Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

[WWF80sKid]

Note: My computer is down. Will add graphics later.

I've never done a baseball diary. Please feel free to let me know how I'm doing.

I'm using MLB 2K12.

[WWF80sKid]

Matthew Griffin | SP | #52

Stats:
Bats: R
Pitches: R
6'2"
206 lbs
Hometown: Tipp City, Ohio
Birthday: July 3, 1990
College: Wright State University

Walkout Song: "Bad Company" by Five Finger Death Punch

Twitter @FastballGriffin

I began playing baseball just like any other kid. Little league, with my dad being the coach. He was harder on me than any other kids because let's face it, that's the way it goes. He can't yell as loud at the other kids. And he didn't have them at home with him.

He wasn't abusive, or the parent that is ridiculously too hard on his kid. He rode me, but just knew I was better than I would play sometimes. Lets face it, when you're playing little there are times you're more interested in an airplane flying over, or the free soda you get at the end of the game.

I was always a good outfielder. Right field mostly. Not bad at hitting, and one hell of an arm. If you hit to me, you better not turn that corner, because I'd have thrown you out. But in high school, things changed.

Our all-star pitcher, Tyler, got drilled in the face with a line drive. He was a great pitcher. Honestly, the best our school had seen. And the best they had. Other than him there was a chubby kid named Clint, who could only throw a fast ball, and a guy named Colton. Colton only wanted to play baseball because he knew girls just liked the way we looked in the pants.

I'll never forget the sound when the ball hit Tyler in the face. It was disgusting. Blood went everywhere. His mom shrieked. Then fell over in terror. His dad jumped off the bleachers and sprinted to his son, not realizing he broke his ankle when he landed.

Coaches surrounded the downed teenager. I think they were concerned for the kid, but also concerned about the pitching. It's sad, but true.

Tyler never played again. In fact, he never walked again. He's still in a wheel chair. His parents have to feed him every meal. It's horrible. I stay in touch with him. It's a heart breaking situation.

We lost that game terribly. None of us were in the game at all. Fresh blood was still on the pitcher's mound. I think we lost 17-4. The next week at practice coach came up to me. That's when he asked me the question that changed my life forever.

"You ever thought about pitching son?"

[KHarmo88]

Re: Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

Wow man great start to this. Is this a true story or something you've come up with? Impressive writing skills!

[WWF80sKid]

Something I came up with.

I appreciate it. Always enjoy feedback. I love writing.

I made him a twitter too. Lol. Sometimes you'll see things on the twitter I haven't posted on here yet.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

Something I came up with.

I appreciate it. Always enjoy feedback. I love writing.

I made him a twitter too. Lol. Sometimes you'll see things on the twitter I haven't posted on here yet.

You know I will be following. Like you made the jump from football to baseball. However with NCAA14 coming out, you might see me back on the football boards.

[KHarmo88]

Re: Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

Something I came up with.

I appreciate it. Always enjoy feedback. I love writing.

I made him a twitter too. Lol. Sometimes you'll see things on the twitter I haven't posted on here yet.

Well you've got yourself a guaranteed follower!

[WWF80sKid]

Thank you.

[WWF80sKid]

Did I ever think about pitching? No. Hell no. I was outstanding at right field. Everyone knew me. Girls loved me! I always got asked out, and if I'd say no, they'd try to convince me. It was great!

I felt the team staring at me. It was quiet in the locker room. An odd feeling. Coach was holding a ball in both of his warn hands. He was expecting an answer. They all were, and I know it wasn't the one I wanted to give. But how could I say no? How could I not step up for this team after the tragedy of what happened out there on the pitcher's mound?

"I'd love to be a pitcher for this team coach," I said putting my hand out to receive the ball he was holding.

