OT: Your Baseball Playing Days

[MacDice]

My playing career ended when I was diagnosed with cancer. By the time, I was healthy enough to resume baseball activities, I felt like my window of opportunity had closed and I walked away from the game something that I regret.

WAZOO- As a college coach, yes your junior year is important but it is not the end all if you struggle a little. I would recommend that as a hitter do all of your training and as much BP as you can with wood bats not with aluminum. If you can hit with wood then you can hit with anything. A lot of young hitters have flaws in their mechanics and approach that can be covered up with an aluminum bat but as you play against higher competition those flaws come out. Players also get worried that if they don’t early sign that they won’t end up getting an offer and they stress. The truth is sometimes it is better to wait. I have seen a lot of players sign in late June and end up in real good programs. The reason is grades, some players get cut or decided to leave programs and some programs lose players to the draft thus opening up scholarship money late. You also need to be realistic with yourself, I have seen players whose parents have spent more money sending their kids to showcases only to get a scholarship that was a fraction of what they spent going to said showcases. They would have been better off spending that money on their kids education. The last thing to also remember is the D-1 can be overrated. There are a lot of D-1 programs that are horrible and would lose constantly to a D-2, NAIA or JC team. Unlike other sports, you can still get a chance of playing pro baseball even if you are not at a D-1 team but at the end of the day your education and the degree you will earn is the most important thing.

[ChiSoxCardboard]

I was a pitcher, and was the first in my age group to throw a breaking ball around 5th grade. I was unhittable. Unfortunately, that was the pinnacle of my career. I played into high school, but never varsity. Once the hitters can hit a breaking ball, you need more than a 78 mph fastball to get by!

Still, quitting baseball is one of my main regrets. I could have ridden the varsity bench, but chose not to. Oh well.

Brad

[71buc]

I was an average player who loved the game more than it loved me. There are not a lot of places for 5'5" outfielders outside of Little League However, I was lucky enough to get a workout with the Padres in the mid 80's. That only served as confirmation of my mediocrity. It was a thrill nonetheless. I only wish I had realized that there were opportunies for a life in baseball that didn't require athletic prowess. At 38 I became an associate scout for the Reds and loved it. I had one of my guys drafted in my first year. It was exciting to hear his name announced and know I had a small part in it. I scouted for about five years for the Indians, Reds, and Nationals. At one point I had an opportunity to go to the MLB scout school with the possibility of a part time paid position. However, due obligations to my family I could not afford it financially. I had a wife and four kids who liked to eat on a regular basis and enjoyed the creature comforts such shelter. I admire scouts who work long hours on the road out of love for the game. They are under paid and often disrespected by the organizations they work for. Twelve years later I wonder if I should have said what the f**k and rolled the dice.

[I Only Smoke 4 the Cards]

My fondest memory from a game was my last play in high school. I stole second. There were bigger moments but that was my favorite.

[Tom Hufford]

I played for my hometown Pulaski (VA) Phillies for a few seasons in the late 1960s-early 1970s. I enjoyed it - but knew there was really no future as a Rookie League ballpark organist. Now, the best I've been able to determine, I am the only in-the-park live organist in the 100-year history of the Appalachian League, and really doubt there will be another! I really enjoyed meeting and knowing people such as Dallas Green, Wally Moses, Elmer Valo, - it was my first experience with professional baseball.

[frankbmd]

I was a catcher who could hit the long ball, but was slow afoot. I could have been called me "THE GREAT WHITE CAMPANELLA HOPE"

My short career ended in 1958, like "Campy", when I hit the ball over the outfield fence and still got thrown out at third base. Yes I was that slow.

My handwriting continued to deteriorate, like Campanella's after the accident. I passed the prescription writing test with flying colors, so I ultimately went to medical school. During my residency I actually worked at Wrigley Field for the Cubs in 1977 taking care of both the players and the fans during home games.

Cub regulars with bumps and bruises could always stay in the game. Visiting stars and semi-stars were always sent to the hospital for precautionary Xrays. It was my call as part of the job. I may have saved a few games for the Cubbies that year, but never appeared in the box score.

[toppcat]

I was your classic "no field, no hit" catcher and peaked in Little League at age 12.

