Research
shows that only about 0.5 percent of high school seniors who play baseball will
get drafted by a baseball team; and less than 11 percent of varsity baseball-playing
college seniors will get the call. Of those few that become a draft pick, less
than one in five will eventually play in the majors. These numbers all make
what Jim Rushford did all the more special.
Growing up outside Chicago, Rushford was a huge fan of
baseball. A solid high school career landed him an opportunity to play
collegiately with San Diego State University. The left-handed thrower and
hitter was a versatile asset for the Aztecs, playing outfield and pitching. Sometimes,
he would play right field, be brought in to pitch to a left-handed batter and
then be sent back to the outfield. There was even a stretch during his senior
year where he filled in for injured star first baseman Travis Lee,
who went on to be the first overall pick in the 1996 draft.
After going undrafted and spending some time working in the “real
world,” Rushford was signed to play ball for the Dubois County Dragons of the
independent Heartland League. Pitching
and playing a little outfield and first, he hit .341 and posted a 4.35 ERA, proving
that he had more than enough talent to play professionally.
Rushford became an independent league star, culminating in 2000,
when he hit .329 with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs for the Duluth-Superior Dukes of
the Northern League. His hard work was drawing attention and it all paid off
when he was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers after the season when he was 27.
Despite his unorthodox path, Rushford immediately showed he
belonged. In 2001, his first season in the Milwaukee system, he played half a
season at High-A and the other half at Double-A, hitting a combined .354 with
21 home runs, 91 RBIs and 103 runs scored in 122 games.
Hitting .316 in 2002 at Triple-A, Milwaukee decided to give Rushford
a big-league shot. Called up in September, he played regularly for the
remainder of the season, appearing in 23 games, hitting .143 (11 hits in 77
at-bats) with a home run and six RBIs.
Although he did not get another chance at the majors,
Rushford went on to play professionally through the 2010 season, working in the
minors, Mexico, Venezuela and spending his final two seasons back in independent
ball. He also played in the systems of the Texas Rangers and Philadelphia
Phillies. He finished his 14-year professional with a career batting average of
.296 in the minors and .322 in the independent leagues. Not bad for someone who
went undrafted out of high school and college and more than once thought his
baseball journey was over.
Keep reading for more, as Rushford generously shared
memories of his time in baseball.
Who was your favorite
player when you were growing up, and why?: I used to throw a rubber ball
against the brick
wall of my house between two sets of windows. This gave me great control
because there was so much riding on each throw. I loved the pressure and the
adrenaline it gave me.
I used to pretend I was Nolan Ryan
(Astros) blowing fastballs by people. I'd go all nine. I loved that he could
power his fastball by anyone for nine innings.
My other favorite pretend scenario was that I was Steve
Carlton (Phillies), because he was left-handed like me. I would go eight
innings and then Tug McGraw
(Phillies), also a lefty, would come in pounding his glove like he used to do
and close out the ninth.
Then I would pretend I was Ozzie Smith
(Cardinals) playing shortstop and making acrobatic game-saving plays. I always
wanted to be the first major league left-handed short stop. There was always
something about the soft hands and footwork of the middle infield I enjoyed.
I always admired Pete Rose
(Reds & Phillies) for his hard-nosed aggressive play. Nobody ever played
with greater intensity than Charlie Hustle. The best player ever would have to
have that ingredient as a part of his game.
Lastly, I grew up a Cubs fan in a northwest suburb of
Chicago. I liked Bill
Buckner, and later, Leon Durham,
because they were great left-handed hitters. I also liked the acrobatic Ivan De
Jesus at shortstop, the always great and consistent Ryne
Sandberg at second base, and big Lee Smith
coming out of the pen to close the game out.
How disappointed were
you to not be drafted and how did you come to play in independent ball?: It
was a little hard to take not being drafted. I wasn't sure what to do with
myself next other than finish school. I had plenty of warning that it wasn't
going to happen. I wasn't drafted my junior year and I barely played my senior
year. I wasn't being contacted by anyone showing any sort of interest. But you
still sort of hope that by some crazy fluke, some team takes you in a late
round or contacts you after the draft about signing as a free agent or
something.
