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Reply to "Summer ball..."

I'd once again like to thank everyone who has read/followed/posted here on this thread. I started it back in May as merely a cool little tidbit and since then it has been viewed by thousands of people and been made a Golden Thread. I appreciate all the support and it made me very happy to know that my writing was not only thought of as mature and correct, but that it was positively touching and helping people that shared similar passions for the game as I do.

Before I start getting into this post I'd just like to throw in something really quick for those who had previously followed along in the thread. The young man Aaron who I befriended throughout the summer will no longer be returning to his spot as an usher for the Morehead City Marlins. He called me about a week ago to inform me that he'd be moving in and living with his father next summer in Raleigh and working as a clubhouse attendant for the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate for the Rays. He also informed me that he would be attempting to start taking classes in January at a local community college in hopes of working towards an associates degree in management, and is interested in moving on to some sort of front office position with a team in the future. I just wanted to share this information with everyone here because I felt so proud of Aaron when he told me this. With everything that we'd been through during the summer and all the talks we had, he began realizing that he is able to make strides in his life to do the things he loves, despite his specific incapability to do certain things due to his disability.


I spoke to Coach Bergman a few weeks ago and requested another contract for next summer. Unfortunately, he informed me that there was no room on the pitching staff for him to offer me anything more than a temporary contract. He said that there was a lot of high profile players that they were bringing in and the roster was pretty tight and full. At first I was pretty upset...I argued with him that I deserved a spot solely based on my good performance last year, and it wasn't fair that he would take higher profile players over me just because I go to a D-III school. He told me that he was extremely sorry and wished there was something he could do, but "you know how it works."

A few days later I called him back and apologized for speaking to him the way I did and told him I felt like Crash Davis in Bull Durham when he added that last part of the conversation in. He laughed and said that if anything comes up I'll be the first person to call, but they'd only be returning 3 players from last summer's roster. I told him I understand and I am not upset, just disappointed because I loved the experience. We parted on good terms, and I told him I'd keep in touch.

I have no hard feelings towards the Marlins organization. I'm very thankful for the opportunities they gave me and the fabulous experience they provided last summer for me. In fact, I began thinking it could be a blessing in disguise...that I'd have the opportunity to have a different experience.

I began e-mailing other summer teams for the 2011 summer (my last summer of collegiate summer eligibility, barring injury). I scattered e-mails throughout leagues...the Cape, Northwoods, NECBL, Alaska. I got various levels of responses ranging from "No thanks" to a temporary contract offer. But I wanted security, I wanted a full-time contract with a team so that I could play for them for a full summer. I got frustrated with the process and started flipping through HSBBWeb for some advice. I figured since everyone has been so great here in the past that perhaps I could find a pot of gold for myself.

Lo and behold, I was right. I came across a post by hokieone saying that he had just become the GM of a new team in the Valley League, the Strasburg Express. I sent an inquiring PM to hokieone explaining my situation and requesting more information about the team and whatnot. Within 24 hours of my initial PM, the Director of Player Personnel for the Express mailed a full contract to my college coach's office for me to sign.

So next summer I will be playing for hokieone's Strasburg Express of the Valley League. hokieone has been very hasty in the signing process, and it has been greatly appreciated on my front. My initial skepticism about joining the team (there's always a sense of insecurity when trying new things) was quickly washed away when I received an e-mail from the Northern Virginia Daily. hokieone recommended to the NV Daily, the local newspaper for the Shenandoah Valley, that I provide a blog type publication for the newspaper throughout the summer, documenting the team's progress from a player's perspective. While this hasn't been finalized, I have spoken with the people from the newspaper and articles will probably begin to be published sometime in the spring, before I report to start playing.

Thank you to hokieone for believing in my pitching abilities and for providing the opportunity to experience playing in the Valley League next summer. It feels very good to be wanted for a team, and the ease of the entire process has been great. And thank you once again to everyone that has been following my documentation of my experiences. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my stories with all of you and am truly grateful for the wealth of responses that have come from it. If everything goes smoothly with the newspaper, I will soon be able to add "published author" to my resume, and I give much of that credit to those here who have taken their time to read what I have to say.

Thanks again, and starting in June of 2011, Go Express!
Last edited by J H
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