Dave Huff showed up at the ballpark last December, ready to put
in time at another offseason workout. Then he realized who had beat
him to the mound for a throwing session.
Tossing in the pen at Jackie Robinson Stadium was Barry Zito,
Oakland A’s pitcher and Huff’s professional role model.
Zito, a former USC Trojan, had played for current UCLA coach John
Savage when he was a pitching coach at USC.
“At first I was kind of starstruck,” Huff said.
“Jaw to the floor, “˜Oh my god it’s Barry
Zito.'”
Huff looks up to the Cy Young Award winner because of his
success at the pro level and because Zito’s formula for
success is very similar to his own. The Bruin watched his idol take
throws off the mound and tried to mold his mechanics even more to
emulate the pro’s.
Huff has heard a lot about how similar he is to the major league
star, and he had to transfer from UC Irvine to UCLA to continue to
get the same baseball education. Both are lefties and exhibit a
calm composure while dominating hitters up and down the lineup, and
both have played for Savage, an unofficial pitching guru.
“He reminds me of (Zito) a little bit,” Savage said
of Huff. “They both have excellent changeups, (and) they both
have fluid deliveries.”
As the Bruins’ No. 2 starter with a 3-2 record and a 2.69
ERA, Huff, a junior transfer in his first year at UCLA, has brought
back memories of Zito. The lefty has depended on precise control,
successfully spotting his fastball before using his circle change
to strike out righties, and breaking stuff to get out lefties.
“Huff is a legitimate Friday guy pitching on a Saturday,
and that’s good news for us,” Savage said.
In his time in Westwood, Huff has exuded a Zito-esque cool
““ yet focused ““ demeanor on the mound. In order to do
that, Huff compares himself to another pitcher, even if he only
plays for Universal Pictures.
“I don’t know if you’ve ever seen “˜For
Love of the Game’ with Kevin Costner, where he “˜clears
the mechanism’ and all he focuses on is that little pitcher,
catcher, umpire. That’s kinda how I am,” Huff said.
“I don’t really hear too much what’s going on
in the crowd. I’m focused on the sign, on the glove.
I’ve always been that way.”
“Dave’s real funny,” older brother and former
Long Beach State walk-on Tim Huff said. “It looks like it
comes easy, but he’s extremely competitive. He hates to lose.
A guy’ll get on base, whether it was a solid hit or an error,
and that’s when you see Dave really pitch.”
Savage saw that potential early, and by now, the two have been
around each other a long time. As the head coach at UC Irvine in
2003, Savage recruited the young lefthander out of Edison High
School in Huntington Beach.
The Anaheim Angels drafted the lefty in the 31st round that
year, but he felt he wasn’t ready for pro ball.
“I was a stick coming out of high school,” Dave Huff
recalled. “I didn’t throw very hard and I didn’t
really have a great idea of pitching.”
Huff opted instead to play for Savage, knowing the coach had
tutored such major leaguers as Zito and Mark Prior.
“He’s the No. 1 pitching coach. He knows everything
there is to know about pitching. The thing that persuaded me was
that he was the coach,” Huff said.
The respect is mutual. Savage has a lot of faith in Huff to
perform when he needs him, and Huff trusts his coach to make him
better on the mound. Over the last three years, the two have
developed a significant level of mutual trust.
Dave Huff gets his dependable, composed yet competitive nature
from his family. Tim Huff credits their mom as a
“pistol” brimming with passion, while his dad
represented the flip side of the coin, being more laid back.
“The two sides of the table made him well-rounded,”
Tim Huff said. “It’s why he looks so relaxed when he
throws, because he has a lot of Dad’s personality. But he
also has a lot of drive from Mom.”
As a child, Dave Huff would always play sports with Tim Huff and
his friends, who were five years older. Playing against the bigger
and stronger boys forced the younger brother to play even harder
just to stay in the game.
“Growing up you’re always dangling the
carrot,” Tim Huff said. “Keep ’em in the game
long enough, and get them to a point where they can see the chance
to win, and then make it tougher.”
When Dave Huff would play against children his own age, the
players seemed small and weak by comparison. Dave Huff, however,
didn’t get a chance to ease off one bit. Tim Huff
wouldn’t let him sink back down to a lower level, and was
always in his ear to stay one step ahead of the competition.
“It even started with youth ball,” Dave Huff said.
“He was like, “˜In youth ball you need to be ready for
the high school guys. In high school, you need to be ready for the
college guys. In college, you need to be ready for the pros.’
It was almost like I was competing at a higher level than the level
that I was at.”
Under Savage’s tutelage, Dave Huff has been continually
pushed to improve. Savage never lost faith in the freshman despite
some early struggles, and at the end of the season, when Savage
left Irvine to take the head coaching job at UCLA, Huff decided to
follow him.
Following his teacher proved to be harder than expected. He
applied for a transfer and was originally told he would be granted
one, until the school later informed him that he couldn’t
transfer within California. Acting much like he does on the mound,
Huff regained his composure and spent his sophomore year at Cypress
College, a local junior college.
The Huntington Beach native did everything he could to keep up
the level of his game while facing a lower level of competition.
Huff and Savage stayed in contact throughout the year. Savage went
so far as to watch some of the lefty’s bullpen workout and
give advice. At the end of his sophomore year, Huff was drafted in
the 19th round by the Phillies.
Although he was enticed by the opportunity, the prospect ended
up turning down the pro team. He was frustrated on signing day when
the offer from the organization was lower than what he had been
promised. Huff blamed miscommunication within the organization and
decided to table his major league plans.
Ultimately, despite the Bruins’ abysmal 2005 record of
15-41, he decided to transfer to UCLA so he could learn more under
Savage.
The results have been incredible for both sides. Huff stabilized
the rotation as a key starter, filling in an important piece of the
Bruins’ puzzle, and is a big reason for the huge turnaround
from last season. The Bruins matched their win total from last
season before even entering Pac-10 play this season, and they sit
at 3-3 in conference games after their first two series.
Huff has played a unique role in that success. The starter came
in for what was and is likely only a one year engagement. Still, he
has managed to make a significant impact on the program and has
earned the respect of guys up and down the lineup.
“He wants the team to win and he helps out however he
can,” teammate and roommate Tyson Brummett said.
“He’s consistent ““ very consistent.”
On Feb. 18 against University of the Pacific, Huff had a
standout day, registering 15 strikeouts in eight innings to get the
win and be named Collegiate Baseball Player of the Week by the
publication Collegiate Baseball.
Despite a strong beginning to the year, Huff is still playing to
that higher level of competition. He cites an improvement in
velocity as his proudest accomplishment over anything in the stat
books.
As always, his brother is right there driving him. “He
hasn’t pitched as well this season as I know Dave Huff can
pitch. There’s a few more levels he can go,” Tim Huff
said.
It won’t be very long, however, before the younger brother
catches that dangling carrot and reaches the next level. Dave Huff
is expected to be taken high in Major League Baseball’s June
6 draft.
With what he’s picked up from his family and his coach,
he’ll be ready.