EVERETT — Attend an Everett AquaSox game at Everett Memorial Stadium and eventually one is likely to encounter Tom Wilhelmsen on the video board. Whether it’s channeling his inner WWE wrestler and encouraging Sox fans to “unleash the E,” or whether he’s showing off his best dance moves, Wilhelmsen projects the image of someone who just likes to have fun.
Indeed, Wilhelmsen is the same fun-loving, happy-go-lucky individual he’s always been, but with one difference. Now he knows professional baseball is where he belongs.
After a long and winding journey the AquaSox pitcher is making his second foray into pro ball, and this time around he’s determined to make it work.
“I’m having fun,” Wilhelmsen said. “Now that I’m older and understand a little more about how the professionalism in this game works, I’m having a much better experience this go-around.”
Wilhelmsen, the most-recent addition to Everett’s starting rotation, is showing the type of form that made him a hot prospect a generation ago. His fastball is registering in the mid-90s, and his curveball is already considered major-league average. In three starts with the Sox the lanky 6-foot-6 right-hander is 1-0 with a 3.68 ERA, walking two and striking out 14 in 142/3 innings.
And since joining the Sox two weeks ago Wilhelmsen has been a model pro. He’s fully committed to refining his craft, and even though at 26 he’s the oldest player on the team, his engaging personality allowed him to fit seamlessly in with his new teammates.
“He’s focused, working with Rich Dorman our pitching coach,” Sox manager Jose Moreno said. “He talks to his teammates. All the time he’s the first guy asking to do something, he wants to take the video camera (to record teammates pitching), he’s everywhere.”
But Wilhelmsen wasn’t always that way.
Seven years ago Wilhelmsen was a teenager with a golden arm who seemed destined for top-prospect lists. A seventh-round pick by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2002 amateur draft, Wilhelmsen began his professional career in 2003 and took the mid single-A Midwest League by storm, going 5-5 with a 2.76 ERA as a 19-year-old.
But while his pitching was mature beyond his years, some of his off-field habits weren’t. He wasn’t serious about keeping his arm in condition, and after the season he tested positive for marijuana. The Brewers responded by shipping him to rehab.
“I wasn’t giving 100 percent on or off the field,” Wilhelmsen recalled. “I was young and still wanted to live that way, young and irresponsible.”
Upon exiting rehab Wilhelmsen asked to take a year off, and the Brewers suspended him for the 2004 season. Wilhelmsen tried to return in 2005 after the suspension was over, but found his heart wasn’t in it and he walked away from baseball.
“I didn’t think I was ever going to get back into it,” Wilhelmsen said. “I just packed it up, threw all my gear in the bottom of a bag and tucked it away in a corner in the closet.”
No longer burdened by baseball, Wilhelmsen was free to live a spontaneous lifestyle that suited his personality. He became a bartender at a live-music venue in Tucson, Ariz., and whenever he saved up enough money he took off to see the world. He traveled through much of the southwestern U.S., dipped into Mexico and spent a month exploring Europe.
“Life was great away from baseball,” Wilhelmsen said. “I was able to live my early 20s the way I wanted. I rekindled my relationship with my now wife, and if I had stuck with baseball I don’t know if that would have happened. I have no regrets about walking away.”
But eventually the bartending life wore on Wilhelmsen, and one morning in 2008 he had an epiphany.
“I woke up and lit up a cigarette — I used to smoke — and took a look at it and thought, ‘What are you doing?’” Wilhelmsen said. “I put it out and quit smoking cigarettes cold turkey. I was like, man, if I can do this I can do pretty much anything I can put my mind to. So I decided to give baseball another shot.”
Wilhelmsen informed his father of his decision on Father’s Day, and he began working out with his dad. He tried out for a local independent league team, the Tucson Toros of the Golden Baseball League. He made the team and in 2009 made 11 relief appearances before the Brewers, who still owned his rights, contacted Wilhelmsen to say he needed to be pitching in the Brewers system. Unfortunately, Wilhelmsen threw one last time for the Toros and hurt his arm, and after being examined by doctors the Brewers released him.
Enter the Seattle Mariners.
The M’s had their own doctors examine Wilhelmsen and determined there was no permanent damage, so in February he signed with Seattle. Wilhelmsen slowly worked himself back into shape and began competing again with Peoria of the rookie Arizona League. Wilhelmsen blew the league away, allowing only one run and striking out 22 in 15 innings before being promoted to Everett.
Wilhelmsen has continued to have success with the Sox — in his last start Wednesday he allowed only one hit in five scoreless innings at Tri-City — even though in some respects he’s starting from scratch.
“When I was playing with the Brewers I was non-stop pitching, so I had a better idea of what to throw and when to throw it,” Wilhelmsen explained. “I didn’t understand how much of the mental aspect I lost from the five-year break. Physically I’m in much better shape and mentally my focus is a lot higher than it ever was. But pitching wise there’s still a lot of things I need to get back.”
But this version of Tom Wilhelmsen, even though he’s still someone who likes having fun, has the right mentality to figure it out. Add in his electric stuff and Wilhelmsen may just have the package to make it to the majors on his second attempt.
“I don’t think I’m a different person, but I’ve grown up quite a bit and learned responsibility and focus and determination,” Wilhelmsen said.
“It’s non-stop working, doing what I can every day to make myself better. I decided for myself to make those choices, even before playing with the Toros. It’s just a day-by-day thing and hopefully it will pay off in the long run.”
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