HISTORY MAKER

Brandon Finnegan was the first to pitch in CWS, World Series in same season

- by KYLE BANDUJO

While lefthander Brandon Finnegan’s control wavered in high school and early in his time at Texas Christian, he had one thing that separated him from the pack.

“I always threw hard,” Finnegan said.

He also brought a precise routine to his craft. The same pregame meal before each start. He wore the same apparel and threw the same number of pitches in each of his pregame bullpens.

Finnegan slotted into TCU's weekend rotation as a freshman in 2012. After his sophomore year he pitched for USA Baseball’s Collegiate National Team, still relying mostly on his fastball.

“I just blew it by everybody that I could, just threw every pitch as hard as I could,” Finnegan said. “I knew that the offspeed pitches weren't where I wanted them to be.”