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CCBL Hall of Famer DePriest to start on Film Career

06/13/2009 9:27 AM

Article By:

for immediate release: 17 June 2009

Cape League Hall of Fame
Reliever DePriest Is About
To Embark on Film Career
   

     (NOTE: Derrick DePriest pitched for the Chatham A’s in the Cape Cod Baseball League in 1999, winning the Outstanding Relief Pitcher Award with 15 saves and a perfect 0.00 ERA. He was drafted by the Montreal Expos, but never made it to the big leagues. Last November, he was inducted into the Cape Cod Baseball League Hall of Fame. He continues to toil in the minors and is presently the closer for the Edmonton Capitals of the independent Golden Baseball League.)

By Joanne Ireland, The Edmonton Journal
(Reprinted with permission)


Derrick DePriest

EDMONTON, Manitoba (June 9, 2009) -- The lanky right-hander, who can spin a tale with the same rapidity as he pitches a baseball, sauntered in from the outfield a few hours before the Edmonton Capitals squared off with the Yuma Scorpions, which is as good a place as any to launch Derrick DePriest's story.
 
Or maybe not. Maybe it would be better to start with the fact that the seasoned side-arm slinger is a budding movie actor.
DePriest, the Caps' new closer, is going to play Chad Bradford in the flick Moneyball, which will star Brad Pitt.
"It's been a wild year," he said on Monday.

DePriest was with the Scorpions for nine days, then signed with the Capitals after the Yuma roster was overhauled.
"Here's the thing. When I was in Yuma, I was living in the clubhouse, in the back room where the mascot used to get dressed," said DePriest, 32.

"I've gone from a $5-million home to a mattress in a clubhouse to a five-star hotel. Talk about your ups and downs with housing. But I loved it in Yuma. It was great."

Living in the clubhouse was a far cry from the six-bedroom, 12,000-square foot mansion he had been housesitting in Washington, D.C., just one year earlier.

"I fell into the housesitting," he said. "It was amazing. Four floors and a pool house, seven bathrooms and two half-baths. A $5-million home that was once owned by Gen. Omar Bradley (a World War II hero) back in the '30s. Unbelievable." The house sold in May, which neatly coincided with the baseball season, but we digress, which is easy to do with DePriest.

The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, an All-America with the North Carolina Tar Heels back in his college days, was one of the 22 Yuma players left without work on the eve of the Golden Baseball League's season-opener. The Scorpions, at the 11th hour, struck a two-year deal with the Colombian Professional Baseball League, which lead to a roster overhaul.

DePriest flew back to Washington -- he was with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Atlantic League in 2008 -- and pondered his next move.

He had the offer from the Caps, interest from the Defenders in Nashua, N.H., and had a shot at the movie role. What he didn't have was a guarantee it was going to happen, so he signed with Edmonton, thanks to the sales pitch of manager Brent Bowers, and took over from where Hector Almonte left off.

Almonte was released after DePriest was signed.

Three days ago, the Caps newcomer received word that he will play Bradford in the film based on Michael Lewis's book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game,” that revolves around Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane.

His first shoot -- a series of spring-training scenes that will be shot in Phoenix -- takes place on June 22-23. Then, in mid-July, he sets off for a month. It is an opportunity he can't pass up, given that he could earn as much as $26,000 a month -- more than he's made playing ball in a year.

"Bradford is a knuckle-scraping submarine pitcher. I'm sidearm. I pitch a little higher now, but he's six-foot-five, so you need somebody tall, and he's from Mississippi. I went to school in North Carolina, so I'm sure I can get the accent," DePriest said.

"But I did tell some of my friends that if they could find an ‘Acting for Dummies’ book, I need it." Bradford, who now toils for the Tampa Bay Rays, was only available for the four-day all-star break, which is why he isn't playing himself.

"I know this could all fall apart, but I've already spoken to Brent about it. He's open to it, which is amazing," said DePriest.

In the meantime, he'll play his part on the Capitals pitching staff.

