Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Former A’s prospect one of the heroes during Las Vegas shooting

Derby

Jonathan Bachman / AP

San Diego State pitcher Bubba Derby throws in the first inning of an NCAA college baseball tournament regional game against Louisiana-Lafayette in Lafayette, La., Saturday, May 31, 2014.

A former A's minor league prospect is being called a hero for using his body to shield two people from bullets during the massacre in Las Vegas.

Bubba Derby, who was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers in the deal that brought slugger Khris Davis to Oakland, didn't hesitate once he realized bullets were flying at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on Sunday night. The 23-year-old minor league pitcher instinctively threw his body over two female friends to protect them.

"I ended up kind of covering two girls that (his group) had met," Derby told TMZ. "I tried to kind of be over them. My cousin was laying over his girlfriend. We were just trying to cover them from any kind of fire coming around."

Derby felt fortunate and a bit guilty that he and his friends and family managed to escape harm from the hail of gunfire that would kill 59 people and wound more than 500 in the worst mass shooting in modern U.S. history.

"It's tragic, man, it hurts. My heart hearts," Derby said. "My stomach is constantly turning. A part of the traumatic experience is the feeling of guilt, not knowing why you were able to not only get out alive, but get out uninjured."

As Derby noted, no one knew what their fate would be while the bullets were flying.

"You know I said it and I'm gonna say it to the day I die, I turned and I looked at my aunt ... and I remember looking in her eyes and it was the look like 'Are we about to die? Is this it for us' " Derby said.

While Derby won't soon stop reflecting over the tragedy and the immense loss of lives, he also won't forget seeing others who selflessly helped strangers.

"There is good out of everything," Derby said. "What I witnessed obviously was tragic and it was awful. But I did witness a lot of good. I witnessed a lot of people going back into harm's way.

"(I saw) law enforcement sprinting toward the gunfire. Everyone's sitting ducks out there and those guys did whatever they had to do to make sure we were protected. I can't thank them enough."

The former A's sixth-round pick out of San Diego State in 2015, Derby is a hard-throwing right-hander. He was solid while splitting split time between Milwaukee's Triple-A Colorado Springs and Double-A Biloxi this season, going 7-1 with a 3.26 ERA and a 1.200 WHIP.

For a guy who thought his number was up, he'll be thankful to be at spring training with the Brewers trying to improve on those impressive 2016 statistics.