The chores are done, now it's time for some fun.
After twice turning down offers from Major League teams in order to complete his college education, Richard Dishman, Trinity '97, is finally getting the chance to pursue his dream of playing professional baseball.
The righthanded pitcher from Roosevelt Island, N.Y., signed with the Atlanta Braves organization earlier this week after being selected by them in the 23rd round of last week's amateur draft.
"I was hoping to get drafted, but the day of the draft is nerve-racking," Dishman said. "You never know what can happen, because you really have no idea what's going on. I was nervous, but I was expecting to get drafted."
The Braves have already assigned Dishman to the club's Class A short-season affiliate in the Northwest League-the Eugene (Ore.) Emeralds.
Dishman is finally allowing himself to live out his dream after turning down offers both before his freshman year of college and following his junior season. The Florida Marlins selected Dishman in the 26th round out of high school and made him a lucrative offer, but Dishman held fast to his goal of attending college. Last year, the San Francisco Giants came calling in the 42nd round, but Dishman balked once again, electing to finish what he'd started.
"Playing professional baseball was always a goal of mine," Dishman said. "The education was just something I wanted to do to make myself a better person and give myself something to fall back on in case things didn't work out."
So far, things have worked out, as the Braves-perhaps baseball's most talented pitching organization-chose to give Dishman a shot. With home-grown talent such as John Smoltz (trade 1987), Tom Glavine (draft 1984) and Mark Wohlers (draft 1988) still with the club and recently departed talents Steve Avery (Cleveland) and Jason Schmidt (Pittsburgh), Dishman said he is excited to be a part of such a "pitching-rich organization that does a great job of developing pitchers."
Dayton Moore, the Braves' assistant director of scouting and player development, cited the 6-foot-5, 210-lb. Dishman's size and strength as a central reason for drafting him.
"We selected him because he is obviously a big, strong-type guy," Moore said. "Our scouts felt like he showed us a lot with the innings he threw and with his curveball being his out pitch-plus he's been a strong competitor.
"Obviously he is a proven winner, and most college guys are a little bit more mature. By putting him in Eugene, it will challenge him and give us a true indication of his ability and how he'll be as a player."
Dishman will get his chance in a little less than a week, as Northwest League play begins June 17 and runs through the first week in September.
The curveball Moore alluded to is a pitch that Dishman's college coach, Steve Traylor, feels will give the rookie a big advantage in terms of making it to the majors some day.
"[The curveball] is his best pitch right now," Traylor said. "It is something that I don't think they will tinker with at all-he pretty much has a major league curveball right now. He'll just have to become more consistent with his fastball, locating it a little better and getting a little bit better movement. He should do well-he's coming in with a quality breaking pitch, and not too many people come in with that."
Dishman couples his deuce with a fastball that was clocked in college as fast as 90 mph-an above-average velocity Dishman expects to improve in the minors.
Perhaps Dishman's biggest obstacle will be the injury bug that has plagued him throughout his career. He missed his entire freshman year with a broken wrist and parts of the three subsequent seasons with various injuries. 'Dish' racked up 230 strikeouts-fifth all time at Duke-in just 235 innings pitched over his career.
He also compiled a 15-9 record and a 4.02 ERA. But what will make Dishman's pro experience any less... painful?
"I think I'll be fine," Dishman said. "My injuries in college were kind of freak-it wasn't anything to do with my pitching motion, so I'm not worried about that."
Dishman spent the last month or so of the '97 regular season sidelined with one of those injuries. With his draft status uncertain and his team in trouble, Dishman solved both crises with perhaps the best pitching performance of his career in Duke's 5-3 win over Georgia Tech in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on May 16. Dishman allowed just one hit over eight innings in leading the Blue Devils to an upset over the top-seeded Yellow Jackets.
"That game against Georgia Tech-which came on the heels of him basically being out of commission for a month-he picked the best possible time in his career to pitch the way he did," Traylor said. "When he came off the field, one of the first things I said to him was, 'You really helped yourself today. That was a masterpiece, and I'm sure that opened the eyes of some pro scouts.'"
The performance was typical of Dishman's career, one in which he has shined against the toughest competition.
"It's pretty much just the adrenaline factor," Dishman said. "Most pitchers raise their level a little bit when the competition improves, and I hope to raise mine playing minor league baseball."
With the obligations of school finally out of the way, Dishman is set to throw himself entirely into his pursuit of a pro career. The minors are no experiment for him, but instead the beginning of what he hopes to be a long baseball experience.
"My parents always said to find something you love to do, and you'll be happy," he said. "And this is something I love to do, so I'll stick with it as long as I can."
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