Saturday, January 30, 1999
Major leaguer tells students about importance of school
By Chris Homan
Sports Writer
He couldn't carry a more fitting last name. Indeed, ''Pride'' descibes what major league baseball player Curtis Pride is all about. It's the thing that keeps him in the sport.
You see, when Pride swings the bat for a single to right or smacks a home run, he only hears the fans' reaction with his heart. Pride is deaf.
Through the efforts of Kris Klepper, the phenomenal story of Curtis Pride was brought to the new St. Joseph Activity center Friday for the students of St. Joseph and St. Mary as a way of promoting education in the school system.
What a story of determination it is.
Pride was and is what every child dreams of being. His high school days at Kennedy (Maryland) brought him recognition in three sports, which eventually led to a full basketball scholorship to prestigious William and Mary College.
But something dramatic happened to Pride at that same time - he was drafted by the New York Mets to play baseball. Not wanting to miss out on a college education, Pride and his family worked and agreement with the Mets that allowed him to become a part-time player, but full-time student.
But the educational standpoint is something Pride made sure the students of Tiffin understood.
''Anyone can take baseball away from me, but no one can take away my education,'' he said. ''When I leave baseball, I have something to fall back on. I have a degree in finance, so hopefully I can work with a consulting firm or something like that.
''I am very proud of the fact that I am the first deaf baseball player in modern history, but I am also proud that I am a baseball player with a college education.''
On this day Pride also talked about the importance of carrying out a dream.
The odds were against him from the start with his disability, but Pride took a stand. He looked at things from a different point of view.
''People were always there telling me I couldn't play professional baseball because of my disability,'' he said. ''Instead, I wanted people to look at my abilities, not my disabilities.''
There were times throughout his eight minor-league seasons that Pride was ready to call it quits - one in particular. Pride had struggled to his worst season statistically and halfway through, we wanted to quit. But there was one person in his is life who made a difference.
''I was ready to quit, but my dad told me to stick it out. He said after the season I could explore my options,'' Pride said. ''I listened to him. I stuck it out. He was the one who kept me going.
But there was also someone else. ''I worked with disabled kids and there was this one who really looked up to me,'' he said. ''It didn't matter to him if I was in the majors or minors. To him, I was a professional baseball player. I saw how much he looked up to me and I couldn't let him down. He wanted me to give baseball another chance, so I did.
''I had the best season of my life.''
And the Montreal Expos took notice. In 1992 Pride signed with the Expos as a minor-league free agent and just a year later his own dream, one of playing in the major leagues, finally came true.
Pride made the most of his September call-up, smacking a double in his first at-bat. As special as that hit was, what followed was a lifetime memory.
''When I got that hit, everyone stood up and kept standing,'' he said. ''I actually heard the pounding in my chest because they were so loud. That was oneof the greatest moments of my life. It was so special; it meant so much to me.''
In 1996 Pride was invited to Spring Training with the Detroit Tigers and eventually won a spot as the starting left fielder. It didn't come easy. But Pride was always the one who stayed late and his hard worked payed off.
''If you work hard, good things will happen - that's my motto,'' he said. ''I always had a dream to play major league baseball, and it is so important to go after your dreams. It's easy to get discouraged or get down on yourself, but you just have to keep working. I always wanted to break records or get better; show the coaches I could be a big league player.''
And he did, with pride.