I initially was sent to Salinas, California to play in the
Independent Western Baseball League by Coach Jim Dietz at San Diego State. I
made the trip up to NoCal, but never signed the contract. I figured it was over
for me and I should just move on with my life. I ended up working as a roofer
in San Diego for $7 an hour all that summer.
The following year, I realized that I had made a big mistake
and that independent ball was not necessarily a dead end. I tried out for the
Springfield Capitals in the Frontier League as an outfielder. I made it to the
final cut but didn't make the team.
Next, I headed up to Chicago where I grew up to visit some
old friends. We were drinking beer in a bar and watching Sports Center. They
were showing highlights of home runs that were hit that night. I looked at my
friends and said, ‘I can do that.’
The very next day I started calling every old baseball
contact I could think of. Through an old collegiate summer ball coach, Coach
Rich Hinzo from Southwestern Junior College in San Diego, I was put in touch
with a player he once had, catcher Donnie Diffenbough, who was playing in southern
Indiana for the Dubois County Dragons in the Heartland League. Donnie put me
through to the manager, RC Lichtenstein. I quickly told RC that I was a very
capable left-handed pitcher and I'd like to play for him. He invited me down to
tryout and the next morning I drove from Chicago to Jasper/Huntingburg, Indiana
and pitched an inning. RC liked what he saw, and I was put on the roster as an
additional pitcher. I soon talked RC into letting me hit. I pitched and hit for
the Dragons and put up some good
numbers which became my de facto baseball resumé. It was a great summer!
What was the best
and/or strangest off-season job you had when you were a player?: I laid
concrete, built the roof on a new Kmart, delivered pizzas, was a fitness
trainer at a gym, was a bus boy, bouncer, and bar back at a high end bar in
downtown San Diego (Croce's), worked as mover for a moving company, and was a
stagehand for the San Diego Symphony Orchestra. I also did baseball camps and
private hitting instruction. Some were off-season jobs, and some were failed
attempts to start a new career path.
The moving job was by far the worst. It was physically
grueling and a very negative environment. Pizza delivery and the gym were by
far the most fun. I love fitness and weight lifting and who doesn't like pizza.
It was a fun positive environment for both.
How did you find out
you were going to be signed by the Brewers, and did you believe that you were
going to end up in the majors one day?: In the fall of 2000, my old Dubois
County Dragons manager, RC Lichtenstein called me. He said he had been
following my baseball career and he was now a pitching coach in the Brewers
organization. He told me that the Brewers were cleaning house and revamping
their farm system. They had a spot for a guy like me. They wanted a more
experienced player who could play well and set a good example for their young
prospects.
First of all, I had already had so many occasions where my
hopes had been high only to be disappointed in the end. It was hard to imagine
this time being any different. Yet, it did seem different. It was going to
really happen this time I thought. But I proceeded with cautious optimism.
Reading between the lines, I wasn't on their radar to be a
future Major Leaguer at all. But still, this was the one seemingly
insurmountable obstacle in my baseball career... A chance with an affiliated
team.
Greg Riddoch, the farm director, later called me and then I
knew it was real. But still, I didn't tell anyone until the contract was mailed
to my house and I had signed it. I even kept checking the transactions just to
make sure it was real. I was just waiting for the catch in all of this and the
disappointment to come and blind side me.
What an incredible exciting moment when I really felt
thoroughly convinced that this was really happening. I had a real Major League
organization that I belonged to. Forever I could say that the Milwaukee Brewers
had signed me! They might not have had big plans for me, but I was going to
take my opportunity to turn heads and change minds.
