By Austin Lee
Baseball player Austin Wilson ’10 passed on offers from the St. Louis Cardinals in favor of going to Stanford.
Wilson, a four-year varsity outfielder for the Wolverines, was drafted in the 12th round by the Cardinals in the Major League Baseball draft on June 8 in Secaucus, NJ.
Having committed to Stanford earlier in the year, Wilson fell from being a possible first round pick in the draft to being a 12th round pick due to concerns which arose about his signability.
“It was kind of hurtful to see my name called relatively late in the draft because I was a projected first round pick, but letting teams know I was going to school came with the effect of me getting drafted later,” said Wilson.
Wilson plans to go professional after his junior year, but hopes to meet many new people and “win a college world series.”
“I’m very happy with my decision,” said Wilson. “There is essentially no price tag on any college experience and Stanford is an exceptional institution with a very talented baseball team.”
Wilson and the Cardinals had had a deadline of Aug. 16 to come to terms and sign a contract, something which had seemed to have some chance of happening, with Wilson having expressed enough interest to visit the Cardinals’ Busch Stadium on a tour.
St. Louis outfielder Allen Craig, led Wilson on the tour, in which he met Cardinal players and took fly balls in the outfield wearing a team batting practice uniform.
