Oakland Athletics Draft Former Kirkwood Star

Somewhere there's a home video of Kurt Wunderlich holding an oversized wiffle ball bat. He was young at the time, 2 he thinks, but already swinging it around.

When he was older, he remembers how he played catch late into the night. He also played Little League and eventually for the Kirkwood Pioneers, where he captured league MVP honors as a sophomore.

"He always liked having a bat in his hand and throwing," his father Chris Wunderlich said.

All the while, his son dreamt a major league team would draft him. It become reality Tuesday.

The Oakland Athletics picked the right-handed pitcher in the 20th round. He didn't see it happen, but his mother saw it live and called him. Once he heard from her, his phone wouldn't stop going off, Kurt Wunderlich said.

"It was a nerve-racking day," he said.

Wunderlich, a senior at Michigan State University, had a 10-2 record this year and was the Big Ten Pitcher of the Year. His 26 career wins for the school rank third all-time there, according to msuspartans.com

Former teammate and close friend Adam Farris said after practices most players would go home, but Wunderlich would go to the gym and do an intense workout. It was a part of his overall work ethic.

"When he started we all knew we had a good chance to win—no matter who we were facing," Farris said.

This wasn't the first time Wunderlich tried to get drafted. His father thought he should've been picked as a junior, but it didn't happen.

"I stayed pretty confident and upbeat about it," Kurt Wunderlich said.