Ryan Gardner posted a status update on Facebook just a few days ago that said “I want my life back.”
He didn’t really mean it. It’s just that the life he’s always known in Santa Barbara has been hit out of the ballpark so that he can begin living his dream as a professional baseball player. The 21-year-old Dos Pueblos High grad and SBCC pitcher went through an agonizing few days in which he wasn’t selected in the MLB Draft two weeks ago before finally being offered a free agent contract by the Cleveland Indians.
Now he finds himself playing rookie ball in Goodyear, AZ, where temperatures have hovered around 108 for the past few days. He’s pitched four innings and picked up two saves, including a 1-2-3 ninth inning on Tuesday. He has an impressive WHIP (walks + hits per inning pitched) of 0.89.
“I threw in the second game of the season and hit two guys because I was a little bit too jacked up. I didn’t hit anyone in two years of college and then I come out here and dose two guys in my first inning,” he recalled.
Gardner shares a two bedroom apartment with three teammates, and he says that “there’s really nothing to do” in the city of about 47,000. It’s quite a change for a kid who’s spent his life surfing and playing ball on the American Riviera.
But he would be happy in Antarctica as long as there’s baseball.
“It’s awesome, because I’m getting paid to play baseball and keep myself in shape,” said the outspoken 21-year-old. “At the same time, I really miss my girlfriend and stuff like that… When the season’s over on August 28th I’ll be driving about 110 miles per hour on my way back to Santa Barbara.”
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Gardner is already getting along famously with his teammates, and he’s made a concerted effort to bond with some of the young Dominican prospects, who don’t speak English and, according to him, tend to remain isolated from other players off the field.
Ryan Gardner sports his new uniform in the bullpen at Goodyear Ballpark.
“I speak a little bit of Spanish, and they call me their American brother. I went over to their apartment on the first day, and they told me that no white guys ever come over and talk to them. Now they’ll come over and watch movies and stuff,” he said.
The crowds at the games are sparse — around 20 or 30 people sometimes. But that’s rookie ball. Not everyone can be like top draft pick Bryce Harper, a 17-year-old slugger on the verge of being a multi-millionaire. Some people say Harper will be in the big leagues within two years.
Gardner suffered through this year’s draft, being told by a scout that he would possibly be picked on the first day, when the first 30 rounds (out of 50) are conducted. The next day he was told that he was on the Indians’ draft board to be selected, but never got a call. All the while, a handful of his teammates on the Santa Barbara Foresters were being selected as the team traveled to play in San Luis Obispo.
“He didn’t seem that sad, but I think inside he was devastated. He just didn’t show it outwardly,” said his mom, Stephanie.
Gardner was planning on going to pitch at Metro State College in Denver if the pros didn’t come calling. He also had some interest from other schools that he could have chosen.
“Deep down, I really wasn’t planning on going to Metro State next year. But after I didn’t get picked me and [SBCC teammate Conner Rehage] were like ‘What the heck?’ I just figure that it’s a business, and that everything happens for a reason,” he said.
He was getting everything together to make sure he had the right credits to move on to a four-year school, when he got a call two days after the draft ended. It was the Indians’ scout, Vince Sagisi. As a free agent, Gardner was offered a $1,500 signing bonus, and was also able to negotiate for $10,000 a year towards school if baseball ever fell through. It wasn’t the $35,000 dollar bonus that Foresters teammates like pitcher Boone Whiting (drafted in the 18th round by the Cardinals) were getting, but it was a chance to live out the dream of pro baseball.
His family gathered for a barbecue, and a few days later he was off to Goodyear.
The odds of making the Major Leagues are slim for the vast majority of minor-leaguers, and Gardner’s thin 5-foot-10 frame doesn’t catch the eyes of scouts like the 6-4, 200-pounders do.
“My goal, like anyone else here, is to make the Big Leagues. I may not have the ideal size, but my work ethic, strength, desire, drive, smarts and love for baseball all make me your prototypical baseball player,” he said.
His work ethic and strength become apparent right away when you see him in a sleeveless warm-up shirt. He’s 180 pounds of chiseled muscle with less fat than a Slim-Fast shake.
“It seems like all baseball players nowadays are so big, and he’s not. But he just never quits, and I love him so much for it. It makes me so proud to say that my son is a professional baseball player,” said mom.
In a way, Gardner’s new world is a classic bite of Americana, like you’d see in the movie Bull Durham — a young guy in a small town who spends the majority of his waking hours the ballpark. Those types of ballparks are scattered all across the nation, all filled with ambitious young players who have nothing to do but try to get better and be noticed. If he succeeds, he’ll move up to a bigger venue in some other town he’s never been to. And if he beats the odds, he might one day find himself on the biggest stage.
“I’m just going to keep playing until someone tells me I’m not good enough to anymore,” he said.
He’s driving 110 miles per hour towards a dream that any gambler would bet against, but perhaps the journey is the most important part.
