‘He’s the pride of Lucedale’: Justin Steele's link to a Cubs All-Star |
The 93rd All-Star Game takes place tonight in Seattle, but the All-Star Game may hold more weight in a small town in southern Mississippi.
Lucedale, Mississippi — with a population of just under 3,000 people — is the birthplace of Justin Steele—also, home to the George County Rebels, who play their baseball games at Claude Passeau Field. On May 1st, 2014, Justin Steele made his last start in high school. It was the playoffs for the George County Rebels, and he delivered seven shutout innings and struck out 15 on the mound at Claude Passeau Field. Steele was a two-way player back then — and in his senior season, he put up Shohei Ohtani type numbers — leading the Rebels with a .418 batting average and an ERA of 0.98 on the rubber. “He thought he was as good a hitter as a pitcher,” joked Steele’s high school coach Brandon Davis. He finished high school with a 14-4 record with a 1.62 ERA, doing the most damage at Claude Passeau Field. His career batting average also was .353 — enough to get selected by the Chicago Cubs in the 5th round of the 2014 MLB draft. “He wanted to pitch on three days rest,” Davis said about the Rebels' final game of the season. “but I told him you’ve got a lot more pitching to do.” But that wasn’t what stuck out to Davis. He was impressed with the way Steele handled himself. He committed to Southern Mississippi over his heralded Alabama Crimson Tide and other big schools because Southern Mississippi was the first to show interest in him. He also lost a perfect game with two outs in the seventh on a fielding error, going straight to the second baseman and tapping him on the butt, saying, ‘Don’t worry, get the next one.’ Steele’s third high school no-hitter ended on the next pitch on a ground ball to that same second baseman. Fast forward nine years, Steele is the Cubs' lone representative in Seattle at the All-Star game on his 28th birthday, and Steele is feeling the love from his hometown, Lucedale, Mississippi. “It’s been awesome. The amount of support I’m getting from back home has been tremendous. My heart is always there; it just means the world to me. I’m really speechless. I know they’re proud. I know they’re watching all the time, and it just means the world to me, and my heart is always there,” Steele said after his last outing of the first half — a no-decision as the Cubs came back to win 4-3 over Milwaukee. “Seemed like we weren’t done. I feel like that was just a good team win, man. Those are the kind of wins I think might’ve been my favorite win this season. That was awesome.” According to Baseball Reference, there are two players in the history of Major League Baseball to make the MLB from Lucedale, a small town in Southern Mississippi: Justin Steele and Claude Passeau. Poetically, they’re both pitchers for the Chicago Cubs, and as of tonight, both All-Stars. “The whole community is behind him. Not because of what just he’s doing, but the kind of person that he is,” Davis said. Steele is having his strongest season yet — the 28-year-old has accumulated a 3.0 WAR in 16 starts. Good for a 9-2 record with an ERA of 2.56, so good that it has hovered back and forth for the best ERA in the majors. Some speculation was that Steele would be selected to start the 93rd All-Star game for the National League, but the NL instead went with Zac Gallen from the Diamondbacks. Had Steele started the All-Star game, he’d have been the first Cubs pitcher to take the ball at the midsummer’s classic since 1946. Not Jake Arrieta or Jon Lester or Greg Maddux or Fergie Jenkins or Rick Sutcliffe but guess who? Claude Passeau. Maybe you’ve put it together by now. Steele has some extraordinary connections to Passeau — from Lucedale to Chicago to the All-Star team. Passeau is well-documented as one of the best pitchers not to be in the Hall of Fame. He started the 1946 All-Star game for the Cubs. He also threw a one-hitter during the 1945 World Series. He was a five-time All-Star in his 13-year career but is better known as a family man in Lucedale. Not only was he an All-Star pitcher, but he was well remembered for his work as a farmer and businessman, as he purchased Lucedale’s John Deere dealership in 1940. Plus, Passeau was the county sheriff after his playing days were over. His son, Claude Jr., was a pitcher who the Reds drafted. Pitching is obviously in the Passeau bloodline, but maybe there is something in that Lucedale water — because Steele has been following in his footsteps. “I’ve got a picture on my phone of me wearing his jersey,” Steele said last week to MLB.com, “It was a big deal back home when I got drafted by the Cubs. It’s a really small town in Mississippi. It’s funny how the universe works like that. How small things come together like that.” Big Claude’s grandson, Casey, met Steele during his early days at George County and has developed into one of Steele’s closest companions. Casey said he viewed Steele as a son, and Steele looked at him as a best friend. Casey has the luxury of saying the only two players in baseball history to represent Lucedale in an All-Star game are his grandfather and one of the people he is closest with in the world. “All this has done is brought back memories,” Passeau said. “It’s really put the spotlight on my grandfather.” “As soon as they announced [the roster], the first thing I texted [Justin] was Big Claude is proud of you, buddy. I promise you.” This comes from the guy who took Steele to the mall the day after he was drafted to buy him his first Cubs hat. “Every day I think about him,” Passeau said. “He’s earned it.” Amidst all of the emotion, Passeau needed to make one thing known. “When he gets on that mound, he already knows that he’s better than you are.” Passeau’s advice to Justin on the day of his first All-Star game came via a text because he could not make the trip to Seattle: “Slow it down tonight. It’s gonna be here and gone. Enjoy it, it’ll be gone before you know it.” The Passeau family legacy is safe in Steele’s left arm. And while he pitches in his first All-Star game on his 28th birthday, Lucedale and George County will be watching. “He is the pride of Lucedale, for sure.”
