What Is Your Baseball Experience?

[Superfractor]

I'm sure there are some ex-MiLB players (and possible some MLB players), here. Since we all collect Baseball cards, I'm curious to know what experience we all have in the game itself? Feel free to share for whom and/or what, you have played for.


Little League, as a young one.
Summer HS league, during middle school (1B/3B)
Varsity ball, during HS.(1B/OF)
Div. ll, with the Road Runners, before transferring to CU.(1B)

 

[darocker80]

I'm sure there are some ex-MiLB players (and possible some MLB players), here. Since we all collect Baseball cards, I'm curious to know what experience we all have in the game itself? Feel free to share for whom and/or what, you have played for.


Little League, as a young one.
Summer HS league, during middle school
Varsity ball, during HS.
Div. ll, with the Road Runners, before transferring to CU.

Hi I'm Phil Hughes. My track record should speak for itself...

haha. Nice are you still playing ball in college?

 

[blanning71]

Little league ball. Severly sprained left ankle left me out of the game after middle school. No HS ball. My career was over before it began.

If I had stayed healthy, I would probably be playing 3b for a MLB squad now.

 

[Superfractor]

I'm sure there are some ex-MiLB players (and possible some MLB players), here. Since we all collect Baseball cards, I'm curious to know what experience we all have in the game itself? Feel free to share for whom and/or what, you have played for.


Little League, as a young one.
Summer HS league, during middle school
Varsity ball, during HS.
Div. ll, with the Road Runners, before transferring to CU.

Hi I'm Phil Hughes. My track record should speak for itself...

haha. Nice are you still playing ball in college?

ZOMG, it's Phil, guiz!


Naw, I'm also a Powerlifter, and so it was time to quit B-ball. On top of the fact that I work. Nevertheless, I'm not good enough for Div. l. lol

 

[Wes]

Played in college - career highlight 5.1 ip vs Hawaii Pacific 1 ER.

Finished 1-0 over my college career.

Was pretty legit as a kid but tailed off as I got older and didn't grow. Topped out at 86 as a junior in high school and never really got past that in college etc.

Did have a 18 strikeout game when I was 13 in 7 innings. Played for one of those little league powerhouses - we went something like 85-8 over a three year span.

Gave up a double to Kirk Neiwenhuis for you prospect folk.

 

[darocker80]

Closed in little league, was legit for 11 years old ha ha. Then quit to play basketball. I wasn't a good hitter anyways

 

[Anthony]

I don't mean to brag, but:

HS Baseball career:

JV: 3B & P
Varsity: P

Pitches:
Fastball (topped out at a blazing 70mph)
Knuckle ball (sometimes I could even throw it for a strike!)

Hitting:
I don't remember my JV BA, but I did hit .333 on Varsity (oh yeah, 1 for 3 over 2 seasons)

I'm not sure why I wasn't offered a scholarship to play at Cal State Fullerton or drafted by a MLB club. I guess it was a political thing or something.

 

[justinmandawg]

Played on a traveling team until midway through high school. I had a surgery and my coach said set out this year and get healed. I got pissed and never played again. Completely showed him.

My 4 year old is 4 ft tall, throws both, bats left. He loves baseball. I've stayed out of saying anything besides have fun. Kid will hit 8/10 thrown to him. No bs. I hope he wants to play but if he doesn't I have a 2 year old and infant also that may want to.

 

[RZimm11]

Little League - 3b/P
Pitched 13-0 at 12 years old. Team was 20-0
Pretty much ruined my elbow the next year.
JV - 3b
Varsity - 3b

Now play softball every Spring/Summer in a couple rec leagues.

 

[onionring9]

Declined scholarships to play baseball in college, figured I'd most likely just be a career minor leaguer. 2 months after I made the decision I was on a traveling team where I tore my labrum (throwing arm). Over the span of the next 9 years I tallied a combined 28 dislocations and subluxations, along with 3 surgeries. Glad I decided to go to college for school and only school.

I had many highlights (multi homer games, walk offs, etc) but the only one you people here would care about was when I went 2-4 off CC Sabathia including an off the wall double. He threw a 2 hitter that game. Man I felt like Uncle Rico telling that story :lol:

 

[jay1065]

Little League through 8th grade. I think they called it Jr. League from 7th-8th, actually. After that storied career ( ,) mountain biking took hold...and never let go.

 

[jbhofmann]

Baseball- 3 yrs HS one State Semifinal appearance 1B (as a 6'8 lefty your pretty much stuck there or on the mound)

Football- 4yr letterman at Ball State Univ. and one summer as a Free Agent with the St. Louis Rams

 

[90FTaway]

Played little league for one year.... got a nasty black eye from a pop-up and was luck I didn't crack my eye socket.

