Vandy dandy

~ Top-ranked Commodores' left-handed ace has a 95 mph fastball.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- David Price started playing ball by himself when he was 3 with a plastic bat and ball. He threw tennis balls against the family deck as hard as he could until his father yelled at him to stop.

He played catch with his parents. But his father, Bonnie Price, who sat on a bucket to give his son a better target, finally gave up in middle school. His son threw hard, and he was getting hurt.

"He said, `Heck, I'm not going to do it any more. You're starting to throw harder,"' David Price recalled. "He had enough lumps and bruises on his legs."

All that noise and pain is paying off now. Price has grown into a 6-foot-6, 225-pound left-hander with a 95 mph fastball. The junior is the ace for top-ranked Vanderbilt, and Baseball America ranks him as the top college prospect available in the June draft.

Vanderbilt pitcher David Price, right, talks to catcher Carter Hawkins before the start of their college baseball game against Auburn, Friday, May 11, 2007 in Auburn, Ala. (AP Photo/Todd J. Van Emst)

That's a big jump from 2004, when the Los Angeles Dodgers made Price their 21st pick in the 19th round.

Improving his draft status wasn't why Price chose college over professional baseball. Price said he simply wasn't ready, a fact he made clear two weeks before that draft.

And now?

"I'm just 10 times the player I was whenever I came here. My stuff has gotten better. The most important thing for me is mentally. I was not ready for that out of high school. Now I feel like I can do anything," Price said.

It's hard to argue with the results.

Unbeaten this season

Price has helped lead Vanderbilt to its first regular-season Southeastern Conference title with a 10-0 record in 15 appearances with four complete games, a 2.76 ERA and a league-high 164 strikeouts in 114 innings. He struck out 15 in helping wrap up that title in a 4-1 victory over LSU last Thursday.

He's the pitcher that coach Tim Corbin starts first in each SEC series, and Price is a big reason why the Commodores clinched their first SEC Eastern Division title since 1974 and set a school record with 46 victories in the regular season. Vanderbilt faces Tennessee on Wednesday in its first game in the SEC tournament.

Corbin had no idea Price would turn out this way.

"I'm not talking about the baseball standpoint. What he has turned out personally has made me equally and just as proud as what he's done baseball wise," Corbin said.

Same for his parents. Bonnie Price, who manages a warehouse, and Debbie Price, vice president and accountant for a health care company, mainly were focused on raising a strong Christian son. But his father knows pitching in the majors has been his son's goal.

"That's what he has prayed for. That's what he's worked hard for and like it says in the Bible, the Lord will give you the desires of your heart. That's been his desire, to play major league ball," his father said.

Price comes by his athletic ability naturally.

His 6-3 father played basketball and baseball in high school, and his mother loved softball. Their oldest son was good at baseball, but played football at Kentucky State.

By the time David Price was 6, he was playing the outfield, and his father said the boy got mad if an older player tried to help him. By the time Price was 8, he was playing with boys 12 and older.

He grew up watching the Atlanta Braves with his family, studying Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine. He played on the same travel team for five years and had an 0.43 ERA with 151 strikeouts in high school.

Growing up in Murfreesboro, a city southeast of Nashville, Price didn't consider Vanderbilt. When his brother suggested Vanderbilt, Price scoffed. He saw a team that last won an SEC tournament title in 1980 -- five years before he was born.

Corbin, who took over in 2003, changed that perception by taking Vandy to an NCAA Super Regional in his second season. Price visited with Corbin and committed the same day.

Price struck out 92 batters in 69 1/3 innings as a freshman and a school-record 155 in 110 1/3 innings as a sophomore. He has added a changeup and a slider. But Corbin has been impressed most with Price's control this season, and his ability to throw the pitch he wants when he needs it most.

"Once you see him pitch a good game, you think, 'Wow! That's about as good as I've seen him.' Then he goes out and does it again and again," Corbin said. "It's one of those years I'm happy I'm coaching a kid like him, because it's been a lot of fun to watch."