As he rounded the bases at Tropicana Field Monday night, you couldn’t help but feel like this is the way it always should have been for Grady Sizemore.
In the seventh inning of the Tampa Bay Rays’ matchup with the Cleveland Indians, Sizemore smacked a 1-2 pitch from Indians pitcher Cody Anderson a couple rows over the right field fence, ending Anderson’s bid for a perfect game. While the clutch home run did not impact the final outcome of the game—Cleveland still won 7-1—there’s no denying the meaning it had for Sizemore.
The 32-year-old made his triumphant return back to the majors last season with the Boston Red Sox, his first action at any level since 2011. Sizemore was once one of the most promising young players in baseball, earning three straight All-Star game appearances as a member of the Indians with an entertaining mix of speed, power and defense. In each of his first four full MLB seasons, Sizemore collected 170 or more hits, 22-plus home runs, 76-plus RBI and 22-plus stolen bases.
During that stretch, he also led the league in doubles and runs scored, hauled in two Gold Glove awards and added a Silver Slugger award for his 33-homer, 90-RBI and 38-SB performance in 2008. He was just 25-years-old and on the verge of entering a prime that seemed destined to conclude in one of the best careers in Indians history.
Then came the injuries.
After playing in 382 straight games from 2004 to 2008, one of the game’s most durable players simply couldn’t stay on the field. In 2009, Sizemore played in just 106 games after deciding to have surgery on his left elbow, which had been bothering him since spring training, and on a hernia that was related to an earlier groin injury. Everyone expected him to heal up in the offseason and get back on track in 2010.
Only, he didn’t return to form then, either. After playing in 33 games, Sizemore was forced to undergo microfracture surgery on his left knee—from which he healed, only to suffer two injuries to his right knee and another hernia, limiting him to 71 games in 2011. With the setbacks piling up, Cleveland declined his 2012 contract option and signed him to a one-year deal worth $5 million, instead.
Sizemore’s career was now on the line.
Unfortunately, he didn’t get to make the most out of his one-year deal, missing the entire 2012 season due to back and knee injuries. At just 29, Sizemore appeared to be washed out of baseball for good—until he resurfaced last season.
As one might expect from a player who was out of the game since 2011, Sizemore’s return to the big leagues with Boston did not invoke memories of his emergence onto the scene with Cleveland. He certainly needed time to get reaccustomed to the fast, unrelenting MLB schedule, and after batting just .216 in 52 games, he was released by Boston. Just a week later, Sizemore signed a minor league deal with the Philadelphia Phillies—spending just 11 games with their Triple-A team before snagging a promotion back to the majors.
After improving his average to .253 in 60 games with the Phillies, Sizemore earned a one-year contract with Philadelphia for the 2015 season—until the team designated him for assignment and released him on June 1.
After failing to stick around with a second big league club, no one would have blamed Sizemore for officially hanging up his cleats. Overcoming both an injury-riddled body and the challenge of adjusting to big league pitching after four years out of the game is a monumental task.
Instead, he swallowed his pride and signed yet another minor league deal—this time with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Given his history, it should come as no surprise that after just six games with Tampa’s A+ club, Sizemore is back in the big leagues. It was only fitting that his first two games were against the Red Sox and Indians.
The odds are against Sizemore consistently performing anywhere close to his three-year All-Star stretch again. Just sticking around with one club for an entire season would be an accomplishment.
That said, no matter what happens in his second go-around in the big leagues, baseball fans should applaud Sizemore—we can all learn something from his resolve.