Update on your player?

Adbono - Yes, injuries are definitely part of the game, and how people deal with those set backs says a lot about them.   I think EVERY college athlete goes through some kind of issue(s), it is just a matter of how serious it is and how quickly you can run away from the college-injury-grim-reaper.   

I'm glad to see your son open a new academic door and discover his golf skills.   Shooting under 80 after 3 months is ridiculously good.  It is really amazing that he can play golf given his previous health condition and requirement of stretching and treatment.   My oldest son grimaces in pain when he tries to throw a baseball, and he graduated 6 years ago.   However, he is fine serving in tennis and his one handed backhand which puts a lot of pressure on his right arm  throwing elbow...i haven't figured it out yet.   

Glad to see your son open that new door, and go running through it at full speed!  Best of luck!

Surfing and wave photography are the (ongoing) obsessions for my homebound college boys.  #2 boy's (surfing Santa below) season has already been cancelled.  

#1 son is waiting to hear and may head back to finish his senior year before he knows if there will be a season or not.  Photo of his last college (Amherst) hit, a double off the LF wall to drive in the winning run in an eventual blowout win over archrival Williams.  He was fortunate to have a successful, very remote (HNL > BOS, 6 hr time difference ) internship with a private equity firm in Boston last summer. The company extended an offer, he gratefully accepted, and will be starting in early July.  Without his grinding in baseball, I don't know if he could have handled the 2:30am start of the workday during that internship.

Grateful for all.

Son continues to be "living the dream." Like many minor leaguers the start and season's abrupt end was tough. He was part of a "spring training roster" for 2 or 3 games (One was rained out). His lone action was as a PR for "Panda Bear" in the last inning one game. I saved the audio as a memento (no video) I guess that's a 90 pound tradeoff on the bases (lol). Fortunately last summer, he was able to play in a make-shift 4 team league consisting of indy, current and past Milb players and a few former MLB players. His performance there (MLB club received game and weekly updates)parlayed into an invite to fall instructional league.

One game in instrux due to others' injuries and testing positive, son played a few innings in centerfield, not MI.  He had three plays in two innings including an over the shoulder catch at the warning track (I think he last played CF his second to last year in Legion ball, or Fall Ball his freshman year of college).  In 2019,he was named best defensive player in his draft class for the team, and within the past month or so named the fastest player/baserunner prospect in the organization by two national publications.

He has really been working on his hitting, maximizing his swing mechanics and adding muscle (up to 185 pounds I think). No tutoring or outside jobs this offseason, except for working at a baseball facility and running clinics on defense.  It's nice having him around the house for a while, but he really belongs on a field. I think he was headed to AA. Would be nice. Those West Coast games were a late listen

Smoke, those pictures are amazing, all of them! RipkenFan, it's great that your son was able to figure out a way to get games in! Here's hoping baseball season will be closer to normal this year.

@adbono posted:

Well, it appears that (like so many) my son’s journey has been cut short due to injury. He has a back condition (as a result of a weight lifting accident in HS) that has already required one surgery and ultimately will require another (the same surgery that Tiger Woods had last). All journeys are different but his has been one of those filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. When he injured his back in HS it seemed he was done playing. A successful surgery allowed him to return but required him to miss the summer before his senior year - meaning he lost out on the optimum recruiting time. As a result the Junior College route was his best option and it took some convincing (on his part) for his mom to get on board. He had two good offers as a result of video and coach connections. He opted for Northern Oklahoma College-Enid, who had been to the D2 JuCo WS the year before and had most key players returning. His coach there happened to be the college roommate of the HC at the west Texas JuCo where I am a Volunteer Asst Coach, so fall of his freshman year our Texas team went up to Oklahoma to play them. I was in one dugout and my son was in the other. I had been giving my son space so I didn’t really know how well he was doing, but during that game I saw him play like a man for the first time. All the things I had been preaching for years (that I thought he didn’t listen to) were on full display. It was a proud moment and very cool to say the least. He won the starting job at 3B and (as the only freshman starting freshman position player) batted .381 in the 5 hole and was a key cog in what culminated in NOC Enid’s first ever National Championship. In the National Championship game he drove in the tying run and scored the go ahead run. After the game, watching him receive his National Championship award was one of my proudest moments as a dad. He was named by Collegiate Baseball as one of the Elite JuCo Players in America in Jan 2020. He was heavily recruited and accepted an offer to play at Texas State which was to take effect after completing his soph season at NOC Enid. When the 2020 season began his back started giving him problems again. I just recently learned that he was requiring 2 hours of stretching and treatment every day to be able to practice or play in a game. After practice (or game) he would ice and take muscle relaxers to manage the discomfort. When the season was cut short by Covid19 he had a chance to rest and recuperate. Follow up medical exams suggested that another surgery would be required in order for him to continue playing. We were evaluating the options when all elective surgeries were curtailed. We had the talk of it’s time to put life ahead of baseball so he called Coach Trout at Texas State (who is a name to keep an eye on) and told him he wouldn’t be reporting to campus. Instead he enrolled at the University of Central Oklahoma because they offer a very specialized degree plan that’s unique to his field of interest. For some reason (that makes no sense to me) he was able to start playing golf without it bothering his back. He played every day over the summer without incident and felt great due to the time away from baseball. He broke 80 after playing for 3 months. Some UCO players convinced him to play in the fall and the HC was on board as my son was UCO’s top JuCo recruit (they had offered him a big scholarship) so he was plenty glad to get him for free. He changed positions (from 3B to LF) to try and reduce the stress on his back and had a good enough fall to win playing time. But his back couldn’t take the daily grind and he has had to give it up and focus on getting his degree and starting a career. He has taken it all in stride (for the most part. He retires with a .361 career BA in college, a national championship ring, and the distinction of being a 2 time Academic All American. He has handled the joys and the disappointments with class and dignity. I am extremely proud of him and have no doubt that he will be very successful in real life - largely due to the experiences he had during his baseball life.

Bumping this thread to reinforce the importance of playing team sports and the life lessons that can be learned…….

One of Alec’s profs at UCO advised him that he would be a good candidate for law school. In the process of getting his undergrad degree he set up an internship with a prominent defense attorney (who he had met while working a summer job). That went well and led to a connection with a Federal District Court judge. After graduating from UCO, Alec scored well on the LSAT, sold luxury cars for 8 mos to put some money away, and made applications. He began his first year of Law School last week - and he already has a clerkship (w/ the Federal judge) & a job offer (w/ the prominent defense attorney) waiting for him.
  The most significant thing about all of this is that he did it all on his own. He used his own contacts and his own initiative. Not one bit of help from a family member. No one can tell me that his drive, and perseverance, is not a result of the work he put in as a ballplayer.

Amazing story and what a testament to your son's character and discipline.  Thank you for sharing it here.

Awesome!