The Big Game QBs and the Mudcats

How big of a stretch would it be to connect the dots linking the Mudcats to Tampa Bay's Tom Brady and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes? Given each QBs unique ties to the baseball world, and using the "six degrees of separation" theory, it turns out that drawing a line from the Mudcats to Brady and Mahomes is really not that difficult.

For those unfamiliar with the "six degrees of separation" theory, it's the idea that everyone in the world is separated from everyone else by just six steps. The theory has been popularized over the years thanks to actor Kevin Bacon and the "Bacon's Law" game where the challenge is to find the shortest path between any given actor and Kevin Bacon.

Now, that particular game uses movies to link Kevin Bacon from one actor to another in order to connect the dots. For our purposes, we’ll use MLB players and MLB teams to not only connect both Brady and Mahomes to the Mudcats, but specifically both Big Game QBs to Mudcats’ Manager Joe Ayrault.

With those conditions in mind, here's how we can get from Manager Joe Ayrault to Tom Brady to Patrick Mahomes in six(ish) steps...

Tom Brady (1995 Expos Draft) to Michael Barrett (1995 Expos Draft/2004-2006 Cubs) to Greg Maddux (2004-2006 Cubs/1996 Braves) to Joe Ayrault (1996 Braves) to Fred McGriff (1996 Braves/2002 Cubs) to Pat Mahomes (2002 Cubs) to Patrick Mahomes II (Son of Pat Mahomes)

Tom Brady: Before his football career Tom Brady was actually drafted as a catcher out of Serra High School in San Mateo, CA in the 18th round of the 1995 draft by the Montreal Expos.

Michael Barrett: Like Tom Brady, Michael Barrett was also drafted as a catcher in 1995 (1st Round) by the Montreal Expos. After six years with the Expos, Michael Barrett later played with Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux with the 2004, 2005 and 2006 Chicago Cubs.

Greg Maddux: Before his time with the Cubs, Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux played with Mudcats Manager Joe Ayrault in 1996 during Atlanta’s post-season run to the World Series.

Joe Ayrault: Manager Joe Ayrault also played with Fred McGriff in 1996 during Atlanta’s post-season run to the World Series.

Fred McGriff: The Crime Dog Fred McGriff later played with Pat Mahomes (father of Patrick Mahomes) in 2002 with the Chicago Cubs.

Pat Mahomes: Pat Mahomes, the father of Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes, spent a number of years as professional baseball player, including a season with the Chicago Cubs in 2002 when he was teammates with Fred McGriff. (Note: We also discovered that, like McGriff, former big-leaguer Joe Borowski also played with Manager Ayrault in 1996 with the Braves and with Mahomes Sr. with the Cubs).

This particular line is the closest we could find that linked Brady, Mahomes and Manager Ayrault all together at once. We did, however, find a link that focused on Serra High School, the California school that Brady was drafted out of by the Expos. Both Brady and former big-leaguer Dan Serafini attended Serra High School at the same time. Serafini was a bit older than Brady and was drafted in the opening round of the 1992 draft by the Minnesota Twins (later becoming teammates with Pat Mahomes in 1996). Brady, who was a freshman during Serafini's senior year at Serra, was then drafted a few years later by the Expos. Using Serafini, our line would go as follows: Tom Brady (Serra HS) to Dan Serafini (Serra HS/2000 Padres) to Ryan Klesko (2000 Padres/1996 Braves) to Joe Ayrault (1996 Braves) to Fred McGriff (1996 Braves/2002 Cubs) to Pat Mahomes (2002 Cubs) to Patrick Mahomes II.

As far as other links go, the elder Mahomes spent a number of years in professional baseball from 1988 to 2009. Thus providing plenty of other avenues to explore connecting Mahomes and the Mudcats. Mahomes was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1988 and went on to reach Double-A and the Southern League with Orlando in 1991 where he would pitch against the Mudcats twice. He first pitched against the Mudcats on May 6, 1991 as part of a doubleheader in Carolina. That game, however, was played at Fleming Stadium in Wilson, NC and not at Five County Stadium where the Mudcats play now in Zebulon, NC (construction issues delayed the completion of Five County Stadium ahead of the 1991 season). Mahomes later faced the Mudcats again in July 1991, but did so in Orlando and right before a promotion to Triple-A Portland. Mahomes was quite the star in 1991 as he led the Southern League with a 1.78 ERA while going 8-5 over 18 games and 17 starts that year.

Coincidentally, both of Mahomes' appearances against the Mudcats came in games pitched by former Mudcat Tim Wakefield. Mahomes and Wakefield actually ended up being teammates later in their careers with the Red Sox in 1996 and 1997.

As it turns out, the elder Mahomes ended up playing with a plethora of former Mudcats during his 11-year Major League career. Beyond Wakefield, perhaps the other most notable link tying him to the Mudcats came during his final MLB season in 2003 when he played for the Pittsburgh Pirates. That was the season that saw him pitch to and play with former Mudcat Jason Kendall. Kendall of course first played for the Mudcats in 1994, but returned in 1995 where he would go on to be named the Southern League MVP. That final MLB start for Mahomes also saw him face several former Mudcats including Miguel Cabrera and Juan Pierre. Cabrera played for the Mudcats earlier that same season before rapidly making his way to the big leagues. Pierre, meanwhile, starred for Carolina in 2000.

Full disclosure, we recognize how big of a stretch this particular exercise was, but it was fun nonetheless. That said, what other links might there be that we overlooked? Do you have a better through line that we could add to this piece? Feel free to send any other connections to [email protected]. We'll add the best submissions to this article.