May 2, 2008

Justin Masterson living out his life’s dream

At 23 years of age, Justin Masterson, along with his wife, Meryl, is living out his fantasy of becoming a Major League Baseball pitcher.

On April 24, Masterson got his first big break and became the first Jamaican-born baseball player to appear in a Major League game.

Only a day before, the Double A Portland (Maine) Sea Dog was relaxing after a day game when he got a call from the Red Sox around 6 p.m. He was told to get packed and head down to Boston.

It wasn’t long after that that the Red Sox called his parents in Beavercreek, Ohio, (near Dayton) and told them that the team would fly his mother, father, brother and sister to Boston and put them up in a hotel so that they could be there for the big occasion.

A couple of his buddies also flew in on their own for the day.

It was a whirlwind experience — all because the Red Sox needed someone to fill in for their flu-stricken pitching staff.

Masterson recalled sitting in his hotel room battling his nerves as he was thinking through his game.

“I had enough confidence in me that I could get it done,” he recalled as he headed to Fenway Park.

Sitting in the clubhouse about an hour before the game, the words in a book he was reading started to blur together. He put the book down and took some deep breaths to calm himself.

When he got to the field and saw guys who he had met during spring training, they helped calm those nerves.

The 6-6, 250-pound sinkerballing righthander went out and gave the Red Sox six innings of strong pitching in his debut.

“It was such a great experience. I mean, it was just a lot of fun — just kind of a dream coming true,” said Masterson in a telephone interview Thursday afternoon.

“Just being at the mainstage of Major League Baseball, a soldout Fenway Park, there’s no better stage to set for your debut than that,” he continued.

Needless to say, Justin is eager to return to the Major League mound.

“It was like having an appetizer before the main course, it just gets you excited and you just want to be out there even more,” he stated. “I’m just hoping to continue to pitch well and hopefully things work as they will and I’ll be back up there again this year.”

He definitely set the stage and the Red Sox are keeping an eye on him. He currently has a 13-9 overall record in the minors. With the Sea Dogs, he is 1-1 with a 2.42 ERA over five starts and 22 1/3 innings pitched.

His ability to keep the ball down in the strike zone is something that also will help him get back to the Big Leagues.

“That’s just something that I’ve always been able to do. I think with my arm angle and my flexibility it allows me to really get through and over the top of the ball. It gives me a heavy sink which has really helped me be successful throughout all levels here and at college,” said Masterson.

One thing Justin has learned is that Major League hitters can be very unforgiving.

“You find out that these hitters in the Major Leagues are a little bit quicker as far as their minds and how they are working through and how they make adjustments. When you make a mistake, they jump on those mistakes. They don’t miss them. At the Minor League level, you can make a mistake and get away with it … but at the Major League level, they will make you pay.”

Even though Justin was born in the Caribbean, his father originates from Wells County, which almost brought him back home.

Son of Pastor Mark Masterson, Justin enrolled at Bethel College in Mishawaka after high school, where he was studying to go into the ministry, too.

There at Bethel he continued playing baseball and met up with Jake Ringenberg, who had graduated from Norwell High School — the same school his father attended.

The summer after his sophomore year in high school, Masterson almost became a Norwell student, because his father was interested in taking the pastorate at Murray Missionary Church.

Oddly enough, Justin and Jake could have played together at Norwell and could have been teammates on the 2003 Norwell Class 3A state baseball championship team.

Justin hopes to continue his college studies and enter the ministry.

However, while he is pursuing his baseball career, Justin is finding ways to share his faith.

“I kind of look at it now that my ministry is wherever I am going. Even in baseball now, I’m a believer in Christ and I let people know what motivates me,” he said. “Bethel gave me a great foundation and good fundamental base to continue to go out.”

He has found a lot of quality guys in the Red Sox organization who are Christians. Strong men of faith, like catcher Jason Varitek, pitcher Mike Timlin and first baseman Sean Casey made Masterson’s first Major League experience more comfortable.

“You already relate well through baseball, but it gives you even that much more of a connection and that comfortability,” said Masterson.

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