to dream on, and soon his motivations changed. In the summer before his senior year, his high school coach earned him a last-minute invitation to tryouts for the Texas Rangers’ Area Code Games. Bridwell threw hard before a bevy of college and professional scouts, and soon he was garnering more interest in baseball than football.


He committed to Texas Tech, the closest university participating in Division I sports, and planned to play football and baseball. Only in the weeks before the 2010 MLB draft did Bridwell understand how much money he could make. The Red Raiders’ coach issued his standard recommendation: Sign if a major league team offers you more than $500,000.

The Baltimore Orioles selected Bridwell in the ninth round, in which the recommended slot figure is far lesstoil.

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Six years later, Bridwell made it to the major leagues last August, pitching out of Baltimore’s bullpen. In his second game, he served up a grand slam to Washington’s Daniel Murphy. The next day, he was demoted to triple A. MLB rosters expanded one week later, but the Orioles never brought him back up, though they still sent him a playoff share.

His status within the organization continued to decline, and in April, Baltimore sold him to the depth-deprived Angels for cash. After a month of building up stamina as a starter, he was in the majors. The Angels showed him a series of cut-up videos indicating the location of his pitches that the opposition had been hitting, and presented evidence that he would be better off throwing fewer