Former Central Missouri Mules pitcher Josh Outman made history last night, becoming only the second UCM baseball player (Morgan Burkhart, Boston Red Sox/Kansas City Royals), and first pitcher, to play Major League Baseball.
The lefty tossed two scoreless innings for the Oakland Athletics against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium last night (Sept. 2, 2008).
Outman, are you kidding me? A pitcher with a named spelled OUT-MAN , struck out the first and last batters he faced, giving up a couple harmless two-out hits in the process. He tossed the sixth and seventh innings, coming in with the A’s down 5-2. His velocity was consistently in the mid-90’s with a sharp-breaking slider that punched out the Royals’ Mark Teahen and Ryan Shealy.
Only three years ago, the St. Louis, Mo. product was the No. 2 pitcher for the top-ranked Central Missouri Mules at the Division II College World Series. He finished his career at UCM with a bang as well, tossing an eight-inning, seven strikeout performance that defeated Delta State 2-1 on May 30, 2005.
After the season he was one of five Mules pitchers drafted in the top 11 rounds of the 2005 First Year Player Draft (More than any other school that season). He was picked in the 10 th round by the Philadelphia Phillies and quickly moved up in that organization until this season when he was involved in a trade for Joe Blanton that sent him to the Oakland A’s farm system.
After four starts at double-A Midland, he was moved up to triple-A Sacramento. While there, he posted a 1.76 ERA in five appearances and two starts before getting the call up.
