Darien Smith

One week out and I can't wait. Hope everyone feels the same way.

I want to share a very inspirational story with you guys.

One of my teammates on the Atlanta 51s is a guy by the name of Darien Smith. Darien has Parkinson's disease. You would never know it by watching him play. He's intense, cheerful, positive and just a great guy to be around. He also has one of the liveliest arms I've ever seen. I know I'm exaggerating but it seems like he can throw 99 mph. Occasionally, Darien pitches an inning or two for us. Sometimes it feast, and sometimes it famine, but it's always adventurous (right, T-Loe?) Darien also plays some outfield for us as well.

On October 20th of this year, Darien is having major surgery for his Parkinson's disease. I don't know if you guys ever saw the special on 20/20 when they go through the patient's skull while he's awake and try to correct the problem through a probe? That is about the kind of surgery he's having. Basically, this year was/is his last year of baseball. He's already informed the team that he is done and won't be back I 2009.

I heard through the grapevine that Darien was looking to play in one last tournament out in Phoenix or Tampa. Tampa is in November, so that is out. I also know he put his name in the pool of players who wants to be picked up by someone that needs players. To this day, he hasn't been picked up yet by any team. I offered Darien a spot on our team with no promise of playing time. I said that if you can't get on a team by Thursday, we'd take you on ours. He accepted. He just wants to be around the guys one last time. The smell of the grass, sitting in the dugout, warming up in a major league stadium. It's not official that he's on this team yet, but he is if he wants to be.