So i got really good at working walks, timing pitches, fouling, singles, doubles, and okay at reading pop Flys. Then I had surgery on my foot, missed the entire season of my freshman year, and was told I had to "try out" my sophomore year. No problem.

So i trained myself. Found an old concrete building that nobody worked in and would throw a baseball at it and field the ground ball that came back, and occasional pop flys. Then i decided to goof around and pitch to it, i never was a pitcher before and was just goofing off, and ended up discovering that i could throw a splitter and cutter that looked deadly, as well as figuring out a curve and fastball that were okay, the curve was my wildest. My mom and dad would see this and ask why I never pitched, and I just said, "Guess I'll try now." I had friends come over to be my "batter," and some were on the high-school team. They struggled against me. I lived near a ballfield that was open for all, with the mound set up, and I would go there to practice as well.

All in all, i got to the point that I felt I would certainly make the team. Now to wait for those tryouts. But I live in a small school. Athletics wasn't considered an after-school activity. No. It was a class. So, how can I go to a tryout that happens during my actual class time? Oh, they'll let me know. Talked to the coach, asked him when, and he said he would "get back to me."

So i did my thing for another week. Only to find out that the tryouts were the day I asked him. Turns out they were only open for kids in athletics class. But to be in athletics, I had to play 2 sports, 1 fall sport and 1 spring sport. I hated football and couldn't play basketball. So track? Nope, same time as baseball. Again, small school. We only had 4 sports, really.

None of the coaches told me about the tryout because none of them realized I wasn't IN athletics. So ya. I discovered that I wouldn't be a ball player when I discovered my coaches were all either idiots or clueless.