Jakub Janda did an interview for Mister-Baseball with Eddie Aucoin, starting pitcher of the Dutch Hoofdklasse club Konica Minolta Pioniers. Part two of the Q&A will follow on Sunday.
Eddie Aucoin: “This is still my job and I treat it that way.”
Jakub Janda: Eddie, please, could you briefly describe your rich baseball career?
Eddie Aucoin: Sure, I’ll try to make a long story somewhat short. I played college ball at Flagler College in Northeast Florida. I was captain there for a couple years playing SS and 3B. Towards the end of my career there, I started closing a few games, mainly because I could throw pretty hard at the time–not because I had any idea how to pitch. I was approached by a few scouts and expected to be drafted after my senior year.
Midway through the season, my elbow started swelling and with that, my fastball slowly started to dissipate like a fart in the wind. It progressively became worse as I bounced from infield to the mound and was too stubborn to take any time off. By the end of the year, my elbow looked like a cantaloupe and my arm was all but useless. I saw a doctor, and it was simply tendonitis that had progressed so badly that I had to take at least 6 months off. That pretty much meant the end of my pro baseball dream.
So I returned home and started working construction in downtown Boston. Working in the freezing cold alongside a group of former prison inmates, I found myself daydreaming of baseball more and more. As I dug trenches, knocked down walls and emptied dump trucks while listening to tales of riot lockdowns and prison rape, it didn’t take me long to decide that this wasn’t the life I wanted. In the spring I packed up my pickup with what little money I had saved and moved back down to Florida to work myself into playing shape again.
I ended up signing my first contract as a Shortstop in the Northeast League (independent). After a couple months of sparse playing time, I got a call from “The King” Eddie Feigner, with an offer to play shortstop for the “King and his Court” pro fastpitch softball team. The money was good and it was a chance to play and travel throughout North America–So I left baseball. I stayed with the court for 3 years and had a blast playing through the US, Canada and Mexico. I then decided it was time to move on and finish my last semester of college. The following spring though, I started to get the itch again—baseball just wouldn’t go away for me. An opportunity came along to play in Sweden, so before I knew it, I was on a plane to play again.
That’s when I really began to commit myself to learning how to pitch. In early 2003, I went to an Independent league open tryout with my brother, just for the hell of it. I really had no intention of signing; I just wanted to see how I stacked up after being away from baseball in the states for so long. To my surprise, I ended up throwing in the low nineties consistently there, and I was offered a contract on the spot. A few weeks later, I signed with the Berkshire Black Bears. I had the best year I could have possibly imagined there, was named pitcher of the year, and got an offer to play winter ball in Colombia.
I had a solid winter season and won the regular season pitcher of the year award there as well. When I got back, I received a call from the Red Sox to come work out in Ft. Myers, which I did, but it was short lived. I couldn’t agree on a contract with Berkshire again, so they traded me to the St. Paul Saints of the Northern League. That was great competition and our roster was filled with former Major League and AAA players. It was a great time as well. I then signed with the Brockton Rox so I could play one season near Boston close to friends and family.
It was after that when I received calls from the Colorado Rockies and the Toronto Blue Jays. I threw for the Blue Jays scout the following week and was invited to spring training in Dunedin, FL. After getting released from the Jays, I decided to have some fun and play just ONE more farewell year in Europe, so I signed with a team in Germany. I ended up falling in love with European baseball and German beer—almost in that order. Fast forward a few years and I’m still over here.
I guess that story wasn’t so short after all…
JJ: How does a professional softball shortstop become a professional baseball pitcher? What led you to this transition?
EA: This is actually a funny story that very few people know…I had pitched a little in college, but I wasn’t a pitcher at all. I was more of a thrower. After a few years with the King and his Court, my arm felt great. While I was saving money for my last college semester that winter (my scholarship was gone after my playing eligibility expired) I was working as a security guard in Downtown Boston. One night, while working the late shift, I snuck down to the basement parking garage in the middle of the night. I found a hidden corner where no security cameras were stationed, hung up my jacket, pulled an old baseball out of my pocket and started tossing it against the wall.
