Drillers' Willie Calhoun Takes Lessons From Father To Excel At Pro Level

Willie Calhoun is listed at 5-foot-8, but this short player is producing like a power hitter for the Drillers. 

"I'm not the biggest one on the field, probably one of the smallest,” he said. “Always been told my whole life what I can and can't do and baseball's one of the things I couldn't do.”

Calhoun currently ranks first in the league in RBIs and second in the league in home runs after a slow start.

He’s coming into his own

"Pretty much just slowing things down and getting adjusted to Double-A, seeing more pitches definitely helped me out a lot,” he explained.

But baseball may not have been in his future after a promising career at the University of Arizona was stopped due to grades.

"It was one of the most devastating moments for me when I got kicked out, because I didn't know if I was going to keep playing or not,” Calhoun stated. “I went to Yavapai Junior College and it kicked started my career."

Calhoun says his game isn't power hitting but he certainly grew up like it was. When he was young his father put a bigger bat in his hand to swing with and he says that helped him with his game today.

"It would make me have faster hands and that's helped me my whole life,” he added. “That's what gave me my fast hands in my wrists.”

He thinks it definitely paid off.

“He didn't know what he did for me at the time,” said Calhoun. “It was the only bat I had, and it's definitely a benefit now.

So thanks to his father and getting on the right track, the future All-Star limit is even bigger.