Rising Giants prospect Gavin Kilen's MLB Draft day story is an all-timer

Most important day of your life. Family skittering through the house on tiptoes, making certain not to miss a moment while taking care of a hundred different arrangements, veering in every direction. Which team's going to draft you? Where will you spend your next six years fighting to arrive? And how can they help you become the player you're meant to be? At the moment of truth ...

"Internet went out. Two picks before. The TV goes out. I was trying to hold it," San Francisco Giants No. 2 prospect Gavin Kilen told Around the Foghorn at Sunday's Futures Game in Philadelphia.

"There were a couple different teams that had a lot of interest in me. It was kind of like ... if I get a phone call, I do, if not, not. Whatever happens happens. Got a phone call from my agent, Giants are gonna take you here ... I just remember at 12, the whole TV goes out, and I'm like, 'Mom, we've gotta get this thing rolling'. Ended up getting it on, getting it worked out, but that was one of those crazy stories on Draft Day."

Kilen was selected just one pick after the television implosion at No. 13, and has started his pro career with aplomb, slashing .282/.350/.812 at High-A Eugene. That's good enough that the Giants have promised him a well-deserved bump to Double-A following the Futures Game, alongside fellow participant Dakota Jordan.

Giants infielder and Vols alum Gavin Kilen discusses childhood Red Sox fandom

Kilen, a Wisconsin native, is about to be two steps away from getting to meet and play in front of the Giants' passionate fanbase, displaying the steadiness of a potential cornerstone. He knows a little something about professional passion, thanks to his childhood devotion to the Red Sox (Fenway Park is his non-Oracle Park dream ballpark, though he is well aware it can be hell on lefties).

So when does that childhood passion "leave" you? Somewhere in between the internet fading and reality returning?

"I don't think sometimes it does," Kilen admitted. "I think it just becomes more of, 'I'm watching the Giants more, I want to see the Giants win and do well', so it's almost like you join into the team that you brought into. Especially as you get to know the players, you're at spring training, you get to know these guys on a personal level. It's not just a 'fan', it's, 'I know these guys, and I want to see them succeed and do well'."

Sunday's Futures Game, featuring perhaps the most stacked roster in the contest's history, ended with a semi-whimper; Kilen went 0-for-1 as the American League won a sloppy affair 6-1. Now, it's back to the central mission for the infielder, who probably picked up a great deal more "friends he'd like to see do well" over the past few days.

Unless they're facing the Giants (or possibly the Red Sox?), of course.

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