Just last week “Bullpen Gospels” was the reading material of Mister-Baseball. Now the author is coming to Italy to play baseball. Dirk Hayhurst, a right-handed pitcher from Hudson, Ohio, is joining Danesi Nettuno in the Italian Baseball League. He announced the transfer by himself on Twitter and on his own Blog.
The 30-yerar-old Hayhurst was born in Canton, Ohio. He attended Kent State University, where he set numerous school records as a baseball player and received a degree in communication studies. The San Diego Padres selected him in the eighth round of the 2003 MLB Amateur Draft. He signed and made his professional debut later that summer.
Hayhurst moved up the ladder in the Padres farm system and made his Major League debut on August 23, 2008 as a spot starter in a matchup against Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants. After ten games with the Padres in the big leagues the Toronto Blue Jays picked him up on waivers, where he made 15 more appearances in Major League Baseball.
Hayhurst missed all of 2010 due to rehab after shoulder surgery and joined the Tampa Bay Rays organization for 2011, but didn’t make it back to the MLB. In eight seasons of Minor League Baseball, he had a 40-41 record with five saves and an ERA of 4.02 over 252 games (76 starts). He collected 619 strikeouts and 201 walks in 693 1/3 innings. In the MLB he was 0-2 with an ERA of 5.72 in 25 games (eight starts). He struck out 27 batters in 39 1/3 innings, walking 19.
As mentioned above Hayhurst is not only a baseball player, but also an author. His second book “Out of my League” is scheduled to get released on February 28, 2012. He also wrote a diary for Baseball America and works as a public speaker.