Happy Opening day!!! Whoever said “There’s no crying in baseball” needs to take a good look at Brock Stassi. He cries and it just so happens that he’s also in baseball – Major League Baseball, that is.
The 27-year-old rookie became very emotional on Thursday when the Philadelphia Phillies informed him that he had made the Opening Day Roster.
It’s been a long, hard road for Stassi who said he never stopped believing in himself, even when no one else did. Despite always being told he wasn’t good enough and would never even be able to hit college pitching, Stassi never gave up and was eventually drafted by the Phillies in the 33rd round of the 2011 draft.
Several frustrating years in the Minors followed, but he kept plugging away and eventually made some mechanical changes to his swing. The changes worked, and he impressed the big club enough during Spring Training to convince manager Pete Mackanin to keep him on the roster.
Stassi got choked up while talking to reporters and called it “a dream come true.” (USA Today)
Source: Radio One / Don Juan Fasho
