No baseball for 2 years for Academy grad
Staff report
Posted : Thursday Sep 20, 2007 12:02:43 EDT
An Air Force Academy graduate won’t get to play ball — at least not for two years, according to a decision by a top Defense Department official, the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph reported Wednesday.
Second Lt. Karl Bolt was drafted in the 15th round of this year’s Major League Baseball draft by the Philadelphia Phillies, and sought a waiver or modification of his service commitment. Academy graduates are bound to five years of active duty service, though some athletes have received waivers allowing them to serve two years of active duty and six years on reserve status.
David Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and policy, handed down the decision, which he based on current policy guidelines, the report said. The decision said Bolt must serve at least two years on active duty.
Two years off from baseball would leave Bolt “pretty much done from a skills standpoint,” he was quoted as saying in the Telegraph. “Plus, by then I’d be 23 and interest from Major League Baseball will be gone.”
Bolt, a career .334 hitter, led the Falcons in his senior season in hitting (.349), hits (68), home runs (8), doubles (16), runs (34) and RBI (47). A first-team all-Mountain West Conference selection, Bolt also was selected as the team MVP for the second consecutive season. He made several all-time top 10 lists at the academy, ranking fourth all-time in hits (232) and games played (200), seventh in home runs (33) and eighth in RBI (148).