Dirk Hayhurst

Here are some shots from my time in Italy. I was sad it was cut short, but I did get a few good visuals. Allow me to share a few with you here.

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I’m all packed and ready to go… and this time, I have a plane ticket.

I think it’s pretty safe to say that I don’t know what I’m getting myself into. I don’t speak a lick of Italian. I don’t have any friends waiting for me. I don’t even know much about the Italian league other than it’s in Italy, my manager—nick-named the “Panther”— is allergic to umpires, and the team has high expectations for an American pitcher with big league time under his belt.

That last part makes me a little nervous. I hope they don’t expect me to get off the plane and start striking people out like some video game cheat code. I need these next two weeks to get up to full game speed. I’ve been doing my best to get ready here at home, but there is only so much a player can do in a cold weather state when all his potential catch partners are playing college ball, or in spring training. (more…)

I think what you need to understand right off is, I’m not doing this because I want to be famous. Yes, I know Italy is not a path back to the majors. Yes, I am scared that it could hurt me financially, wont help me build a big brand name for myself, and wont give me access to the book selling power of our omniscient American sports media coverage. This is a huge life decision, a completely new direction, in a totally different continent— believe me, I know what I’m up against.

But you only live once. I could go back and try my hand at filling out someone’s Triple-A roster on the hope that if enough guys above me get hurt I could sneak back onto a big league roster. Yet, after spending as much time in this game as I have, I can honestly tell you that the chances of me making it back to the top are relatively low, while the chances that I grow resentful to the grind as it eats yet another year of my life are relatively high.  (more…)