All-Decade Team: Starting Pitcher

While sitting in the upper deck of Altoona's Blair County Ballpark in 2004 and watching the Curve play Harrisburg in a Class AA Eastern League game, I scanned my program and noticed a local pitcher listed on the Senators' roster. A guy named Ryan Douglass, who was listed as being from Pittsburgh.

This was the same Ryan Douglass who was a standout pitcher at Canevin High School almost a decade earlier. I couldn't help but think that a guy who was pitching out of the bullpen in Double-A after being a pro for eight seasons might be at the end of his run in affiliated ball.

"I wonder if the Wild Things could get him to play in Washington if he gets released," I said to my oldest son, Brian, who was 10 years old at the time and had no idea what I was talking about. It was nothing more than wishful thinking, I reasoned. If Douglass would get released, then he'd probably end up with another organization, in a different independent league or retire.

Douglass pitched that night, throwing three innings of relief. He did give up a two-run homer to Brad Eldred (remember him, Pirates fans?), but struck out five and did not walk a batter. Douglass showed the kind of presence, poise and command that you don't see from typical Frontier League pitchers. That left me believing that seeing Douglass in a Wild Things uniform was a longshot at best.

A few months later, Washington beat the odds and hit the jackpot.

Former general manager Ross Vecchio lured Douglass, who had been released from the Montreal Expos system after the 2004 season, to the Wild Things and Frontier League. The opportunity to pitch close to home was the sales pitch.

While Douglass didn't have the same velocity on his fastball that made him an 18th-round draft pick out of high school by the Kansas City Royals, he did show pinpoint control and the savvy learned from 64 outings at the Double-A level.

Douglass played only one season for Washington and posted an 11-3 record with a 3.25 ERA and yielded only 16 walks in 119 innings (just three walks in his last 40 innings). He was a big reason the Wild Things won the East Division with a 63-32 record.

Douglass was the starting pitcher for the East in the All-Star game, which was played at Consol Energy Park. He also won the opening game in the division playoff series against Chillicothe.

That was enough to land Douglass a spot on the All-Decade Team.

Only one starting pitcher spot remains on the All-Decade team. Who should fill it? Ben Ally? Tom Cochran? Patrick Stanley? Justin Hall, Casey Barnes or Justin Edwards from the 2011 team? Somebody who hasn't been mention?

All-Decade Starting Pitcher: Ryan Douglass (2005)