[Leon]

There is actually one board member who remembers when I played little league as we played together. I won't go into my not-so-good childhood but my one play I will never forget was in our Little League All Star game as we were playing to go to the state Championship in Texas. I think it was 1974. I believe it was our Regional All Star game. We win that one and we go stay for a week in Waco at the Texas State Championships. I was a pitcher during the season and pitched half of every game and another player pitched half of every game. Our team went 19-2 and we won on our league. Our whole infield made the All Star team. It was a great season.
At any rate in that one All Star game, in an early inning, I was playing right field and a grounder was hit to me. The game was 0-0. The ball got by me and went to the fence. The guy got an inside the parker on my error. He missed 3rd base and we got him out. It was still 0-0. In the top of the last inning, with the score still 0-0 I had a ball hit to me, it went right over the first baseman,s head, bounced in and then bounced out.....it was a fair ball. I ran over to it, picked it up and turned without looking and nailed the guy going to second. I will never forget that throw or our manager saying " Big League play Luckey, Big League play!!". IN the bottom of that (last) inning we got a run on an error and won the game. That week of being in Waco with the rest of the team and getting to play a few games there (we were #4 or #5 in the state that year, after it was said and done) were the best times of my baseball career. I ruined my arm throwing way too many curves and didn't play a lot after that.

[itjclarke]

I have many many good memories from my playing days, but most only have significance to me. I was a lefthanded pitcher and 1st baseman throughout my life (though did play everywhere/anywhere else... even the left side of the infield early in HS).

During those years, I was lucky enough to cross paths with a few future MLBers, and one memory stands out. I was 14 and pitching in "senior leagues" against 15 year old Eric Byrnes' (later of the A's and DBacks) team. Earlier in the game, he'd gotten stuck in a run down and being the man child he was, just ran over our 13 year old first baseman.. I remember it being dramtic like Albert Belle v Fernando Vina c 1996, but I'm sure it wasn't that bad. Anyway, when he was due up later in the game, my coach told me, "I don't care what else happens, you hit that m**her f**ker". I dutifully went out, threw two butt high fastballs right at him. He jumped out of the way both times.. then laced my next pitch into left field for a double. That was the first and only time I'd ever been ordered to hit someone.

Originally Posted by I Only Smoke 4 the Cards

My fondest memory from a game was my last play in high school. I stole second. There were bigger moments but that was my favorite.

I wish I ended HS career on a better note, but I simply flew out to right field.. I think I had tears in my eyes. I wanted to play college ball, but never developed into a D-1 player.. maybe in part because by my latter HS years I was focusing more time on football and just sort of hit a plateau baseball wise. I did play a few years in a hardball league after college, which was great... and still have hopes of putting the cleats again and playing in the old style (1890's) league that plays in Golden Gate Park.

[steve B]

I was really bad at baseball - Never got out of the lowest little league, which became T-ball a couple years after I became too old. Couldn't hit much, couldn't catch, and I'm about as slow a runner as you'll find. I just didn't get much in the way of large motor skills until partway through Highschool.

I did end up being a fairly decent catcher for modified pitch softball. Mosyly on durability. I'd played a few positons, some ok, some disastrously. (Infield no, not a good idea. I'm right up there with Chico Escuela.) The one game the regular guy decides to leave his ankle on the plate as someone is scoring. Broken ankle, and pretty much done altogether. Standard backup guy takes a foul ball in a rather unfortunate place two innings later. So I became the catcher. Totally messed people up by eventually abandoning the shin guards and chest protector. (It was modified pitch, now windmill, and no big arch, hardly anyone could get a pitch over about 30, although a couple I think were in the low 50's.) Did just fine for 3 years unil the club stopped having a team.

Being so slow, I'm pretty proud of my two triples. Both very hard hits, one 250+ but on a field with no fence, The second a line drive the outfielder ducked like a pitcher, but on a field with a fence. The rest of the time I'd pretty much look like a swing for the fences guy in BP then went for singles in the game since they'd back up and leave a lot of room.
Those of us with little actual talent have to be sneaky.

Steve B

[HexsHeroes]

.
It was our team's first round game in the Michigan Little League World Series. Top of the 1st inning, I am playing Left field, and batting fifth in our line-up. Deep fly ball to left and I go back, back, back, and leap upwards with glove raised to snare the ball. Ball meets leather, my face meets the top rail of the the outfield chain-link fence, and ball pops out of glove on the opposite side of the fence for an opponent's home-run. I recoiled from the impact, head bent down, spitting blood. Lacerated the inside surfaces of both lips, but no broken teeth. Unfortunately, I had to be removed from the game immediately. Sat the bench the rest of the game, watching my team lose 1-0 to the team that would go on to win the Michigan Little League World Series, and advanced to the regional Little League qualifier (where they would lose).

That was forty years ago, but I still can remember it clearly, like it was yesterday.

[pitchernut]

My one year of playing some sort of "organized" baseball. We could barely get enough players and there was only 6 official school uniforms. This was a international school in Japan and as a high school team we were usually beaten by Japanese junior high schools and forget about playing the Japanese high schools....