Baseball in Fort Wayne

What a year it has been for former Wizards pitcher, Dirk Hayhurst. Before the 2008 season, h was probably best known as the scribe of Baseball America’s “Non-Prospect Diary” before he earned his shot at the Major League roster with the San Diego Padres (even spot starting for Jake Peavy). The 27-year-old Hayhurst appeared in 10 games wiht the Friars. He went 0-2 with a 9.72 ERA.

Yesterday, the Canton Republic published Hayhurst’s first-hand account of getting the call.

The morning I left to join the San Diego Padres, I deflated my air mattress, folded the lawn chair and ironing board I used for a desk set, and threw out the few lonely groceries in my fridge. I put on a sports coat bought at Goodwill, shined the shoes loaned to me by a teammate, and shaved twice just for good measure. I locked my apartment, turned in the keys, and waved goodbye to my life as a career minor leaguer.

Today, he was placed on waivers by San Diego and quickly snatched up by the Toronto Blue Jays.  

Hayhurst — a 6-foot-3 native of Canton, Ohio — went 2-3 with a 3.75 ERA in 46 games, including a pair of starts, while striking out 98 over 84 innings for Portland. Hayhurst, who was an eighth-round selection by the Padres in the 2003 First-Year Player Draft, has gone 32-33 with a 4.05 ERA in six Minor League seasons.