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Cover Story By: Zack Simon Diamond Gem D-Backs star Brandon Webb is as mature, friendly, family oriented and down-to-earth as he appears. And he is making as big of an impact off the field as he is on it. The road to big league stardom for Brandon Webb literally started in his hometown of Ashland, Kentucky. And don’t think for a second that his fans and friends and family in the Blue Grass State who watched him grow up and develop into the great pitcher and person he is will ever forget it. It will be pretty hard to, since this past winter part of US Highway 60 in Kentucky was named after him. Yes, the ace of the D-Backs staff, who owns a Cy Young Award and status in an elite club of a handful of people who can be called the best pitchers in baseball, has something Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux and Johan Santana can only dream of. His very own highway. "It’s pretty flattering," Brandon told POST, and we can only imagine. Kentucky State Representative John Vincent, who sponsored the naming opportunity, also said it’s well deserved. "It's a fitting recognition for a man who has made his hometown proud." |
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We’re not talking about a rural pathway or city street here, either. "It’s actually a pretty high-traveled piece of road," Brandon said. "I wouldn’t compare it to the 101 in Scottsdale or anything, but most people back in Ashland ride that road on a pretty regular basis and to think they named part of it after me is pretty cool." Here’s something else that’s pretty cool for Diamondback fans--- having someone to cheer for and support who is humble, and appreciates his talents and blessings and isn’t looking for any shortcuts. A player who is as interested in helping others through his charitable work as he is in helping himself. And make no mistake about it, doing things the right way is going a long way in opening the eyes of baseball fans around the country to what’s happening with Brandon’s career here in the Valley. His success on a baseball diamond speaks for itself. But it’s helping needy children, and raising over $200,000 to date through his K Foundation that is doing great things nationally for his Q Rating. Take it from a guy who sees more games Brandon pitches on the road than at Chase Field. "Brandon is really respected and admired by the true baseball fans around the country, especially in the big markets and traditionally great baseball cities," his agent and friend Jonathan Maurer said. "While the fans in other cities want their team to win and beat Webby, I often hear things like, ‘With Webb on the mound it will be a long day.’ Or in other cases, they are resigned to something like, ‘Webb owns us.’ Since his Cy Young win in 2006, I have seen more and more Webb jerseys in other towns than ever before, and I have every reason to believe it’s going to be even more exciting on the road with him this year." That isn’t typical superfluous agent hyperbole. Pardon the big words there, but even the fact that Jonathan Maurer and his boutique agency based in Cincinnati called Millennium Sports Management represents Brandon says a lot about who Brandon is as a person. Don’t think for a second a mega agent like Scott Boras wouldn’t love to have someone like Brandon in his stable of clients, but Maurer is the person who was there for Brandon and made an impact in his life when Webb was playing college ball at the University of Kentucky. He negotiated his first minor league contract, and every endorsement deal and big league contract since. Their relationship is not your typical player and agent arrangement, there is a genuine concern for the development and molding of Webb’s career on and off the field by people like Maurer, and the others in the tight circle Webb has built around himself and his wife and biggest supporter Alicia. Also in that circle is Jeff Ginn, the Director of Legacy Management and the person who oversees Brandon’s K Foundation. "Brandon is definitely one of the genuine ‘good guys’ in professional sports, Ginn explains. "His humility, coupled with this sincere desire to impact the lives of critically and chronically ill children throughout Arizona make it very easy to work along side of him on a daily basis. Brandon was very interested in starting a charity to benefit children in Arizona and his agents knew, based on work we had done with other top tier professional athletes like Shaun Alexander, that we could help him achieve his philanthropic goals. We’ve been working with Brandon for over four years now and our relationship has grown deeper as the K Foundation has grown." As Brandon’s star shines brighter, he’s able to attract more and more fellow stars into his galaxy. This past off season Brandon hosted the Celebrity Offshore Fishing tournament in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. While most of us might grab a weekend in Cabo with some college buddies or family friends, Brandon brought along the likes of Kurt Warner, Wade Boggs and Rick Barry. And let’s just say on top of catching a lot of fish and raising a substantial amount of money, they shared a bunch of laughs. This summer the K Foundation will host its first Field of Dreams event, which will impact the lives of ten chronically ill children by inviting them and a parent to join Brandon for a fantasy day at Phoenix International Raceway for the Richard Petty Driving Experience. This is an athlete’s foundation that wasn’t created as a tax write-off or an attempt at positive press. Brandon and his wife Alicia are legitimately concerned with giving back and making a difference in the community they call home for eight months, and thousands of children around the Valley have been and will be positively impacted because of it. Speaking of children, Brandon and Alicia have a beautiful two year old named Reagan who, unlike most National League batters, has no fear of Brandon. When it comes to her bedtime. "I’d like to say we have a little more control as to when she goes to bed, but with us spending our off-season in Kentucky, we spend a lot of time at different friends and families homes. And Reagan doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that kids her age to bed around 8:00 or so. She’s up to 11:30 or midnight almost every night," Brandon admitted. The upside to that is she does sleep in the next day. And unlike most of her peers in pre-school, she has season tickets to Diamondbacks games. "Reagan knows I’m on TV, and when she sees me she says ‘there’s daddy,’ but she’s a little young to know exactly what it is I do for a living. Though she does love being at the games and playing with the other kids and she’s there all the time. Alicia goes to most of the games too, and while she plays pretty close attention to the game when I am pitching, she and the rest of the wives spend a good part of the night mainly chit chatting. They and the kids have a lot of fun, and the funny thing is I’ll be at the stadium from about 1 o’clock on every day, and when it’s time to go home, I’ll go in the family room to get them and she’s not even ready to go, the wives are in there talking, carrying on and having a great time." It’s a phenomenal family environment in their beautiful North Scottsdale home for the Webb’s, and the same can be said about the Diamondbacks as a team, which is one of the reasons they’ve been successful lately. But make no mistake about it, an even bigger reason the D-Backs are going to be considered a favorite to make the World Series is the fact they have a mature, proven, superstar pitcher that understands his impact can be as great off the field as it is on. Oh, and while it is quite flattering to have a highway named after him, Brandon knows there is one potentially bigger perks he has with his celebrity that comes in handy when he’s traveling on the "Brandon Webb Highway." "I know a lot of the cops in Ashland. Luckily I haven’t been issued a ticket yet." |
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