Mossy Oak Pro David Buchanan Tells How He Got Starting Pitching Baseball and Hunting
Editor’s Note: Twenty-five-year old David Buchanan from Atlanta, Georgia, is living every young baseball player’s dream. He's a starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies professional baseball team. He made his debut in the Major Leagues on May 24, 2014, after signing a contract to play in the Philadelphia Phillies program in 2010.
I only started hunting about 5-years ago. I always loved being outdoors and in the woods when I was a youngster. Neither my grandfather nor my dad hunted. But we always went camping when I was a youngster. Then when I started playing baseball and going to school, there just wasn’t any time left to go hunting. However, my roommate in college, Wes Grant, was an avid hunter. He took me with him out to Arkansas during my college days. Once I had that first dose of hunting I became addicted. We hunted around Denton, Ark., for deer, ducks and squirrels. I really enjoyed the peace and quiet that I found in the woods. Hunting offered me a calm place to relax and get away from studies and baseball for awhile - until I saw a deer. When I first spotted a deer in the woods, my heart started beating in overdrive, I was so excited. I thought of a thousand things at one time. “Am I going to get a shot? Is that deer big enough to shoot?”
When we went duck hunting, I enjoyed the constant action. Once we saw the birds, the hunters started calling, the ducks began turning, and they’d float on the air. Their wings would beat quickly as they prepared to land. Then the shooting would begin. Another thing I liked about duck hunting was I didn’t have to be real quiet or sit still. During the lull, (when the ducks weren’t coming in), I could talk with my buddies and move around in the blind. Duck hunting was just a good old time to enjoy something different from school and baseball.
I love the game of baseball. Playing baseball is my favorite thing. I started playing when I was 3-years old. I liked picking up the ball and throwing it, and I liked trying to hit the baseball in the front yard. When I got older, I thrived on the constant competition and the battle of attempting to do everything right to help my team win. I liked the idea of working with other players as a team, but I also liked the idea of playing the game as an individual sport.
For the team to win, every player has to try to play the most-perfect game he can play with no mistakes. When that happens, teams and individuals win. I really like the competition that baseball provides, especially since I’m a pitcher. Every pitch I throw is a battle between me and the batter, and every play in a baseball game starts when the pitcher makes a pitch. I love the pressure of trying to make the perfect pitch and get that batter to swing and miss. I played baseball for 2 years at Chipola Junior College in Florida and 1 year at Georgia State University. After that year, I signed a professional baseball contract.
For more about David Buchanan and the Philadelphia Phillies, go to philadelphia.phillies.mlb.com.
My Toughest Game to Pitch and Every Pitch Is an Adjustment with David Buchanan
