Saunders feels impact from the opposite coast
Brian Wright
April 20, 2007
It was typical off-day for Major League starting pitcher Joe Saunders on April 16. The former Virginia Tech pitcher was sitting in the visiting dugout and watching his Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim play an afternoon game against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park.
It wasn't long before a teammate gave him news about the deadly shootings.
Saunders then became like any other Tech student, watching CNN in the team's locker room and witnessing the events as they unfolded.
"I was basically speechless," he said. "My first thoughts were Îhow did this happen at Virginia Tech?' It's such a good school. Everybody that goes there loves the school so much. It was pretty unbelievable."
It's safe to say that nobody in Major League Baseball has stronger ties to Tech than Saunders. Both his parents attended there, as did his fiance, Shanel, who was a softball player.
"I loved the community," Saunders said. "I loved the atmosphere. I loved the college and the campus. I have a lot of family history there and I think we all just fell in love with the place."
Saunders, a family financial management major while at Tech, was part of the Hokies' pitching rotation. In 2000, Saunders went 9-2 in 17 starts. The next year, he had another 9-win campaign along with five complete games. As a member of the 2002 All-Big East first team, Saunders finished his collegiate career with 27 victories, third on the school's all-time win list.
After the 2002 season, he was drafted by the Angels with the 12th pick of the first round. In 2006, Saunders compiled a 7-3 record. This season, the 26-year old left-hander has a 1-0 record in two starts with a 2.92 ERA. Saunders followed a no-decision against the Oakland Athletics on April 5 with a four-hit, one-run outing in 6 2/3 innings versus the Cleveland Indians six days later.
Although Saunders mainly pitches 3,000 miles away from the east coast, his roots still lie in Virginia. A native of Falls Church and a graduate of West Springfield High School, he finds it extremely eerie that the perpetrator of the biggest mass-murder in U.S. history resided near his hometown.
"It's pretty sad and pretty appalling," Saunders said. "Everybody goes through troubles in their life. You may think that life is not important anymore, but don't take 32 people with you. At the worst-case scenario, the kid could have gotten some professional help. Whether he was lonely or he had problems going on, he shouldn't have taken out his troubles on innocent students and faculty members. To think that there are people close to home that are capable of doing that is very scary."
Saunders will honor his alma mater as he takes the mound to start against the Seattle Mariners on Friday night at Angel Stadium in Anaheim.
"I'm going to have a moment of silence by myself before I pitch," he said. I'm going to put a Virginia Tech symbol on my cleats and probably draw a Virginia Tech symbol on the back of the mound. I want to do whatever I can do to honor the people who died there."
Unsure if he will don a hat sporting the Virginia Tech logo, Saunders, who is the only current Hokie in the Major Leagues, said that will be a game-time decision.
The game's first pitch will occur at approximately 10:05 p.m. eastern time.