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You have probably heard the expression, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!”
For Rocco Baldelli, the new baseball manager for the Minnesota Twins, the past dozen years of his young life have likely been a citrus grove of emotions.
At 37 years of age, Rocco isn’t just the youngest manager in Major League Baseball. He is a resilient man who briefly reached the summit of the sport as a gifted player only to learn that his budding career would be derailed in his mid-20’s due to a rare muscle disorder called mitochondrial disease.
For most of his limited playing career, Rocco Baldelli was a rising star as the centerfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays.
A native of Rhode Island, Baldelli lived-up to his New England nickname of “The Woonsocket Rocket” as this 6’3″ athlete could really run like the wind. In 2003, he batted .289 as a 22-year old rookie with Tampa Bay, stole 27 bases, and led the American League in outfield assists. Rocco finished third in the American League Rookie of the Year voting.
Over the next two years, though, Rocco Baldelli’s health mysteriously deteriorated as he missed long stretches due to recurring soft tissue injuries, fatigue, and other ailments. After a few years of medical tests during his early professional baseball career, a diagnosis of mitochondrial disease was finally established.
By age 27, this fan favorite had recovered his health enough to become the designated hitter for the Rays. His inspiring story helped fuel Tampa Bay’s rise from a perennial also-ran into the team’s first World Series appearance in 2008 (losing to the Philadelphia Phillies).
In 2009, Rocco accepted a one-year contract offer from the Boston Red Sox to play near his family’s home in Rhode Island. For their part, the Red Sox hoped that the doctors could find a way to help Rocco Baldelli regain his health as he should have several more years of baseball ahead of him.
Unfortunately, the injuries and physical weakness lingered. Baldelli appeared in less than half of the games with the Red Sox in 2009 and was released after one season.
Beginning in 2010, Rocco Baldelli returned to Tampa Bay as a special assistant to help develop other players. Late in that season, he was able to overcome lingering shoulder issues and the recurring muscle fatigue problems well enough to work his way back into the major league line-up in time for the team’s playoff run.
Unfortunately, Baldelli suffered severe muscle cramping during the first round of the playoffs against the Texas Rangers, and his season ended.
Just a few months later, at the youthful age of 29, Rocco Baldelli retired as a major league baseball player. He said, “I physically don’t feel like I should be playing anymore.”
Rocco Baldelli was an exceptional student in high school in Rhode Island – scoring a 1300 on the SAT test. He was set to enter college when Tampa Bay selected him early in the first round of the major league baseball draft.
After receiving a few million dollars as a signing bonus from Tampa Bay coming out of high school, Rocco opted to major in professional baseball.
He has proven to be a very quick study.
After his playing career ended prematurely, Tampa Bay smartly kept Baldelli around the clubhouse for the next several years. He quickly progressed up the ranks with stints in the front office, as an on-field coach at first base, and in several other capacities with management during his coaching education with Tampa Bay.
Rocco Baldelli received yet another major league call-up this Thursday as the Minnesota Twins tabbed him to be their new baseball manager. After talking with everyone from the owner to the players, Rocco impressed the organization in Minneapolis so much that he was offered the skipper’s job.
Persevering through years of physical and emotional anguish while battling a rare disease as a young player, Rocco Baldelli has been able to refocus his professional life and reach another baseball zenith prior to the age of 40.
Lemonade anyone?