If former Ravens tight finish Eric Green had his manner, he would have retired with Baltimore. He would possibly quickly have a cause to make common journeys again to town.
His son, Elijah Green, is likely one of the prime prospects accessible on this weekend’s Major League Baseball draft, wherein the Orioles have the primary total decide. An outfielder out of IMG Academy in Florida, Elijah is believed to be among the many handful of gamers Baltimore is contemplating with its second No. 1 decide in 4 years.
“I dreamed of this, and he dreamed of this, and he worked hard for this,” Eric Green mentioned. “I always told him, if you work hard enough, things will come your way, and things are coming his way.”
The elder Green performed in Baltimore from 1996 to 1998 earlier than closing his profession with one season for the New York Jets. But he hoped to complete out his profession as a Raven.
“They actually had to kick me out of Baltimore,” Eric mentioned. “I did not want to leave Baltimore to go to New York. I tell you, I was on the phone with [then-general manager Ozzie Newsome] until the 11th hour when he was saying that they just couldn’t do it. And that’s when I signed with the Jets. But I would have retired in Baltimore, if it was up to me, because I love everything about the city, the people and the football team.”
The baseball workforce would definitely be a part of that listing if it picks Elijah, ranked a top-five prospect within the draft class by each Baseball America and MLB Pipeline. He’s constructed like a soccer participant at 6 ft 3 and about 220 kilos, a body that, when paired together with his ability set, has led some evaluators to imagine he has probably the most upside of any participant on this draft class. Despite his measurement, he runs exceptionally effectively and has a powerful sufficient arm to play a nook outfield spot if he’s moved out of heart. His most spectacular device is his uncooked energy, which he displayed for Team USA’s 18-and-younger group final summer season, slugging .957 and homering 4 instances in seven video games — three of them performed on the Orioles’ Ed Smith Stadium complicated in Sarasota, Florida.
Green’s residence run and slugging tallies led a workforce that featured the opposite highschool prospects the Orioles are believed to contemplating with the No. 1 decide. Green joins Georgia highschool outfielder Druw Jones, Oklahoma highschool shortstop Jackson Holliday, Georgia highschool second baseman Termarr Johnson and Cal Poly shortstop Brooks Lee in what’s regarded as Baltimore’s focused group of 5.
Jones and Holliday are the sons of former MLB All-Stars Andruw Jones and Matt Holliday, however Green is well-positioned to be the primary son of an NFL first-round decide to go within the MLB draft’s first spherical.
“Actually kind of feels surreal,” Elijah mentioned. “It just has always been one of my dreams of mine, and it just doesn’t feel real at this point.”
As a senior at IMG Academy, he hit .462 with a 1.592 OPS. After putting greater than twice as typically as he walked as a junior, Elijah completed even in that ratio this spring, serving to to reduce the swing-and-miss considerations that adopted him into the marketing campaign.
To his father, Elijah has all the time been at his greatest when making an attempt to quiet those that doubt him.
“All he heard leading into the spring season was, ‘He’s swing and miss, swing and miss,’” Eric mentioned. “He was befuddled as a result of he mentioned, ‘Dad, I just led Team USA in home runs, total bases, slugging percentage, in everything. But I’m simply swing and miss.’ So he mentioned, ‘Well, I’m gonna present them,’ and that’s when he went out and hit .462 and did what he did, and I can respect that. That’s Elijah.
“That’s what I’m most proud about. When people tell him he can’t do something, oh, my God, he goes through hell and Earth to show them that he can do it.”
It’s a mindset molded from his father’s. Before Elijah headed to IMG, Eric largely dealt with his coaching. It was goal-oriented and targeted on the significance of self-discipline, with Eric understanding firsthand what was required to be knowledgeable athlete. Drafted twenty first total by the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1990, he adopted 5 seasons there with one in Miami earlier than becoming a member of the Ravens.
“Absolutely loved it,” Eric mentioned. “I probably had more success in Pittsburgh as an individual. But as a football player, I think I had a better three years there than my five years in Pittsburgh because of who I was and what I brought to the team and the things we did off the field in the community. I love Baltimore.”
His affinity for seafood prompted him to frequent Jimmy’s Famous Seafood, and he makes certain to go there each time he’s again within the space. He would love if Elijah and the Orioles gave him excuses to make the journey.
Elijah would admire that chance, too.
“It would mean everything to me,” Elijah mentioned. “Just knowing that the hard work I put in all these years is finally paying off and the Orioles are recognizing that and taking a chance on me and just knowing that when I come in there, I’m gonna work so hard and just try to bring a World Series to that ballclub.”
Eric has seen that onerous work up shut. He coached Elijah in soccer, with their workforce profitable 4 AAU nationwide titles in six years with Elijah taking part in quarterback and center linebacker. But early in his teen years, he went to his father and advised him he wished to deal with baseball.
“I had more love for baseball at that point,” Elijah mentioned. “Football was always my first love, but the love kind of just ran out.”
“The only thing I could do at that point is respect it,” Eric mentioned. “As a child, to return to me and understand how a lot time I put in with him in soccer and say that he loves baseball extra, that was nice for me to listen to. Then, we began placing that power that we had in soccer into baseball.
“I had to teach him about things that he [may not] do that other kids his age may partake in, the discipline part of his life and all that aspect. Just trying to show him how to get to his dream.”
The “sweat equity,” as Eric put it, they’ve shared in these efforts will repay Sunday, when Elijah will hear his identify known as within the first spherical of the MLB draft. Whenever that day has come up in conversations between father and son, Eric has gotten emotional. Elijah expects that to be the case once more this weekend.
“He’s played a big role, just him knowing what it takes to get to the next level in any sport,” Elijah mentioned. “He’s applied that into my recreation and all the time advised me to work onerous, you by no means know who’s watching.
“He just always wanted the best for me.”
MLB DRAFT DAY 1
Los Angeles
Sunday, 7 p.m.
TV: ESPN
()
Source: www.bostonherald.com