Air Force reservist pitches for San Diego Padres

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ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFPN) --  When he is not wearing the blue and gray uniform of the San Diego Padres, relief pitcher Jason Szuminski switches to Air Force blue as a first lieutenant in the Air Force Reserve.

The 6-foot, 4-inch, 220-pound right-hander is the only Air Force reservist in Major League Baseball. He is assigned to the Air Force Research Laboratory at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.

Lieutenant Szuminski attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on an Air Force ROTC scholarship. While there, he tried out for the school’s varsity baseball team as a walk-on. After a successful college career, Lieutenant Szuminski was drafted in 2000 by the Chicago Cubs in the 27th round of the amateur baseball draft.

He made his professional debut with Chicago’s rookie league team in Arizona then returned to Cambridge to earn his degree in aerospace engineering. After graduation, the Cubs wanted Lieutenant Szuminski to report to their Class A team in Michigan. However, he still owed the active-duty Air Force four years because of his ROTC scholarship, and he was assigned to Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

It looked like his dream of a major-league career was over until the lieutenant discovered the Air Force’s World Class Athlete Program, which allows elite athletes to train with the goal of making a U.S. Olympic team. The program gave him the chance to develop his baseball skills in the Cubs’ minor-league system and shoot for making the 2004 U.S. Olympic baseball team.

That plan went awry when the U.S. team lost in an Olympic qualifying tournament, effectively knocking Lieutenant Szuminski out of the program.

In December 2003, the Kansas City Royals obtained Lieutenant Szuminski from the Cubs in the Rule 5 draft and then traded him to the Padres. As a condition of his draft, the Padres were obligated to invite Lieutenant Szuminski to their spring training camp in February and give him an opportunity to make the major-league team.

There was only one problem: He still had a year remaining on his active-duty commitment. In a final attempt to keep his dream alive, the lieutenant offered to trade in his one-year commitment for a three-year commitment in the Reserve. He submitted his paperwork and was allowed to attend spring training pending a ruling on his request.

The Air Force approved his transfer to the Reserve, and Lieutenant Szuminski lived up to his end of the bargain by making the Padres as a member of the bullpen.

“I’m extending my commitment, I’ll have plenty of time in the off-season to perform my (Reserve) duties, plus I’m really looking forward to doing some stuff for (Air Force and Reserve) recruiting in the off-season,” he said.

Lieutenant Szuminski made his major-league debut April 11 during a nationally televised game against the San Francisco Giants and superstar Barry Bonds. He gave up one unearned run in one inning of work and got Mr. Bonds out on a fly ball to left field.

“I knew I was going to pitch to him,” Lieutenant Szuminski said. “I was trying to go with my strengths and get him out. I got a front-row seat at how strong he is. I thought he popped that ball up, and it wound up going pretty deep.”

As of May 7, the lieutenant appeared in six games, pitching a total of seven innings. His earned run average was 9.00. He struck out four and walked nine batters. (Courtesy of Air Force Reserve Command News Service)