4.07.2007

AAA pitcher Shaun Babula's letter to Ron Wolford's Texas Baseball Ranch

"Dear Ron, Reese, Coach Strom, Coach Prigmore, Scotti and Staff,

Sorry I didn't contact you sooner... Just wanted to say thanks again for "all yall's" time and effort getting me back to normal... As soon as I signed with Newark I felt great and was throwing harder than I had in 2 yrs... Consistently 87-91mph... Big jump from 78mph... The first game I was activated happened to be against the team that released me, Camden... To make a long story short, after I threw in 2 of the 3 games against them, Camden tried to reaquire me via trade... Didn't happen... I put up O.K. #'s with Newark mostly because I struggled with my control in the 20+ innings pitched... The pitching coach kept telling me "take some off and work the zone"... I told him "not gonna happen, I haven't thrown this hard in a long time and I refuse to take some off now. If anything I'm trying to throw it harder". He understood... With all that went on though, the highlight of my time in Newark was starting the 3rd to last game of the year... You'll be happy to know, I went 6inn. - 4runs - 7k's - 1bb - 5hits... #'s are deceiving, however, because I allowed only one hitter to reach second... It just happened to be an RBI double... The other hits were a solo HR a 2 run HR and 2 singles... Only going 6inn makes me think I must have been slacking off on that 7th inning of hell... LOL... Truth is, I could of went 9 with no problem... I haven't even gone 6 since college 7yrs ago and never topped 3 and 2/3 in pro ball... It's amazing where I ended up from where I started...I can't tell you how many people accused me of taking steroids... I try to tell them, but nobody believes you guys exist... Anyway, the point of my blubbering is gratitude... I'm grateful for many things but mostly for the way "yall" treated me... Everyone really seemed to care that I got healthy and played again... Well I did, and to thank everyone, I will continue to work hard and spread the news about (you) and the top-notch staff... A million thanks to all... I can't wait to see "yous guys" next year.
All the way from Jersey
Your friend,
Shaun"

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