It's draft day and a strapping kid named Flacco sits at home, waiting for a phone call that could send him to the pros. The game, however, is baseball and the prospect is Mike Flacco, the brother of Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco.
A power-hitting third baseman, Mike Flacco hopes to be scooped up in the three-day major league draft that ends Thursday after 50 rounds.
And, yes, the Orioles are interested.
"We scouted him and will place him on the board where we think he should go," Orioles scout Dean Albany said.
Meaning?
"Athleticism runs in the family."
Flacco, 22, just finished his freshman year at CCBC-Catonsville. In 46 games, he led the team in hits (67), home runs (14) and RBIs (51), and batted .399. He earned a slew of junior college honors and drew looks from nearly a dozen big league clubs that came to watch the 6-foot-4, 220-pound slugger.
Ten scouts flocked to one of Flacco's games at Harford Community College, said his coach, Dan Blue.
"Many kids see all that interest and tend to press, but not Mike," Blue said. "He's real humble and unassuming."
Flacco isn't riding his brother's coattails, those who know him say.
"I've probably seen him play 10 times," said Jerry Wargo, a scout for the Los Angeles Angels. "He has a short, compact swing, average speed and an easy-working arm with a throw that beats you by a step to first base, no matter how fast you're running.
"This is a smart kid with a great work ethic, and one who hasn't peaked. Plus, he comes from good blood."
What Flacco lacks is youth and experience. He's older than the 18-year-olds often favored in the draft. Moreover, last spring was the first time in three years that he had picked up a bat.
After high school (in New Jersey), Flacco played football in prep school, where a back injury sidelined him for the rest of that season and all of the next. Red flags, all.
"Sure there are issues," said Larry Williams, a scout for the Chicago Cubs. "His back is a concern. Remember, we know everything about these kids down to their underwear size.
"My opinion of Mike Flacco? He's a third-tier pick, Round 25 and up."
Flacco accepts that judgment.
"I know I'm a work in progress," he said. "But I shared an apartment with Joe [while in college at Delaware], and seeing what he went through last season reassured me that, if you work hard, it can be done. These [pro athletes] aren't superhuman. If Joe can be 'The Man' in football, why not me in baseball?"
For the past two weeks, Mike Flacco has traveled about, attending invitational workouts with the Orioles, Detroit Tigers, Chicago White Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. A couple of times, his brother accompanied him.
Joe Flacco also took in one of those college baseball games, sitting unobtrusively in the bleachers at Catonsville until he was discovered by the women's lacrosse team. He ended up autographing their sticks.
"Luckily, I hit a home run that game, so he couldn't make fun of me that night," Mike Flacco said.
There's no doubt where Joe Flacco wants his sibling to go.
"It would be really neat if Baltimore ended up picking Mike," he said. "It'd be amazing if, in a couple years, he is in the big leagues and we were both winning - one for the Ravens and the other for the Orioles."
