HOUSTON -- Like most baseball fans throughout the country, Derick Grigsby planned to listen to the 2002 draft on the Internet. Unfortunately for the entire Grigsby family, the electricity in their house unexpectedly went out at precisely 11:45 a.m. CDT -- 15 minutes before the draft was scheduled to begin.

"It got hot in the house, it's dark, and we're panicking because we can't listen to it on the Internet," Grigsby said from his cell phone in Marshall, Texas. "I get a call from Rusty (Pendergrass) -- the (Astros) area scout (in Texas) -- he says 'Congratulations.' I didn't know what he was talking about. I said 'For what?' He said "We picked you, 29th, in the first round.' I was kind of stunned. I didn't know what to say then."

Grigsby never anticipated that he would be taken in the first round of the draft, but the Astros -- 29th of 30 teams in the pecking order -- pounced when they saw the 6-foot, 200-pound right-hander from Northeast Texas Community College was still available.

Derick Grigsby School: Northeast Texas CC Position: RHP   B/T: R/R H: 6-0   W: 200 Born: 06-30-1982   Class: JR Scouting report: Well-proportioned, athletic body, similar to Ben Sheets. Fastball occasionally has very good velocity, sink action away from lefties and bores into righties. Aggressive on both sides of plate. Tight, hard, power curve with some slider action. Also throws a sinking change. Command of three pitches. Composed, but aggressive. Scouting video: 56k | 300k

According to Baseball America, Grigsby was the top JUCO prospect who wasn't under control to a Major League Club. He spent the 2001 season at the University of Texas, but pitched only 11 innings before transferring to Northeast Texas.

"We like the package he's got," said Director of Scouting David Lakey. "He throws somewhere between 90 and 95 miles per hour, has an 85 mph slider, and the makings of a good change (up). He's a strong, durable kid."

Family reasons initially fueled Grigsby's decision to transfer. His mother passed away during routine surgery, and after such a tragedy, he wanted to be close to home.

The plan apparently has worked. Grigsby was only 45 minutes from home at Northeast Texas CC, where he was 3-7 with a 3.61 ERA over 72 1/3 innings. He allowed 29 earned runs on 47 hits with 29 walks and 91 strikeouts, and he held opponents to a .168 batting average. 

"He threw well for me when I saw him and we were really high on him in the middle of the season but he went through kind of a dead arm period," Lakey said. "He had a couple of games where he didn't pitch like we had seen earlier, but we stayed with him and we saw his last four starts when he (pitched the way) he was earlier in the year."

Lakey said he envisions Grigsby as a power pitcher in the big leagues.

"I don't see him as a finesse guy or a control guy," Lakey said. "I see him more as a power guy. Mechanically, he's pretty sound. He has a feel for pitching."

With the selection of Grigsby, the Astros have now selected a right-handed pitcher with their first-round pick in three of the last five drafts. The club selected right-handers Brad Lidge (1998) and Robert Stiehl (2000) in recent drafts around outfielder Michael Rosamond (1999) and infielder Chris Burke (2001).

		JUNE 4-5 | NEW YORK CITY Draft order | Rules | FAQ FULL COVERAGE: • Bullington goes first • Drafttracker • Complete Draft coverage Round-by-round audio Round 1 Rounds 2-5 Rounds 6-10 Rounds 11-15 Rounds 16-20 Rounds 21-22 Rounds 23-27 Rounds 28-32 Rounds 33-37 Rounds 38-42 Rounds 43-50

"In this particular draft, it's really dominated more by high school players than college players," Lakey said. "If Derick had been gone we were prepared to possibly go the high school route. I would prefer a college player over a high school player, but we base on the best available player. On the board, when it was our time to pick, Grigsby was the top guy on our board that was left. That's why we've been meeting for the past four days and trying to line them up based on ability. We always try to take the best player available and that's what we did this year."

