Neverauskas, first Lithuanian on an opening day roster, helps father realize dream

Transcription

1 Neverauskas, first Lithuanian on an opening day roster, helps father realize dream dkpittsburghsports.com/2018/03/31/neverauskas-first-lithuanian By Lance Lysowski March 31, 2018 Comments DETROIT As he s done for the past eight years, Virmidas Neverauskas picked up his phone to call his son following a baseball game. When Dovydas answered, his father quickly questioned him about what unfolded in the Pirates spring training game that day. It was the second-to-last game before the regular season and Dovydas, a 25-year-old righthanded reliever, was removed after walking the only batter he faced. To Virmidas, his son s removal was a sign that he was headed back to Triple-A. Then, Dovydas told him the news: he was the first Lithuanian-born player to make an opening day roster. Virmidas fought back tears. Only four days later, he watched from 4,000 miles away as his son ran out of the bullpen and threw one scoreless inning in the Pirates 13-10, 13-inning win over the Tigers at Comerica Park on opening day. For Dovydas, it was merely one step in his goal of remaining a major-league pitcher. For his father, it was a moment 30 years in the making. It was incredible, Virmidas said during a Skype interview from Vilnius, Lithuania. I was very 1/6

2 happy. It s opening day. I understand watching it. It s big. It s so big. It s my dream. He worked so hard. It s my work, too. I was very emotional. That work began on Feb. 9, 1987, when Virmidas, who was pursuing a degree in physical education, was leafing through a newspaper at Lithuania Sports University in Kaunas, Lithuania, and spotted an open invitation to join a team for baseball practice. He had never heard of the sport. It had been played in the country for more than 60 years, but basketball was the country s sport of choice. So, he decided to go to the library and found a rule book translated from English. I didn t understand a word of it, Virmidas said, laughing. Zero. But I decided to give it a try. Why not? Upon arriving at the practice, he discovered there wasn t proper equipment and no one else there understood the game. Tennis balls were filled with water to simulate the weight of a baseball. They used any piece of wood as a bat. Instead of mitts, they had a few hockey gloves to play catch with. But the sport intrigued him. He then traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia to purchase 10 baseball gloves. This was more than a hobby, though. Baseball was going to be a sport in the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, and a team was assembled in Kaunas Virmidas was a pitcher and third baseman. The group participated in the Soviet Union baseball championships in 1988 and 1989 Virmidas played for Moscow for two years and in 1994 he was named the best pitcher in the B group at the European championships. After his playing career, Virmidas made it his mission to grow the sport in Lithuania. He organized teams, advocated for more resources for the sport and started a makeshift training center in Vilnius. Vilnius Sportima arena is an indoor soccer facility, but he had two batting cages and two pitching mounds installed in the basement. Since the country lacked playing fields, and the climate wasn t conducive to playing outside most of the year, his teams would travel across Europe and to the United States. He began taking Dovydas on those trips when the son turned 4, traveling to countries such as Spain and Sweden. Dovydas began playing at 7 years old, and his father chose to coach youth teams rather than adults. Dovydas played on teams that also traveled across the world, making trips to countries such as the Czech Republic, Poland, Spain and the United States. It was part of my life, Dovydas said. I never spent summers at home. It was a week on the road, come back for a week and repack to go back to another country. At 14, he was throwing 81 mph. At 15, his four-seam fastball crept up to 88 mph. I was very optimistic this moment would come, Virmidis said. I understood it s a little crazy. Maybe you cannot believe this but I really believed he would make it. 2/6

