By Gary Lloyd
Former Hewitt-Trussville standout baseball pitcher Jason Standridge had his number retired Friday before the Hewitt-Trussville vs. Gadsden City football game at Jack Wood Stadium.
Standridge, a 1997 Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate, wore No. 23 for the Huskies. In June 1997, Standridge was selected as the 31st overall pick in the Major League Baseball Amateur Draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
Standridge is the first Hewitt-Trussville baseball player to have his number retired. Former Hewitt-Trussville quarterback Jay Barker’s No. 11 jersey is also retired.
Standridge pitched in Major League Baseball from 2001 to 2007, playing for the Devil Rays, Texas Rangers, Cincinnati Reds and Kansas City Royals. He posted a 3-9 career record, a 5.80 earned run average and struck out 80 batters in 127.1 innings pitched.
Standridge pitched for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball league in 2007-2008 and since 2010 has pitched for the Hanshin Tigers in the same league. In his six total seasons in Japan, Standridge has posted a 42-39 record, a 3.04 ERA and struck out 483 batters in 655.1 innings pitched.
As a senior at Hewitt-Trussville in 1997, Standridge had a 2.18 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 51 innings pitched. He was also the state of Alabama’s top-rated high school quarterback and had signed to play at Auburn University before choosing to play baseball professionally. Standridge led the football team to a 10-4 record and a state semifinals appearance in 1996.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.