[joba the clark]

I didn't make it very far because of an arm injury. My story is just plain bad luck. I was the only good pitcher on my college team in 1999 and we used to play double headers on Saturdays and Sundays. Now I threw a wicked knuckball so I would pitch on Saturday throwing knuckballs and pitch for real on Sunday bringing the gas...lol. My coach played Triple A ball for the Astros and he had some friends in high places and he had a scout from the Reds come watch me on the last Sunday of the season. I threw in the mid 90's with 6 pitches (4 seam with movement away from righties, 2 seam with movement in on righties, splitter, slider and a 2 to 8 curveball that would make batters bail out of the box because it would start at their head and wind up on the outside corner and of course the knuckball). So the scout came and I was locked in, I struck out the first 5 batters of the game and on the 6th batter I blew my arm out. I had so much pain shooting through my arm. I tore my rotator cuff and had a wicked case of tendonitis. So needless to say my pitching days were over.
In 2007 I was working in Altoona, PA and I made some good friends out there and I got on to one of the wood bat city league teams in the area, Lilly American Legion. It was a league loaded with good college players and a couple of kids that got drafted and I walked on and made 5 starts. I was throwing in the low 90's again and I went 5-0. It felt great to make a comeback but more importantly it felt great to feel that competitiveness again and be part of a team again. I think about what could have been every single day of my life. Especially when I see guys in the majors that I know I was better than. But I guess it wan't meant for me. I would not have the things I have now. I would not trade my wife and kids for anything in the world and I prob would not have them if I was pitching in the bigs. Sorry if I rambled but thats my story.

[lilgman]

Nice story....sorry things didn't work out with baseball. During my first two year of college I played in the AAABA (all American amateur baseball assoc) league and we went to Altoona both summers for a tourney and also to Johnstown for the AAABA world series. They were cool events. For the World Series we were picked for the opening game at "the Pointe" which was the stadium at Johnstown, PA. It was the weirdest stadium ever. It was a football field converted into a baseball field. So I believe the dimensions were something like 250 ft to left (crazy high fence and netting above the fence for a homer), something like 450 ft to center, and right down the right field line it was like 150ft....but the fence ran along the foul line so unless you curved the ball around the foul pole right down the line, it was still like 350 to dead right....I ended up playing there again in the frontier league because Johnstown had the Johnnies in the league....

[joba the clark]

That field sounds insane...I have only played at one field with an odd fence, that was in Lenox, MA my junior year of high school. The fence was like 320 in left but it was like 90 feet high. I liked playing there, prob cause I went 3 for 4 with 2 home runs and double....lol. I loved playing ball out in PA. It was super competitive. On a side note, my uncle had an open tryout for the Orioles way back in the day and he was a shortstop and he would have made the team but some guy by the name of Mark Belanger beat him out. He was a very modest guy. He told me,"There was no way I could have made it over Belanger, he was that good". I guess Belanger was that good. Hes a little too old for me to have remembered.

There are also a few people from my area that I played against and that live in the area that made some form of an MLB club. I played against Brian Barnowski (drafted by Dodgers and has a Bowman Autograph), Brad Baker (drafted by the Red Sox, threw in the high 90s in high school), Chris Capuano (plays for the Red Sox), Billy Joe Robidoux (played for the Red Sox back in the mid to late 80's), Nick Gorneault (drafted by the Astros I believe, has a Bowman Autograph),and I think thats it.

Nice story....sorry things didn't work out with baseball. During my first two year of college I played in the AAABA (all American amateur baseball assoc) league and we went to Altoona both summers for a tourney and also to Johnstown for the AAABA world series. They were cool events. For the World Series we were picked for the opening game at "the Pointe" which was the stadium at Johnstown, PA. It was the weirdest stadium ever. It was a football field converted into a baseball field. So I believe the dimensions were something like 250 ft to left (crazy high fence and netting above the fence for a homer), something like 450 ft to center, and right down the right field line it was like 150ft....but the fence ran along the foul line so unless you curved the ball around the foul pole right down the line, it was still like 350 to dead right....I ended up playing there again in the frontier league because Johnstown had the Johnnies in the league....

[zeprock]

Came across this 6-year old thread and thought I'd reboot it. Lots of cool stories.

[kerryandbeth]

I pitched on men's slow-pitch softball team and the opponents called me Roger Clemens because I could paint the corners...true story!

[rjcj2017]

My name is Randy Johnson. You may know me as the Big Unit.

[zeprock]

My name is Randy Johnson. You may know me as the Big Unit.

Oh! So NOW you admit it?

[elberson]

....................THE BIG UNIT...................

[kerryandbeth]

My name is Randy Johnson. You may know me as the Big Unit.

Nobody likes bragging...LOL

[rjcj2017]

Nobody likes bragging...LOL

It was 10,000 times worse when I was the sports editor of a newspaper and he was still playing.

When they heard my name, dudes would come up with the same three jokes every time ... "don't you play baseball?" ... "you look taller on TV" ... "can I borrow some money?" ... I would have to hold up my hand every time while their gears were still turning and be like, "stop, I've heard them all."

If I was in a good mood I would humor them and tell them, "he makes more money but I'm much better looking."

Although, I once did contemplate starting a novelty item business on eBay in which I would sign my (his) name on anything ... cards, photos, balls, etc. for $3 plus shipping.

Obviously I would put in big, bold letters that I was not actually the pitcher and these were novelty/gag items only, but I thought nah, I can't give the general public that much benefit of the doubt to be that smart.

More trouble than it was worth.