Father Judge grad
is going National

By Joe Mason
For the Times

Shane Erb never lost sight of the prize.
Erb, a 2005 graduate of Father Judge High School, didn’t panic when an arm injury forced him to miss all but two preseason innings of baseball in his senior year.
The righthanded hurler didn’t fuss when he underwent Tommy John surgery to repair his pitching arm.
Instead, he just went out and worked a little harder, rehabbed a little harder, and slowly got better every day.
And that’s why, on June 8, Erb was selected by the Washington Nationals in the 38th round of the Major League Baseball draft.
It was the second time Erb, who pitched for Hillsborough Community College in Florida last year, was selected. He was drafted by the Phillies out of high school but never signed with the squad. This time, he might sign with the team.
"I wasn’t worried about the draft; I didn’t think I’d get drafted until next year," Erb said. "I pitched this year for Hillsborough, and I pitched pretty well, but it usually takes a good two years to be one-hundred percent after Tommy John surgery. I had the surgery in November of 2005, so I’m almost there, I’m real close, but I thought I’d have to have another good year at Hillsborough."
The Nationals saw enough to know that Erb is worth a shot.
Now standing an imposing 6-feet-6, Erb has added roughly 40 pounds to his frame since he was a stud on the Crusaders’ pitching staff. Now weighing 200 pounds, Erb could still afford to put some more mass on his shoulders, but he has filled out quite a bit since his high school days.
He’s hoping that once he signs with a professional team, that weight gain can continue.
"It’s hard to put weight on, but once you start working with trainers, you can see a huge increase," Erb said. "I was always skinny, but now I’m getting bigger and bigger. You have to spend a lot of time (in the weight room) and work hard at it. It’s not something that comes easy, but it’s something that’s necessary if you want to get to the top, get to the pros."
There was a time when Erb seemed a long shot to get paid for playing baseball. Five months after he was selected in the 49th round by the Phillies, Erb had the surgery that kept him from doing the one thing he loved.
There was no baseball practice, no soft toss, no pitch-and-catch. Erb was forbidden to pick up a baseball and work on taking a step toward the majors.
That’s enough to make a lot of 18-year-olds a little disappointed, but Erb took it in stride.
"I wasn’t upset because I knew I was going to get better and I knew I’d be able to get back out and throw again . . . it was just a matter of time," said Erb. "I had Dr. James Andrews perform the surgery; he’s the guy all the famous athletes go to. If he’s good enough for those guys, he’s good enough for me.
"The surgery was . . . I don’t want to say routine, but it wasn’t too bad," he recalled. "The tough part was not being able to pitch. For the first four months, it was all rehab. Then you do light tossing for a while, then I got into a throwing program. After a year, I was back pitching and now I’m slowly working my way back into shape. I’m not there yet, but I’m really close."
Now he’s hoping he’s close to inking a deal with the Washington Nationals.
Unlike when he was drafted by the Phillies, the Nationals didn’t select Erb to watch him improve at the college level. In fact, MLB no longer has the draft-and-follow rule, where teams would select a player and then see how they progress at the college level.
If the Nationals want Erb, they’ll have to sign him and send him to rookie ball in Melbourne, Fla.
"I think I want to sign. My whole life I’ve wanted to be a professional baseball player, I worked hard for it, and now I have that opportunity again," said Erb, a native of Rhawnhurst. "I was very happy in college, and getting drafted was a surprise, but I’d love to start my professional career and see where it goes. I know you get the best coaching and the best conditioning programs in the pros, so I think it would be great if I signed."
Should he make the jump to the professional ranks, Erb will have plenty of support.
His father, Ken, has been in Erb’s corner since Little League. And when Erb was in Florida, he met his girlfriend, Jamie Rich, who has helped the pitcher get through some rough times when he was forced out of the game for a while.
"I’ve been really lucky," Erb said. "My dad is always there for me . . . my family in Philly is great. But in Florida, my girlfriend and her family really helped me when I was going though rehab and all that stuff. They were all with me when I was down, so it’s nice that they can all be with me now that I was lucky enough to get drafted."
Skill and potential, not luck, are why the Nationals selected the pitcher. But Erb knows only too well that he’s one injury from watching his baseball career come to a halt.
That’s why if he does sign with Washington, he’ll have one standard stipulation written into his contract.
"If I sign, I’m going to ask them to pay for the rest of my college," said Erb, who is still a couple of years from earning a degree. "I want to do something with physical therapy, and I really, really want to get a degree, even if I’m successful in the pros.
"I plan on going back to school, probably not during the season, but definitely during the offseason," he said. "A degree is very important to me, and I’m not going to quit school just because I got drafted."
But if he does sign with Washington, he will have to quit cheering for his favorite team.
"Yeah, the Phillies are my team until I sign," he said. "I’ve always been a Phillies fan, but I think I’ll be a hardcore Nationals fan when I sign with them. My family, they better, too." ••
Joe Mason can be reached at joemason70@hotmail.com