What parent doesn’t dream that someday their child will play high school sports, get a college scholarship, and maybe make the pros. The odds are stacked against it. Still . . .
I’m so proud of my oldest son. He’s always worked hard to be the best player he can be. When he recently received his driver’s license he was so excited he could now get up early and go to the gym before school. (He has practice in the afternoon.) As a sophomore he is already a very good high school football and baseball player. How far will he go? I don’t know, but I love reading stories of athletes who beat the odds.
Pete Gray lost an arm in an accident at the age of six and still made it to the major leagues. Jim Abbott, a one-armed pitcher taken in the first round of the draft by the Angels played for ten seasons and threw a no hitter.
Jim Morris was a 35 year-old high school science teacher and the coach of the baseball team in a tiny Texas town when he tried out for the Tampa Bay Rays. After throwing a dozen 98 mph fastballs in a row they signed him and he made his major league debut the same year.
Last year Mike Brusseau propelled the Rays to the American League Championship with his dramatic pinch hit home run. To think that he was passed over 1216 times in the draft (nobody wanted him because he was undersized) despite always being a good hitter. A Rays scout remembered him from his college days and gave him a shot in the minors. He made the most of his opportunity and finally made it to the majors.
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