"I had taken a pretty big step to come out west (to Yuma), but I still want to play. I think I'm still capable of playing -- potentially to pitch in the big leagues, although I know that's not likely to happen. But I figured the (GBL) would be a good way to go. I was having a great time for nine days.

"It floored all of us," he said of the Scorpions roster overhaul.

"I knew I could find a place to play, but for a lot of guys, that ended their careers. This is the business we chose ... nothing is guaranteed. A team could be sold, players are traded all the time. It just worked out pretty good for me."
[email protected] 

Or maybe not. Maybe it would be better to start with the fact that the seasoned side-arm slinger is a budding movie actor.
DePriest, the Caps' new closer, is going to play Chad Bradford in the flick Moneyball, which will star Brad Pitt.
"It's been a wild year," he said on Monday.

DePriest was with the Scorpions for nine days, then signed with the Capitals after the Yuma roster was overhauled.

"Here's the thing. When I was in Yuma, I was living in the clubhouse, in the back room where the mascot used to get dressed," said DePriest, 32.

"I've gone from a $5-million home to a mattress in a clubhouse to a five-star hotel. Talk about your ups and downs with housing. But I loved it in Yuma. It was great."

Living in the clubhouse was a far cry from the six-bedroom, 12,000-square foot mansion he had been housesitting in Washington, D.C., just one year earlier.

"I fell into the housesitting," he said. "It was amazing. Four floors and a pool house, seven bathrooms and two half-baths. A $5-million home that was once owned by Gen. Omar Bradley (a World War II hero) back in the '30s. Unbelievable." The house sold in May, which neatly coincided with the baseball season, but we digress, which is easy to do with DePriest.

The 6-foot-8, 240-pounder, an All-America with the North Carolina Tar Heels back in his college days, was one of the 22 Yuma players left without work on the eve of the Golden Baseball League's season-opener. The Scorpions, at the 11th hour, struck a two-year deal with the Colombian Professional Baseball League, which lead to a roster overhaul.

DePriest flew back to Washington -- he was with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the Atlantic League in 2008 -- and pondered his next move.

He had the offer from the Caps, interest from the Defenders in Nashua, N.H., and had a shot at the movie role. What he didn't have was a guarantee it was going to happen, so he signed with Edmonton, thanks to the sales pitch of manager Brent Bowers, and took over from where Hector Almonte left off.

Almonte was released after DePriest was signed.

Three days ago, the Caps newcomer received word that he will play Bradford in the film based on Michael Lewis's book “Moneyball: The Art of Winning An Unfair Game,” that revolves around Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane.

His first shoot -- a series of spring-training scenes that will be shot in Phoenix -- takes place on June 22-23. Then, in mid-July, he sets off for a month. It is an opportunity he can't pass up, given that he could earn as much as $26,000 a month -- more than he's made playing ball in a year.

"Bradford is a knuckle-scraping submarine pitcher. I'm sidearm. I pitch a little higher now, but he's six-foot-five, so you need somebody tall, and he's from Mississippi. I went to school in North Carolina, so I'm sure I can get the accent," DePriest said.

"But I did tell some of my friends that if they could find an ‘Acting for Dummies’ book, I need it." Bradford, who now toils for the Tampa Bay Rays, was only available for the four-day all-star break, which is why he isn't playing himself.

"I know this could all fall apart, but I've already spoken to Brent about it. He's open to it, which is amazing," said DePriest.

In the meantime, he'll play his part on the Capitals pitching staff.

"I had taken a pretty big step to come out west (to Yuma), but I still want to play. I think I'm still capable of playing -- potentially to pitch in the big leagues, although I know that's not likely to happen. But I figured the (GBL) would be a good way to go. I was having a great time for nine days.

"It floored all of us," he said of the Scorpions roster overhaul.

"I knew I could find a place to play, but for a lot of guys, that ended their careers. This is the business we chose ... nothing is guaranteed. A team could be sold, players are traded all the time. It just worked out pretty good for me."

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