Two years ago, Bob Dietz was in the stands at the University of South Carolina, watching his son, Jeff '08, pitch against the No. 1 team in the nation.
Since he was concentrating on filming the game, Bob wasn't paying attention to the score. When he finally looked at the scoreboard in the sixth inning, he was shocked to see that his son was throwing a no-hitter.
That's when Bob realized: his son had the talent to be a professional baseball player.
Two years after that breakthrough performance in South Carolina, Dietz finally realized a lifelong dream. On Friday, he signed a contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
"It hasn't sunk in yet," Dietz said yesterday. "It's exciting. I always wanted to play pro ball as a kid."
After leading Brown to its first-ever Ivy League title this year as its staff ace and cleanup hitter, Dietz will delay his graduation and forfeit his last year of NCAA eligibility for what might be his only shot at the big leagues.
After completing the fall semester, Dietz will leave Brown to join the Diamondbacks' farm system in time for the 2008 season. But since minor-league seasons end around late August, he might return to school as early as Fall 2008 to finish his last semester.
"It doesn't bother me that I'm leaving early," said Dietz, the reigning Ivy League Pitcher of the Year. "This has been the only goal in my life - I'm so happy."
For Dietz, a professional contract offer was somewhat unexpected. Dietz had hoped to join catcher Devin Thomas '07, now in the Detroit Tigers' organization, as a selection in the Major League Baseball draft in June, but he was passed over.
Instead of playing for a professional team, he competed in the amateur Cape Cod Baseball League this summer. Pitching against some of the top college baseball stars in the country, he pitched 24 2/3 innings, posting a 0.73 ERA.
His performance caught the eye of scouts, and Dietz said he received contract offers from the Diamondbacks and Baltimore Orioles. He said he ultimately chose Arizona because of a better contract: a $40,000 signing bonus (about the equivalent of an eighth-round draft pick) and the rest of his tuition paid.
After spring training next year, Dietz will begin his career as a relief pitcher at Arizona's rookie-league or single-A affiliates. Bob Dietz thinks his son, with a sidearm fastball that reaches the upper 80s and a good slider, will succeed as a professional, but he won't mind if he doesn't.
"Everything he's done since high school has been just icing on the cake," said the father, who played college baseball himself. "He's had a wonderful baseball career - to play at Brown and help them win a championship and play in the NCAA Tournament, he's already succeeded beyond my expectations."
