BEAUMONT, Texas — Kelly Bulldog baseball doesn't start until February but fans got a taste of the season at the Bulldog World series, and they got to spend the day with San Francisco Giant Ford Proctor.
Kelly is officially retiring Proctor's number nine after this season.
Proctor graduated from Kelly in 2015 and went on to play baseball at Rice. He was a third-round MLB Draft pick in 2018 and went to the Tampa Bay Rays.
"Just like you, the odds were stacked against me," Proctor said. "So, whatever you choose to do in life I just encourage you that whatever the odds may be, someone has to be the one to beat the odds and there's no reason it can't be you"
Last year, a day before the trade deadline, Proctor was traded to the Giants.
At his jersey retirement, Proctor said he wouldn't be as successful without the community that raised him.
"That show how special this place is and it's the people here that they really make it that way," Proctor said
"All my roots are here," Proctor said. "You know, this area and the Kelly community will always have a special place, again, in my heart and there's just you don't run out of great people around here."
Proctor returns to work for spring training on February 15.