Jeremy Guthrie's story is of a former first-round draft pick and top prospect who struggled to meet hefty - and perhaps unfair - expectations that were placed on him. Ultimately, he was forced to go elsewhere to get an opportunity, and when he did, his powerful right arm reminded everyone what the hype was all about.
It is certainly a feel-good story, especially for Orioles fans who have waited patiently for the organization to develop top-flight young pitchers, only to watch one drop in its lap on a $20,000 waiver claim. However, in the cutthroat, produce-or-else world of professional sports, this type of redemption story is not especially unusual.
But other things beyond his vast talent make Guthrie, 28, unique in the clubhouse he inhabits. He's an avid collector of sneakers who harbors dreams of working for Nike. He turned down a major league contract from the New York Mets to serve a Mormon mission in Spain. He didn't pick up a baseball for two years in the prime of prospect development, but when he finally did again, he was better than he had been.
"His mission was like everything else in life," said Bryan Smith, his roommate for a year at Brigham Young University and one of Guthrie's closest friends. "He took it very, very seriously. He pushed everything to the side - baseball; his girlfriend Jenny, who is now his wife; his family. It was the hardest thing that I've ever done and I didn't have to walk away from a contract from the New York Mets or a professional career."
Guthrie, who went on the mission in 1999 after his freshman year at BYU, called the two years he spent in Spain the best time of his life. He learned to speak Spanish fluently, spending 15-hour days studying and teaching and spreading his religion. Not once did he pick up a baseball.
"Really, everything I do from then on was influenced and based on what I learned and experienced during those two years," Guthrie said. "Sometimes people question if baseball is important. Of course it is, but it's not more important than my faith."
Smith wondered what would become of his friend's baseball career. "He told me that if he came back and threw a fastball at 75 mph, he'd have no regrets," he said.
When Guthrie enrolled at Stanford in fall 2000, he had gained 20 pounds and his fastball was being clocked at 92 mph, harder than he had thrown before. It was quite the revelation for Guthrie.
