TAMPA - While in high school at IMG Acadamies, J.R. Murphy lived out a dream when he accepted a full scholarship to play baseball at the University of Miami.
Then the pro game came calling.
Murphy was taken in the second round of 2009 draft by the New York Yankees, who offered Murphy a $1.25 million signing bonus.
He accepted, and the 20-year-old catcher is now with the Yankees' high Single-A affiliate in Tampa.
He's happy to be there.
"I think about it all the time. All my buddies are in college, so I talk to them all the time," the Bradenton resident said Wednesday at George M. Steinbrenner Field. "But I don't have any regrets. This is definitely the right decision I made."
Murphy is a career .271 hitter in 165 pro games with the Yankees, and made the South Atlantic League's All-Star game this year while with the Yanks' low Single-A affiliate in Charleston.
So it appears he has indeed made the right choice - even if he grew up a Boston Red Sox fan.
"You can't beat playing for the Yankees. But I was a Red Sox fan, so it was kind of ironic when that happened," he said. "But you can't beat this."
For more on my chat with Murphy, including his thoughts on playing for an organization stockpiled with catchers and coming home to face the Bradenton Marauders later this month, check out bradenton.com this weekend.
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