Oswalt: Big-time pitcher is small-town guy

WASHINGTON - Even if Roy Oswalt throws three Don Larsens in the World Series, if Philadelphia falls in love with him forever and he falls for the city right back, Oswalt won't be one of those ballplayers who settles in the city, calling it home.

Roy Oswalt has a home, in the woods of Mississippi. He owns a hunting lodge there on his 1,000-acre ranch with "the finest whitetail deer herd in the South" and fishing lakes plus imported exotic animals such as gemsboks, blackbuck antelope, and mouflon sheep. During the off-season, Oswalt is on his Caterpillar D6N XL bulldozer when he doesn't have a gun or bow in his own hands.

Oswalt grew up nearby in Weir, a no-stoplight town, population 553. This area of central Mississippi is home to his wife, too. The Oswalts, Roy and Nicole, began dating in the 10th grade after meeting at a choir concert. They attended neighboring high schools, and Oswalt may be the only big-leaguer whose wife batted against him in Little League.

Oswalt's parents still live in Weir. They've decided to stay there, rebuilding after an April

tornado that ravaged the home Roy grew up in, knocking down the outside walls of the brick four-bedroom as Roy's mother and her dog, Sweetie, rode it out in a closet. (The headline in the next day's Jackson Clarion-Ledger: Woman, dog emerge from closet to find Weir home blown to pieces.)

"The community is a really good place," said Oswalt's older brother, Brian, who coaches high school baseball in Brighton, Tenn., outside Memphis. "The neighborhood got together - as far as I know, everybody is building back."

Before Oswalt turned professional, signing an initial half-million dollar contract with the Houston Astros, he went to nearby Holmes Community College. (So did Nicole; she played softball.) Roy still shows up regularly in the off-season, said Holmes coach Kenny Dupont.

"If he comes here, a lot of times, he'll be in camouflage," Dupont said. "I've seen him throwing bullpens in camouflage. He's just down-to-earth. He's kind of quiet, shy, but once he gets to know you, he'll rattle and rattle and rattle."

Oswalt's father, Billy, a Vietnam War veteran, is a hunting scout, leading parties at Roy's Double 4 Ranch. (For the name reference, check the back of Oswalt's baseball jersey.) When Roy was growing up, his father was in the logging business.