Decided I wanted to be an electrical engineer in the 9th grade and since I also needed to work, I have not played sports since.

 

[leatherman]

I was a batboy for the Tidewater Tides for the 1987 and 1988 seasons. Back then, the Tides were the AAA team for the New York Mets, and the Mets were coming off their 1986 World Series title in 1987. The Tides and Mets would play one exhibition game every year, so I got to meet pretty much all of the stars from their 80s teams. For a 16 year old kid, it was MUCH better than playing HS baseball. The reporter that did this story below felt the need to give everyone a nickname, even though my nickname was (and still is) Bird. Everyone in our company calls me "the leather guy", hence my username here.

If you remember, the 1987 was one of turmoil for the Mets. Dwight Gooden reported to a rehab clinic for cocaine addiction, and Bob Ojeda and David Cone were injured. Davey Johnson called Tom Seaver, who had finished his 1986 season on the bench for the Red Sox, and asked him to come back to help with their pitching. So, on June 11th, Seaver suited up for the Mets at Met Park (in Norfolk, VA) and tossed 2+ bad innings against the AAA lineup. It would be the last start of Seaver's career, hanging it up after two bad simulated games in New York. There was also some controversy with Darryl Strawberry for that game, because he threatened to sit out the exhibition game. Davey Johnson, in his typical way, made Straw play the whole game, although most of the other starters got on at bat and hit the showers.

Gooden ended up making a few rehab starts for Tidewater after leaving rehab, and I got to see that wicked curve ball from 10 feet behind the catcher. It is the sickest pitch I have ever seen anyone throw. The bullpen catcher for the team was Paul Swisher (nephew of Steve Swisher and cousin of Nick Swisher), who played for Christopher Newport College. He was so crossed up trying to catch those curve balls.

My job for that summer, at least during games, was to protect the pitchers warming up in the bullpen. The bullpen mounds were in foul territory just beyond first and third base, so someone had to protect the pitchers, whose backs were to the batter. One time, Randy Myers was there in the bullpen, and he soaked my shoe in rubbing alcohol and then lit it when I got up to protect the pitchers. So there I was, jumping up and down on the field trying to put my shoe out. It happened a few more times that year to me, but I was able to learn the technique and lit Brian Givens shoe (a late callup in 1987) once. He was a starter and had no business in the bullpen, so the players told me I had to do it.

The 1987 Tides featured league MVP Randy Milligan, who almost won the triple crown. He led the league in BA and RBIs, but only had 29 HRs to Jay Buhner's 31 HRs. The Tides had 5 players with over 140 hits who batted over .300 that year: Kevin Elster (.310), Milligan (.326), Terry Blocker (.312), Mark Carreon (.312) and Andre David (.300). They finished the year with the best record in the league, and I got a big fat gold ring:

For the 1989 season, I was the clubhouse manager (clubbie) for the visiting teams. I washed the uniforms, shined the shoes, vacuumed the floors, provided snacks and toiletries, etc. It was a lot of fun, but we didn't have AC in the clubhouse, which made it unbearable in July and August. I was able to meet a ton of ballplayers, and never regretted not playing HS baseball a day in my life.

David

 

[ballerskrip]

Played 5 years at Purdue, yes I know....5 years.

Freshman year I continued to screw up my already messed up shoulder. Pitched in 3 games (actually hit 92 mph on the gun, on our spring trip, and the last time I would ever hit 92).

I had surgery on My shoulder before the last weekend of the year. My shoulder surgery was performed by the Colts team doctor in Indy the day before the last series of the year against Illinois. I had the have my sholder bone shaved because it was pressing on my rotator cuff, have the rotator cuff cleaned out, and had my capsule shrunk because it was flailing in the wind.

I came back from suregery and never felt good again. I would take 7-8 advil just to be able to pitch in a game and had to do rehab on my shoulder twice a day with the trainers. But I still pitched in 40 games or so and loved every minute of my time at Purdue.

The highlight at Purdue wasn't even a game that I played in. We went down to Rice University, they were 19-0, #1 in the country, and we hadn't even had our first practice outside yet. It was our first game of the season and WE WON. We were up 5-3, 9th inning, and i was warming up in the pen to come in and close it out if our starter had any issues. 1 out, then a walk, I thought I was getting the call. Our pitching coach sprints down to the pen and tells me that I am going in if there is another runnner on. 1st pitch, 5-4-3 double play! And we knocked off the # team in country!

