Closers Role and Winning Streaks

Just two weeks ago, the El Paso Diablos looked like a team thirsty to finish off the season anyway it could. Winning didn't seem to matter anymore and no matter how well one facet of the team was doing, another was costing the team a victory. It seemed that no matter how well we played, we could not muster a victory in the end.

Well, things have changed in the Sun City.

Call it having a good time or just playing the game the right way but the team has really turned things around. The lineup has come alive and a revamped pitching staff has come up big time and time again. At one point last week, we had won four consecutive contests, which marked a season-high for the club. The falters in the late innings that seemed so common just a few weeks ago have not been seen and confidence is brimming from everyone in association with the team.

On a personal note, I was named the closer for the Diablos just before our series in Shreveport last Monday. In the mean time, I have chalked up two saves in two opportunities and have put out the fire in several critical situations. I was originally unsure about this role but have accepted it and am very comfortable being in it. Closing definitely calls for a different mindset, which I love.

My work on the pitchers mound has been so much more productive since I came off of the IL at the beginning of July. I've pitched on six different occasions (all out of the bullpen) and have thrown scoreless outings in five of them. Across the 11 innings I have thrown so far since coming off the IL, only two walks and seven hits have been yielded. I'm documenting these statistics on here only because it finally feels good to post good numbers after the landslide I was on at the beginning of the year. Although I'm a firm believer that numbers don't necessarily speak everything about a pitcher, it does make you smile to look back after putting up good numbers...especially after everything I've been through this past year.

I mentioned in previous posts that baseball does not define me as a person. At one point in my life, I really thought that baseball was my number one priority in every aspect of life. My Christian values, family, and friends always seemed to take a backseat to the game I loved so much. Baseball still is a huge part of my life but because it's not taking over my life like it had previously, I have understood how important it is to have a balanced lifestyle.

I think that my new outlook on baseball (and life in general) is much like the way a lot of my teammates have changed their play as well. The atmosphere around the clubhouse isn't one of pressing anymore but rather a team filled with the energy and confidence it needs to succeed. The pre-game and post-game danceoffs have turned to be pretty comical and has really loosened up the mood.

As previously stated, this new Diablos team is one that is moving in the right direction. El Paso stands eight games back from Pensacola in the standings but with the Pelicans sliding and us one the move...a race to the finish could be seen. Let's hope we can build on tonight's 15-0 thrashing of Grand Prairie.

I'd like to conclude this post with a pair of quotes from the mouth of legendary basketball coach, John Wooden. Wooden, who passed away recently, offered some of the most inspirational words I have ever heard. His legacy, much like Jimmy Valvano, will last forever in my heart.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

God Bless.

The Room of Second Chance

We have arrived safely in Shreveport, Louisiana after an eight hour bus ride. The weather is hot, humid, and sunny.

This post may be written from a little different stance than I'm used to writing but I must speak of a certain encounter I had recently. This meeting is something that can hold meaning to anyone of our lives...young or old, hopeless or hopeful. I think everyone can learn a little bit from El Paso's newest rookie, 34-year old Barry Fowler.

Yes, he is my roommate on the road. Yes, he is 34-years old (a full ten years older than me). And yes, he actually is a rookie.

Barry pitched four years at the University of Georgia in his college years and carried a respectable track record throughout his amateur play. He claims that his biggest accomplishment on the baseball field is defeating Mark Prior in a USC-Georgia showdown. This accomplishment is worthy in the eyes of many but I believe his biggest accomplishment has just occurred.

Barry's last pitch in college was thrown in 1999. Upon viewing the time between then and now...little offers about Barry's whereabouts. There is one answer though - he did not journey into the world of professional baseball...until now.

Its 2010 and one can only ask, "What in the world has he been doing the past ten years?!"

A few personal matters kept Barry away from baseball over the ten years but did not stop his love for the game of baseball. This game, although tough and unjust at times, kept him going and he knew somewhere, someday he was going to return.

After a brief experience with a team in the (now defunct) South Coast League, Barry worked out with several teams but was unsuccessful in joining their game-day rosters. He spent spring training in 2010 with the Pensacola Pelicans before joining the Desert Valley Mountain Lions of the CBL. His hard work and determination finally paid off through a short time later as he worked out with the Diablos last week and was signed to his first true professional contract.

