Healthy Farrell thrives

Published: March 27, 2008

The kid in the candy store would have been jealous.
A mere high school student and the son of a former major league pitcher, Jeremy Farrell spent many afternoons killing time shagging fly balls at Jacobs Field with members of the Cleveland Indians.
Virginia’s starting first baseman also worked a stint as the Indians’ bat boy and picked the brain of at least one All-Star infielder on a regular basis.
“One of the years, Omar Vizquel was on the shelf — he was hurt and rehabbing — so I would bounce questions off him,” Farrell said. “I would ask him stuff like, ‘Who’s the toughest pitcher you have faced?’
“He would come back with ‘Pedro Martinez.’”
At that point, Farrell’s dad, John, served as Director of Player Development for the Indians.
Having recruited numerous players from Farrell’s high school, Saint Ignatius, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor — then an assistant at Notre Dame — spotted the youngster at a showcase.
After taking the job at UVa prior to the 2004 season, O’Connor put the memory to use.
“He really fit the profile for what we what in a player,” O’Connor said.
Virginia also offered what Farrell sought in a suitor.
“[O’Connor] kept in contact with me, and coming out of high school I was looking for a good academic school with a strong baseball program and a place where I could go and develop,” Farrell said. “I felt UVa had the total package.”
Early in his sophomore year at UVa and after a postgame interview with The Daily Progress, Farrell was told something that changed his life — and his favorite baseball team.
“I got a call from my mom saying I hear something about my dad in the news,” Farrell chuckled.
John was about to be named the pitching coach of the Boston Red Sox, months before the start of what proved to be a World Series championship season for the organization.
Farrell quickly became a Red Sox fanatic.
“Family ties,” he explained. “I have to root for my dad.”
Thus far this season, Farrell has enjoyed his own fan club at Virginia’s Davenport Field. The junior enters tonight’s game with in-state rival Virginia Tech at 6 p.m. batting .386 with four homers and 24 RBI. The long-ball production matches his total from his first two injury-plagued seasons.
“The injuries that he has suffered have been very disappointing to him,” O’Connor said. “He’s a guy that was our starting third baseman as a freshman in 2006. It’s tough for a guy like him that’s a very good player and really believes in himself to deal with something like that.”
Farrell also dazzled Wahoo Nation last weekend with a grand slam in Sunday’s sweep-clinching victory over Boston College, lifting the
21st-ranked Cavaliers (20-5, 5-4 ACC) into a tie for third place in the Coastal Division.
“I think Jeremy is the ultimate team guy and where he has improved is with his pitch recognition,” O’Connor said. “He is more advanced than he was his first two years.”
Throughout it all — the good, the bad and the ice packs — Farrell has remained a steady source of inspiration and just another Cavalier despite his dad’s high-profile employer.
“Jeremy is a very humble guy,” O’Connor said. “He grew up in the big leagues and grew up around baseball, but he handles himself with such a maturity.
“He just has a presence about him that he is confident and he is very professional in the way he goes about his business.”