After reading a post by Max I had to mention this story. Several years ago we had a kid in our program. He was a good sized kid 6-2 200 lbs and very athletic. He did not have good baseball skills. He could not hit or field very well and his arm was very average. He was a great kid coming in as a freshman and worked very hard. By the time he was a sr we kept him on varsity and but he was not able to make the starting line up as a posistion player. We used him as a mop up guy in the bullpen and he pitched around 7 or 8 innings his sr year. He was a tremendous worker who was just not blessed with a whole lot of baseball talent. His sr year he was around 77 mph on his fb and his mechanics were a little herky jerky. The kid just loved baseball and wanted to play in college so bad. We talked to a local JC about him and were honest as usual about his ability. We did tell them that he was a great kid and would work very hard. They told him that he could "try out" for the team. The kid went to this JC and did try out. On the first day of try outs he fell during conditioning and broke his wrist. He came back out the next day with a cast on and never missed a single minute of conditioning. In fact the coach called us and thanked us for sending him to them because he said the kid was setting the bar as far as work ethic. When cuts were made he had yet to throw one pitch. He was still in a cast and was not cleared to throw. The coaches kept him because he far and away out worked every other kid there. This is what the coach told us. We were worried that when he saw him throw he would be disapointed even though we had already told them he was an upper 70's guy and was not really a talented pitcher. Well before the year was out the kid is calling us telling us that he is getting innings in relief and doing great. I called the HC and just wanted to get the word myself. The coach goes on to tell me that the kid is doing great. He is 80-82 and they had taught him a good cb and he was getting guys out and throwing strikes. We were shocked that he was getting innings but not shocked that he was working so hard. In his second year of JC ball he was mid 80's and the #1 option out of the pen in long relief. He finished JC ball and transferred to a D-2 school where he made all conference his sr year and most importantly got his degree. NEVER GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS. If you want it bad enough and are willing to work for it , it can happen. Stay in the game as long as you can because you never know.
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