Anthony Pack is a hard guy to miss.
With a seemingly permanent smile that beams even brighter than his highlighter pink and purple batting gloves, he makes baseball look fun. Vibrant, energetic, and fast, too. But mostly fun.
Pack is the latest high-profile MLB Draft prospect out of Long Beach, but his road to superstardom hasn’t always been easy–even if that’s how he makes it look. Whether his next chapter is written at the University of Texas, or in professional baseball, there’s only one version of Anthony Pack you should expect to see: the same fun-loving player he’s always been.
A Special Talent
By the time he hit the scene at Millikan High, word of Pack’s immense talent had already spread. Before making his first varsity start for the Rams, he’d already committed to UCLA, and he quickly showed why he was such a highly-coveted player.
“His ninth grade year he was in my Introduction to Business class, so I got to know him as a student first,” said Millikan baseball coach Rob Keester of his star center fielder. “He’s a kid that has a great personality, and everybody likes him because he’s nice and he’s a hard-working kid. ‘Charismatic’ is the word I use to describe him. He’s just got this energy about him that people want to be around.”
Pack went on to be a two-time Moore League Player of the Year at Millikan, helping the Rams to a pair of league titles during his career. He also spent much of his high school years playing in showcase tournaments across the country, earning recognition as a Perfect Game All-American, along with many other accolades.
His speed and instincts in the outfield make him one of the best defenders in the country, recently earning him a spot on the 2025 ABCA/Rawlings High School Gold Glove Team. But Pack is a well-rounded player with terrific plate discipline, an advanced hit tool, and developing power from the left side.
“He’s a talented hitter who shows a good eye at the plate,” said one MLB scout of what makes Pack such an intriguing prospect. “It’s advanced discipline and knowledge of the strike zone and he’s shown consistency barreling baseballs across several big events. It’s hard to find good hitters, and the Moore League has another good one this year.“
Going into this year’s MLB Draft, July 13-14 in Atlanta, Pack is ranked as one of the Top 250 prospects on the board according to MLB.com. When he inevitably hears his name called, it will signal a major milestone on his baseball journey–one that’s required years of dedication and sacrifice.
A Family Legacy
From the first time he picked up a wiffle ball bat, the youngest of the Pack children showed signs of what was to come. His hand-eye coordination was advanced for a youngster, and he instantly fell in love with baseball.
His natural ability should come as no surprise, given the athletic prowess within the Pack family. The patriarch is Anthony, Sr., a talented wide receiver who played college football at Cal State Fullerton. He met his wife Lakeysha while growing up in South Central Los Angeles, living in what he described as “not an ideal environment.”
Both Lakeysha and Anthony, Sr. went on to great careers of their own, working their way out of difficult circumstances to eventually put down roots in Lakewood. Lakeysha has spent the last 26 years as a neonatal intensive care nurse at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, while Anthony is a retired LAPD officer.
They started their family with the birth of their daughter, Taylor, then welcomed Anthony, Jr. five years later. As parents, they were committed to providing a nurturing environment for their children, one that offered them a clearer path to success.
“We both grew up with the odds against us, so we wanted to make sure that our kids were successful,” Anthony, Sr. said. “I’m not a super religious person, but Matthew 23:12 in the Bible says ‘For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.’ And that’s sort of the Bible verse that we raised our family on, both my daughter and my son.”
Anthony admits that he was hard on Taylor during her softball career. A successful one that led her from Lakewood High School, where she was co-Moore League Player of the Year as a senior, to a full-ride scholarship to play at Ohio State.
“Really, I didn’t know how to be a father then; it was our first kid,” Anthony, Sr. admitted. “So I was able to improve with him. But he gives her so much credit for his success, because he was in that back seat when she was in the front seat taking those lectures.”
Taylor helped pave the way for her younger brother by putting in the work to play at a high level. And while Anthony says that he idolized a number of Los Angeles Dodgers players as a kid–including guys like Matt Kemp and Dee Gordon–his biggest role model was actually sitting right next to him in the stands.
“I really watched her play, her ups and downs, and how she handled herself,” said Anthony. “I really looked up to my sister growing up.”
A Master Of His Craft
As a kid, Anthony played every sport, but it quickly became clear that baseball was the one for him. Like his dad, he was a prolific wide receiver, playing football up until his 10th grade year when his first college scholarship offer arrived for baseball.
That’s when it became time to lock in on baseball, but that was nothing new for Pack. He’d been playing competitive travel ball since he was 8-years-old, playing with other high-level draft prospects like Seth Hernandez, Brady Ebel, and others. He says he didn’t just love playing the game, he loved everything that came with it–the long hours of repetition that turn good ballplayers into great ones, and eventually turn prospects into pros.
