Jimmy Kingsbury: A kid from Philly

Baseball more than any sport in the American lexicon is deeply rooted in the local communities where it is played. Unlike football or basketball where certain stars and certain teams convert fans all over the country, baseball is intrinsically tied to community. If you live in Seattle you are a Mariners fan, if you grew up in Atlanta you are a Braves fan. If you grew up in Valley Forge Pennsylvania, then you are a Phillies fan.

That is where AquaSox relief pitcher Jimmy Kingsbury is from. The right handed hurler’s baseball story is deeply rooted in his love for the sport and love for his hometown. His childhood was marked by the dominant Phillies teams of the late 2000s and his love of the game was nurtured playing catch with his Dad in the Philadelphia suburbs.

“I really got into it because my Dad had played,” Kingsbury said. “Throughout the early beginnings of my career he was my coach all throughout it and he really got me into baseball and helped me learn and fall in love with the sport. He is the main reason I play today.”

Kingsbury’s Dad, Larry, was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in the 22nd round of the 1991 MLB Draft. Larry decided to decline the Athletics’ invitation to Spring Training to complete his senior year at Villanova. He ultimately tore his rotator cuff that season and although he was drafted again by Oakland a year later, this injury would end Larry’s career.

Perfect 7th inning for Jimmy Kingsbury. pic.twitter.com/rkTQexQmk3

— Mariners Minors (@MiLBMariners) June 8, 2023

Jimmy explained that one of the things he appreciates most about his father is the fact that despite Larry’s baseball career not going the way he wanted, he never put any added or undue pressure on Jimmy to play the game, something that allowed the younger Kingsbury to find his own love for the game.

“He tries to let me be my own person and be my own player, he always told me when I was growing up, ‘if you don’t like baseball and you don’t want to play, just say the word and you don’t have to. Don’t think you have to play because you think I want you too,’” Kingsbury said. “But I love the sport and it’s a strong connection we have, me and my Dad, being able to talk baseball the way that we do.”

As Kingsbury’s childhood developed the Philadelphia area got more and more on fire for baseball. As the Phillies were contending for and winning the World Series, the lower levels of baseball in the area continued to get more competitive and intense. Kingsbury went to Malvern Preparatory School in Malvern Pennsylvania, which is one of the elite high school baseball programs in the country. Throughout his four years at Malvern, Jimmy played with Hillsboro Hops’ catcher Shane Muntz and played against other current Northwest League players, Randy Bednar, Connor Larkin, and Matt Svanson.

Not wanting to go far away from home, Jimmy decided to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and attend Villanova University in Philadelphia. In fact Villanova University is somewhat of a family aerloom in the Kingsbury family.

“My Mom played softball there, my Dad played baseball there, my two Uncles played football there and my Grandma was a statistics teacher there,” Kingsbury said.

Jimmy committed to the Wildcats when he was a Sophomore in High School. When he arrived the team was in full rebuilding mode. They went 9-39 his Freshman year, but Kingsbury got a chance to play which was most important to him. As the years went by, Jimmy and his Wildcat teammates began to change the program and by the time he left, they were conference contenders once again.

“It taught me a lot, dealing with the loss and the struggles. The most important lesson I learned going to Villanova was being able to change the culture and bring a losing team and turn that around into a winning team,” Kingsbury said. “It was cool to do that with my teammates and kind of change the idea of what Villanova baseball was.”

So now Kingsbury is on an entirely new adventure. He is living far from home, playing professional baseball for an organization that not many people in Philadelphia know much about. But those lessons from his childhood and those Philadelphia roots are still part of Kingsbury every time he steps on a mound.

Kingsbury’s childhood idol was the late great Roy Halladay. Jimmy looks up to the Hall of Fame right hander who pitched for the Phillies from 2010-2013, because he was a true pitcher and not just a thrower. A thrower according to Jimmy is someone with good stuff who does not know how to control it, but a pitcher is a craftsman, who takes great pride in the execution of each and every pitch that comes out of their hand.

“He dominated his craft and the way he went about it, you could just tell he was uber prepared,” Kingsbury said.

This is a mindset that Kingsbury is trying to instill in himself.

“One pitch at a time and being able to focus one pitch at a time, because that’s all I have. The only thing I have is the pitch at this exact moment when I’m on the mound. That is the only thing that should be on my mind,” Kingsbury explained. “I got to remember that I am in control, have that bulldog mentality that I have always had throughout my career… when I do that I think I am one of the best pitchers in the world.”