Egbert was called up to the big leagues for the first time on Tuesday, April 21, 2009, with his Chicago White Sox visiting the Orioles. In the eighth inning of a game that had been delayed for two hours by rain, manager Ozzie Guillen tabbed Egbert to make his first appearance in The Show, with the O’s holding an 8-3 lead.
While Egbert did get three ground-ball outs, his debut was not quite perfect. He walked a batter, and then he surrendered a two-run homer to the Orioles’ Aubrey Huff. It was Huff’s second home run of the evening; he had gone deep off Jose Contreras earlier in the game.
It wasn’t entirely obvious in Little League that Jack Egbert was ticketed for the majors. The manager of Kurgan-Bergen Realtors – his father, George – had his son pitch in 14 games in 1995, most of which he split with Sean McManus, who set a record that year by making 15 appearances. Egbert totaled just 37⅓ innings that season, but he did strike out 88 batters and post a 1.61 ERA, good for second place in the National League behind Nick Urbanovich. (Egbert was originally credited with a 1.45 ERA and the league’s ERA title, but one run he allowed that was previously shown as unearned turned out to be earned.)
The conservation of Egbert’s arm in Little League might well have saved him, though. Once he got to Rutherford High School, he proved to be an outstanding pitcher. In his junior season, he went 10-3; he improved that to 10-2 as a senior, with a 1.51 ERA and 108 strikeouts against just 19 walks in 74 innings. As a result, he drew the attention of college and pro scouts. Ultimately, he opted to attend Rutgers University on a baseball scholarship. With the Scarlet Knights, Egbert won 18 games in three seasons, including a memorable non-conference game against Old Dominion in which he defeated Justin Verlander, a first-round pick in the 2004 Major League Baseball First-Year Draft.
Egbert was selected in the 13th round of that same draft, and he signed with the White Sox and was assigned to Great Falls (Pioneer League, Rookie). He then spent 2005 in Kannapolis (South Atlantic League, low A) and 2006 with Winston-Salem (Carolina League, high A). In 2007, he had an outstanding season with the Birmingham Barons (Southern League, AA), and the White Sox placed him on their 40-man roster at the end of the season to protect him from the Rule 5 draft.
However, Egbert had some elbow trouble and spent most of 2008 recovering. He made quick stops at two lower levels before spending most of the year at Charlotte (International League, AAA), working himself back into shape. The White Sox, who were contending for the playoffs, did not choose to activate Egbert during the September period of expanded active rosters.
For 2009, the White Sox determined that Egbert’s best shot at moving up was to become a relief pitcher. He made five appearances out of the bullpen at Charlotte in the first half of April, and then after a victory against Durham on April 18, he got the call to join the big club for the series in Baltimore.
Rutherford Little League salutes Jack Egbert on his debut in Major League Baseball.