What do you remember
most about your major league debut (against the Chicago Cubs)?: I was
very nervous. I had never really even spent any time in a big-league clubhouse
including spring training. I didn't know how things worked up there. So, I was
struggling to feel my way around. I wasn't sure how to get into the stadium or
what to wear or any of the etiquette involved. I didn't know the players
either.
When I stepped foot out onto the field, and it was a mix of
thrill and excitement along with fear and uncertainty. The Cubs were taking
batting practice and Sammy Sosa
introduced himself to me. I said, ‘Nice to meet you. and he said, ‘The pleasure
is mine,’ as if I was the superstar!
We started taking batting practice, and I guess I had a ton
of adrenaline, because one of the coaches, Cecil
Cooper, who knew me fairly well from the minors, kept telling me to dial my
swing down a notch. I remember hearing a ball clang around in the bleachers
after one swing I took, but I'm not entirely sure if I had hit it out of the
park or if it was some other ball. The tempo of BP pitches was coming at me too
fast, one after another, to be able to look. I grew up in Chicago as a Cubs
fan. I used to go to Wrigley Field all the time as a kid. It would have been nice
to know if I had actually hit one out of there that day.
After BP, one of the coaches, Gary
Allenson, took me out to left field and made me run down a few dozen balls
off his fungo. I had just had a minor groin pull in Triple-A Indianapolis,
which almost cost me my call-up. I realized that they were testing my groin out
to make sure that they weren't putting an already injured player on the major league
roster. I wasn't certain at all that the groin wouldn't pop at any second, but
I made it through the test without raising any red flags. It wasn't until after
all of that, I went into the clubhouse and signed a mountain of paperwork which
I assume was my big-league contract.
Matt
Clement pitched that night. I was playing left field. I remember feeling
very uneasy about it because I had always only played right field. Between my
iffy groin, playing out of position, and it being my major league debut in my
childhood hometown I was very nervous.
In my first at bat, I figured I'd take my usual patient
approach and see a pitch or two first to size it up. Clement laid the first
pitch fastball right down Main Street and I took it all the way for strike one.
I'll always regret not taking a big healthy hack at that first pitch. What if I
had deposited the first major league pitch thrown to me in the bleachers of
Wrigley Field? How cool would have that been!? It would have taken so much
pressure off of me right away too. After that, the pitches just got nastier and
nastier. I managed to avoid striking out and hit a grounder to short resulting in
a fielder's choice.
Out in left field, I was every bit as nervous. There were
dozens of people I had known from growing up in Chicago who had just happened
to be at the game that night. The bleacher creatures were ruthless, and I was
now on the enemy team.
The starting pitcher, David
Pember, was also making his MLB debut. In the first inning, Fred
McGriff hit a high fly down the left field line into foul territory. It was
dusk and very hard to see the ball. I had to run a good distance and deal with
the bullpen mound in the field of play. There was a runner on third tagging.
Fighting to track the ball, I ran up the front of the bullpen mound and caught the ball on the run. Then I
stepped down the backside of the mound, set my feet, and delivered a perfect
one hop long hop strike to home plate. It was a bang bang play, but the runner
was called safe. Jerry
Royster, the interim manager named after Davey Lopes
was fired, came out to argue. Not an easy play at all, but I was just relieved
that I came through.
A few innings later, Moises Alou
hit a liner over my right shoulder with two outs and runners on base. I took a
good route back but put my glove up an inch or two off the mark from the
hooking liner. The ball deflected off my glove and rolled all the way back to
the wall. Two runs scored on the error.
The fans in the left field bleachers were turned up their heckling to a level
10 and absolutely started wearing me out. I wanted to dig a hole and climb in
it.
I just remember looking at the scoreboard saying it was only
the third inning and then looking at the clock indicating we were only an hour
into the game. I felt like it had been 6 or more hours since the game had
started, and I was absolutely exhausted. I was so nervous that my entire
perception of time was completely distorted. Not a good mental state to be in
for baseball. The problem was that I had always been the underdog with
something to prove and someone to prove wrong. I was the man with nothing to
lose. Now, all of a sudden, I had everything and felt I only had everything to
lose... or at least so I thought. This was completely new territory for me. I
didn't know how to deal with it mentally.
