{"id":12709,"date":"2014-06-03T13:20:54","date_gmt":"2014-06-03T19:20:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.flovalleynews.com\/?p=12709"},"modified":"2014-06-03T13:20:54","modified_gmt":"2014-06-03T19:20:54","slug":"ny-yankees-pitcher-david-phelps-returns-to-mcnair-to-speak-to-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12709","title":{"rendered":"NY Yankees pitcher David Phelps Returns to McNair to speak to students"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\"New<\/a>
New York Yankees pitcher David Phelps recently visited McNair School Shown here with Phelps (center) are McNair staffers John Vahey, Susan Farel, Jennifer Roper, and retired teacher Debbie Nanney.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New York Yankees pitcher David Phelps returned to familiar territory in Hazelwood last Wednesday, the night after he pitched against the hometown St. Louis Cardinals.<\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Phelps, who is a 2005 graduate of Hazelwood West High School, spoke to 4th and 5th graders at McNair Elementary, the same gym he spent his formative years when he attended McNair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI grew up right down the way,\u201d he told the students. \u201cMy grandparents lived on Foxfield and I would jump the fence and run down the street to go to McNair.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a presentation-turned-question-and-answer session, Phelps recalled his childhood in the Hazelwood neighborhood as well as teachers who were influential in his growing up. He stressed the importance of education, family and hard work.<\/p>\n

Introducing Phelps, Robert Iezzi, physical education teacher at McNair and Phelps\u2019 former baseball coach at West High, described the former Wildcat as an athlete who \u201chad a strong work and was so coachable. He didn\u2019t have to throw on his day off, but he did,\u201d Iezzi said.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
New York Yankees pitcher David Phelps (right) signs autographs for students after talking with 4th and 5th graders at McNair Elementary. Phelps, who now is a pitcher with the New York Yankees, is a graduate of the Hazelwood School District and attended McNair when he was a child. (HSD Photo by Sharifah Sims-Williams)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After graduating from West High, Phelps attended the University of Notre Dame where he continued his baseball career. In 2008, he was drafted by the New York Yankees organization and made his way through the team\u2019s minor league system. He has been part of\u00a0 the team\u2019s regular pitching rotation, since 2012 when was brought up.<\/p>\n

Students were given the opportunity to ask Phelps questions with topics ranging from his favorite teacher at McNair (\u201cAll of them\u201d), to favorite music (\u201c\u201980s rock but One Direction is catchy\u201d) to favorite Cardinals player (\u201cAlbert Pujols\u201d).<\/p>\n

McNair Art teacher Susan Farel remembers David as being a \u201cgood artist and well rounded, good student.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I heard he had been drafted, I thought it was very well deserved,\u201d Farel said.<\/p>\n

Phelps, who is now 27 years old, married and a father of two, credits the support of his friends, family \u2014 particularly his mother and father \u2014 and the teachers in the Hazelwood School District for the success he\u2019s experienced so far.<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to my mom and dad for making me put my schoolwork first,\u201d Phelps said. \u201cThey pushed me to take care of the academics first. In high school, I took honors classes and I wanted to push myself. It was my parents who encouraged me to go back and finish my degree.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New York Yankees pitcher David Phelps returned to familiar territory in Hazelwood last Wednesday, the night after he pitched against the hometown St. Louis Cardinals. Phelps, who is a 2005 graduate of Hazelwood West High School, spoke to 4th and 5th graders at McNair Elementary, the same gym he spent his formative years when he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-school-news","entry"],"yoast_head":"\nNY Yankees pitcher David Phelps Returns to McNair to speak to students - flovalleynews.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/flovalleynews.com\/?p=12709\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"NY Yankees pitcher David Phelps Returns to McNair to speak to students - flovalleynews.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"New York Yankees pitcher David Phelps returned to familiar territory in Hazelwood last Wednesday, the night after he pitched against the hometown St. Louis Cardinals. 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