Friends, coach noticed hunger in Bumgarner in high school
More than anything, Jimmy Messer remembers all the food Madison Bumgarner could consume.
Bumgarner and Messer formed an imposing tandem at South Caldwell High in Hudson, N.C. They were the team’s starting pitchers in 2007, when the Spartans steamed to the Class 4-A state championship — a memorable run capped by Bumgarner’s home run to cement the title.
They also clicked off the field, becoming good friends. Bumgarner routinely crashed at Messer’s house — and usually put on a show at breakfast, when Messer’s dad cooked. Bumgarner ate his meal, then finished Messer’s meal and Messer’s sis-
ter’s meal.
Many eggs, oatmeal, protein shakes. Gone, gone, gone.
“The dude ate like a horse,” Messer said. “My dad still talks about how much he’d eat every morning. It was an asinine amount of food.”
Bumgarner balanced this with another, healthier habit. Nearly every day during baseball season, after throwing in the bullpen or running sprints on flat ground, he and Messer retreated to a rock-strewn, dirt trail above South Caldwell’s football stadium.
They ran 10 to 15 sprints up the steep hill, covering about 25 yards each time. Another pitcher, Justin Poovey, sometimes joined them. They competed ferociously, savoring the bragging rights awaiting the winner.
“We pushed each other so hard in practice, it was ridiculous,” said Messer, who pitched at the University of North Carolina. “I think that’s what made both of us a lot better.”
Seven years later, Messer enjoys seeing how accomplished his friend has become. He and others who knew Bumgarner at South Caldwell relish watching him pitch for the Giants, as he will Monday in Game 3 of their Division Series against the Nationals.
To hear Bumgarner’s high school coach and teammates tell it, his drive traces to his younger days in rural North Carolina. He’s a big ole country boy who grew up in Granite Falls (population 4,722) and went to high school in neighboring Hudson (population 3,116), about an hour northwest of Charlotte.
Jeff Parham, the longtime baseball coach at South Caldwell, couldn’t help but flash back as he watched Bumgarner, now 25, smother the Pirates on Wednesday in the National League wild-card game. Parham saw the scene unfold time after time in high school, with overmatched hitters trudging away in frustration.
Parham took to playfully challenging Bumgarner in the late innings, asking him, “Is that all you got?” Bumgarner typically responded, “No, sir!” before returning to the mound and unleashing another howling, 95 mph fastball.
“Madison would get stronger as the game went on,” Parham said. “That’s why the Pirates game brought back memories. If you don’t score on him early, you don’t score on him late. I really believe that comes from the way he trained.”
If Bumgarner’s toughness and work ethic stretch back to North Carolina, so does his unflappable demeanor on the mound. He played four years on the varsity at South Caldwell, quickly becoming the ace and drawing crowds of professional scouts to the school.
Not surprisingly, Bumgarner raised his game when the Spartans reached the playoffs. That’s where he planted the seeds for his October success with the Giants; Bumgarner is 4-2 with a 3.02 ERA in the postseason, including 15 scoreless innings in two World Series starts.
“He loved to pitch on the big stage,” Parham said. “He always wanted the ball, no matter the situation. He thrives on that atmosphere.”
Parham and some of Bumgarner’s high school teammates also were not surprised when he challenged an angry Yasiel Puig on Sept. 23 at Dodger Stadium. The near-fight reminded Parham of one state playoff game, when the opposing pitcher plunked Bumgarner.
He slowly took off his arm guard and glared at the mound. Later, in the dugout, Bumgarner vowed retaliation until Parham warned him not to risk ejection. Bumgarner compromised— he threw a fastball over the pitcher’s head the next time he came to bat, sending a none-too-subtle message.
Bumgarner’s subsequent pitch skimmed across the outside corner for strike three, as the hitter nervously leaned away from the plate.
“Madison is not going to back down,” Parham said.
This included his right to throw inside. Unlike many young pitchers, Bumgarner had the command and confidence to regularly use the inside part of the plate.
Brett Parham, Jeff’s nephew and a teammate dating to seventh grade, recalled one game when an opposing batter repeatedly requested timeout during Bumgarner’s windup. Finally, when it happened again, Bumgarner just kept throwing— and the pitch zoomed inside.
Even if he hadn’t yet filled out to his current size (6-foot-5, 235 pounds), Bumgarner was intimidating from the start of his high school career. He beat Alexander Central, then the No. 1 team in the state, as a freshman (1-0, no less); threw a perfect game as a sophomore; led South Caldwell to the state finals as a junior and then to the title as a senior.
Bumgarner pitched Game 1 of the finals, a best-of-three series, and Messer handled Game 2. Bumgarner was still in the lineup at designated hitter, and the game ended on his two-run, inside-the-park homer to give the Spartans a 10-0 victory (thanks to the 10-run rule).
That’s a cool way to end your high school career.
Messer, now a strength and conditioning coach in Lexington, Ky., will watch his former teammate in these playoffs, just as he did in 2010 and 2012. Somehow, the sight of Bumgarner standing tall on the mound looks awfully familiar.
“You can just tell his mentality hasn’t changed,” Messer said. “He still attacks hitters, just like he always did.”