A couple of innings later, a soft shallow liner was served
out to left in front of me. Remembering my earlier faux pas, I desperately
wanted to make amends. I charged the ball aggressively. Seeing that I was going
to come up a hair short, I left my feet towards full extension. I gained just
enough distance with the dive to cover the needed ground and made an absolute web gem.
I didn't get a hit in the game and we lost. I actually
didn't get my first hit until my 12th at-bat. My error and my diving catch were
re-played on Sports Center and Baseball Tonight for the rest of the 24-hour
news cycle. It really hit me how everything in the majors is under a microscope
and meticulously scrutinized. The pressure can be enormous if you don't know
how to handle it right.
Were there any
pitchers who were active when you were in the majors that you would have liked
to face, but did not get the chance to do so?: No. I didn't play the day Randy
Johnson threw against us. It would have been cool to face him for the
novelty, but I think they did me a favor not putting me in that situation.
I faced many big-name pitchers between the minor leagues,
winter ball, and major league spring training though.
What is your favorite
moment from your baseball career?: There were so many great memorable
moments during my baseball career. The ones that stand out to me the most were
getting signed by the Milwaukee Brewers, winning the single season minor league
batting title, and hitting my one and only major league home run.
Getting signed by the Brewers was completely exhilarating. I
had done so much and failed so many times that it seemed as though the
impossible had just happened. I had spent years in independent ball, went to
scout league games, tryout camps, and you name it for years without any
success. A number of times I had been extremely hopeful about a possible
opportunity only to be disappointed in the end. Many other times, nobody was
interested in me at all. Sometimes the scouts would flat out tell me I wasn't
good enough. So signing that first contract with an affiliated team, the
thought that I could say that I played with the Milwaukee Brewers organization
for the rest of my life, and knowing that I was going to get a real shot to
prove myself within an affiliated organization charged me up with nuclear-sized
energy that lasted all the way through that first year with the Brewers.
My next best and proudest moment was when I realized I had
won the single season minor league batting title in 2001. I had a phenomenal
first year with the Brewers organization, batting .363 in High Desert (A+) and
then .342 in Huntsville (Double-A) with 21 home
runs and a combined .354 batting
average.
I was reading a Baseball
Weekly publication at the end of the regular season and they did a feature
on the 2001 minor league batting champion, Rangers top prospect Hank
Blalock. I went back and calculated my stats and realized that I had hit
.354. I then double checked to see what the criteria was to be eligible and I
couldn't find any reason that I shouldn't have been declared the winner. I
called my agent, Pat Arter, who then called Baseball
Weekly and it was determined that they had made a mistake. To make it up to
me, they did a feature spread on me in a subsequent fall issue.
I consider winning the batting title that season my single
greatest baseball accomplishment ever, because it required an entire season of
grinding it out and staying hot from start to finish. Anybody who has ever
played a full season of professional baseball understands how difficult that is
to do. It doesn't happen without an enormous amount of effort. You have to earn
that for sure.
Lastly, the moment I wouldn't trade for the world and the
moment that made it all worth it, was when I hit my one and only major league home run on
Friday, September 13th in Arizona. I was battling
Rick Helling with two strikes. I spoiled five pitches or so fouling them off.
Then he left one where I could handle it. It was a hanging curve that didn't
quite make it all the way down and in. I met it well enough to know it would
have the distance to clear the fence, but I had pulled it directly down the
right field line and it was questionable whether or not it would stay fair. I
started running and watching the ball, just holding my breath. As I was
rounding first base, I saw the ball hit the inside of the foul pole and carom
into the right field bullpen. The base umpire signaled fair ball and that it
was a home run.
At that moment, I felt the weight of the entire world lift
off of my shoulders. All of the hard work, disappointments, failures,
successes; they all had culminated into this one moment. No matter what, the
stats would show that I hit one home run in the major leagues for the rest of
eternity and nobody could erase it even if they wanted to.
