My Road To The Show (sort of) - jczar78's Blog

jczar78's Blog

My Road To The Show (sort of)

Posted on July 15, 2009 at 03:44 AM.

(2)

I started my RTTS the day I got the game on release day. I decided to play on Legend and not tweak sliders; well I played for a couple of weeks and then focused on my franchise. Since I'm off the whole summer I picked up where I left off. My player James Czar is a career minor leaguer in his seventh seasons as a pitcher. I have never made the Show. But I keep the hope that one day I will.

I started out as a 20 yr old lefty rp. I was drafted by the Yankees and I was in their system for two months when they traded me to the Pirates. At the time I was not happy about the move but at least I figured that the move would be a quicker road to the bigs. Boy was I wrong; I spent two seasons in Altoona 2009- 2010, not disastrous by any means but nothing to write home about. Before spring training of �11 I was traded to the Cubs.

When this happened I was pleased, being a Cub fan this was great news. But it was nothing short of disastrous. I was injured shortly after my debut in 2011, now mind you I have been less than stellar in all of my stops in the minors. So needless to say I was not a very good pitcher; after missing four months on the DL my ratings were low and I was injured frequently. I returned in late August of 2011 and appeared sparingly. The only highlight being that the Smokies won the Southern League title, I did not pitch in any of the playoff games.

My next two seasons if you can call them that were a train wreck; I started 2012 with the Tennessee Smokies but was injured on my second appearance. After being on the 60 day dl the Cubs had seen enough and traded me to the Marlins. I played with Jacksonville the remainder of the season and posted some decent numbers before getting hurt during the Southern League playoffs ironically enough against the Tennessee Smokies.

I pitched for Jacksonville in 2013 without incident but did not put up stellar numbers and was used mainly as the left handed specialist. This was a good season sort of but since I was used only in short outings my ratings did not go up much and I made little progress and worst of all I did not get a call to triple A.

After five years I was on the wrong side of 25 and in Double A; I seriously thought about calling it a career, but the teacher in me decided not to give up. Now there were a few factors that probably hurt my player like the time it took me to adjust to playing on Legend and all my time on the DL.

After 2013 I was released by the Marlins organization and went unsigned until the Red Sox offered me a one year contract. I was on my way to Portland to play for the Sea Dogs. The 2014 season was my best to date, I had finally been healthy enough to pitch a whole year and my ratings finally went up.

I made the Double A all-star team and pitched an inning of relief in the all-star game. I Kept meeting my goals month after month and yet no call to triple A. I kept being told that I was not ready and to keep at it. Well I finally got promoted in late August of 2014; this to me was like making the show especially after five and a half seasons in Double A.

I arrived in Pawtucket just as the season was winding down and the first batter I faced was Ricky Weeks who was playing for Charlotte. It might not seem like much but that was the first MLB player I had ever pitched to in my RTTS, I was pretty excited. I pitched lights out in the playoffs and got a Vulture win in the IL playoffs the highlight of my career.

But alas I spent the 2015 season at Pawtucket and no call to the Show so far. I will keep trying and even if my player never makes it, this has been a fun and frustrating experience. I feel like one of the hundreds of minor leaguers that never make it but hang on to the dream and keep coming back every year for that one last gasp of hope.

Comments

# 1 ffyfe7 @ Jul 15

Yeah well my RTTS was going really well as a SP. I got drafted by the Houston Aeros ang got offered a 2 yr contract but i took a 1 yr contract in AA after half a year I got traded to the Washington Nationals and after 2 years of great stats I got called up to the Show. I was doing well in spring training until.......... my PS3 broke for the 2nd time! So I lost all my memory and now I am a 2B in Twins AA in my 1st year. So at least your PS3 hasn't broken twice........ but all the best to your RTTS