Did have the joy of playing against 25-30 guys who are in or were in bigs, which always brings back memories. I have loved going to Cubs games in the past because it brings back memories of playing against Rich Hill and Jake Fox at Michiga, (Jake was 0-1 against me with a pop out to 1st base )

Anyways....i can't wait to get back to Purdue this year for a series. Meeting up with about 15 of my old teammates for a series.

skrip

 

[jbhofmann]

Skrip when were you at Purdue?

One of my good friends Pitched at IU.

 

[Hallsgator]

Played 5 years at Purdue, yes I know....5 years.

Freshman year I continued to screw up my already messed up shoulder. Pitched in 3 games (actually hit 92 mph on the gun, on our spring trip, and the last time I would ever hit 92).

I had surgery on My shoulder before the last weekend of the year. My shoulder surgery was performed by the Colts team doctor in Indy the day before the last series of the year against Illinois. I had the have my sholder bone shaved because it was pressing on my rotator cuff, have the rotator cuff cleaned out, and had my capsule shrunk because it was flailing in the wind.

I came back from suregery and never felt good again. I would take 7-8 advil just to be able to pitch in a game and had to do rehab on my shoulder twice a day with the trainers. But I still pitched in 40 games or so and loved every minute of my time at Purdue.

The highlight at Purdue wasn't even a game that I played in. We went down to Rice University, they were 19-0, #1 in the country, and we hadn't even had our first practice outside yet. It was our first game of the season and WE WON. We were up 5-3, 9th inning, and i was warming up in the pen to come in and close it out if our starter had any issues. 1 out, then a walk, I thought I was getting the call. Our pitching coach sprints down to the pen and tells me that I am going in if there is another runnner on. 1st pitch, 5-4-3 double play! And we knocked off the # team in country!

Did have the joy of playing against 25-30 guys who are in or were in bigs, which always brings back memories. I have loved going to Cubs games in the past because it brings back memories of playing against Rich Hill and Jake Fox at Michiga, (Jake was 0-1 against me with a pop out to 1st base )

Anyways....i can't wait to get back to Purdue this year for a series. Meeting up with about 15 of my old teammates for a series.

skrip

I work with the Ohio U baseball team and we play Purdue this year in Athens. I'm excited for that series.

 

[notjomommasclint]

as a freshman and sophmore in high school i played with the junior senior squad. i rotated between the 2 and 5 spots. lowest batting average was .357 that was my sophmore year. highest average was .497 my senior year. struck out 11 times all 4 years (3x in one game though). the highlight of my whole high school career was ruining a pitcher (paul smith) from wahoo (nebraska) attempt at 3 consecutive no hitters. i doubled off of him my second at bat and dropped dick my next at bat. the ball cleared the 340 fence and a road behind it. i ended the game driving in all 6 runs and a single short of a cycle. i was unaware until after the game that there were a yankees and philles scout in attendance to watch the pitcher.

after deciding to attend doane on a partial scholarship coach left and went to a school in texas. so i backed out and enrolled at naia powerhouse peru state. yes thats right land of 1,000 oaks. i started out in left field behind a senior and was moved to third base after goofing off taking grounders and making the brooks robinson type plays and stuff. then a few weeks later coach told me my arm wasnt quite strong enough to play third and moved me to first. he said i would always have a spot with my glove. the first baseman was a dude i played high school ball with and he was a sophmore. then i was moved back to left field and i decided that college wasnt really for me. so i returned home... not that i had been attending classes all that much anyways. a short timelater the senior left fielder was in a nasty car wreck and i missed out on being a starter as a freshman. leaving school is still one of the few things i am embarrassed of.

 

[UMich92]

No college ball for me. I went to University of Michigan after deciding education was going to be more important than the opportunity to play sports in college, either JC baseball or D-III basketball. I might have been swayed to play hoops if the school was a little better academically. I did try to walk-on at Michigan. As a lefty sitting at 83-85 I had a chance, but the secondary pitches just weren't good enough. After school, I played a bunch of years in the Chicago Skyscraper league before moving to the Twin Cities and pitched on an NABF World Series winning team. I've cut down the number of games that I play, but I am still playing in a senior league here in the Twin Cities.

Alex

 

[RL24]

I played in 5th grade, I sucked really bad. They put me in RF and I rarely swung at anything, a walk was about as good as I could get. I remember the coach teaching us to watch the seams on the baseball as it was coming to the plate, so you could tell if it was a curveball or what. What!? Who could see the seams on that little blurry white ball?

Then in 6th grade I figured something out... I needed glasses really really bad. :lol: