Not too many national headlines ever come out of Beaufort, NC. The only things that come to mind were 'Freedom Fries' (you're welcome) and a rags to riches to rags pitching prospect who would become the #1 draftpick of the NY Yankees (Isn't it ironic?) and sign a then record $1.55M signing bonus.
As a kid and huge baseball fan/collector in 1991 he was the shit on the local highschool varsity team (played alongside Falling Man and my cousin). His father was a bricklayer and the rumor mill was his upper 90s fastball was honed by throwing a bats flying around his house while growing up in a low level poverty stricken area that was frequently flooded. To put it into perspective, he misspelled his own first name on a baseball he signed for me...then scratched it out and re-signed below it...as a Senior in HS months away from graduation. He really only had this chance to make something out of himself and yet never threw a single pitch in the majors. Ripped his rotator cuff during an offseason fight at a trailer park in 1993, career was over and now he's busted for dealing crack and cocaine.
What a waste