The old man looked down at my hand. His bushy gray eyebrows hiding his eyes as he tilt it down. He finally looked back up to me and smiled. He placed the ball into my hand and smiled. After a pat on the shoulder and a wink, he passed the job onto me. Instead of practicing pop ups and batting I was going to be throwing fastballs and curves.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

What's so great about this story is it actually happened to me when playing summer American Legion my Soph year. We went to a tourney in southern Idaho. We only had 11 players on the team and with 4 guy's that pitched. 1st game of the tourney we had to use 2 and then next game our starter got hurt so our #4 had to pitch the whole game. We lost but had to come back and play a 3rd game the next morning so that night the coach asked who wanted to pitch. Me (CF) and our 3B both were well we can throw a fastball. He spent the whole night trying to show us how to through a curve. Needless to say we lost game 3. The 3B ended up with 3 balks because the coach didn't really go over how to do pickoffs.

[WWF80sKid]

I immediately met with Jackson, the catcher. He was a senior, and a guy I seemed to get along with quite well. I figured him and I better get on the same page. Besides, I'd be pitching my first game in a couple days.

After practice my arm was sore. I feared it wouldn't get much better by game time. I kept ice on it through the night, while listening to my parents talk about the fear of me being a pitcher, scared I'd take a ball to the face like Tyler. I finally put my headphones on and went to bed. I needed positive thoughts, not negativity.

First game started off pretty rocky. First pitch, nailed a guy in the shoulder. Second batter, four straight balls. I thought about telling the coach to pull me. I felt so out of place.

After giving up five runs in the first inning, I didn't give up another run until the sixth. After that coach pulled me. We lost 7-3. I actually hit a double and scored as well. I guess it wasn't the worst outing for a right fielder turned pitcher.

[WWF80sKid]

I'll admit, the transition to pitcher wasn't the easiest. A lot of games went bad for me. Beaming guys, throwing wild pitches and just walking people were not the easiest things to avoid. I'd gain control as the game went on, but it seemed like I would start every game on some kind of bad note.

That is until May 8th, 2008. We were playing Urbana. First batter up I threw a fast ball high in the strike zone. Strike one. Fast ball at the knees. Strike two. Curve ball high and outside. Strike three. It felt good. Three straight pitches, and already one out.

Next batter, first pitch a pop-up. A backed off the pitchers mound and felt it sink into my glove. Four pitches and two outs. "Wow" I thought, "This is awesome."

Next batter hit a grounder to the shortstop. He scooped it up and tossed it to first. Five pitches and already got to go to the dugout. Never happened before. It felt easy.

Second and third inning was a lot of the same. A couple of strike outs, a few ground balls and a couple of fly outs. Our backup right fielder played pretty well in my place.

Fourth inning I caught a line drive that was hit toward me. I could only imagine my mom freaking thinking the ball was going to nail me in the head. After that a kid nailed the ball that looked like it was going to be a homerun, but our center fielder jumped up next to the wall and caught the ball. Next batter battled me to a full count, but I made him swing at a wicked curveball I threw right on the outside of the plate.

Fifth, sixth and seventh innings went perfectly. A strike out, a fly out, or ground all, I really didn't care. I just wanted to sit the batter down. I kept fighting the thought in my head, but it kept creeping back. Perfect game. You're going to pitch a perfect game. No batters have got on base. Perfect game...

It was hard to stay focused, but I fought to do so. It was a tough battle, and the funny thing was, it was a battle against myself.

Eighth inning our center fielder robbed another homerun. I began to get rattled. I wanted to keep all the pitches low. Then again, batters can knock one out of the park whether low or high. Our catcher Jackson came out to talk to me at the mound. He knew what was on my mind. And he was ready to correct my mistake.

"Hey, stop. Just pitch," he said patting me on the shoulder. "Just pitch."

He walked back over and got in position. I appreciated what he said. I took a deep breath. And threw my next pitch. Believe it or not, the next two batters I struck out with six straight pitches. Next, it was on to the ninth.

By this time, we were up 2-0. The thought continued. I had to stop, close my eyes, and calm myself.

"Just pitch," kept going through my head. And that's what I did. The first batter in the ninth battled me to a full count. After about four foul balls, although it seemed like 150, I struck him out with a change up.

Second batter leveled the ball right to the second basemen, who caught the ball for the second out. He looked over at me and pointed.

