The Varsity Blues men’s baseball team has managed to scoop up an added bonus this season: Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Corey Thurman. This is good news for a team with little time to spare – the Blues are currently gearing up for the OUA finals against the McMaster Marauders, held in Hamilton this coming weekend.
Hailing from Texarcana, Texas, Thurman is a former Kansas City Royals draft pick, and a now a regular visitor to the bowels of the Athletic Centre. “I’m getting ready to play winter ball in Venezuela,” explains Thurman, who has been throwing with Blues catcher James Rutherford for the last few weeks in a throwing room in the basement of the AC. That he has been able to help the Blues along the way goes without saying.
The 24-year-old Thurman, drafted straight out of high school, spent six years in the minors before getting his professional start for the Blue Jays in 2002. Since then, he has been shuttled up and down, pitching for both the Jays and their Syracuse AAA farm team.
Thurman was introduced to the Varsity Blues organization by way of Dave Mindell, a U of T student and the visiting team bat boy for the Toronto Blue Jays organization. “I knew [Corey] was up here in the off-season, and I knew he was looking for a place to throw,” says Mindell. Thurman liked the sound of getting some practice time in with the varsity team’s catchers, and a call was made to the Blues head coach Dan Lang. The rest, as they say, is history.
So far, the partnership has been a sweet deal on both ends. “The setup is great,” exclaims Thurman, “they allow me to just come in and throw and these are great facilities…it’s a good working agreement.” And the praise doesn’t end there; Thurman is ready to give his throwing partner, Rutherford, his due. “James is really good. He’s got really good skills behind the plate…I definitely think he could play professional ball.”
Thurman’s level of play, major league experience, and professional attitude have rubbed off on the Blues catcher. “The sessions have been good, he’s a cool guy and I’ve learned a lot of things,” says the lucky catcher. Rutherford, who injured both his quadracep and ankle in a game collision in late September, is using the sessions to get back into playing form. Although there’s “still not enough mobility” in his ankle, Rutherford is confident that he’ll be on the field for the all-important finals this weekend. In the outfield, that is, not behind the plate.
The Blues starting catcher, Dominic Roppa, will be suiting up against Mac on Saturday. Roppa, a former St. Louis Cardinal and current dentistry student at U of T, injured his hamstring-also in late September-and was replaced by Rutherford for over a week. But with the OUA championship on the line, Rutherford is “pretty sure that Dominic and [himself] will play regardless of the pain,” because, he adds, “we’ll have six months to rest afterwards.”
Although Corey leaves the country this Thursday to play in Venezuela’s winter baseball league, he hopes to maintain his relationship with the Blues in the future. Upon his return in December, Thurman plans to keep using the AC, and help out with players other than Rutherford-the pitchers in particular. “If the guys wanted to ask for help [with pitching],” he says, “then I’d be happy to give it.”