Getting called up to the majors was huge, and getting my
first major league hit was bigger, but nothing even came close to hitting a
dinger in the Show. I finished that game 3-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.
I did a TV interview on the field after the game and the Phoenix paper's sports
section headline read 'Pizza Man Delivers Brewers Over Helling, Diamondbacks'.
For one day in time, I stood at the top of the tallest mountain. I saw the view
and it was amazing!!!
You played
professionally in different countries, which non-US country was your favorite
and why?: I played in Puerto Rico (US), Venezuela, Mexico, and the Dominican
Republic. I enjoyed all of them. Venezuela was by far the most exciting for me.
The atmosphere at the games was like what you would expect at World Cup soccer
matches.
The energy at the Magallanes vs Caracas games was complete
pandemonium. It was the equivalent of a Yankees-Red Sox World Series matchup. M-80s
would be blown off in the stands the entire game. I even had a few thrown at me
out in right field that exploded very close to me. The fans would do the wave
and throw their Polar beer up into the air, showering everyone around them.
Between innings, a dozen or more armed security guards with AK-47s and German
Shepherd guard dogs would circle the perimeter of the outfield for protection.
It was so deafeningly loud that you couldn't hear the person directly next to
you and I even lost my sense of balance due to my equilibrium being thrown off
from the excessive noise. They would play loud music between every pitch and
the Pepsi girls would dance suggestively in the stands wearing tight blue spandex
outfits.
I was paid well and treated like royalty. The U.S. dollar
goes a very long way in Venezuela, so I lived like a king. There was a very
exciting night life and great restaurants. It was fun, scary, and exciting all
at the same time. I did very well there too, which always makes a difference.
Looking back on it, playing winter ball in all of these countries gave me
invaluable playing experience and offered a great opportunity to see other
places and cultures.
What, if anything,
would you have done differently in your baseball career?: Despite always
giving 100% and doing what I thought was best at the time, there are many
things that I wish I had done differently.
I regret every time I ever threw my equipment or had a
meltdown on the field. It does no good and it just draws attention to your
mistakes and makes you look bad.
I didn't understand the business aspect of baseball. I
didn't know how to sell myself to the organization, the fans, and the media. I
didn't understand how important the social and political aspects of the
clubhouse could be. I just didn't see the big picture. I was a real Forrest
Gump. I just put my head down and went hard all of the time and I thought that
would be enough. Good performance is mandatory, but the whole package matters a
lot too.
I mostly wish I could have done my time in the major leagues
with the wisdom and experience I had at the end of my career.
What are you up to
these days?: I live in Sahuarita, Arizona with my wife of 22 years,
Danielle. We have 3 children, Kelly (17), Milo (15), and Mia (12). I drive a
haul truck at a copper mine and Danielle is a medical bill coding manager.
Kelly is an accomplished ballerina, Milo is an up and coming baseball player,
and Mia is an excellent horseback rider.
I was a volunteer coach for Milo's varsity high school
baseball team this spring and I managed his varsity team this past summer.
We are a host family for an Independent League player who is
playing for the Tucson Saguaros in the Pecos League. The Pecos League is very
similar to the type of Independent league that I got my start in professional
baseball in.
I'd like to find some sort of employment in baseball in the
next few years. I'm probably most qualified to be a coach or a scout, but I'd
be open to anything baseball related.
I like to lift weights and run. I also have found a passion
for economics. Most people's eyes glaze over when the discussion turns towards
economics, but I find the subject very exciting. Maybe that is related to my
fascination with baseball statistics. I'm really into MMT (Modern Monetary
Theory) which is a heterodox (non-mainstream) subset of post-Keynesian
economics. I've probably read enough economics literature to have a PhD in it
by now.
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You can check me out on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @historianandrewI have also authored a number of books (eBook and paperback) on topics of baseball that are available on Amazon.