Last batter...

I had no idea what my pitch count was. I had no idea what the crowd was thinking. All I knew was, I needed this out. First pitch was a high foul ball. The first baseman attempted to grab it, but it landed in the stands.

Second pitch was a fastball outside. Ball one. Second pitch was a curveball called a ball. Third pitch was a fast ball inside. The batter swung and missed. The count was now 2-2.

Next pitch I put it at the bottom of the strike zone. The batter watched it go by and the crowd and my teammates went crazy. As I about threw my mit into the air, I heard it.

"Ball three!"

I stopped and turned back to the ump. The batter still standing in the batters box, getting his bat ready. This game wasn't over.

I pushed the mit tightly on my hand as my coach yelled to me.

"It's okay Matthew. You got him right here!"

Another full count. Although that should have been the end of the game! That pitch was absolutely perfect. A perfect strike three. A perfect ending to a perfect game. But the ump was an idiot. At least that's what I was thinking.

I took another deep breath. I closed my eyes and took in the moment. I kept thinking of what Jackson said to me. Just pitch. Just pitch. Don't think. Don't analyze. Just freaking pitch. He signaled for a fast ball. I shook my head no. He signaled for a sinker. I refused again. His next signal was the pitch I'd been freezing batters on all game. A curveball, high and outside. Right on the edge of the strike zone. It would either be a strike three, or a ball four. Now wasn't the time to gamble, but it was the time to throw the best damn curveball I ever threw. And that's exactly what I did.

When I released the ball, it just felt right. I watched the red thread spin around the ball. Closer and closer to the batter, his eyes grew with anticipation. He gripped the bat and took a hard swing. The bat just missed the ball, nearly grazing the top of it. Strike three!

I dropped to my knees. On the same mound that Tyler's career had ended, I cried as my team rushed to me. They hoisted me up and celebrated with me. The coaches cheered and stormed the field. The season was far from over, but it felt like winning it all. I went from right fielder to pitcher and just pitched a perfect game. Something that had never happened in the history of my high school. How wonderful of a feeling it was.

[Deuce2223]

Re: Diary of Matthew Griffin | Aspiring MLB Pitcher

Congrats on the perfect game..

[WWF80sKid]

I had never heard of colleges being interested in me before that perfect game. And honestly, I didn't care. I always planned on going to college, but never figured I'd go to a big school for baseball. Even at right field, which I felt I was pretty damn good at, I just didn't see it happening for me. I figured there were enough guys much better than me out there, that I'd maybe find myself at a community college or something like that.

But after that perfect game, I heard a few schools interested. I mean, not Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan or Kentucky. Not Tennessee or Alabama. Nothing like that. But I did get a letter from Bowling Green. And a couple calls from the University of Dayton, Wright State and Toledo.

Pretty cool feeling, having actual colleges out there seeing me, and wanting me on their team. Decisions decisions. But I still had the rest of my senior year left.

[WWF80sKid]

As the season started to wind down, I began to date Jennifer. A cute blonde that a lot of guys would have likes to date. She was a nice girl. She came to a few of my games.

Unfortunately after making the state playoffs, I injured my rotator cuff. It wasn't quite a tear, but I was done. I couldn't pitch if I tried. I guess I could have, but I would have sucked.

We lost early in the playoffs anyway. I'd like to say if I got to pitch we wouldn't have lost, but I'm not going to say that. Just makes me sound conceited.

Graduation came and it was definitely a relief to finally get out of high school. It wasn't that bad, but as the time comes, it's just something you look forward to so much.

Jennifer and I broke up. I got the feeling that it was because I hurt my shoulder and didn't go out with a big bang, but oh well.

I ended up getting a scholarship from Wright State. I wanted to stay close to my family, so it worked out. I heard Kentucky was actually interested in me as well, but I never heard anything from them. Honestly, I wouldn't have went there anyway. Nothing wrong with Kentucky, but like I said, I wanted to stay close.

[WWF80sKid]

My file messed up on this one, but I'm immediately going to start a new one. Similar but different. Please follow it.