What Is Your Baseball Experience?

[mchenrycards]

"Yeah, I was in the show. I was in the show for 21 days once - the 21 greatest days of my life. You know, you never handle your luggage in the show, somebody else carries your bags. It was great. You hit white balls for batting practice, the ballparks are like cathedrals, the hotels all have room service, and the women all have long legs and brains. "

Actually I was in the show for almost 8 years......in the front office of the Chicago Cubs.

Was on the bench providing extra security for Pete Rose and the Reds when Rose tied Ty Cobbs record at Wrigley. Played many pick-up games at the friendly confines as the front office would often play the grounds crew or security in softball and baseball games. I can even say I launched a deep drive to left with no wind which landed in the bleachers.......to bad it was in a pick up game. At least I can say I hit one with witnesses!!

So many great experiences in 8 years that it is really hard to pick just one. Just missed a ring in 1984...damn you Steve Garvey!!

 

[Halonut]

i played 4 years in hs...frosh, jv and 2 years of varsity ball. i was a catcher/1b and had a chance to play college ball at cal state la. the only catch was that they wanted me to go to a local juco and catch up on some classes before transferring in. seeing as how i wasn't going to receive a scholarship, financially it wouldn't have worked out for me. looking back, i would have liked to have continued playing but i have no regrets. i have a lot of good memories and played with/against quite a few good ball players including ryan garko, brian wolfe, bobby crosby, gerald laird and hector ambriz.

 

[bmc398]

Skrip when were you at Purdue?

One of my good friends Pitched at IU.

98-03, the five year plan due to my jacked up shoulder.

Boiler up! Cool story! i'm a huge Purdue fan...and might have seen you pitch lol. Were you on the team when you got into a 19-17 slugfest with Georgia Tech in Atlanta? I was at that game and boy was it a lot of fun lol.

 

[tpeichel]

Played at Lassiter HS in Marietta, GA as a LH pitcher and lettered twice. My senior year, I led the team in IP and was 5-1 with a 2.54 ERA. As a command and control lefty, I had a few college offers at D-II/D-III schools but decided it wasn't worth missing out on the big college experience.

One of the toughest decisions of my life but extremely glad I went the route I did. I tried to make the UGA squad as a walk-on my sophomore and junior years. My junior year I was one of five guys (out of around 100) that was kept around for the fall to scrimmage/practice with the team. Alas, Coach Steve Weber called me into his office the week before Thanksgiving and told me I wasn't D-I material. And that was that. His comment was probably dead-on but if anyone remembers the UGA pitching staff in the early/mid '90's, you would probably agree a lefty that actually had command and movement (still only topped out at 80 mph) couldn't be worse than most of the guys that were run out there!

We all sound like a bunch of Al Bundy's on here!

PEG!

 

[muskiesfan]

I played varsity baseball in high school. I played 3B/LF. I was alright I guess. I knew that was as far as my baseball career was going to go. :lol:

I also played football. I had a scholarship to play for a D1 school, but unfortunately, that never happened.

I used to look back and wish I had done things differently. Now, I'm very happy with myself and how my life has turned out. I'm in my early 30's, I'm very happily married, and I am happy with the person I have become. Had things went differently, I would probably be different. Absolutely no regrets.

 

[aaron41984]

I played til I blew an elbow and then came back and played some more. In high school, my favorite memories are of showcases! I loved going to Perfect Game (topped out at my lifetime best gun reading of 93 in Ft Myers), Team One, and the tourneys that local scouts would fly us to spring training complexes for in the middle of winter! I always wanted to go to the area codes but didn't get the invite. After HS, I went to a D1 juco, University of Arkansas at Fort Smith. In 2 years there, I was 12-6 3.50. I can't remember K's but I could never manage to get 1 per inn, came close my soph yr. My most memorable moments were against back to back top 25 juco teams (Seminole and Connors St, who was #1 or 2 all year), when I went 17.2 inn and allowed 1 run on a HR. After JUCO, I went to a small D1, UCA, and proceeded to tear my UCL. I had Tommy John and tried to come back there but was unwelcome by the coaching staff who had moved on and went to a D2, Henderson State, and finished up my career with a 7-2 3.80 season after losing a year of eligibility and going from sittin 88-89 down to 85-87 post surgery. I REALLY Admire those who make a solid comeback from TJ. I know I rehabbed forever and could never manage to regain my velo or my breaking stuff. Worked off of a change-up my final season.

Anyway, players I have played alongside or against that have cards. (yeayea I'm about to pull a joe morgan and namedrop)

Played against - Lastings Milledge, Elijah Dukes, Scott Kazmir, Zack Greinke, BJ Upton, Jason Pridie, Mike Nixon, Jason Neighborgall, Travis Wood, Scott Elbert, and prob a lot of guys I didn't even realize

Played With - Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Craig Gentry, John Bannister, and Matt Clarkson


Wow! I miss playing! I know my arm doesn't, though, it starts hurting at the thought.

 

[Adamsince1981]

Upsets me to have to think about this...I'll end up hitting the scotch pretty hard tonight.

