May 3, 2017 5 min read

If the Wild Things’ players need somebody to look up to, Cole Way is their guy. Not only because Way has played in front of crowds of more than 85,000 fans, but also because he is the tallest player in professional baseball in the United States.

“I measure 6-10¾, but with spikes on I’m pushing 7-feet,” said Way, a left-handed pitcher who is trying to win a roster spot with the Wild Things for opening day.

When you’re that tall, and you’re standing on a pitcher’s mound, you tend to make a striking impression.

Way, who is listed on the roster as 6-11, 240 pounds, is in his fourth season of professional baseball. He came to Washington as a free agent, signing with the Frontier League team after playing three years in the Kansas City Royals’ organization. That alone doesn’t make Way unique. The Wild Things’ roster is chock full of players who have multiple years of experience in affiliated minor leagues. It’s Way size, and route to professional baseball, that makes him different.

“It seems like I was always the tallest kid,” said Way, a native of Tulsa, Okla. “My sophomore year in high school, I was 6-5 or 6-6. By the time I graduated, I was the tallest kid in a large high school. I was about 6-8 and still growing.”

Way played on state championship-caliber football and baseball teams at Union High School and attracted some Division I interest in both sports. He chose football, in large part because he was given a full scholarship in 2011 by the University of Tulsa, where he would play alongside five of his high school teammates.

Though blessed with great size, Way wasn’t a tight end or a defensive end.

He was a punter and kickoff specialist – the tallest punter and kicker in college football.

“When people found out I was on the football team, they would ask if I was a tight end or a quarterback or a wide receiver,” Way recalled. “I used to get weird looks when I told them I was the kicker.”

Punting, however, runs in Way’s family. His brother, Tress Way, has spent the last four NFL seasons as the Washington Redskins’ punter.

As luck would have it, Cole’s first game as Tulsa’s punter was against Tress and powerful Oklahoma, before 85,000 in Norman, Okla. Cole Way had such a good freshman year punting that he was named to the All-Conference USA team.

Meanwhile, Cole Way’s baseball career was on hold because Tulsa doesn’t have a baseball team. He didn’t pick up a baseball for three years.

It wasn’t until 2014, when Cole visited a baseball academy owned by his brother’s father-in-law in Corona, Calif., that he even considered it as a career. While there, Cole threw “about five pitches, without a glove, and I was throwing 88 to 92 mph.”

Tress Way’s father-in-law had connections to the Royals and called in a report of a tall lefty with a good fastball.

“Three hours later, the Royals called me. They wanted me to attend a predraft workout at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City,” Way said.

The Royals liked what they saw of the lanky lefty, who had grown to 6-10. They saw potential in Way and selected him in the 38th round of the 2014 draft and signed him for $50,000. He was assigned to the Royals’ Burlington, N.C., affiliate in the rookie-level Appalachian league.

“I was on a throwing program my first year and pitched in only seven games, sometimes as a closer,” Way said. “The Royals said they saw me more as a starter. They next year, I was back in the Appalachian League and in my second start I broke my elbow during the fourth inning. I remember when it happened. It sounded so loud, like somebody had clapped right next to my ear.”

Following a nine-month rehabilitation, Way was assigned last summer to Idaho Falls of the rookie-level Pioneer League. Pitching out of the bullpen, Way had a 4-1 record and 5.64 ERA. He struck out 31 in 30 1/3 innings but was released at season’s end.

Some major league organizations talked with Way last winter about signing but each wanted him to go back to rookie ball.

“I’m 25 years old,” Way said, “so I need to be someplace other than rookie ball. I can’t be the old rookie.”

That led him to Washington, where he hopes to rebuild his career and contribute to the Wild Things. Washington begins playing exhibition games today in preparation for its season opener May 12 at Windy City. The Wild Things have 19 pitchers in camp and will likely go with 11 or 12 for the regular season.

“I’ll do whatever role they put me in,” Way said. “My priority is helping the ballclub. This is probably the best I have felt in a long time in baseball.”