The Southwest Voice

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Upon returning from the Bakersfield Women’s Business Conference last month, there was a surprise in my office: Phillip Dumatrait! As you will read in our cover story, Phil is a starting pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates AND a local, homegrown, streets-of-Southwest-Bakersfield kind of guy. He’s the Kevin Harvick of the Southwest!

Phil is a left-handed hurler (I like that word), and as some of you know, so is my son,   a senior at Centennial High School. Like Phil when he was at Ridgeview, Jarret has been enjoying some attention for his pitching and hitting, so naturally when I had Phil captive in our office, I took the opportunity to ask him about the “Bigs.”

He was generous with his time. In light of recent negative publicity in Major League Baseball, Phil was a refreshing ambassador to all professional sports. He was polite, charming, and acted as if he had nothing better to do with his afternoon than to supply answers to my questions. He had the easy-going, down-home manner that seems stamped on the personality of Bakersfield natives, and despite the fact that it was our first meeting, I was instantly proud of him.

Phillip Dumatrait seems destined for success, and although far from Pittsburgh, Bakersfield will be watching him and wishing the best to one of our native sons.