Chuck Shirley, Oklahoma Baptist University, Senior
“I can’t even begin to describe how I felt the first time I let the ball go
from my
hand and hit the guy right in the chest. And then again and
again and again. It was
so effortless. I was giddy just playing catch”
January 29, 2004 Emailed:
”Dr. Crowley I found you in Baseball America. I play at Oklahoma Baptist
University.
I play third, first, catch and DH. I’ve played mainly first and third the past
two years ever since I got to OBU mainly because I feel like the coaching staff has
a lack of confidence in my throwing ability.
I had Tommy John surgery when I was in high school and despite making one of the
best and fastest recoveries I have never been the same throwing the ball. The injury
was a freak occurrence the doctors were never able to give me a reason for the injury
as I had hardly ever pitched and tried to throw less than five curve balls in my
entire life.
My dad pitched in the Major Leagues for 12 years so I have always had very good mechanics
and release as well as genetics my arm strength was my most valuable asset on the
field and most considered it to be my ticket. I missed pretty much my entire senior
year because of rehab but managed to play in about 20 games none behind the plate
all at either 1st or most DH.
Because of the injury and not playing my senior year no schools wanted to
touch me,
I ended up at a D II school in Kansas that ended up being a very
good fit, but this
is where the problems start. At the beginning of my first semester was only a year
after surgery and I was still rehabbing. The coaches regarded me as a diamond in
the rough and that I was one of their best signings ever and that I would be one
of the best players to ever of played there. But when we start to play catch I couldn’t
throw the ball to guy standing 20 feet away from me. I would let it go and the bail
would hit 5 feet in front of him. So to compensate I would throw the ball over his
head. Then I would get real anxious and the bail started coming out of my hand
wrong. It was like I was throwing sliders. I had a real loose grip and the ball would
have slider spin to it. I started lobbing the ball until I felt like the guy was
far enough away that if I threw it hard he would have time to react to it if it was
a bad throw.
After 4 or 5 really hard throws I would relax a little and let up and from about
fifty feet and out I was OK, not as accurate as I could be, but the ball didn’t skip
5 feet in front of him. And if I threw it on a line it was more likely not to go
over his head. And then we started throwing bullpens, and I don’t know what ever
I did I couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitchers. None of them would let me catch
them. And II did I had to lob it back to them with a high arch. I was so embarrassed.
This thing that any 12 year old kid could do I couldn’t. This thing that I had done
my entire lífe had disappeared.
I was a leader. I was the most confident person on my team: intense, focused, determined
& driven. People came to watch me play and noticed my ability. But most of all I
enjoyed every minute of baseball practice, games, TV, watching anything. It was the
most fun and enjoyable time I could spend and it was gone.
I hated having to throw. Guys would steal and stop half between the base and dare
me to throw it and couldn’t do it. I transferred at semester more or less because
I was embarrassed and it was hard for me to show my face around my teammates. I
wondered what they thought of me and I had a lot of doubt about being around them.
When I transferred to Juco we would play catch in the gym in the winter and we had
to run every time someone missed a bail or made a bad throw and it hit the wall.
I was petrified, but determined and hard-
I made it through Juco and I played a lot of third and first because that’s where
I was needed more: not really because of my inaccurate arm, but if did catch I had
the occasional over throw and short hop that made me a very hesitant player. Whereas
before I just let it go knowing that it was gonna hit the guy in the chest.
I transferred to OBU and at first was told that I was needed more at third then behind the plate but then it became evident that I couldn’t make routine throws just throwing it back to the pitcher was a chore I never really know where it’s gonna go. I made a lot of errors just throwing the ball. I would make great plays and end up not being able to finish, so I sat. I didn’t play the last month of the year because I had torn cartilage in my knee that could of waited by we decided to go ahead and get it taken care of because I wasn’t playing.
I have worked really hard this off-
frustrated with
where I’m at and where I know I can be. The mental stress has carried over to hitting.
I know it as I use to just hammer the ball and attack pitches, but now I don’t swing
at pitches I should and pitchers can work me. My confidence is shot and I don’t know
what to do. I have the talent and the desire to play major league baseball, but mentally
I don’t know an}more. Well, that’s the bulk of the story. I’m open to pretty much
anything right now. Sorry for this long but I feel like the more I tell you maybe
the more you will be able to help. Thank you for your time.” Chuck Shirley
I worked with Dr. Crowley for an hour on the phone February 6th . We
worked on such
issues as my having zero control with light throws so I was forced to throw hard;
overthrowing; something in the back of my mind waiting for the next one to not be
there; my release point problem of lightly gripping the ball and its falling out
of my hand; and being judgmental and critical of myself as a result of all I’ve been
though.
February 13, 2004 Email:
“Dr. Crowley I don’t know if you got last email or not, but everything is great
just
a few hiccups that I wanted to talk to you about. And if you can do to my swing what
you’ve done to my throwing I’ll ride you all the way to the hall of fame!” Chuck
Shirley
February 17, 2004 Email:
“My last email didn’t say much. . . . just how the game has made an entire 180 on
me and that I can’t believe how much one conversation can make a
difference! I can’t
even begin to describe how I felt the first time I let the ball go from my hand and
hit the guy right in the chest. And then again and again and again. It was so effortless.
I was giddy just playing catch. I can’t remember a time when I was happy to just
be throwing the ball around. Now I can’t stop throwing. I take every opportunity
to throw it and it goes where I want it every time. And if the ball doesn’t go quite
where I want it to go I can now feel it mechanically in my hand that I may have held
it a little too long and or short and I adjust and make the next throw perfect. I
use to wonder where the next one was going and when it didn’t go where I intended
it to go I had no idea why.
I’m so confident in throwing the ball right now it’s unreal, like I said it’s
effortless.
I don’t even think about it and it goes. I can’t thank you enough for your help and
what you’ve done. I hope to be able to talk to you tomorrow sometime.” Chuck
“Oh yeah, I wasn’t kidding about the Hall of Fame either.”
We worked for only two more 30 minute sessions addressing my hitting the ball for
power, seeing the ball better, not reacting to the pitch and my feeling the disappointment
from others.
March 1, 2004 Email:
“Well I was waiting until we had a game to write to you and give you an
update. The
throwing is still amazing. We spent last week inside and out. We had games cancelled
because of weather. But the time spent in the cage and Batting Practice was great.
I could totally tell the difference in the power. I mean I was really hitting the
shit of the ball and with tremendous frequency. I’ve been seeing the ball a lot better
and longer during BP and hitting the ball the other way with ease because of it.”
Chuck
Full Transcript and Testimonial of
Chuck Shirley
Oklahoma Baptist University, Senior