“I just fell in love with baseball. I fell in love with the grind, hitting every day, and I just want to master my craft,” Pack explained. “You have to be kind of perfect to be where you want to be–in the Hall of Fame, a legend–those dudes are perfect. And I just love that about baseball.”
In addition to the time spent with his high school team at Millikan, Pack gets in extra cage work and training pretty much every day, according to his parents. Since age 10 he’s been training with Marlon Ross, who grew up just a few houses down from his dad and now runs the Train Like A Champ gym in Los Angeles, working with an array of high-level athletes.
Of course, Pack’s life is more than just ball. He loves playing video games, hitting the mall with friends, or spending a day at the beach. But ultimately, he loves the grind, and has carved out a future for himself as a ballplayer.
As his work ethic translated to results on the field, the business side of baseball began to take shape. Pack already signed endorsement deals as a high school athlete, and has had to balance the everyday demands of being a high-level baseball player, with the off-field opportunities that are coming his way.
He’s signed with Wasserman, the same agency as Lakewood High alum and current Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, who Pack considers a close mentor. Crawford has helped Pack navigate the mental side of the game, and through his involvement with Baseball Generations, has given young players like Pack a chance to showcase their talent.
“J.P. has been through this before, so I’m just re-living him,” said Pack of Crawford, who was the 16th overall pick in the 2103 MLB Draft. “I just talk to him about the process, and I think the mental side is a really big thing. If you are not right mentally, this game will drive you crazy.”
A Shining Light
It’s not just natural talent that makes Anthony Pack stand out on the diamond. His exuberance and love for the game is infectious, and he wears a smile like it’s part of his uniform.
Pack’s favorite MLB player is Jazz Chisholm, Jr., who plays with more passion and personality than perhaps any other player in the league. Pack also says he takes pride in being a Black baseball player, continuing a proud legacy in Long Beach with players like Tony Gwynn, Milton Bradley, Aaron Hicks, Jon Singleton, J.P. Crawford, and many more. He’s unapologetically himself when he takes the field, and he never plans to change that.
“You know how they look at Jazz, they don’t like the flashiness, the swagger he brings, and he doesn’t let them take that out of him,” Pack explained. “I want to be just like that. Obviously I’ve got to make it, I’ve got to establish myself. But that just makes the game fun for me. It makes the game flow. So if they took that light out of me, I probably wouldn’t enjoy the game like I do now.
“So yeah, I wouldn’t let anybody take the light out of me.”
His personality and spirit are felt by his teammates as well, who feed off the energy he brings to the dugout. Millikan’s Ben Keisler spent his entire high school career watching Pack from the on-deck circle while batting behind him in the Rams’ batting order, and he appreciated what his longtime friend brought to the field every day.
“Pack’s a unique guy, an amazing guy. I love him,” said Keisler. “I’ve known him since I was like six or seven when we played at (East Long Beach Little League) together … He’s a very energetic guy, he’s happy all the time, which kind of makes me a little calmer, a little looser. We’re chirping to each other constantly throughout the whole game, and he just brings a vibe of being comfortable. You know, we got this.”
While his teammates and coaches have never said a bad word about him, the same can’t always be said for the opposition or opposing fans. When athletes are given a spotlight at a young age, that unfortunately comes with added pressure and criticism from outsiders.
Whether it stems from jealousy, or an attempt to throw off the other team’s best player, young athletes who find themselves in Pack’s position have to weather more than the average high school athlete. There’s no playbook for how to deal with it, and it not only puts added stress onto the player, but on their family as well.
“I have to remind myself, people always have something to say about the biggest players, so what makes you any different?” said Lakeysha on how she handles the criticism aimed at her son. “I have to not look at it, and I tell Anthony, ‘Play your game, don’t worry about the outside noise.’ People are either rooting for you, or rooting against you.”
Coach Keester said these issues started when Pack was just a sophomore at Millikan, and he’s been impressed with how he’s handled the spotlight and the scrutiny.
“What he and the kids like him go through, it’s not an easy process,” Keester said. “He’s made it look easy, but I know it’s not. It’s something that he has to personally address to himself every day to make sure that he’s in the right frame of mind. You never know when somebody’s going to try and bring him down or say something that would cause most people to respond. But he’s learned, no, I’m not going to lower myself to that standard. I’m going to continue being who I am.”
Being who he is has gotten Anthony Pack a long way already, and his baseball journey feels like it’s only just beginning.
Whether you cheer for him or against him, whether you like how he plays the game or not, his presence will be felt whenever he’s on the field–and you can bet he’s having fun doing it.
“I want people to know I’m on the field. That’s why I wear those bright colors, because I want people to know my presence. I want them to go, ‘Okay, that’s Anthony Pack on the field.’ And, obviously I’ve got to back that up, but I’ve been working–I trust myself to back it up.”
