The Pecan Park Eagle

Ryan McCurdy is from Duke University. If he makes it all the way to the top, he will become only the second McCurdy in history to reach the major leagues of baseball.

The Houston Astros have signed a McCurdy! No, not this one. In spite of current circumstances, the club isn’t that desperate for playing talent. Their guy is named Ryan McCurdy, a 22-year old catcher out of Duke University. The (BR/TR) 5’10”, 175 pound young man is the same height and about twenty pounds heavier than I was at that age. He was born in Tampa, Florida in a general area of the country where I have a few scattered McCurdy relatives, but no known connection to this young man beyond the facts that we are both baseball guys, both the same height, and three days off from each other on our natal birthday celebrations. Ryan was born on 12/28/87. I was born on  12/31 – just a tad bit earlier in 1937.

If Ryan McCurdy makes it the top, he will become only the second McCurdy to make it to the big leagues. The other was Harry McCurdy, also a catcher, who had some pretty good years with the Houston Buffs (1924-25) and in the majors with the Cardinals, White Sox, Phillies, and Reds. Harry batted .361 in a full season for the 1925 Buffs and .282 over his ten seasons in the bigs (1922-23, 26-28, 30-34). After his retirement, Harry McCurdy made his home in Houston and served for many years as the Principal of Hogg Junior High School in the Heights. We used to get his calls all the time at our house from parents trying to locate Harry for conferences.

Harry McCurdy, Catcher

We weren’t related to Harry McCurdy either, but we did  have one possible relative, also on the McCurdy side, to make it to the big leagues. My late dad always claimed that we were related to Bob Myrick, who went 3-6, 3.48 as a right-handed pitcher for the New York Mets from 1976-78. I never met Bob Myrick nor really tried to determine if we were distant cousins from the family’s earlier days in Mississippi because it just didn’t matter to me, but I do have to admit: I hope the Ryan McCurdy kid makes it, even if he’s no relation. After all, there haven’t been many of our name to get there before Ryan – and that one was a catcher too.

I don’t know much about the player Ryan McCurdy beyond the facts that he enjoyed an outstanding high school hitting career and that he played college ball at Duke University. Like Mr. Castro’s Stanford, Duke s no dumping ground for dummies. I wouldn’t mind seeing the Astros put in a spot where they have to choose between, or else, platoon, two catchers from Stanford and Duke.

Ryan McCurdy, Catcher, Greeneville {TN) Astros

If Ryan McCurdy is going to make it as a serious challenger at catcher for the Houston Astros someday, like all our other young guys, he’s going to need time to develop on the vine. The direction that Ed Wade is taking now is a good one: With enough talent in the minor league orchards, the big club doesn’t have to pick the few good ones too soon for the longtime greater good.

Young McCurdy isn’t exactly off to a blazing start. He’s one single for nine times at bat in his first few games as an Appalachian Rookie Leaguer. At least, they gave him a good uniform digit to wear. The number “3” doesn’t carry with it the burden of too much expectation, does it? Of course, at catcher, I think the expectation load is much heavier if the club assigns number “8” to your back!

Good Luck, Ryan McCurdy! You can bet for sure that I will be pulling for you!

Tags: Baseball, Houston Astros, Ryan McCurdy

This entry was posted on July 7, 2010 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.