Brandon Loy had just stepped out of the shower when he noticed that he had a phone call. The Detroit Tigers were on the other line to inform him that they had just drafted him in the fifth round.
“It’s an exciting moment,” Loy said. “It’s something that I dreamed about.”
Loy had spent the earlier part of Tuesday with Sam Stafford, tracking the draft in Loy’s room.
“I was with Sam when he got drafted by the Yankees,” Loy said, laughing. “He was already gone when I got drafted an hour and a half later.”
After Stafford left, Loy watched the draft and talked on the phone with a few teams before deciding to freshen up.
“I ended up taking a shower, and when I got out, I had a phone call from the Tigers,” he said.
It wasn’t the first time he had heard from them.
“They called me on Monday to congratulate me on winning the Regional and to make sure if everything was good, if I was still healthy,” he said. “But there are multiple teams that call you, the draft is a crazy deal and you never know what’s going to happen.”
The junior shortstop, selected 167th overall, is the fourth Longhorn that the Tigers have drafted in the past three years. Detroit took Austin Wood in 2009 and then selected both Chance Ruffin and Cole Green last year. Green turned down the $300,000 signing bonus to return to school for his senior year, a decision Loy will have to figure out in the coming months.
“This decision will be tough. Cole had that decision last year,” Loy said. “Somehow, I hope we can come together and win a national championship, which would make this an easier decision for me, but I think I’m ready for the next step in my life.”
Coming out of high school, the Baltimore Orioles made Loy their draft choice in the 32nd round. He says that the decision-making process now will be completely different than it was three years ago.
“You can either go to one of the best organizations in college baseball or you can play professionally, be an 18-year-old kid and not really know what you’re getting yourself into,” he said. “School was the best decision for me, I was immature and young.”
Three seasons as a Longhorn helped Loy grow up.
“I’ve matured a lot here, I’ve grown and I know the type of player I am now,” he said. “Playing in front of the fans here gets you ready for the next level.”
