Power Pros Forum

The year is 2005. Brien McKeiver Taylor has just quit his second job as a beer distributor and is contemplating moving back to his hometown in Beaufort, North Carolina to work for his father Willie as a bricklayer. But he has an itch. An itch to play baseball. He last played professionally in 2000 for the Indians' Class-A affiliate in Columbus where he had an atrocious 27.00 ERA in 2 2/3 innings across 5 games. But Taylor wasn't a mediocre high school pitcher who somehow got lucky enough to be drafted in the lower rounds and was given a shot by the organization. In fact he was the exact opposite. Back in late 80s and early 90s Brien Taylor was the greatest high school pitcher in the country, with an ERA of 1.25, a win-loss record of 29-6, and 213 strikeouts to 28 walks over 88 innings in his amateur career. The secret to his success was his unbelievable fastball, which often hit 99 miles per hour. Scott Boras, who Taylor was able to have to represent him as an advisor and agent, claims to this day that Taylor had the best fastball he's ever seen. Taylor was drafted with the first-overall pick by the New York Yankees in 1991, and was hyped up to be the pitcher of the decade who would lead the Bronx Bombers to their next dynasty. But it wasn't meant to be. After 2 great years in 1992 and 1993 in the farm system Taylor was expected to be ready for the 1994 season, but severely injured his shoulder defending his brother in a fight after the 1993 season. After missing 1994 due to surgery his once-dominant fastball had vanished and he couldn't even throw his curveball for a strike anymore, and after putting up pitiful numbers from 1995 to 1998 the Yankees released him, and his opportunities with the Mariners and Indians failed. The man who was poised to begin the new Yankees dynasty instead watched as they won 4 titles in 5 years without him. As he moved on with his life by moving to Raleigh to work for UPS, he was now considered the greatest bust in MLB history and one of two picks who never reached the majors as of 2005, the other being 1966 pick Steve Chilcott, although it seemed 1999 pick Josh Hamilton would join them due to his injuries and drug problems. Brien was now about to turn 34. He had recently learned about Jim Morris, who reached the big leagues at the age of 35 to play two seasons with the Devil Rays after injuries forced him into retirement in the 80s, and who had a Disney movie made about him a few years back. Brien was questioning if he still had a chance, if he could make it to the majors like Morris and be considered an inspiring comeback story. But he needed a job to support his five kids, and independent or minor league pay wasn't going to cut it. Taylor decided he was going to make up his mind in the morning and headed for bed. That night he had a disturbing nightmare of his future, where in desperation to finance his family he turned to cocaine trafficking, resulting in him being sent to prison for 3 years. Taylor woke up terrified. He made his choice. He was going to make it to the Show no matter what. Even if it was just for one game, he was going to make it.

This is a Success Mode playthrough of a scenario where Brien Taylor attempted a comeback to return to professional baseball. Once the playthrough is complete I will post his player code and continue his story as an MLB Life playthrough.

It's January 2006. Taylor has arrived in Boise, Idaho for a tryout with an independent league team called the Boise Green Apples. Although the league is not affiliated with the MLB, it has bragged about how it's teams are nearly on-par with AA and even AAA squads, and how many players have been scouted and signed by Major League teams. Taylor knew he needed to show the team what he had, as this was his last shot at cracking the Big Leagues. He'd been practicing the last few months by increasing his arm strength, focusing on control, and relearning breaking pitches. It's now his turn at the tryouts. He tries to throw his curveball, and for the first time in years he manages to land it in the strike zone. He thinks it likely would've been clobbered in a real at-bat, but it's a good start. He then goes to his offspeed change up, and while none of them are thrown exactly where he wanted them they still managed to land in the zone or just outside. So far, so good. He next moves to a slider he's been learning to catch batters off-guard. It doesn't have that much break or snap to it, but he thinks it could make a few rookies look foolish and can improve it later. Finally, he moves to his once-dominant fastball, praying that he can somehow still hit at least 88 mph. He puts it cleanly down the middle and waits for the radar gun's result. He's stunned by them. He didn't throw 88. He threw 93. It's still nowhere near where it was in high school, but with enough work he might be able to make it reach it again, and if not it would still be enough for a big league pitcher, in fact some pitchers would give anything to throw that hard. Taylor is satisfied, but still worried he wouldn't get a chance. His fears are quickly extinguished when the coach comes over to him. "We're impressed by both your fastball and your willingness to give baseball one last shot. Welcome to the Green Apples." Taylor is overwhelmed. His comeback was about to begin.

1st week of February 2006. On his way to the clubhouse Brien Taylor runs into a new rookie player, a speedy utility player named Marvin Lesman. The two of them quickly become friends, with Marvin's wacky and nerdy traits endearing him to Taylor. In the clubhouse the two talk about their goals, with Marvin boastfully believing he's destined to become the next big MLB icon. Taylor chuckled, thinking to himself that while Marvin had genuine talent he would likely be a journeyman with decent utility fielding, base stealing and pinch running potential, and one All-Star appearance for a weak team at the very best. Taylor tells Marvin how he's returning to baseball to prove that he can make it to the Show and finance his family, while also telling Marvin of his application to work for a local hot dog shop called Ducks to support his family back home along with whatever he'll get paid by the team. The two meet William, the General Manager of the Green Apples. He introduces the two to the team and tells them how if they play well they could get promoted to a higher level of the independent league, but also warns them that if they don't perform well they'll likely get fired at the end of their first year. He tells them not to worry about that right now though, and says he'll introduce them to their teammates next week, and to practice at the field for now. Taylor decides to work on his top speed in the batting cage, hoping he can work his fastball back to where it was in high school.

2nd Week of February 2006. Taylor and Marvin are called to the locker room by William to introduce them to their teammates. Frank, a slick outfielder, introduces himself first, but is quickly interrupted by catcher and team captain Tom, who introduces himself as a seasoned veteran and tells the two that they'll be lucky if they even get put on the actual roster. Taylor considers calling him Grandpa in response. But decides not to as Tom looks nearly a decade younger than the 34-year old. After the introductions finish, Taylor asks William about any training techniques, and is redirected to Tom, who advises that they first build up body strength in the weight room to prevent injury while practicing. Taylor heeds this advice and heads to the weight room to work on his strength.