Senior ball player Adam Berry signs with the Texas Rangers
By Daily Bruin Staff
May 27, 2002 9:00 p.m.
NICOLE MILLER/ Daily Bruin Staff
Senior Adam Berry trots home after hitting
Pac-10-leading 18th home run this year.
By Scott Bair and Dylan Hernandez
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
[email protected]
Senior Adam Berry’s graduation day celebration occurred,
not in mid-June, but during Sunday’s season finale against
USC. Berry joined the professional ranks just one day after he
ended his college career, signing with the Texas Rangers. Free
agents had to sign before 9 p.m. Monday night, and Berry made his
final decision just minutes before the deadline.
Senior Nick Lyon also signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays as a
pitcher.
Berry was drafted in the 58th round out of J.J. Pearce High
School, but chose to attend UCLA instead of going pro. He went
undrafted after a rough finish to his junior season in 2001. The
signing is the final chapter in Berry’s 2002 offensive
revival. He set career marks in six offensive categories, including
a Pac-10-leading 18 home runs (including nine in a 10-game
stretch), .308 average, 50 RBI, with a .611 slugging
percentage.
In his second year in the outfield, the converted catcher vastly
improved his defense, committing only 2 errors (.974 fielding
percentage).
“If he stays healthy, he’ll be good,” UCLA
head coach Gary Adams said. “Adam has been hit by the injury
bug so many times. But he’s a strong young man, and he has
enough power to keep hitting home runs in Dodgers’
Stadium.”
Berry will make it his quest to hit balls out of the Ballpark in
Arlington, home of the Rangers. He will start his quest with the
high class-A Sandgnats of the South Atlantic League in Savannah,
GA, skipping rookie ball and joining former teammate Randall
Shelley.
“I wanted to go to an organization that wanted me,”
Berry said. “Sending me to a full season high-A club, shows
me that they respect my ability and are going to give me a
legitimate shot to play.”
Berry should get some serious playing time for the Sandgnats,
whose outfielders are hitting .284, .241, and .238. Playing time
was one of the major selling points for Berry, who wants to ride a
hot end to his collegiate career into the professional ranks.
Berry will have a chance to play closer to his Richardson, Tex.
home. The Rangers’ class-AA and AAA teams are in the South,
and the Rangers play 20 minutes from the backyard where he grew up.
Berry, who has already completed the requirements for a B.A. in
psychology, will leave Friday to join the Sandgnats in Savannah. He
will come back to Westwood once more to walk with the class of 2002
in UCLA’s commencement ceremony.
After graduation, Berry will leave the big city for an uncertain
road filled with small towns, bus rides and obscure team names with
the hopes of one day reaching the major leagues.
