Joe Palumbo, Holbrook native who is a St. John the Baptist in West Islip alumnus, Class of 2013, has played professional baseball for 12 seasons. The left-handed pitcher pitched for the Texas Rangers in 2019 and 2020. This season, Palumbo pitched for the Hagerstown Flying Box Cars in the Atlantic League.

IB: There are a lot of travel teams on Long Island such as the Junior Ducks, the Long Island Titans. What were some of the competitive travel teams you played for growing up?

Palumbo: When I was 13, I played for the PAL Rangers. That was my first real travel team that I played for that was strict about rules and practice. Then as I got older, I didn’t really have a set travel team that I only played for. I played for a bunch of travel teams. If anybody needed a pitcher, I would just come down, they’d give me a jersey, and I’d pitch for them. But I played for the Long Island Black Sox my senior year in high school because I was ruled ineligible for my senior year in high school, so I needed a place to play because scouts could come and watch me throw, so I’m grateful for the Black Sox to let me join their team and do that. And I even played for the Tri State Arsenals, too, so I bounced around.

IB: Your senior year of high school you played for the Long Island Black Sox, and during that season you were scouted by Takeshi Sakurayama. Talk about that and how that season led to going to the Texas Rangers.

Palumbo: Yeah so, I call him T-Money for short. T-Money saw me at the Perfect Game National Showcase in Minnesota. So that’s where he first initially saw me, and ever since then he followed me, and Texas was the heaviest team on me, so that was part of the reason I needed to go play for the Black Sox.

IB: You were drafted in the 30th round of the 2013 MLB draft. I know that can be a very uneasy feeling when the player and his family are watching the clocks tick, players keep getting their names called, the numbers in the rounds keep increasing, and everyone is just hoping they get their name called. Talk a bit about your and your family’s initial reaction on getting drafted by Texas in the 30th round.

Palumbo: Yeah, there were a lot of emotions going through the room, everyone was extremely excited. Mom, dad, sisters, myself of course. That was a special moment and something I’ll never forget; getting drafted was a pretty big deal for me.

IB: Your third Major League game July 2019 vs the Minnesota Twins, you came in relief and pitched three scoreless innings with two strikeouts, contributing to a 4-1 Texas Rangers victory. Do you remember anything in particular from that game, and how did it feel to have just contributed by pitching a very dominant outing in Major League Baseball? 

Palumbo: Yeah, I knew I was coming out of the bullpen that game. I didn’t know exactly when I was going to enter the game, but I knew I was coming out of the bullpen early. I didn’t know if I was going to be the first guy or whatever, but the first thing I remember about that was it was my first time pitching in a completely packed-out big league stadium, so just walking out to the bullpen, because the bullpen’s in left center field, I believe, in Minnesota, just walking out to the bullpen and seeing the whole stadium packed, I kinda just took a look around and it was pretty surreal and just going out there doing my thing and facing up against some pretty big names in that lineup at the time and it was a lot of fun.

IB: The final series of the 2019 season vs the Yankees, you got the start vs. James Paxton. I know it was in Arlington, but you were facing the hometown team and of course, plenty of friends from home were probably watching it on TV cheering you on. Talk about getting to pitch against the Yankees just before you got to go back home for the winter.

Palumbo: Yeah, that was another special moment, definitely. There was a lot of family and friends watching from home for that one. And I remember before I took the mound in the first inning, before I ran out to the mound, just that surreal feeling hit me like, wow, I’m about to pitch against the New York Yankees. It almost didn’t feel real, but yeah, I wish I could have gone a little deeper into the game. I went three innings and struck out seven, so my pitch count got up there.