Hailing from Newport Beach, California, sophomore business major and baseball player Grady Birmingham first stepped up to bat in tee-ball at just 5 years old. Sports have been a consistent part of Birmingham’s life all the way up through college.
“When I was about 5 years old, I started with tee-ball,” Birmingham said. “It was fun, just learning the sport and being around all my friends was a good time for sure.”Birmingham played baseball all of his life, apart from a brief foray into football during his freshman year of high school before returning to baseball.
Birmingham’s father greatly influenced his love of sports. “My dad played college football at [the] University of Arizona and in the NFL for a brief period. He is a role model to me and taught me the importance of hard work and treating others how you would want to be treated.”
Birmingham’s father played for the Washington Redskins before being injured.
After high school, Birmingham settled on UD because of its sports program and strong academics. He said, “I like the coaching stuff, it definitely pushed me and I liked what they said on my recruiting visit. I like how they line their program up baseball-wise and practice-wise, it was just a good fit overall.”
Like many student athletes, Birmingham is aware of how difficult it can be to balance collegiate sports with coursework at UD. He said, “It’s definitely been challenging at times. I’m taking 15 [credit] hours right now, so with practice we’ll be out in the field for three hours and then obviously you’ve got to get the extra work in at the weight room as well.”
Despite the difficulty, Birmingham considers it to be worth the effort. “It’s definitely challenging at times, a lot of late nights and early mornings, but it’s all worth it, I love doing it,” he said.
Birmingham’s favorite memory from the season occurred during the two games on Sunday, March 6 played against Capital, where he hit his first collegiate home run. He described the event, “I just kind of hunted a certain pitch and put a good swing on it, and we won both those games, so it was definitely an upbeat day.
The Crusaders baseball team won against Capital University 7-5 and 4-2 in their two games on March 6.
After graduation from UD, Birmingham hopes to become a sports agent. He said, “[it’s] just dealing with sports players and contracts, to represent them and negotiate everything.” The position is one that fits well into Birmingham’s interests and talents. He said: “I want to pursue it because I love sports and want to work in the sports industry. It’s just something that really excites me and I feel that I would love it.”
