A former Sun Devils baseball player recently got called up to the major leagues after 13 seasons in the minor leagues.
The journey for Drew Maggi started, in part, during the 2010 Super Regional in Tempe against the Arkansas Razorbacks.
With the Sun Devils leading in the second game of the series by one run in the bottom of the 9th inning... with two outs, ASU gave up a solo shot over the left field wall.
Then in the 12th inning, Maggi hit a two-run homer in left-center field. The Sun Devils would go on to the College World Series (CWS) in Omaha, Nebraska.
When asked what he remembers about that night, Maggi smiled and said, “I remember before that I was 0-5,” he laughed.
That was one of the most important swings of Maggi’s baseball career.
After a trip to the CWS with the Sun Devils, the Valley kid from Brophy College Preparatory eventually got drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
He would go on to spend the next 13 years chasing a major league dream - in the minors.
“I heard a lot of things over 13 years, a lot of you’re not good enough, blah blah blah, for me it was always, what’s next,” said Maggi.
If you’re into baseball stats, consider this; Maggi played 1,155 games and had 4,494 plate appearances in the minors.
He managed to stay healthy through it all.
“Shout out to the trainers,” said Maggi while stressing he couldn’t do it all on his own.
Never once did he get to play in a major league game. He was part of the Minnesota Twins taxi squad when he previously got called up, but he never got to play.
Maggi has played for plenty of teams but he was back on the Pirates double-A team in Altoona, Pennsylvania when he got called up to the big leagues.
“At the end of the day, you got something you love, something you believe in, keep grinding keep going you never know what will happen,” he said.
On Wednesday, former Sun Devil Drew Maggi played his first-ever major league game with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Pirates were up 8-1 against the Los Angeles Dodgers when Maggi was called up as a pinch hitter for Andrew McCutchen in the bottom of the 8th inning.
Maggi hit his first pitch in the majors hard but had a foul.
The count went 0-2 on Maggie after a pitch clock violation for not being in the batter's box on time. The 33-year-old would strike out a couple of pitches later.
Maggi and his parents, Sara and Craig spoke with the Pirates broadcast about never giving up on a dream after the game.
A moment he'll never forget. pic.twitter.com/DRMoWbsc2W
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) April 27, 2023
