Tyson Brummett believed that it was his time. He had two great seasons at Central Arizona Community College and another at UCLA under his belt. Naturally, the hard-throwing right-hander from Salem, Utah believed that the draft and the major leagues were next. Going into the draft, there were high expectations all around for Brummett. Yet, as the rounds went on and on, his name did not get called.
“I was kind of disappointed,” Brummett said. “We had high expectations and then when draft day came around and nothing happened, it was kind of a shocker. I went from being a later-round guy to not even getting drafted at all. It was kind of like a punch ““ a really low punch.”
Instead of looking for others to pity him, Brummett’s reaction was different. He chose to turn the situation around and saw it as an opportunity to come back to UCLA for his senior season as a leader.
The senior ace used the experience from last year as motivation, and has put up numbers that show it. Brummett owns a record of 6-4 and an ERA of 2.85, while striking out 67 and walking only 14. Yet the season is only at the halfway point, which means Brummett has a chance to do even more.
Brummett Comes To Westwood
It was not until last year that Brummett came to UCLA and began his Bruin career. According to the pitcher, the reason why UCLA was so appealing to him was because of coach John Savage and the immense pitching history that he has had with Major League players, such as Mark Prior and Barry Zito.
“I was down in Arizona and had two good years down there in junior college,” Brummett said. “I had a whole bunch of offers to go to big-time programs, but what really made me come here was coach Savage. … I just wanted to come out here and soak up as much knowledge from one of the best pitching coaches in the nation.”
Savage himself was ecstatic to get the hard-throwing pitcher from Central Arizona.
“Tyson was a guy that we felt could pitch,” Savage said. “We felt that his abilities fit in to our system very nicely and his durability would make him a starter and a star on our team.”
So far in his short Bruin career, Brummett has excelled in various situations. Last year he was the Sunday starter ““ this year he starts the Bruins off on the right foot on Friday nights, the premier pitching job in college baseball.
Only a Temporary Obstacle
According to the plan that Brummett set for himself, last year was supposed to be his year. Yet all did not go according to plan. Despite high expectations, he was unable to attain his dream of playing in the major leagues that year.
“I had planned freshman year, sophomore year and then junior year to step it up and then head out,” Brummett said. “But it just didn’t happen.”
In order to clear his mind and get away from baseball, Brummett went home. Family, friends and teammates called to see how he was doing and support him.
“I think that life is a marathon,” his father Jeff Brummett said. “You’re going to have good days and you are going to have bad days, and you just have to pick yourself up when you have a bad day and keep working.
“I think that it boils down to the fact that you can only control one thing in life, and that’s your attitude.”
Tyson Brummett has emulated his parents’ thoughts on life and has done what many of today’s young athletes might not be able to do: take a heart-crushing experience and turn it into a positive.
“I kind of thought to myself, “˜This is a positive,'” Brummett said. “I’m a firm believer in things happen for a reason. I looked at the positives: I get to come back, I get to pitch on Friday nights, get to teach all the younger guys, another year of school. It could have been a big negative and hurt me a lot but I turned it into a positive.”
So far, his return is not only a positive in his eyes, but in the eyes of his coaches and teammates. He has bounced back from a set-back that could have ruined his confidence and career, to become one of the premier pitchers in the Pac-10 and the nation.
“I believe that he has bounced back better than anyone could have expected or could have imagined,” Savage said. “He has grown to become as good a senior pitcher in the nation there is.”
The Quiet but Powerful Leader
Brummett is not a player you will find standing up on a chair giving a rally speech to his teammates before a game or forcefully telling them what to do. He exchanges leading by his voice for leading by putting zeroes on the opponent scoreboard on Friday nights.
“I’m not a real big vocal guy that will stand up and get in someone’s face and say this or that,” Brummett said. “I lead by example. I like being a leader and giving that knowledge that has been passed down to me from coach Savage, coaches in junior college, my dad and all my high school coaches. I just feel that I’m full of knowledge.”
Savage believes that Brummett is a natural leader due to his ability to put the team’s success before his own individual success. The selfless attitude and the feeling of not being better than your teammates is a quality that Brummett’s parents have wished to instill in him.
“Hopefully something that we have impressed upon Tyson through the years is just to be a good person,” his mother Kaye Brummett said. “To reach out and help those kids and to be a good role model. That’s really important to me, that he is a good role model and somebody who someone wants to emulate.”
Tyson Brummett leads the team in more ways than one. The Bruins have a lot of youth on the pitching staff, and Brummett acts as their mentor.
“He being a senior and me being a freshman, he knows a lot and has experienced a lot,” freshman starter Gavin Brooks said. “He was the Sunday pitcher last year like I am this year, so it’s been great to have the opportunity to learn from a guy who was in my position last year and to learn how he prepared for the games.”
Finally, he leads the team with his incredible work ethic and the time he spends improving on his game. This has resulted in his tremendous amount of success in the tough and competitive Pac-10, and is a part of the legacy Brummett will leave behind when he does finish his time in Westwood.