrip, who turns 28 Wednesday, across the breadth of America and back to his Medford roots.
“Life comes full circle,” Waldrip said. “I was always a fan and now that I’ve become a player I always tried to give back to the kids. You meet a lot of great people like the host family. You meet a total stranger and they are picking you up at the airport and one hour later they are handing you a key and a room to their house. It’s a family aspect. Sometimes they become as close as your own family.”
Waldrip still maintains contact with people who have guided his career along the way and credits his development on and off the field to many coaches to come into his life.
“He’s a pretty good player. He was MVP in the Greater Boston League. I’ve known him since he was young. His brother (Matt) took my daughter, Carla, to the Medford High School prom,” said Chiefs coach Chuck Andre. “He’s batting cleanup for us. He’s 6-foot-6 and weighs about 230. He plays first base. He’s a left-handed hitter. Absolutely he brings a presence to our lineup. He’s a true gentleman.”
A herniated disc in his back curtailed Waldrip’s MLB dreams and he is now working to get back to his former level of play. Professionally, he spends days working as a landscape foreman and outside sales. Waldrip hasn’t completely shut the door on his hopes of reaching The Show.
“Who knows? I might get back into it,” he said.
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