In the world we live in today, wanting a second chance at something you love and actually going out and getting it are two big differences. We tend to want things to come our way and instead of going out and grabbing the bull by the horns, expect things to fall into our lap. This has never been my method of going about life and after meeting Barry, this is not his either.

His courageous journey back to baseball after ten years away can hold purpose in every one of our lives. It shows one standing up for their dreams in the face of adversity and proving that age should never really be a factor. Some walk away from what they love at an early age and whether that love is sports, art, or significant others, Barry has proven it's never actually too late to go back.

Cheers to you, Barry.

I really feel that being roommates with Barry in Pensacola was not a mistake. It was the room where two people from two different parts of the world and two different walks of life sharing conversation about two similar points: the love for baseball and a second redemption at it. God made that happen.

Thus, the room of second chance.

God Bless.

Back to the grind: Road trippin' to Pensacola

As I find myself on the third day of this Southeastern roadtrip, I find myself looking back at how much of a metamorphasis I have undergone over the past four weeks.

Baseball is fun again. I've found that love, that passion for the game.

I'm coming to the ballpark with a little kick in my step, a fresh arm and most importantly, a smile. The atmosphere is free and easy...almost like it was when I was that care free 10-year old little league shortstop.



I don't know if falling out of love with baseball is the exact diagnosis of what happened earlier this season because I never felt that I lost my passion for the game. I think, in laymans terms, my biggest problem was putting too much pressure on myself. I was trying so much harder than I needed as I was trying to prove to others that I was fully past this injury. As with all the goods and negatives in life, the past is the past and only so much emphasis should be placed upon it. I will never forget what happened last July but now understand that nothing can ever change what happened that night and its time to take what I've learned and move forward. I understand that many look towards my journey back to baseball as an inspiration but the reason why I came back in the first place was because I couldn't ever imagine myself away from the game. I loved it too much to ever want to leave it.

Somewhere along my journey, I lost my way. With a little fun back in Maryland, a few Phillies games, and a serious sun tan...that path has begun to straigten out.

Special thanks to TC (Tony Cornish) from Essendon Baseball Club, who I had the chance to catch up with in Philadelphia and share a great conversation about life with last week. Cheers to you mate!



I have been relegated to pitching in the bullpen to begin the second half with the Diablos. I think this is a good beginning step for me and I'm pretty excited about the opportunity ahead. In last night's game, I got up to throw in the late innings of a 2-1 game but did not get in. The juices were flowing, intensity was up, and nerves were harnassed.

What a perfect feeling.

I've spoken of a few things that I've learned throughout this process but one of the freshest is to "seize the day" or "carpe diem" if you will (thanks Dad). It's a pretty cliche saying and I often find it being overused but it really stands true when you're trying to achieve a goal.

One day at a time, one pitch at a time. Whether the goal for me is pitching in the big leagues, throwing consistant sink to both sides of the plate, or just happiness in general...living for the moment makes everything much more powerful.



Nobody can really predict what the future has to hold and as much as I'd like to be able to know what I have ahead of me in the next little while, I can't. I can promise you one thing though...win or lose, good outing or bad outing, I'm going to enjoy this game just like I did when I was a kid. The highs are not going to be too high and the lows are not going to be too low.

To conclude this post, I'm going to leave you with a exerpt from an article I wrote for SU Magazine this past spring:

"I reflected on the dreams that I had as young child.
The dream to be a big league baseball player took root
when I was four years old in the backyard of an apartment
complex on Eighth Street in my hometown of Ocean City,
MD. It was the dreams I had as a child that helped propel
me through my days with Berlin Little League and into
Stephen Decatur High School. These dreams helped define
me in my freshman year at Guilford College and through
the trials and tribulations I faced at Virginia Wesleyan
College. It was these very dreams that I hung onto as I was
cut from three different tryouts following college.
As I thought about those days this past August, I
remember smiling and thinking to myself, it’s time to get
back to business. It wasn’t time to give up."

God Bless.