Behind the Biscuits: Kenny Piper
Behind the Biscuits
Kenny Pipers journey to the Minor League is one of perseverance and never giving up. Piper says out of high school, he wasn’t highly recruited, however he still played college baseball. Piper played his college years at Columbia College in Missouri playing NAIA baseball.
“I’m thankful for that route and I think that it’s helped develop me into who I am today,” says Piper.
And as he wrapped up his college career, the underdog story continued for Piper as he waited to hear his name called in the 2021 MLB Draft. But after patiently waiting, Piper finally heard his named called on the TV. Piper was selected in the 18th round as the 551st pick by the Tampa Bay Rays.
“I kind of got to a point it was the later rounds and I kind of had accepted that it’s probably not going to happen we were watching the draft you know from the start. And so, yeah not knowing and not hearing anything for the first couple days and I kind of thought that was it. And then, I actually heard my name on the TV before I even got a phone call and my college coach was the first one to call me because I didn’t have an agent at the time, so he was kind of my advisor, and so he called me pretty much right after I heard my name on the TV and I was just shocked,” says Piper.
Throughout his time in the Rays Minor League system Piper has spent time in the Rays Rookie Ball League and with the Charleston RiverDogs (single-A), the Bowling Green Hot Rods (High-A), and the Montgomery Biscuits (double-A.)
Also throughout his baseball career, Piper has been able to find an interesting side hustle as a “team barber.”
“Yeah so kind of a funny story, one of my good buddies he would get like some neck hair and so even before he was ready for another haircut, he would ask me to trim up his neck. And we were living in the dorms and you know around the team and so I started to become known as the neck trimming guy because other people started to see it and they were like man can you do mine? And then, they would offer to pay me and I’m like, this is crazy, but eventually I realized that I could kind of make a business out of it,” says Piper.
And for those that share the same dream of playing professional ball, here is a piece of advice from someone who’s been there an done it.
“I think keeping the faith is a big thing that I would advise. I think we’re all gifted in many different ways, so even you know if you are undersized you’re not a homerun hitter like what can you do to maximize the gifts and the skills that you do have,” says Piper.
