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Estrada refused to allow drugs to
derail dream |
| By Jack Magruder, Tribune |
| February 21, 2006 |
| TUCSON - The collision that ruined new
Diamondbacks catcher Johnny Estrada’s 2005 season is nothing compared to
the one he avoided in his youth in Hayward, Calif., where drug dealers
owned the neighborhood corner and recruited their clients early. |
Estrada lost a half-season last year, but he
has seen friends and family members lose a lot more, including dreams
and time, on the street. That is the reason he carries a staunch
antisubstance message on his catching gear.
The phrase “No drugs’’ is stitched into the neck piece of Estrada’s
chest protector, the backside of the lower flaps on both of his shin
guards and the side of his catcher’s mitt.
“It’s part of his character and his integrity,’’ said Russ Ortiz, who
played with Estrada in Atlanta in 2003-04 and is rooming with him in
spring training. “He stands by that and he sticks to it.’’
An All-Star and Silver Slugger award winner in 2004, Estrada credits
strong family guidance for keeping him from the path that seemed almost
a normal part of everyday life while growing up.
“I saw a lot of (stuff) going on,’’ Estrada said. “People doing drugs in
school. I was lucky to have a mom and dad that were strict, and I had
baseball to steer me away from that stuff.’’
As if his parents’ guidance was not reinforcement enough, Estrada had a
meaningful session with his grandfather, who spent 14 years in prison.
Estrada was 16 at the time.
“I was kind of messing up in high school, and he sat me down,’’ Estrada
said. “He finally told me, ‘If there is anything out there you want to
experiment with, any drug you want to try, let me know, because I’ve
done them all.’
“It had an effect on my life right away. A lot of kids, they don’t get
that up close and personal with somebody like that. It kind of scared me
at first. I appreciate it more now than I did back then, for him being
that honest with me. It showed that he cared about me.’’
Estrada’s grandfather and father were named Johnny, and Estrada
continued the family line by naming his son Johnny IV.
“He had a big effect on my life. I’m proud of him and proud of what he
had,’’ Estrada said. “He was a boxer in the Army. A lot of the hand-eye
coordination I have that has enabled me to be a good baseball player I
got from him and my dad.’’
Estrada’s hand-eye coordination served him well in 2004, his first
season as a fulltime starter, when he batted .314 with 36 doubles, nine
home runs and 76 RBIs. He had a .378 on-base percentage.
He made the All-Star team and won a Silver Slugger as the National
League’s best hitting catcher. He was hitting .282 with 26 RBIs last
season before suffering neck and shoulder injuries when he was
blind-sided in a home plate collision by the Angels’ Darin Erstad on
June 6.
Estrada played through the injury the rest of the season, but he did not
have full range of motion and his swing was impaired. He finished
hitting .261 with four homers, something that grates on him.
“I’m not a .260 hitter. That was a tough pill to swallow,’’ he said.
“I thought it was dirty,’’ Estrada continued, talking about the
collision.
“I know he didn’t mean to hurt me. He was just playing the game hard,
but looking at the video, he had a chance to slide and avoid the
contact.’’
As for continuing to play, “I was being the stubborn player, trying to
be durable. I just kept playing through it and got worse and worse.
“I couldn’t really turn my neck from side to side without stiffness. I
was able to catch, and Bobby (Cox, the Atlanta manager) wanted me out
there catching. I did what they asked me to do.
“It kind of left a sour taste in my mouth when they shipped me out of
town after I played hurt half the year, but I’m happy about being over
here in new surroundings and back on the West Coast.’’
D-Backs manager Bob Melvin: “I think he’s excited about being the No. 1
guy again, putting the injury in the past and being a guy we look to
here. I think he’s going to end up being a huge pickup for us.’’
Ortiz is looking forward to being reunited with Estrada.
“He studies the hitters and he studies his pitchers,’’ Ortiz said.
“He knows what all his pitchers have. He’s going to push you to keep
going or figure out a way to get you back on track.’’ |
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