Dreams Realized: Alabama Baseball's Garrett McMillan Prepares to Achieve Lifelong Goal

Hailing from Tuscaloosa, McMillan has had the objective to play in a Crimson Tide jersey since he was six years old. This Friday, he will finally see that dream come to fruition.

Not everybody can say what they wanted to do since they were six years old. Almost everybody has had dreams since they were young, but following through on those dreams? Well, therein lies the tricky part.

A lot of kids want to be doctors. Others, astronauts. Some want to be veterinarians, or maybe they even want to be president. This writer in particular wanted to be a race car driver at one point.

For Alabama baseball pitcher Garrett McMillan, his dream since he was six years old will be realized on the mound for the Crimson Tide this season. For him, his dream has been to play baseball for Alabama quite literally since he threw his first pitch as a youngster.

“I went to Alabama baseball games since I was probably six years old,” McMillan recalled. “We had season tickets for a while, so my granddad used to always buy season tickets. They’d go out there and watch and I probably know more players than a lot of people.

"That’s been my dream ever since I was six years old going to those games. I mean, I wasn’t going to accept anything else.”

McMillan didn't accept anything else, and this season will see his lifelong goal realized.

McMillan had started playing baseball when he was five years old, one year before he attended his first Crimson Tide game. A local product of Tuscaloosa, Ala., McMillan played in the Taylorville Little League until he was 10. When he was 12, he started playing travel ball before he moved on to Team USA, where he played in Taiwan.

Garrett McMillan's Instagram

When it was time to pick a college, McMillan had multiple offers at the Division 1 level to choose from. However, none of them were from Alabama. After spending his high school career at Hillcrest, located just minutes away from Sewell-Thomas Stadium, McMillan had a choice to make.

His goal to play at Alabama wasn't out of the question, it just simply wasn't the right time. However, one JUCO offer would allow him to continue his dream: Shelton State.

In 2020, McMillan played his freshman season with the Bucs. He finished with a 3-1 record before the season was cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, he returned with a vengeance, finishing a perfect 12-0 with a 2.68 ERA across 15 appearances on the mound that included 14 starts. Across 74.0 innings of work, he also recorded 87 strikeouts.

While he enjoyed his time at Shelton State, McMillan admitted that it was his goal all along to use it as a stepping stone to reach his dream destination.

“I had other D1 offers out of high school that I couldn’t pull the trigger on because I had, like, playing in Lafayette and South Alabama, Jacksonville State — a lot of other mid-majors — but I wasn’t going to be happy there so I just went ahead and went to Shelton because I knew the coach really well," McMillan said. "I knew he was a good pitching coach and it was always my goal to get here so I just had to work to get here and that ended up working out pretty well."

Garrett McMillan's Instagram

After two seasons of turning heads at Shelton State, McMillan's time had finally come. His solid outings on the mound for the Bucs had maintained the attention of Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon, and the rest was history after that.

McMillan received an offer from Alabama, and immediately accepted. Finally, his lifelong dream of playing baseball in a Crimson Tide jersey was set to occur.

McMillan said that he'll never forget the moment that he told his father and grandfather the news.

“My granddad’s been at every baseball game I’ve ever played in,” McMillan smiled. “He is probably my biggest supporter, obviously. He was in Taiwan with us when I was 12. He’s followed me around everywhere. He’s definitely one of my bigger supporters.

"That was one of the best days of my whole baseball career. When I came to games out here when I was six, it was with my dad and my granddad. So we’ve been hoping for this for a while so it was a dream come true."

Garrett McMillan's Instagram

Now that he's enrolled at Alabama, McMillan doesn't shy away from saying what Crimson Tide fans should expect to see from him this season on the mound.

“They should expect a competitor that’s going to fill up the strike zone and attack hitters,” McMillan said. “Whether I get people out or not, I trust in my stuff enough to know that I’m just going to go straight out here and I’m not going to walk people. I’m going to compete and I’m going to give the team a chance to win. That’s all you can ask for, hopefully.”

With a strong arm and a competitive nature, McMillan is exactly what the Crimson Tide needs this season. Last summer saw the departure of regular starters Tyler Ras and Dylan Smith to the MLB Draft, giving the team gaps in its rotation. Combine that with the additional loss of closer Chase Lee to the pros, and the Alabama pitching staff was in need of some experience.

With his abilities, McMillan can provide everything that the Crimson Tide is looking for and then some. Bohannon revealed that between McMillan's work between last fall and this spring, he's quickly emerged as one of the strongest pitchers among this year's rotation.

“Garrett’s been awesome from Day 1,” Bohannon said. “He’s a young man that we have a lot of history with. He’s from here in town and talked to him out of high school and he went to Shelton State and pitched for Bobby Sprowl and, of course, Bobby did a great job with him.

"He probably has the best command of anyone from our staff. He just throws a ton of strikes and can really command the ball. He’s gotten stronger, his secondary stuff has continued to get more crisp and he’s got an outstanding changeup and very competitive and he’s somebody that’s going to be in our top six or seven and have a big role in the weekend for us.”

Alabama Athletics

This Friday, Alabama baseball will open its 2022 season with a three-game series against Xavier. McMillan has been named the starter for the season opener, where he will finally fulfill his dream of starting on the mound for the Crimson Tide.

When Friday comes, McMillan said that the moment that he steps onto the mound with his father and grandfather in the stands will be when he realizes that his goal will have been accomplished.

“That’s going to mean everything,” McMillan said. “They’ve been with me the whole way and just being able to do it for them honestly is more important than doing it for me. I’m just glad they get to see me do it and be happy as well.”

This story is the fourth and final story in our Alabama baseball transfer series for the 2022 season. You can find the three previous stories in our series below:

Keeping it Crimson: Alabama OF Tommy Seidl Brings Experience to Tuscaloosa

Alabama Catcher Dominic Tamez is Turning Question Marks into Exclamation Points

Late-Bloomer: Alabama LHP Hunter Furtado Brings the Heat