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Boston Red Sox center fielder Jacoby Ellsbury catches a fly ball in the Boston Red Sox's 8-3 win over the Texas Rangers.AP Photo/Stephan Savoia

Jacoby Ellsbury Is a Catch

By Dalton Walker

What's not to like about the young Navajo baseball player with dashing good looks and quick feet?

Anyone? Anyone?

Jacoby Ellsbury, 24, an outfielder for the Boston Red Sox and hero to many Natives across the nation, is at it again. Will the future all-star (yeah, I said it) please stand up?

After being called up from the minors mid-season last year, Ellsbury is still smacking base hits off big-time pitching and running down popouts most outfielders can only dream about catching. It has been reported that he can sprint 60 yards in 6.27 seconds.

Surprised? Not me.

This is the same Ellsbury who batted an amazing .438 in last season's World Series, which Boston won. Ellsbury even hit three doubles and a single in game three of the four-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies. Was he robbed of the Series MVP? Perhaps.

This is the same Ellsbury who scored on a wild pitch from second base on a wild pitch. He's technically still eligible for rookie of the year honors. Last season, he didn't play in enough games.

A new season, the same Ellsbury we've quickly grown to love. The 6-foot-1, 185-pound ballplayer is currently on tour. He's taking his hitting display and blazing base stealing abilities across the country, perhaps to a city near you. Tickets are available online.

The man often referred to as the first major leaguer with Navajo descent is a member of the Colorado River Indian Tribe.

Though the season is still young, he's batting a healthy .291 (that's about one hit every three at bats to all the non-baseball fans out there) with three homeruns, 12 runs batted in and 25 runs scored. But more importantly, Ellsbury is a key part of the Red Sox success.

Oh, we can't forget his wheels for feet. The man from Madras, Ore., is batting 1.000 in stolen bases. He has 11 stolen bases in 11 opportunities through 28 games.

Still, the former first-round draft pick from Oregon State University is not playing every day. He splits time with veteran outfielder Coco Crisp.

In an article in the Boston Globe, reporter Nick Cafardo called out Boston to make Ellsbury its everyday centerfielder. Yet, a patient Ellsbury told the Globe reporter that he's simply waiting for his time.

"It's up to them who plays when and it's up to me to stay ready so I can go out there and do the job when I'm called upon," Ellsbury said. "I have no idea what the future is, I just know it's great to be in the big leagues and contributing. I don't take a day of it for granted. I'm a young player and nothing is etched in stone for me. I've got to prove myself every day and prove that I belong here. Nobody's going to give me anything."

If those words aren't from a future hall-of-famer (yeah, I said it, again), I don't know what is.

"I'm going to continue to get better, and the awards and the individual aspects will take care of themselves," Ellsbury told Men's Vogue in a recent interview.

P.S. By the way, ladies, I think he's taken. The Globe reported he's dating a girl he attended college with.

Dalton Walker, Red Lake Anishinabe, is a reporter at the Argus Leader newspaper in Sioux Falls, S.D. Walker is a graduate of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln and the American Indian Journalism Institute. A longtime reznet staff writer and a Chips Quinn Scholar, Walker had reporting internships at the Star Tribune in Minneapolis and The New York Times.

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