Work Horse; Ben Moore, Sioux Falls Pheasants

by Kolbe Nelson
June 20, 2011 9:19 PM


Sioux Falls Pitcher Ben Moore, our Taco John's Athlete of the Week, is not the flashiest guy on the face of the Earth, his pitching is a testiment to that, not firing for strikeouts, but just plain old outs in general.

"Just throw as many innings as possible," Moore says, "I wanna throw more innings than last year, if that happens then that means they still think I'm good enough to keep going out there and the numbers will be there at the end."

That mentality has made Moore, who's played pro ball for nine years, but is listed in the Pheasants program simply as a veteran, one of the team's key clubhouse leaders, a role he wound up taking by default.

"You play so long and you're just kind of thrown into it I guess," Moore says, "So it doesn't really change anything, I'm the same guy I was last year and the year before."

It's not all about longevity though, Moore was named last year's American Association right handed pitcher of the year. And although he prides himself more on eating up innings than striking out batters, Moore still manages to fan quite a few guys. Racking up 10 K's in four different starts last season.

"I guess I'm just good enough to be good in this league and just bad enough to not pitch in the big leagues." Moore says with a laugh.

That wasn't always the case, Moore was a New York Yankees draft pick at one point, but things just didn't work out. Some still think Moore has the talent to make it back to the bigs, but the pitcher doesn't let that cross his mind too much.

"Scouts will come out and watch games and other people will take a look and hopefully if something works out great. I don't think it's something Ben worries about too much." Pheasants Manager Steve Shirley says, "I think it'd be a nice thing, but I don't think he comes out everyday thinking about it."

That's because Moore just wants to do what he can to win for the Birds, and try to reverse last year's outcome.

"I go out there and I get my work done and the results are great," Moore says, "But at the end of the year, we didn't win the championship and that's why we play."

Follow KDLT Weekend Sports Anchor Kolbe Nelson on Twitter at @KolbeNelson