Central Michigan University Athletics
MacKenzie Drafted by Tigers
6/10/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Andy Sneddon, CMUChippwas.com
The next time Pat MacKenzie steps on the field at Comerica Park, it could very well be in a Detroit Tigers uniform.
MacKenzie, who this spring helped lead Central Michigan to the Mid-American Conference regular-season championship, was selected by the Tigers in the 28th round of the Major League Baseball Draft on Wednesday. He was the 850th player selected, and the only player from CMU.
The fact that the former Chippewa second baseman grew up a Tiger fan makes it all the sweeter, he said.
"When you're in that situation, it could be any team, it doesn't matter," MacKenzie said, "but it does make it a little nicer. I have plenty of Tiger shirts and hats. Get to keep my hometown team."
MacKenzie grew up just outside Detroit in Royal Oak, about 20 minutes up I-75 from Comerica Park. He attended many Tiger home games as a kid, first at Tiger Stadium and later at Comerica.
He estimated he has played at Comerica as many as 10 times as a member of the Brother Rice High School and Central Michigan baseball teams, and in the annual East-West All-Star Classic for high school players.
That familiarity with the surrounding perhaps helped ease the nerves a bit last week when he attended a pre-draft workout at the stadium.
"You still get those butterflies even if it was my ninth or 10th time (at Comerica)," he said. "That feeling never gets old. You never really get tired of going out there."
The three-day draft began on Monday and MacKenzie didn't figure to go in the early rounds. He said he checked the draft progress periodically on his phone, searching for familiar names.
At about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, his phone rang, and it was the Tigers.
"I didn't know they were going to draft me, but I figured if there was a team that was going to, it was going to be them," he said. "Didn't know when it would be, but I was glad I got the call."
MacKenzie, who graduated from CMU with a degree in kinesiology in May, said he spent the next five-odd hours on his phone, talking with family and friends and old teammates.
"I wish I could tell you that I did anything to celebrate," MacKenzie joked. "I got so many calls and texts, I've just been on the phone. So many calls I felt guilty if I didn't answer them. Those are the people you want to share these moments with. That's really what it's all about. That's the cool thing. They reach out to you.
"You don't get to this spot without so many other people. It means a lot to me just to get to talk to them because they had as much to do with it as I did.
"You can go back through your whole career and there are people ... sometimes it was a coach believing in you and giving you an opportunity when nobody else did. I'm definitely very thankful for all of those people who helped me get here."
MacKenzie, a 5-foot-9, 171-pound left-handed hitting second baseman, put together an outstanding senior season, earning First Team All-Mid-American Conference honors as well as the team Most Valuable Player Award.
On Wednesday, he was named to the American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings NCAA Mideast All-Region Second Team.
He started all 57 of CMU's games, leading the Chippewas with a .348 batting average, 72 hits, 60 runs, 51 walks, 24 stolen bases, and a .489 on-base percentage.
He shared the team lead with 90 total bases and 11 doubles, and finished with a .981 fielding percentage for the second consecutive season in helping lead CMU to its first regular-season MAC championship since 2010.
He led the league in runs, on-base percentage and walks, finished fourth in hitting and in stolen bases, and was sixth in hits.
MacKenzie finished his career with 165 walks, good for second on CMU's all-time list behind Mike Gates, who drew 173 free passes from 2000-03.
