Mike Zagurski walked into the visting clubhouse at Turner Field in Atlanta on May 25, 2007, and found his way to his locker. The stitching on back of the Philadelphia Phillies jersey spelled a familiar name. Z-A-G-U-R-S-K-I. That’s when the realization set in for the former Kansas baseball player. Zagurski was now a Major League Baseball player.

“There’s a sense of accomplishment when you see that name on your jersey,” Zagurski said. “You know that you did finally make it.”

Zagurski, a left-handed pitcher who played baseball at Kansas from 2003 to 2005, was one of two former Kansas baseball players to make Major League Baseball debuts during the 2007 baseball season. The other, Travis Metcalf, an infield who graduated from Kansas in 2005, made his debut with the Texas Rangers.

Zagurski made his first Major Jeague appearance on the day he was called up to the Philadelphia Phillies. Zagurski pitched a scoreless inning against the Atlanta Braves on May 25 in front of family and friends. But Zagurski was never a cinch to pitch at the Major League level. He was never labeled a “can’t miss prospect.” No Major League organizations drafted Zagurski out of high school and no Big 12 schools recruited him.

So after graduating from Millard North High School in Omaha, Neb., Zagurski continued his playing career Hutchinson Community College. Zagurski spent two years in Hutchinson and earned All-Conference honors in the Jayhawk Conference. Zagurski’s next destination was Lawrence. He transferred to the University of Kansas before the 2003-04 school year. Zagurski has traveled all around the country playing baseball, but he still has a special fondness for Lawrence.

“I love Lawrence, there is no other place like it. It’s a place I like to call home,” Zagurski said.

Zagurski pitched well during his first year at Kansas, and then compiled an 8-5 record with 112 strikeouts. Kansas coach Rich Price saw something else.

“I saw his velocity improve dramatically between his junior and senior season,” Price said.

With Zagurski’s fastball reaching 94 to 95 miles per hour, Price said he thought Zagurski might have a bright future in Minor League Baseball.

But Minor League Baseball isn’t the glamorous lifestyle that some might expect. And Zagurski soon figured that out after the Philadelphia Phillies organization drafted him in the 12th round in 2005. The long bus rides. The small motels. Zagurski soon found that minor league baseball was a grind.

“You make 1,100 dollars a month,” he said. “You’re paying rent in one place, you’re spending half your time in another place. You’re eating a lot of McDonalds, because you’re getting 20 bucks a day for food.”

Zagurski’s fortunes changed in 2007. He began the 2007 season with the Clearwater Threshers – the Phillies High-A affiliate. In early May, Zagurski was promoted to Double-A. Pitching at the Double-A level for the Reading Phillies, Zagurski began to wonder if he was close to realizing his Major League dream.

“They say when you’re in Double-A, you’re just one call away from the Majors.”

Finally on May 24, Zagurski’s Double-A manager pulled him aside. He was needed in Atlanta. The Phillies were playing the Braves the next night.

“The first person I called was my dad,” Zagurski said. Next, was his girlfriend, and then his brother.

“There’s a lot of people who have been there for a long time. And when I wasn’t doing very good they always inspired me to keep going.”

Two weeks after being called up to the Major Leagues, Zagurski was in Kansas City, Mo. On June 8, Zagurski pitched an inning against the Kansas City Royals in front of his family, friends and more than 20 former teammates.

“It was kind of nice homecoming, I wouldn’t have traded it for the world.” Zagurski said.

Zagurski’s season ended abruptly. On Aug. 18, Zagurski attempted to field a batted ball and tore his hamstring off his pelvic bone. Zagurski sat on his couch in a cast and thought: Could my Major League career before over after 25 games? Those thoughts didn’t last long.

“Every year when a guy goes out there he has a chance to lose his job,” Zagurski said. “I’m hoping to come back pretty healthy.”

Coach Price doesn’t doubt he can do it. “One thing about Mike Zagurski,” Price said. “His make-up is just off the charts.”

Zagurski has spent the last four months in rehab. He had plans to live in Lawrence this offseason. The injury changed that.

“I definitely miss Lawrence. I’ve lived there every offseason since I finished their,” he said.

Zagurski is now focused on getting healthy. He’ll report to Clearwater, Fla., on Feb. 13 for the start of spring training. He has experienced major league baseball, and he’s not taking it for granted.

“If you’re not doing your job they’re going to give it to somebody else who is,” Zagurski said.

— Edited by Patrick De Oliveira