The next night, I scratched out a target on the wall, marched out around 60 ft. 6 inches and threw some more. The night after that, I mixed in a couple curveballs. It became my nightly ritual. I started throwing full-on flat ground bullpen sessions. I eventually made a game of it, pitching 5 or 6 simulated innings at a time–It was exhilarating! Every night I threw, I came back to the security office drenched in sweat. My colleagues must have thought I was some kind of lunatic. I never got caught though! I guess that’s how it started–It was after that when I decided to give it a go on the mound the following spring.
JJ: In 2002, you played in Sweden and received the MVP honor. What are your memories from Sweden? How did you like your season and off-the-field life?
EA: I actually just returned from a quick long weekend in Sweden where I got to catch up with some great old friends. I loved Sweden. Some of the guys I played with over there are still very close friends of mine who come to visit every year, no matter where I’m playing. When I won the MVP award, a couple of my Swedish buddies came over to the US to visit and they brought along the trophy. We ended up partying at Pleasure Island in Orlando one night, a drunken wrestling match broke out, one guy got tossed in a public fountain and I ended up losing the trophy somehow…oh well! I’ll always cherish my time over in Sweden.
JJ: Later you pitched professionally in Colombia, even playing on the team with current MLB shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Tell us something about the league, games and you experiences.
EA: Wow, you did your homework. The league was very competitive, with a number of major and minor league players staying in shape and earning a little off-season money. Orlando actually signed a big contract with the Montreal Expos midway through the winter so he was only there for about half of the season. It was a big adjustment going down there, but it ended up being a fantastic experience. It was a wild lifestyle, as you can imagine if you know anything about Colombia. We were paid well enough to live like rock stars and I guess most of us foreigners did. What can I say? The women were beautiful, the rum was plentiful, and I lived in a hotel overlooking the ocean. Overall it was really a great time.
JJ: You played pretty much of an Independent ball. Please, tell our readers how the Independent leagues go, what is a weekly schedule, how would you compare the level of play to European leagues you played in.
EA: I have a special place in my heart for the independent leagues, because they allowed me a chance to play professional baseball after I was hurt and considered damaged goods by MLB. The leagues that I played in were very competitive. The higher level indy leagues are made up mostly of guys that have played a number of years in Major League systems.
In ML organizations, it’s a numbers game, so a lot of quality professional players are released every year just to make room for the new draft class. The high level indy leagues provide an avenue for those talented players to continue their pro careers. As for the schedule, it’s the same as in the organized minor leagues. You play just about every night, you’re at the field for 8 or 9 hours a day and you’re typically on the road for half of every month. It’s a full time job.
One thing that a lot of people don’t know about the indies is how cut-throat the culture is. The independent leagues aren’t concerned with molding players for the big leagues, they’re all about winning (and getting people in the seats). If you don’t do your job, you get released in a hurry—particularly at the higher levels.
In St. Paul, our roster was a revolving door. We must have had 30 or more players released that year. But we also had 6 or 7 thousand fans every night and we won a ring, so they’re doing something right. The fact that the indy leagues aren’t affiliated with MLB grants them a whole lot of freedom in regards to fan promotions as well, so you see a lot of crazy things go on that you’d never see in the affiliated minors. On another note, when I was playing, the indies didn’t drug test, so to be honest, you saw a whole lot of players on the juice looking to go back to the big leagues as well. There are some tremendous players scattered through the independent leagues.
Comparing the level to Europe is difficult. Certainly I’d say a team like Neptunus and at times, Kinheim and Amsterdam could compete with some teams. But the independent leagues are diverse. The teams in the Northern, Atlantic, American Association and Can-Am Leagues are made up of seasoned professionals with a lot of experience. It’s hard for a European team to compete with that.
As for the independent leagues that cater to younger players that were overlooked in the draft and guys released out of rookie and low A ball, I believe many European teams could compete and do well against them.
Like I said, I have a place in my heart for the indies. I really love the culture and the competiveness.
Part II of the Interview will follow on Sunday afternoon.