By Lauren Dake / The Bulletin
Published: October 25. 2007 4:00AM PSTMadras Elks Lodge Jacoby Ellsbury fans, from left, Michael Van Wormer, Ian McMorrow and Michael and Shonagh Preston react while watching on TV as Ellsbury, of the Boston Red Sox, is walked in the fifth inning Wednesday of Game 1 of the World Series against the Colorado Rockies. The Red Sox won 13-1.
Madras’ Jacoby Ellsbury adjusts his cap before Saturday’s game against the Cleveland Indians. His former Little League teammate, Christian Kowaleski, says he’s not too surprised to see Ellsbury in the World Series. “Even in Little League, he was above and beyond everyone else,” Kowaleski said.
BORN: Sept. 11, 1983, in Madras
HEIGHT: 6’1”
WEIGHT: 185
BATS: Left
THROWS: Left
FAMILY: Parents, Jim and Margie; three younger brothers, Matthew, Tyler and Spencer
EDUCATION: Madras High School, Oregon State University
MAJOR LEAGUE DEBUT: June 30, 2007
NICKNAME: At Oregon State University people called him Jackaby or Jack, playing on both his name and his ability to run like a jackrabbit. So far he doesn’t have one in the majors, but media and fans have been tossing around “electric” to describe his game.
MADRAS —
Maybe people around here used to be Mariners fans. Or perhaps they rooted for the Yankees. Not anymore.
These days, Madras is a Red Sox town.
Margaret Sturza knew it was coming, but her eyes still welled up when the announcer said the words: “Batting ninth, center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury.”
“Can you believe it?” said Larry Larson, who watched the game with Sturza, Madras High School’s longtime athletic director. The two watched the game in Sturza’s living room.
Long before “Red Sox Nation” fell in love with Ellsbury, people in this town of 6,000 people knew the boy they describe as “phenomenal,” “quiet” and “always a hard worker,” was going places.
Three months ago, Ellsbury was playing in the minor leagues. Wednesday night, the 24-year-old Madras native started in the opening game of the World Series.
Over at the Elks Lodge on Second Street, Ellsbury’s high school trombone teacher, Michael Preston, sat near Gordon Cannon, the self-appointed president of the “Elks Lodge 2017 Jacoby Ellsbury Fan Club.”
A couple of weeks ago Cannon decided to give the Red Sox management a call.
“The Red Sox were down 3 to 1 and I called and said, ‘I want to talk to management,’” he said, a small smile already forming on his face.
When Cannon got ahold of someone, he gave the woman on the phone a bit of advice.
“I told her I was the president of the Elks Lodge 2017 Jacoby Ellsbury Fan Club,” Cannon said. “And on behalf of the fan club we strongly suggest putting Jacoby in to avoid losing. Well, they didn’t. And they lost.”
Cannon, a one-time Mariners fan, is trying to sell a jacket emblazoned with the Seattle team’s logo.
He needs the money for a Red Sox coat.
Ellsbury was on deck. And the Elk’s club crowd — made up of Ellsbury’s teachers, neighbors and plain ol’ fans — stopped talking.
His former Little League teammate, Christian Kowaleski, admitted it’s pretty bizarre to see the chiseled baseball player’s face on the big screen. But like most Madras residents, he’s not too surprised.
“Even in Little League he was above and beyond everyone else,” Kowaleski said.
“That boy is going to get rookie of the year,” someone shouted out.
Ellsbury struck out. Nobody seemed to mind. He’ll have plenty of other chances, and no one in this crowd was going to say a single bad thing about the former White Buffalo.
The guy is living the dream. And because of him, a new generation of high school athletes will dream about doing the same.
Jesse Macias, 14, a freshman at Madras, was inspired.
“I’m amazed a kid from Madras could be a pro player,” he said. Macias plans to play pro football. His dad, also named Jesse, isn’t concerned that his son idolizes the left-handed hitter.
Instead, he simply pointed out a fact. Before Ellsbury went pro, he went to college.
Over at the local watering hole, the Meet Market, where Ellsbury celebrated his 21st birthday, according to the bartender, Jeannie Stovall talked about the influence the baseball player has had on her 15-year-old, baseball-playing son. Again, she’s not concerned.
The current principal of Madras High School, Gary Carlton, pointed out that when people in Madras think of Jacoby, it’s not just about his skills on the field.
“We have a kid representing us from Central Oregon that’s just a dynamite character, the kind of kid we would want others to emulate in character,” he said in a telephone interview.
The rookie was up to bat again. The Sox were up 11-1. And the bases were loaded.
“Good eye,” said Allen Jones, over at the Abby’s Pizza off of U.S. Highway 97. Jones used to coach Ellsbury’s younger brothers in Little League. Amelio Spino, whose eyes are also glued to the TV set, went to school with him.
“Down to earth,” she said, describing the player.
Back at the Meet Market, Tim Frost watched the game.
Frost is one of the few people who admitted he has never met Ellsbury, nor his parents, and not even his brothers. But that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a Red Sox fan.
“I wasn’t a Red Sox fan until I read in the newspaper a guy from Madras was playing for them,” he said.
“Now I’m rooting for the hometown kid.”
Lauren Dake can be reached at 383-0375 or at ldake@bendbulletin.com.
Published Daily in Bend Oregon by Western Communications, Inc. © 2009