Jim Hoey gets call to Orioles

By Mike Caputo

Living life on the road may not be the easiest on the psyche, but for Jim Hoey, former Rider pitcher and a current member of the Baltimore Orioles, life’s not so bad.

This season, Hoey started in low Single A ball until he was promoted to a higher A level club in Fredricksburg, Virginia. Soon thereafter, he moved up to AA ball with the Bowie Baysox. With all three teams, Hoey had a 2-1 record with 33 saves and a 2.28 ERA.

“Living out of a suitcase is rough,” Hoey said in a phone interview. “Especially since I’m still doing it at this point, moving from hotel to hotel. It would be nice to sit down and have a place to put my stuff. That’s the only thing that’s terrible.”

Hoey, of Hamilton, finally got a chance to feel at home this summer when his Bowie Baysox visited the Trenton Thunder at Waterfront Park in early August. He not only made an appearance, he ended up notching a save against the hometown favorites.

On Aug. 23, Hoey got the call to the big show. In a matter of a few months, Hoey emerged from the depths of the Orioles farm system to the bright lights of Camden Yards.
Hoey was low on the totem pole when he suffered an injury setback during the 2004 season. The damage to his elbow forced him to undergo “Tommy John surgery.” After rehab, he was only able to make nine relief appearances.

“With the limited time I have played over the last couple of seasons, it was nice and it was actually surprising I made it all the way up in this one long season,” said Hoey.

Immediately after joining Baltimore, Hoey made his first big league appearance against the Twins, entering the game in the seventh inning with two runners on base. After walking Torii Hunter, Hoey struck out Jason Kubel out to get out of the jam.

“The first game I had some jitterbugs,” said Hoey. “But it was pretty much the same thing I have been doing all year. It is just like everybody else in their work or job; it’s the same thing, you get promoted.”

Although he was a first-team All-New Jersey selection at Rider under retired head coach Sonny Pittaro, Hoey never envisioned such a fast ride to the major leagues.

“[When] playing under Sonny, your goal is just to get drafted,” Hoey said. “One thing, especially in college, [is that] you are not looking at the major league level, you just want to play some pro ball wherever, whenever, as soon as possible.”

Hoey attributes a major portion of success to the tutelage Pittaro provided during and after his stay at Rider.

“Sonny was a great coach,” said Hoey. “[Sonny] knew how to mold his athletes into professional athletes and professional prospects.”

Hoey admitted that the adjustment to the majors has not been as smooth as he would have hoped. But he said he is optimistic that his experience with Baltimore this season will pave the way for his future in the majors.

“I’m still learning to adjust to situations,” said Hoey. “I’m still not as comfortable as I would like to be on the mound. That just comes with time and experience — that’s what they say. You get the experience now, so you have time in the offseason to do what you need to do to pitch.”

But really, how hard could it be to pitch to players like David “Big Papi” Ortiz?

“You make one bad pitch and they’ll knock you around,” said Hoey. “Big Papi —try to stay away from him, I’ll tell you that.”

Hoey followed his own advice. He walked the Boston slugger in their first meeting.