3 Dovydas was one of 50 players invited to the three-week-long Major League Baseball European baseball camps held in Italy in 2008 and The players went through springtraining-like drills and played games in front of major-league scouts. Former Pirates international scout Tom Randolph, who also signed Gift Ngoepe, watched Neverauskas pitch at the camp in 2008 and was impressed with the teenager s athleticism and pedigree Neverauskas mother was once a semi-professional basketball player but his focus was on another player in the country. The following spring, one of Randolph s connections in Lithuania Will Gordon, who played on a club team in Lithuania with Randolph s help told Randolph to take a closer look at Neverauskas. So, Randolph, whose job was to find diamonds in the rough, paid particular attention to Neverauskas at the camp. He was by no means a legitimate prospect going into that spring, Randolph, who now works for General Motors, said in a phone interview. Mechanically I liked the way he threw. I liked his athletic genes. I liked his size. Long arms, long fingers. And he was throwing harder every year. It wasn t impossible to see him being a hard thrower, and I think I said so on my scouting report. Neverauskas performance generated interest from 15 teams, including the Pirates, Red Sox, Twins and Diamondbacks. Virmidas asked scouts to meet a few demands, though. He didn t want his son beginning his career in either the Venezuelan or Dominican summer leagues, and he wanted Dovydas to be able to compete in international tournaments for his home country. The Pirates agreed to those terms and Randolph signed Neverauskas. I felt lucky to have signed him when I did, Randolph said. Dovydas left for Bradenton, Fla., at only 17 years old, joining the club s rookie team in the Gulf Coast League. Alone in a new country, he watched movies particularly those starring Denzel Washington to try to teach himself English. Unlike most foreign players who sign with a major-league team, Dovydas was the only prospect who spoke Lithuanian. Only time helped him adapt to the culture. You do it on your own and you figure it out on your own, Dovydas said. He also figured baseball out. Neverauskas slow rise through the minor leagues included nearly two full seasons in rookie ball, and he struggled as a starting pitcher, recording a 1.66 WHIP at Low-A West Virginia in He was then shifted to the bullpen and had a 1.62 ERA in 16 2/3 innings upon being promoted to High-A Bradenton the following season. Neverauskas experienced a breakthrough at Double-A in 2016, recording a 0.82 WHIP in 28 innings and was selected to represent the Pirates at the Futures Game as part of All-Star festivities in San Diego. He struggled that season at Triple-A, but his cutter showed progress, 3/6

4 complementing his curveball and four-seam fastball. Neverauskas only pitched four innings in spring training last spring before he was cut from major-league camp and started the season at Triple-A Indianapolis. His stay wasn t long, though. On April 24, he was recalled to the major leagues, waking his father at 5 a.m. to deliver the news. Less than 24 hours later, he became the first player born and raised in Lithuania to appear in a major-league game. That took the pressure off, Neverauskas said. Now I have to perform to stay here. I ve been through that. I don t have to do it again with the debut and all that other stuff. I can just pitch. He had five separate stints with the Pirates, but it was the last that showed he could stick in the bullpen. Opponents batted only.192 against him in 15 innings prior to his final two outings of the season. At the conclusion of the season, he returned home to Vilnius to no fanfare. Not many people in the country follow baseball, Neverauskas said. The children who train at the indoor facility are some of the few who expressed joy over his accomplishments. He wanted to be more than a feel-good story, though. Training in Lithuania is far different than other countries. Neverauskas went to the indoor soccer facility to throw his bullpen sessions, but he often didn t have a bullpen catcher. So, he d throw at a sheet of metal that has a hole in the middle with netting to catch each ball. That process may sound less than ideal, but it s all Neverauskas knows. He was one of the only children in his neighborhood with a baseball, bat and glove, often sharing with friends so they could play in backyards around the country s capital city. I don t mind it, he said. It is what it is. You have to work. You get used to it over the years. There s not a bunch of guys you can call to catch. It s one guy, but I try not to bother him and do my own thing. Although it appeared the Pirates offseason acquisitions could supplant Neverauskas on the opening day roster, he overcame an uneven spring by showing an ability to induce ground balls in high-leverage situations. Plus, his mix of pitches helped him emerge from the competition. Neverauskas throws his 97-mph four-seamer fastball with downward angle, complementing his 90-mph cutter, 83-mph curveball and a slider that he worked on in Lithuania during the offseason. For him and Gift Ngoepe, their own perseverance and mental strength, the minor leagues are a meat market for even strong prospects, so I really think their dedication is admirable, Randolph, who left the organization in 2011, said. I m so happy to see it pay off. 4/6

5 Clint Hurdle turned to Neverauskas to protect a one-run lead in the sixth inning Friday, and he needed only 11 pitches to get three outs. It took 30 years, but his presence on the Pirates roster was featured prominently in news outlets across Lithuania Saturday morning. It s a story unlike any in professional sports. He didn t care about the attention. What he treasured most was the impact it had on the man who taught him the sport. My dad was proud, he said. That was part of his dream, too. He was really happy. My dream is part of his dream. 17 Comments Harrison, Musgrove, Schugel progressing 5/6

6 Meadows not going to settle for Triple-A Final: Nationals 9, Pirates 3 6/6