Anxiously waiting, Paul Nardozzi sat in front of his computer listening to the live feed of… Anxiously waiting, Paul Nardozzi sat in front of his computer listening to the live feed of the Major League Baseball Draft.

Name after name, round after round, Nardozzi waited.

It wasn’t until the second day of the draft on June 8, that he finally heard what he’d been waiting to hear.

In the 31st round of the 2007 MLB draft, the Detroit Tigers announced their pick – Paul Nardozzi.

Although he had been sitting and waiting next to his computer for two days to hear his name, it was a moment he had really been waiting for most of his life.

“This is something that I’ve been dreaming of since I was a Little Leaguer,” Nardozzi said in a phone interview Monday.

Moments after the draft pick had been made, Nardozzi received a call from a Detroit scout.

“Congratulations,” the voice on the other end said.

And with that congratulations, Nardozzi was propelled into a hectic week-long process.

The very next day, Nardozzi flew down to Florida to get his physical and begin mini-camp with his new teammates. Days later, he was flown back north to Coney Island in New York to begin working with the Oneonta Tigers, the single-A minor-league team of which he’d now be a part.

Throughout the week of new responsibilities and environments, free time was sparse.

“I haven’t really had time to take a break and actually celebrate,” Nardozzi said.

But the newfound excitement and opportunity hasn’t distracted him from school.

In the fall, Nardozzi plans on returning to Pitt to finish his last semester.

As a marketing major, he plans on riding whatever opportunities baseball can make for him for as long as he can. And if his career at the mound is short-lived, Nardozzi understands that he will have to find employment elsewhere.

“I’m just going to take baseball as far as it can take me,” he said. “And when I can’t play anymore, I’ll have to look for a job I guess.”

From here, his future lingers unset, but his past has left a lasting impression that will surely echo on at Pitt.

As a Panther, the right-handed pitcher settled himself at the top as the all-time leader in strikeouts with 260, breaking the original record of 238 on April 29.

And with the records in place, his dreams fulfilled and his past solidified in Panther history, he can begin his future and finally stop waiting.