Now comes the negotiation period, one that Grigsby hopes will come and go quickly and without incident. "I'm ready to sign," he said. "I want to get it over with pretty quick. I'm ready to play."

Alyson Footer covers the Astros for MLB.com. This story was not subject to approval by Major League Baseball or its clubs.

	ASTROS 2002 DRAFT PICKS
	29	DERICK W GRIGSBY	RHP	NORTHEAST TEXAS CC
	70	MITCHELL B TALBOT	RHP	CANYON VIEW HS
	101	RORY A SHORTELL	RHP	SAN DIEGO ST U
	131	MARK S MCLEMORE	LHP	OREGON ST U
	161	PATRICK T MISCH	LHP	WESTERN MICHIGAN U
	191	JOHN P DURAN	RHP	ST MARYS U
	221	SCOTT P ROBINSON	1B OF	RANCHO BERNARDO HS
	251	WILLIAM J WESTHOFF	RHP	U DALLAS
	281	ANDREW R TOPHAM	SS	STANFORD U
	311	BRADLEY M CHEDISTER	RHP	PANOLA JC
	341	JASON R REUSS	RF	U NEVADA
	371	CHANCE M DOUGLASS	RHP	CANYON RANDALL HS
	401	NICASIO COVARRUBIAS	RF	CALIFORNIA ST U
	431	WILLIAM J BOENING	RHP	YOAKUM HS
	461	JEFFREY E MACKOR	C	BOSTON COL
	491	JARED L GOTHREAUX	RHP	MCNEESE ST U
	521	DANIEL S FREEMAN	RHP	TEXARKANA CC
	551	BRENT S LONG	RHP	BREVARD COL
	581	AARON HEITZMAN	LHP	MANKATO ST U
	611	JUSTIN GLOVER	OF	GRANT HS
	641	IVAN NACCARATA	2B	CHIPOLA JC
	671	SAMUEL E FISCHER	RHP	U DAYTON
	701	JESSE C HARRINGTON	SS	CONCORDIA U
	731	NICHOLAS J TISONE	RHP	MANDEVILLE HS
	761	ETHIEN A SANTANA	CF	COLEGIO BAUTISTA
	791	WARREN R MCGARVEY	C	COASTAL CAROLINA U
	821	SHAWN P BURRIS	LHP	DR RALPH H POTEET HS
	851	KEVIN C DAVIDSON	C	ROLLINS COL
	881	SEAN P KRAMER	RHP	HILL JC
	911	LADD J HALL	RHP	EASTERN ARIZONA JC
	941	ANDREW E SALMELA	1B	AUGUSTANA COL
	971	TYSON L OLSON	LF	DIXIE JC
	1001	PATRICK C PEAVEY	3B	SANTA CLARA U
	1031	MICHAEL J LORSBACH	OF	RICE U
	1061	SHAWN T WILLIAMS	CF	CLEARWATER CENTRAL CATHOL
	1091	ADAM W SEUSS	OF	U CALIFORNIA
	1121	DUSTIN L HAWKINS	OF	WICHITA ST U
	1151	RYAN LARSON	3B	U CALIFORNIA-SAN DIEGO
	1181	NICHOLAS L STAVINOHA	RF	SAN JACINTO COL NORTH
	1211	ADAM J YESALUSKY	LHP	MINERSVILLE HS
	1241	SCOTT W FELDMAN	RHP	COL SAN MATEO
	1271	CHASE MEDFORD	LHP CF	RICHLAND HS
	1300	FREDDIE F THON	1B	BALDWIN SCHOOL
	1328	WILLIAM R MAC-HOLMES	RHP	OMAHA BURKE HS
	1355	RYAN H MCKELLER	RHP	MCLENNAN CC
	1381	ERIC T BROCK	RHP	SANTA MARGARITA HS
	1407	RAYMAR R DIAZ	OF	LAREDO CC
	1433	KYLE THOMPSON	RHP	PALOMAR CC