 It was the Summer of 2001 and I was at the apex of my baseball playing abilities. I was hitting about .600 in summer ball and yoga had helped me find the added range I needed at shortstop. Confidence was at an all time high and I finally began to feel like I was playing ball like I always should have.
So, one Saturday morning Cpt. Morgan and I ran over to a MLB Tryout camp on a whim and we ran into one of the guys we played against the previous season. This guy was coming from a top notch program that had national title aspirations every season so I talked to him about my frustrations regarding the program I was currently playing for. He seemed like a pretty level-headed guy, and he's now one of the top coaches in NCAA Division I Baseball, so when he said, "We have a good freshman shorstop but I heard he's going to be a full-time pitcher. Give our coach a call and I'll let him know you're coming," I was excited and ready to transfer in a heartbeat.
The following Monday I emailed the head coach at the school and set up a campus visit while following the guidelines provided by our 'governing body'. He seemed excited about it and I received a release from my school that actually was easier than I thought it would as our head coach was moving to a new job and actually encouraged me to transfer. Later that week I took a day off of work and drove a few hours away for my campus visit. Things seemed to be lining up perfectly.
So I pull into the parking lot near the baseball field and there is a welcome sign for me and one of their incoming recruits. I would have signed my life away at that moment. The head coach gave us a quick tour of their baseball facility and then walked us over to the admissions office. There they gave us the gold-plated tour of everything under the sun....including meeting the Women's volleyball team. Thank you, where do I sign?
We had lunch with the coach and he sold us on the baseball program. They played the game hard and they played it the right way. They placed a lot of value on discipline and......service to God. Whoa! I started to hit the brakes right there.
Let's get something straight. To me, baseball and God are two seperate entities. I'm a decent guy on the field but sure enough I won't give it a second thought to tear off your leg to be safe at home. I wasn't looking forward to going to Church twice a week and handing out Jesus related pamphlet's but I was only transferring for one year (I was a senior) and the chance to play shortstop for an elite team appealed to me. I listened to the rest of the hard sell by the coach and suited up to take some grounders and batting practice on the field.
Like I said before, I was playing really well that Summer and that practice was no different. I was hitting laser shots everywhere and even though he put me through a hellacious fielding session, I was spot-on everything. I saw no way that this transfer wasn't happening. The coach looked happy, I liked the women's volleyball team and I really didn't care about the extra year that I would have to spend as a graduate assistant the following year because I transferred out of state and lost some credits.
After running into the locker room to shower and change clothes I went into the coach's office to get down to "brass tacks". The coach had a smile on his face and life was looking pretty good from my side of the desk, too. He let me know that I impressed him as a person and a ballplayer and he hoped that the University had left a positive lasting impression on me. I confirmed that I was still interested and then he said, "Well, we really like you and we'd like to move you to third base."
Anyone who knows me knows that I'm also an egomaniac when it comes to baseball. I had already spent a wasted year at another school playing outfield so I wasn't about to waste another year playing a position I didn't like. This was very much a deal breaker at the time because I was a dumb kid. Still, I sat and listened to his argument about moving me to third.
"We have a sophomore who played short for us last year and he's decided he's going to give that a go full-time. He's an excellent player who could go pro so we are going to go with him."
The meeting lasted for another ten minutes and I told him that I would let him know my decision the following Monday.
The following Monday came around and I sent an email to the coach letting him know that I wouldn't be transferring and to wish him luck in the upcoming season. He expressed disappointment in my decision but was professional about it. I then went to the calendar and circled the date when we would play them the following season.....
 The big, bad, God-loving baseball factory finally made the trip to play us the following season and I was ready to go. I was hitting over .400 at the time and I was going to show them what they missed out on. I come up to lead-off the home half of the first and I lined a shot about ten feet off the ground right over the second base bag. I'm thinking it's an easy single and I'll be stealing second on the next pitch.
In the blink of an eye the shortstop takes two steps, leaps and catches the ball as if he was born to do so. As if that play was a gift to him from Heaven above. I said a cuss word or four and walked back to the dugout to figure out who exactly this guy was who was stealing from me.
I get to the lineup card on the wall and it says "Zobrist, Ben - SS - So."
I didn't know that he would eventually become a 2009 American League All-Star and lead the league in OPS but I had to admit then, and every once in awhile since then, that the coach made the right decision to stick with the shortstop they had.
Congrats to Ben Zobrist for making the 2009 AL All-Star team. He doesn't know me and he didn't know anything about me transferring but he's given me a decent story to tell. | 
2008 Cubs Preview
Most years the rosters for the MLB All-Star Game don't matter that much to me. This year is an exception though as it once again proved to me that a college coach made a correct talent evaluation regarding me. Keep reading to find out which All-Star kept me from transferring to another school to play baseball.....
I love stories that end in you failing. Thats good internet.
You're telling me. It hurt just to write that. I made a lot of bad decisions before I was 28. I still make bad decisions now but they were worse then.
Make sure you bring this rage down with you in August. I'm buying myself 100 batting gloves for this tourney. One for each base I steal.
I've been at peace with it for awhile now but at the time when he was stealing away my hits....and my women's volleyball players....I wasn't happy with him.
I've heard about the stolen bases deal but I'm not sure exactly how that works?
They did it the first year we put the Grenades together. It is an ASA rule that Bloomington generally doesn't follow but has to for the tourney. Once the ball gets past the plate the steal is on. It is pretty tough, even with a good arm, to get the quicker guys at second because of the short base paths, but we were better than most of the other teams so i am hoping for more of the same. A lot of it relies on how live our catcher's arm can stay over the three day weekend.
I'm guessing there will be a lot of times where runner's leave early and the umps send them back so being nice to the umps can be a key it sounds. I could see how this could really, really help some quick footed individuals who can beat out infield singles and then advance to second on a steal so that the next guy isn't hitting into double plays....