Herbert Hamilton – Boston Globe, January 3rd, 1903
As I walk into the Boston Yards around sunset, there are two people in the entire stadium waiting to greet me. Neither look up. The groundskeeper goes about his business, repairing the various frozen destructions of another middling Banshees season. And one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball has his head down, statue still, vanishing under a mask of his own breath. Briefly, he winds up, and the ball disappears until it rattles off the backstop. Again and again. After he collects his pile of baseballs for a third time, wiping the cold sweat off his brow, I finally make my presence known. I learn very little from our brief interview before I’m shooed back off the diamond, except for these two important facts. Wesley Threlkeld is a young man of few words. And Wesley Threlkeld does not like being called a prospect.
For the entirety of our young 20th century now, the hard-throwing righty has been listed as the next man up in Legacy Baseball. Boasting one of the nastiest arms in the game even at 18, Threlkeld joined the Boston Banshees after moving away from small-town Iowa. When asked if he’s felt any pressure to live up to expectations, or if living on his own in the big city has proven a challenge, Threlkeld simply turned and fired at the backstop again.
His third year in Beantown, now 20 years old, Threlkeld is currently the youngest pitcher tossing significant innings in Legacy Baseball. With his signature dead-eyed stare, and his “in-a-hurry” windup, Threlkeld drew a lot of notice in his first short season with the Banshees. Unfortunately, the young ace often drew attention for the wrong reasons. In only 99 innings of work, Threlkeld teed up 8 home runs to opposing batters, more than most Legacy pitching veterans with twice the workload. Fans and Banshee employees note that Threlkeld needs to work on mixing up his pitches to keep batters guessing. One anonymous vendor stated, “I swear I’ve seen something like a slider a couple times, but the kid just throws fast, that’s what he does.”
There has been concern around the city that Threlkeld will never live up to his promise. High expectations for a young man who has barely started shaving. Some say he’ll never fill out his pitching repertoire. Or even that he doesn’t have a Boston mentality. Not a hard worker. But reports have trickled back from the harbor that Threlkeld can be seen as the sun rises in various corners of the docks hauling barrels on his shoulder. Wesley may not be a favorite in a dugout full of grown men, but some Boston vets seem to have given their stamp of approval, and fans sitting behind the plate have quickly learned not to disrespect him while he’s working. Threlkeld has already unofficially collected teeth in the double digits in his young career. Owner Atticus Jones has also unofficially supported this endeavor. The young hurler may be more Boston than he yet knows.
Heading into his first full season as an active Banshee, reports suggest that Threlkeld may have done enough to try out a spot in the rotation as a full time starter, and will soon be taken off the dreaded prospect list. Boston management must believe the kid has something up his sleeve. Perhaps the reason he is out in the cold, trying to earn his various titles. “Don’t call me a prospect”, he said. “I ain’t digging for gold. I ain’t a prodigy. I’m a pitcher.” When I finally asked if I could see his mythical developing changeup, Threlkeld scowled and shook a slight no at me in the same register as he might at catcher John Weetman, turned and fired once again. “I like to throw hard”, he said, and went to go collect the balls for another round.