It’s no surprise that James Baldwin III would want to follow in the footsteps of his father, James Jr., and become a big league baseball player.

Early Tuesday afternoon, the three-sport star at Pinecrest High School took an important step in that direction when the Los Angeles Dodgers made him their fourth round pick of the 2010 Major League Baseball Amateur Player Draft. The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Patriot center fielder was the 142nd pick overall and the first high school player from North Carolina taken in the 50-round draft, involving more than 1,500 players.

Contract negotiations with Dodger officials through an agent began on Wednesday. When completed, Baldwin is expected to be invited to the team’s spring training base in Glendale, Ariz. He figures to play for the Dodgers’ Arizona League team for rookies in a season that runs from late June through August.

Baldwin previously made a verbal commitment to continue his education and baseball career at Elon University. He decided before the draft that he would turn pro if selected in the fifth round or earlier.

“I like to play every day,” he said while at home with his father and mother, Sharon, on Wednesday. “I know college is every day, but in the minor leagues they have more games and more opportunities to reach the major leagues.

“The Dodgers are a great team and have a great coaching staff. It’s amazing to me they would like me to play for them.”

James Baldwin Jr. was a fourth-round selection of the Chicago White Sox in the 1990 draft and went on to play 11 years in the majors, including one season (2001) with the Dodgers. He was the winning pitcher for the American League at the 2000 All-Star game held in Atlanta. After walking off the mound that night, he headed for home in Southern Pines in time for daughter, Jasmin, to be born the next day.

A three-sport star like his son, he didn’t get on the radar of baseball scouts until his senior year at Pinecrest. His name and number are on the wall at John Williams Field.

James III has been described by Pinecrest football coach Chris Metzger as the most dominant high school wide receiver he has seen in 12 years of coaching. He raised the eyebrows of baseball scouts for the first time with an impressive showing at the North Carolina High School State Games last summer. But when they became aware he was going to play basketball in the winter instead of getting ready for the 2010 baseball season, his stock went down.

Baldwin earned first-team all-conference honors for the Patriot basketball team that went 24-3. A week after that season ended, he hit a two-run homer in the first inning of the Patriots’ 8-2 season-opening win over Asheboro. The scouts were soon coming in numbers to watch the five-tool prospect (hits for average, power, speed, throwing and fielding).

A batter from the left side and a thrower from the right, Baldwin finished the season with a batting average of .416. He led the Patriots in almost every offensive category, including runs scored (30), home runs (7), stolen bases (16) and RBI (24). He shared Southeastern 4A Conference Player of the Year honors with teammate Dillon Maples and also received all-state recognition as the Patriots, coached by Jeff Hewitt, finished with a record of 19-6.

Going into the first day of the draft on Monday, the Dodgers, Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals were the teams showing the most interest. Word of Baldwin’s selection by the Dodgers came to the family through a phone call from a well-wisher. Those calling to offer congratulations included former White Sox teammates Bo Jackson, Mike Cameron and Harold Baines, and a current member of the New York Yankees, Marcus Thames.

Although James III has not been around long enough to know about the mystique of “Dodger blue,” his dad does.

“Absolutely, it’s just like putting on the Yankee uniform,” the pitching coach for Pinecrest the last four years said. “I didn’t get a chance to play for the Yankees, but as far as playing for the Dodgers, everywhere you went, all you saw was Dodger blue.”

Because of his experiences in professional baseball, he knows what his son can expect in Glendale, where both the Dodgers and White Sox train.

“J.B. said this was what he wanted to do now,” the father said. “It’s been fun, but now it’s a job, nothing but pure baseball.

“All the years he’s been playing the game, he knows the game, but now it’s like he’s starting over again. It’s like a baby trying to walk. They’re going to teach him the right way as far as how to bunt, run, how to hit all over again. If he was going to college it would be the same thing. It’s just the way it is.”

James III named Cameron, his father’s former White Sox teammate and now a center fielder with the Red Sox, as the player he most admires from his days hanging out at big league stadiums. He knows that the competition he’ll face in the Arizona League is going to be different from anything he has experienced.

“It’s not middle school or high school ball,” he said. “I’ve been around it all my life and know how the system works. The only thing I can do is get stronger and faster, and pay attention to the coaches.”

Not many years removed from being the wife of a Major Leaguer, Sharon Baldwin never imagined she would someday become the mother of one. But, as draft week approached, she recalled a conversation she had with her son when he was in middle school.

“J.B. started questioning when his dad got drafted,” she said. “I told him out of high school. He goes like, ‘Ma, do you think I’ll be drafted out of high school?’ I told him that’s a one in a million chance, but if you really want it, you have to work hard to get it.

“It’s kind of shocking, but I’m very proud of him. He really worked very hard to get to do what he wants to do, and I’m sure he’ll excel. It will be very hard not to have him at home, and it’s going to be hard on Jasmin too.”

According to Dad, there has been a lot of attention to detail involved in his son’s upbringing.

“As a father and mother, we stayed on J.B. a lot,” he said. “That’s just part of being a parent, trying to raise your kid to be the best he can be. Now the stuff we taught him he’s going to have to take out there and do the best he can.”

Hewitt called Baldwin’s selection a proud day for the Pinecrest baseball family.

“Major League Baseball is moving more athletic, and they’re certainly getting an athletic-type kid with an athletic frame in J.B.,” said Pinecrest head coach Jeff Hewitt. “We’re just so excited. Our program is so tight, we’re really family-oriented, and anytime something happens like this, we’re all excited.”