Q & A with Chris Young, Pittsburgh Pirate prospect

Standing 6-10, Chris Young is an intimidating figure on the basketball court. He's an even more intimidating presence on the pitcher's mound for the Hickory Crawdads.

Young was drafted in the third round of the 2000 draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates. There was talk that he would be a potential first-round pick in the NBA.

He played two seasons each on the Princeton Tigers' baseball and basketball teams. In 1999 he became the first male in Ivy League history to win Rookie of the Year honors in two sports.

In high school, his team won the Texas state championship, the first in Highland Park High School history.

This season, Young has a 9-3 record with a 2.34 ERA and was recently the winning pitcher in the South Atlantic League All Star game. At a game in Hagerstown I had a chance to sit down with Chris and talk about his successful professional career.

Q: Being 6-10 you draw some comparisons to Randy Johnson. Do you feel with your size you're intimidating on the mound?

A: I don't know. I've been asked that a lot. I'm not sure. That's a more of a question you'll have to ask a hitter. Obviously the comparison is to Randy Johnson and aside from the height I don't think we have that much in common. He throws a lot harder and his stuff is a lot nastier. I have to rely more on my command and placement. But, I think it is a big advantage. You get more extension, you get a little bit closer to the hitter and have a little more deception, and of course the downward angle.

Q: Do you think it makes you a target at all?

A: You know, I don't know. I try not to think about that. I hope so. That means you're well respected and you are a little bit intimidating if they are geared up to face you. But I don't know if they feel that way or not.

Q: You're the number ten prospect in only your second year. How do you look at that?

A: I really don't pay any attention to that. I just try to worry about myself. I think if I take care of things and grow into the player that I think I can be I'll be pitching in the big leagues at some point. That's all I'm really concerned about. Whether I'm prospect number 10 or 20 or 100 right now it doesn't really matter to me so long as I continue to improve.

Q: How important was it to you to finish your classes at Princeton?

A: It was very important. When I had signed I had completed two years at Princeton. I had negotiated so that I could go back for my third year and this year was going to be my final year. I had come too far not to finish and get that degree. I had put in too much work and spent too much time in order not to be able to graduate. It's nice now to finally have it behind me and be able to concentrate full time on baseball.

Q: Was it a tough decision to play baseball over basketball?

A: It was very tough. It was the toughest decision I've ever been through. I can't complain. Things have worked out great. It would've been nice to finish up my career at Princeton. I know I've let a lot of fans down there by leaving and giving up possibly a potential NBA career. But, I am extremely happy with the way things have worked out and it couldn't be better.

Q: What is your best basketball memory?

A: In college, my best memory was that we played the last game at Reynolds Coliseum at NC State before they moved into a new arena. That was my freshman year. We got a win there in the NIT tournament. It was a crazy place to play -- very loud, the fans were rowdy. It was a lot of fun.

Q: Could you see yourself as an NBA center?

A: I don't know. I might have to play power forward or even small forward in the NBA. You know I've seen some NBA games and I'd like to think that I could play with those guys. I've played in college against a lot of the guys that are now in the NBA and fared well against them, so I don't see why not.

Q: What would you do to stop Shaq?

A: Oh God! Foul him. I think that's the only way. He's too good.

Q: You're having a great season this year. How close do you think you are to being ready to move up to Lynchburg?

A: I don't know. It's another thing that I'm really not worried about. I'm just going to worry about myself and continue to pitch well and whatever happens, happens. I think things will take care of themselves. Anything else is up to the management. When they see fit, when they see that I'm ready they'll move me.

Q: How important is your relationship with your catcher?

A: It's very important. It makes it so much easier if you're out there working on the same page and you know exactly what you want to do. We go over a scouting report before every game and we try to map out what we want to do before we get out there, then once we get out there we might have to make adjustments or alter that depending on how things are going.

Q: Who's in control of the game, you or the catcher?

A: Sort of both, but ultimately it's the pitcher's decision what pitch is thrown and the location. So ultimately the pitcher takes full responsibility for what happens. The catcher does initially throw down the sign that determines what pitch you're going to throw.