But his path to the big leagues included a few forks in the road, which put him in a position to be an advisor to a Texas high school dual-sport star who was considering his sporting future while Middlebrooks was playing in Boston: Patrick Mahomes II.
In high school, Middlebrooks was both a star baseball and football player at Liberty-Eylau High School in Texarkana. He was considering a two-sport path at Texas A&M, but the Red Sox drafted him in the fifth round of the 2007 draft and convinced him to pursue a professional baseball career with a $925,000 bonus.
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The transition to pro ball wasn’t easy for Middlebrooks, as his multisport high school career left him less experienced than many of his minor league peers. He struggled and was consumed by homesickness in the lower echelons of minors, but found his footing and developed into a top prospect and eventually a big league staffer with the Red Sox.
That series of experiences, in turn, well-positioned Middlebrooks to serve as an advisor when Mahomes — also an East Texas native who played in both sports at Whitehouse High School, about 120 miles from Middlebrooks High School — pondered his own future.
“When he was in high school, his aide was Joe Sambito, who was my agent,” Middlebrooks said. Sambito was a former Sox pitcher.
“[Mahomes] I went through the whole dual-sport thing with college and then also the MLB draft opportunity because he was a good pitcher, played for Team USA, all that,” Middlebrooks continued. “So we talked a little bit at the time about him just going through that process.
“[The conversation] was less about collegiate and dual sports and more about pro ball. How’s the pro ball? How’s the grind of that? What is the schedule? stuff like this. I think he was just trying to weigh his options and see. Do I go to school or do I play baseball and try to come back and play soccer if it doesn’t work out? Because that was always my plan. The conversations I remember best were all about scheduling and what pro ball is like.”
So is it fair to say that Middlebrooks talked Mahomes out of a baseball career and helped propel him to a football career that now includes two Super Bowl MVPs?
“Yes,” Middlebrooks said dryly, before bursting into laughter. “No no no no no. Not at all.”
After all, Mahomes had many other sources of wisdom as he considered committing to baseball in return for his college quarterback scholarship offer at Texas Tech. He is the son of longtime big league pitcher Pat Mahomes, who spent part of two seasons with the Sox during his 11-year career, and is the godson of LaTroy Hawkins. In addition, its grating ceiling was exceptional.
“He was just a lot better at football,” Middlebrooks said. “He was a good pitcher but obviously we’re seeing what he is in the NFL.”
Still, the conversations have been meaningful enough that the two have occasionally stayed in touch through typical life milestones: marriages, children, Super Bowl MVP awards.
“We’ve stayed in touch a bit over the years. Nothing crazy,” Middlebrooks said. “He’s just a good guy. What you see is what he is.”
And about the decision Mahomes made putting his baseball career aside — hitting three batters at Texas Tech, walking two batters and hitting another while allowing three runs for a lifetime Infinity ERA — in favor of football?
“Usually baseball is the right choice,” Middlebrooks said. “But I think he’ll be fine. I think he made the right choice.”
Alex Speier can be reached at [email protected] Follow him on Twitter at @alexspeier.
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