Brandon Webb Becomes Frrst UK Alumnus to Wrn
Baseba||’s Cy Young Award
Grves batters frts; grves chrldren hope
By Jeff Zurcher
Accordrng to Jeff Grnn ,. » · ·· Off the lield,Grnn says
of Legacy Management · , _ Z ` that Webb`s humrlrty
Group,the organrzae , ` ' nr '   , makes the 2006 Natronal
tron that oversees the ' · _ ar _ '. . *' LeagueAlleStar,"a true
operatrons of Brandon — ·' aff?-;¤ 'eh _' V · . ·~ . ‘ _ " role model for chrldren "
Webb`sKFoundatron “ * ~‘ ` _ 5** .·’¤‘ ` Aadweeerrrarrrae
rnArrzona,Webbrsa ‘  K E N ¢· · `  Y  Fi same other prereeereaar
ewraareyeuseeereewraare .3 . I ‘· `_, ; K ·. atraretearaaewe Werr,
youeget krnd ofguy" § ‘_ V "`-'_ " K ‘a ’·r,, * and takes serrously,hrs
Terr that to Ma]or 2   vv » , ;Lv_‘L Q, er reepeaererrrtyaearere
League raruere 5 $2* , ` 2 ` * J ~‘ . Z meder
ForWebb, 27, raae g   · ’ r ‘ Tr r Srnce 2004,hrsK
been reerrrrg rng reagrre € ~ ` *1 Q YJ . Z , r · 1 _ Foundatron raaerareed
eauereerraee 2003 Wrrra i L ‘= I  . - g  ‘_ ·_ _ ¥ __  —-=~ ___ $200,000 fer arerrera
asrnkrng fastball that rs é j' '  ·‘a _-TJ·2·-   1*  3 ___`_ _u_£. youth The foundatron`s
araytrarrag errttraat rt: § I —-—· ‘ *   rartrarrveawrarera raave
rn the strrke zone one E . ` A _, touched more than 2,000
moment, rn the drrt the '* *‘ _` Q young people rn Arrzona,
next And rf/when batters do make contactwrth hrs rnclude rts "K rs Knowledge" lrteracy program and rts
srnker,whrch drves so much that rt should be scubaecere "Dramondback for a Day" outreach,whrch brrngs a
trlied,they often groundout to awartrng Arrzona Drae young person to a Dramondbacks home game for a bee
mondbacks rnlielders hrndetheescenes glrmpse rnto the lrves of the players
The domrnance ofWebb`s srnkrng fastball,whrch fore "Brandon`s rntentrons are pure,and he rs very srncere
mer UK baseball coach Kerth Madrson calls "the best rn hrs desrre to make a drfference rn the lrves of youth
rn the Ma]or Leagues," helped hrm wrn 16 games for rn need," Grnn attests "He has empowered the foune
the Dramondbacks thrs past season,ultrmately wrnnrng datron to do whatever rt takes to make sure that rt rs
hrm the 2006 Natronal League (NL) Cy YoungAward, operated along lrnes of total rntegrrty and excellence
the hrghest honor a prtcher can recerve Brandon`s energy and hrs commrtment are vrtal come
Though Webb, a natrve ofAshland,Ky,had set a ponents of the KFoundatron`s rmpact "
personal goal of wrnnrng the CyYoung rn 2006,and AndWebb,who was named the Lexzngton Hemlde
though he posted career hrghs rn rnnrngs prtched (325), Leader 2006 Kentucky Sportsman of theYear (rn vote
strrkeouts (178),shutouts (3), and wrns (hrs 16 tred for rng done by a statewrde medra panel),wrll have plenty
the NL lead),the ace of the Dramondbacks prtchrng more opportunrtres to make a drfference for hrs ball
staff was nonetheless a lrttle surprrsed to get the call club and hrs communrty, as he srgned a foureyear cone
rnformrng hrm that he had won the award tract extensron wrth the Dramondbacks rn 2006 The
Hrs response was srmply"Oh my gosh Are you deal was worth $19 5 mrllron
serrous7" "Noxm the next thrng for B randon to do rs what guys
"Everybody around hrm, rncludrng me, knows Brane lrke Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson have donei
don deserves all the accolades he recerves," says Madre wrn another CyYoung and lead the team to the World
son,who coached Webb from 1998e2000,"but Brandon Serres," says Madrson
doesn`t feel lrke he deserves anythrng specral Hrs hue The World Serres rn 20077
mrlrty rs an attractrve qualrty" "The World Serres sounds good,"Webb admrts
On the held, however,Madrson says the rrghtehanded ButWorld Serres or not, rfWebb`s 2007 season rs anye
prtcher has a drfferent persona that of an rntense thrng lrke hrs performance rn 2006,Dramondback fans
competrtor Yet the former UK coach also descrrbes wrll certarnly have a lot to stand and cheer about
Webb as relaxed and lard back "Lrke any athlete,he And a lot of opposrng batters wrll experrence a srnke
gets frustrated when thrngs don`t go rrght,but Brandon rng feelrng
"°““°“ ‘“*°" my q“‘°"‘Y He d°““ UM "““%‘ mm rev Zuvchev va ms, *00 as prayeu my meveamarr wrruaararmm
would ¤¤¤·¤¤¤ MS r>¤¤f<>¤¤¤¤¤¤ Meer H5 hes ¤ my rggerggx ana rs me erearrrve wearer or me Arwgren rernrarren
good mentalrty for a pro athlete" W Cwmnnm Om
KENTUCKY ALUMNI 47