Published Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:27 AM
Updated Wednesday, April 02, 2008 10:28 AM
Frankly Speaking 04/03/08
'Baseball is my life'How do you turn down an opportunity to chase a dream?
If you're a baseball fan who's drafted by a Major League team, you don't. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio in the late 1950's, Dan became a Reds fan before he ever knew he had a choice.
More importantly, he became a baseball fan. And like millions of kids before and after, he nurtured a dream to one day play the game for a living. Pete Rose's career began about the time Dan became old enough to visit Crosley Field, the gem of a ballpark that was home to the Reds before Riverfront Stadium. He worshipped Rose, and all of the other players on a Cincinnati roster that would soon develop into one of the game's greatest.
And as the Big Red Machine developed, so did the talents of the Cincinnati teenager. Dan was a pitcher. He stood over six feet tall. And he threw strikes. After his family moved to Indiana when he was 14, he entered New Haven High School, where people started to notice his talent.
His high school debut came against Indiana's fourth-ranked team. Dan, the first freshman to play any varsity sport at New Haven since World War II, shut them out. That set the tone for a four-year career that put him - and kept him - on the baseball map. His senior year saw Dan record 119 strikeouts in 68 innings, with an earned run average of 0.63. Over one six-game span, he threw a no-hitter, four consecutive one-hitters, and another no-hitter. Over his New Haven career, he recorded 324 strikeouts and had a four-year ERA of 1.09. He once threw for 33 consecutive scoreless innings. He was a first team All Conference selection three straight years, and made the statewide all star team. The spring of his senior year, Dan became the first New Haven graduate in the school's 78-year history to be drafted, by the Chicago Cubs in 1976's 12th round. Although Western Michigan University offered him a scholarship to play baseball, there was really no decision to make. He signed with the Cubs - and embarked on a five-year odyssey. Sometimes the odyssey was a triumph: In his rookie season, Dan ranked in the top 10 in ERA, and made the All Star team. Sometimes it was a disappointment: The Majors - so close, and yet so far away - remained unreachable for the young hurler. But always, his baseball career was a dream come true. The five years he spent playing professional baseball gave him memories that would last a lifetime. For those lucky enough to know him today, the experience also produced a bottomless well of stories that he continues to tell. All of them true ... all of them entertaining. The stories are important, because pitching is not his only talent. He's also a writer. And a few months ago, Dan Brown brought 20 years of experience in journalism - and five years with the Cubs - to Berkeley County, where he writes for The Gazette and The Independent. His duties include covering county government, local politics ... and baseball. The sport remains important. In fact, "Baseball is my life," he said. "I love the game, its history, and its stories." I will leave the stories to Dan, but suffice it to say, if the tales he shares with readers are anything close to the ones I've heard him tell in person, then we're all in for a treat. In a few days, Dan will take his first steps onto a minor league baseball field in nearly a quarter-century, when he covers the Charleston RiverDogs' preseason media day. I don't know what angle he'll take. But I do know it will be entertaining. Because Dan writes a lot like he played baseball, with an enthusiasm that hasn't faded since he was last on the mound. The game may have changed, but Dan Brown is still throwing strikes. Berkeley County is lucky to have him. So were the Cubs