I was a stud up until sophmore year of HS and recovered in time to be the team MVP my Senior year of HS.

* NBC Baseball Hap Dumont LL WS in 1991 (Casper, WY)
* played 3rd, batted 3rd for my entire LL career.
* highlight - at an OSU camp, a coach had me demonstrate my swing and then told the other players, "that is the kind of swing that will make money someday."

Before my Freshan year of Legion, I snapped my right big toe in half. After 3 shots straight to the bone and watching the ER DR push my bone back in my toe, it never healed properly, became "frozen", and is now arthritic.

* But I played 3rd and hit 5th in Legion ball and my coach had me coach batting practice a few times due to my camp experience.

After that season I got scoped because there was an calcium build up in my elbow, the doc decided not to remove it and I couldn't work out or play catch for 6 months. I came into tryouts my softmore year the same size as last season, no development, and a weak arm...got cut.
Worked hard, had a good Legion season, made the team as a junior, and was a varsity letterman.

As a senior, I hit .402, led the team w/ 10 doubles, hit a GS HR, and was loved by everyone but my coach.

I was a late bloomer, 5' 10" - 185 with baby face....not 1 letter, but I was asked personally by the coach of a local college to play. I passed to get my business degree and have plenty of free time for my girlfriend.

After HS I grew 3" and got skinny and strong...just in time to be a stud softball player! Woopies!

Ok, tissue and scotch time...nice thread..

 

[TheDailyProspect]

Well here we go...

Played college at Wright State, beat ballerskrip and Purdue twice in 99'
All time leader in saves at Wright State
All time leader in saves in the Horizon League
7th all time in saves in D1 baseball
finished 4th in saves in 97 and 99 in D1
finished 26th in ERA in 97 in D1
Played summer baseball in the California Coastal League <San Francisco Seals>
Played for the independent league River City Rascals in their first season manager was Jack Clark Coach was Dick Schoefield
Played RBI baseball for Nintendo against the real Dick Schoefield when I was the digital Dick Schoefield.

All sorts of other crazy stories that are not suitable to print here

Mark

 

[xcantgobackx]

Well here we go...

Played college at Wright State, beat ballerskrip and Purdue twice in 99'
All time leader in saves at Wright State
All time leader in saves in the Horizon League
7th all time in saves in D1 baseball
finished 4th in saves in 97 and 99 in D1
finished 26th in ERA in 97 in D1
Played summer baseball in the California Coastal League <San Francisco Seals>
Played for the independent league River City Rascals in their first season manager was Jack Clark Coach was Dick Schoefield
Played RBI baseball for Nintendo against the real Dick Schoefield when I was the digital Dick Schoefield.

All sorts of other crazy stories that are not suitable to print here

Mark

That might be the coolest story on here.

 

[Weimer]

I've never actually played in a game of baseball. Organized or otherwise. We played softball two or three times in junior high and high school combined and that's it for my playing career.

 

[jarcar]

Great stories guys.

I played T-ball from 3 years old to 5 years old... and that was it for me. Loved playing but only played with friends and neighbours.

One of my favourite things to do is to go out and play catch with my son. We live in downtown Vancouver and there are not a lot of places to play baseball, just lots of buildings. But near us is a park and during the last summer my son and I would go out and play catch and after a few days other kids came and join us and after a few days we had enough to play a game and we played about 5 or 6 different times. We took over the park and everyone would stop and watch. It was a pretty cool experience.

 

[metrotheme]

My high school did not have a baseball team until my senior year of high school. The school was fairly new and it took us about two years of organization and cutting through red tape to get everything in place. I only started playing travel ball during my junior year when I realized that I was just getting by on athletic ability and that I had a lot to learn, so I really devoted myself to the game.

I wound up making a D-3 team as probably the last position player on the bench and I had like 10 at-bats the whole season, a some pinch running appearances because I could run well. Right when the season finished, one of my teammates made a correction to my throwing motion and all of a sudden I picked up about 5 MPH on my throws and it allowed me to move over to the left side of the infield.

I transferred to a D-2 school my sophomore year and again had to fight to make the team. I was used in a utility role because there were scholarship guys at all of the infield positions, so I backed them up and played some outfield because my arm improved. I got hurt my junior years and redshirted. I came back for my senior year and was the starting 3rd baseman in the fall. I did well, but I was offered the opportunity to graduate school early (at the half year) and I took it, instead of paying a few thousand dollars more to stick around and take extra credits. I had a scholarship to graduate school, so I wasn't going to waste credits just to play baseball. I wound up playing in a paid semi-pro league that summer where I faced alot of former minor leaguers and a few former major leaguers, and it was probably the closest I would get to playing professionally. Most of the pitchers were former A-AA pitchers.

I still play in adult baseball leagues and enjoying it. I'm a step slower than I was in college, but I kind of make up for it with experience. I look back and I am proud that I was able to play ball in college after really only playing one year in HS. I feel I "peaked" after I left college because I guess all of that coaching finally came together at that time. I would have liked to see how I would have played if I had solid coaching starting from 9th grade.