Living the dream with Anthony Seratelli

Like many young Americans, I wanted to be a baseball player when I was a growing up. Baseball was that first sport to catch my eye. The memories I have of my early experiences with Baseball are ones I cherish. They start with listening to Bob Murphy and Gary Thorne’s play by play as the Mets defeated the Astros in game six of the 1986 National League Championship Series, while my father and I returned from a hiking trip in the Catskill Moutains of upstate New York. The first baseball cards I bought were in 1987, when I walked into a convenience store and saw Darryl Strawberry’s 1987 Topps card in a three pack hanging from a display in the aisle. Those card collections of my youth lead to the day when Lenny Dykstra signed his 1988 Topps card for me at my local card store, much to my delight. They continue with hundreds of memories of games my father took me to at Shea, including Gary Carter hitting a game winning home run in 1988 and, one of my favorites, getting there early to watch batting practice in 1989, and having Barry Lyons and David Cone signed my score sheet. Baseball was the first organized game I ever played, first as a switch hitter because that’s what Howard Johnson did, before eventually settling in as a left handed batter because that was my better side and it didn’t hurt that Strawberry hit that way.

I wasn’t any good. I had a decent arm, but not good enough to pitch and too wild to play the infield. I could hit a little bit and had a good eye, but not enough to try out for my high school team. My memories of playing baseball are a mixed bag of being made to play catcher early on because I was the worst player on the team to being a part of back to back little league championship teams in my hometown during my last two years of playing organized baseball. With the bat, I hit one home run, which I didn’t even know was a home run and, in the championship game, had what amounted to a game winning double off of the fence in my second to last year playing little league.

Those are great memories and what solidified the fact that Baseball will always be the preeminent sport in my life, the one I follow year round. So when I read about a guy like Anthony Seratelli, it tugs at those memories and those dreams of my early life.

Seratelli is what so many of us wanted to be as kids. Yes Football and, at times arguably Basketball, has eclipsed Baseball in terms of overall popularity during the seasons in which they play, but nothing beats baseball for its long season and year round interest. It’s also the only sport where a Seratelli, David Eckstein or Freddy Sanchez type of player can be successful. Only in Baseball can guys that grind it out every day and get the most of even the slimmest iota of talent become key members of a bench or even all stars. It’s the only place where a guy like Seratelli, who had to work every step of the way, could have a chance at playing a professional sport.

Seratelli’s story is one of those that make’s Baseball so great.  At Old Bridge High School in New Jersey, Seratalli was a solid player, one known for hard work, but not necessarily great skill. He’s also the guy that, in his Junior year, had his season ended after a muscle was separated from the bone tuning second. Did he stop? No. According to his high school coach, Seratelli crawled to third, and was safe. He worked hard and recovered to have an excellent senior year, but no scholarship offers came his way. Instead of giving up, Seratelli was a walk on at Seton Hall, and was named captain of the team in his Sophomore year. Despite a solid college career, he went undrafted in 2005 and spent the following summer trying out for various big league clubs, with no contracts offered to him.

Just like the guy that refused to go down in High School rounding second, he refused to let his dream die on the tryout fields.  He instead joined the Windy City Thunderbolts of the Independent League and proceeded to hit .286, with a .831 OPS and 28 stolen bases in 76 games, playing shortstop, third base and second base. This earned him a tryout with the Royals, one that he would win with his hard work and flexibility. Seratelli would linger in the Royals system as a not exactly prospect type player, but a guy who increased his value by showing, over the course of the next seven years (2007 – 2013) that he could play first base and both corner outfield spots, along with his original three positions. He also showed speed and an aptitude for drawing a walk. During the course of his minor league trials, Seratelli lost his father to a tragic car accident in 2011 that also could have taken the life of his sister, and used baseball to deal with his grief.

All of those travels and travails culminated in back to back seasons at the Royals Triple-A Omaha affiliate in 2012 and 2013 where he batted .286 over 235 games with a .835 OPS. Since he never got a call to the majors, Seratelli became a minor league free agent and was snapped up by the Mets, with an invite to spring training and a chance at replacing Justin Turner on the bench. Tragically, when he learned that he would be going to spring training in Port St. Lucie, he also learned that his grandmother was dying of Cancer. She would soon pass away, in January of 2014 and Seratelli, ever the one to get back up when life through a fastball high and inside, would again turn to Baseball to deal with his grief. This would be aided by his now widowed grandfather, who has accompanied his grandson to Port St. Lucie to cheer him on as he works on achieving what at one time probably seemed impossible to everyone else but Seratelli.

Look, Seratelli is not a superstar, but he can be a productive bench player as a speed guy who gets on base, switch hits and plays all over the field. On top of that, he’s proven through his baseball career and his life in general, that he has the work ethic and character to be a strong part of this organization. Seratelli is not having a good spring, but the little kid in me is rooting hard for him to achieve the dream I and millions of others were never able to achieve. So, live the American dream for us Anthony Seratelli. I look forward to seeing your first at bat as a major leaguer, watching as SNY pans to a picture of your sister and grandfather and talks about how many tickets you bought for friends and family as you make your major league debut.