Former bat boy now a Nats pitcher
Drew Storen was an Expos bat boy during a Labour Day series in 2000
WASHINGTON — Drew Storen’s “Welcome to the Big Leagues” moment wasn’t when the Washington Nationals selected him in the 2009 First Year Player Draft, or when he made his major-league debut less than a year later. No, Storen’s moment took place on Labour Day 2000, when he was 13.
The Expos had lost 18 times in 23 games that season as they arrived at Busch Stadium in St. Louis to begin a three-game series against the first-place Cardinals. In the third inning, with two outs and the bases loaded, Vladimir Guerrero struck out, stranding Michael Barrett, Milton Bradley and Jose Vidro on base. Guerrero argued that he checked his swing. He was steaming and was eventually tossed from the game by home-plate umpire Mike Vanvleet.
Guerrero then threw his bat and batting helmet down on home plate and stormed off.
“Hey Drew, get out there,” Storen recalled a few Expos shouting from the dugout. “Get Vladi’s stuff.”
And with that, Storen ran to home plate and picked up Guerrero’s gear.
Yes, Storen is a former Expos bat boy. And 12 years later, he is a relief pitcher with the Nationals and the team’s closer of the future. “At the time, I didn’t really think that I’d be playing major-league baseball,” Storen said recently in the Nationals clubhouse. “But as a kid and as a teenager, for me it was a very influential time for me in my baseball career and I kind of got a taste of it and I realized that this is pretty cool. This is as cool as it gets.”
From 2000-04, Storen served as the Expos’ bat boy during games in Cincinnati and St. Louis. He grew up in Indianapolis, where his father, Mark, had once worked with the Triple-A Indians alongside team trainer Ron McLean. McLean eventually moved on to Montreal, where he was the Expos’ trainer for more than 20 years. Mark and McLean stayed in touch, and by the time Drew was of age arrangements were made for him to be the Expos’ bat boy.
“I just remember being fired up when I first started because the clubhouse in St. Louis had slush puppies, and what kid doesn’t like slush puppies?” Storen recalled. “But I liked putting on the uniform, running around and catching balls during (batting practice). And I think as time passed I grew more comfortable with the players and talked to them more and more.”
One of the players Storen chatted with in 2004 was Expos closer Chad Cordero.
“I thought it was cool that he had pitched in the College World Series (at Cal State Fullerton), so I talked to him a lot about that experience and he was really good to me,” Storen recalled. “He told me how he had moved so quickly through the minor leagues. At the time, I’m just thinking: ‘Oh, it’s really cool to talk to a guy like that.’ But then when I went to college and became a reliever myself, I immediately said to myself that I wanted to be like him and take that same path. And what do you know? Here we are.”
The Expos selected Cordero in the first round of the 2003 draft, while the Nationals took Storen in the first round in 2009.
Like Cordero, Storen also pitched in the College World Series (with Stanford in 2008) and quickly worked his way through the organization’s minor-league system.
“It’s funny, because I always liked the Expos because of (the bat-boy experience), and then when they became the Nationals I just remained a fan,” Storen said. “So it’s funny how it worked out that now, here I am.”
Storen had 43 saves last season, but was sidelined this year until late July with an elbow injury. His roommate, Tyler Clippard, took over as Washington’s closer in May with Storen emerging as the team’s setup man heading into the postseason. He finished the regular season with a 3-1 record and 2.37 earnedrun average over 30.1 innings with four saves.
Not bad for a guy who was once excited to simply wear an Expos uniform, shag fly balls in a major-league outfield and go around the clubhouse collecting autographs from the likes of Guerrero, Vidro and manager Frank Robinson.
“The whole thing is just such a full-circle story, and maybe it just adds to how cool it was,” Storen said. “It really was a cool experience, and I probably didn’t realize how lucky I was.”