Getting To Know Jason King

Tiger's fourth-round pick excels on and off field

By Justin Sheinis

August 1, 2011

Jason King, the Detroit Tigers' fourth-round selection in this year's draft, has been through a lot of tough times, but has found a way to turn the negatives in his life into positives. From leading Kansas State University to their first ever postseason appearance to being a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll and Academic All-American this past year, he has been a major contributor and hard worker at everything he has had his hand in. King lost his mother to a battle with cancer when he was a senior in High School and has used what she taught him to take him down the path to great success. The Ohio native sits in or just outside Kansas State's top ten lists in career extra-base hits (81), at-bats (667), triples (11), doubles (48) and home runs (22), but with an athletic family tree like his there is no surprise of King's ability to excel both on and off the baseball diamond. I recently had a chance to sit down with one of the Connecticut Tigers team leader's and see what has shaped him into the individual he is today.

Justin Sheinis: Talk about the whirlwind that was getting drafted and realizing that you are one step closer to the big leagues?
Jason King: It is something you work for your whole life, so when it actually happens it is pretty surreal. You want to kind of expect that it is going to happen, because you put all the time and the work in, but it is still almost shocking when it actually happens and everything comes true how you pictured it.

JS: What was the first thing that immediately went through your head when you were drafted?
JK: I was just very excited. The Tigers called me and talked to me for a little bit and then I was on the phone for pretty much five hours (King laugh's) just talking to all my family and friends. It was just something that was really cool and I feel lucky and blessed to have been able to experience that.

JS: You spent four great year's at Kansas State. How would you describe your time there?
JK: Kansas State really helped me become who I am today. Brad Hill (Kansas State baseball head coach) and the whole staff, that is how I got to where I am now and I could stand here and try to give them credit through words, but that just wouldn't be enough. I am just extremely grateful for the opportunities that Kansas State gave me.

JS: Not only were you a successful baseball player, but you also succeeded in the classroom as you were a three-time member of the Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll. Did you also pride yourself in learning and being the best student you could be?
JK: Yes, definitely. My dad (Jeffery) made a big point to me and my brother when we were little that athletics can only take you so far. He was also an Academic All-American when he was in college at Ohio State (where he played baseball), so it was pretty cool to be able to excel in the classroom like him. But, yes it is just something I have taken pride in and it is something that I can control. I can control my effort towards it and anything I can control my effort towards I want to do the best that I can.

JS: This past year you had the opportunity to play at Kansas State with your younger brother, Jared, who was a Freshman All-American. How special was that chance to play with him?
JK: It was awesome, but all the credit goes to him. He is the one that made it happen. I am just glad he decided to come to K-Sate and he has started off his career really well and he is going to have a lot of success there. He is definitely in a place where he can keep getting better and it is just up to him to do that.

JS: You are part of a very athletic family. Your father played baseball at Ohio State and in the New York Yankees minor league system and your grandfather, Frank, played football at Ohio State under legendary head coach Woody Hayes (won 1954 National Championship). What does that mean to you to come from a family with such a great athletic background?
JK: It is great, because they know what the life is like and what athletes go through and the sacrifices we make, so it definitely helps. I can't imagine being an athlete from a family that didn't have other people that were like that to help guide them and teach them what the sacrifices that athletes have to make is like.

JS: What is the biggest lesson that either your father or grandfather taught to you?
JK: Just that you can't be afraid to be different. People who kind of just go with the flow and just fall in line with the social norm, they may not be the one's that make it. The one's who make it are the one's that are willing to go the extra mile and work harder and make more sacrifices, while staying on a straight path and not getting in trouble. More than anything, they taught me just to always do the right thing. You have millions of choices in your life and as long as you know you are always doing the right thing then you know you are going to end up being just fine.

JS: Your mother passed away from cancer when you were a senior in High School. There was a message posted on your refrigerator at your home in Dublin, Ohio, that she said to you before she passed: "Don't mourn my death, put a smile on your face and move forward." What does that statement mean to you?
JK: Well, obviously, first off, I wish my mom was here and I miss her every day. But she would not want me to just wait back in Dublin. Like in High School, she would not want me to just stick around back in Dublin and not continue my life. Every day, everything I do, I just want to make her proud.

JS: Do you have her memory in the back of your head, whenever you do something good or do something successful and know that she is looking down on you?
JK: Yes, I do. I mean it is not something I am thinking about 100% of the time. I try to stay pretty focused on what I am actually doing, but it is just engrained in how I live my life now, that I should be doing the right thing, and that is how I want to live my life.

JS: Discuss your goals in the game of baseball and what do you want to get out of it?
JK: I just want to continue to learn. You know, it is just a game and it can beat you up sometimes, but more than anything just keep it in perspective and let the game take me for a ride as far as it can and hopefully that is to the Major League's, but if not I will be successful doing something else.