During the summer before his senior year in high school, Michael Fletcher was bluntly told by North Carolina baseball coach Mike Roberts that he had no chance to play college baseball.
Five years, 236 hits, 27 homers and 60 doubles later, Roberts may want to reconsider his initial assessment of the Duke leftfielder.
With that remark having left a indelible impression in his mind, Fletcher has let his bat do all the talking for him in his four years at Duke. Fletcher heads into his final games at Duke as the school's all-time leader in doubles and one of the finest players ever to grace historic Jack Coombs Field.
"Fletcher is what Duke baseball is all about," teammate Jeff Becker said. "He's a typical all-around athlete, great guy, and he just goes out there and does it all. He's been something else to this program. He really means a lot to Duke baseball."
In the summer of 1993, Fletcher first took his wares to the UNC summer baseball camp, attempting to capture the coach's interest. Unfortunately, Fletcher's play was less than spectacular, and when he approached Roberts for an opinion on his talent, Roberts settled on a straight-forward approach.
"He told me flat out, 'no, you can't play at this level, maybe you should go to a prep school,'" Fletcher said. "I was pretty dejected. I was at home, working construction all the time, going around with my friends, I really didn't want to have anything to do with baseball because I had just basically been told I can't play at the [next] level."
Fletcher's father, George, then offered his disillusioned son a ticket to Durham for Duke's summer camp; Fletcher, however, remained skeptical. Luckily for Fletcher, and perhaps even more fortunate for Duke, Fletcher reconsidered and decided to show up at the Duke camp.
The Greenville, S.C., native played well enough at the camp to impress coach Steve Traylor with his speed, arm strength and bat speed. Two months later, Traylor got back in touch with Fletcher and received his commitment without hesitation.
Fletcher's first two years at Duke, however, were rather nondescript. A middle infielder at the beginning of his collegiate career, Fletcher put up typical middle-infielder numbers at the plate-hitting a combined .270 with seven homers in 311 at-bats.
Although he started every game his sophomore season, Fletcher was still nowhere near the hitter he is today. Then he found the formula that would inject almost 100 points into his batting average the next season-summer baseball. The summer after his sophomore year, Fletcher found himself in a stranger's home in Ohio and playing baseball in the Great Lakes League.
Playing in a league with wooden bats for the first time, Fletcher went on a tear to open his summer campaign before a torn hamstring limited his play the remainder of the summer.
"When I was in Selina, Ohio, which I'm sure you've never heard of, I stayed with a wonderful host family, had a wonderful time there, but there's nothing to do there except playing baseball," Fletcher said. "I was up there and I was hurt, so I gained a new appreciation for the game-maybe I should enjoy playing it a little more.
"Basically, you would get up, play baseball, work out, play a game and drink beers-that was it. It was a very enjoyable summer because you really didn't have to worry about too many things. You're not worried about school, you're not worried about social pressure, you're not worried about anything, you're just playing baseball. When you do that, you really focus in on baseball, and that's where you make your improvement."
And improve he did. The next season saw Fletcher's batting average soar to .356 and his power numbers jump accordingly-a career-high nine homers and a Duke single-season record of 21 doubles.
Following his junior year, Fletcher spent another summer playing baseball in the Coastal Plain League for the Durham Braves. Fletcher managed to avoid the injury bug and captured league MVP honors.
Fletcher's numbers have continued to improve this season. Now anchoring left field, Fletcher currently carries a .367 average and has established a new personal-high in homers with 11. Like his teammates, however, Fletcher appears more concerned with the team's lackluster play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
"In a way, [the season] has been a disappointment, in another way, it's been a real gratifying season," Fletcher said. "The fact that we were 18-1 and 11th in the nation speaks for itself. The fact that we aren't doing well now and we're losing close games, it hurts but I guess that's the way the game goes.
"The fact is, the season is still not over. It would be nice to know that we're third in the ACC and probably going to get an at-large bid, but we still have a chance in the ACC Tournament-you can't cash in the season."
Considering that Fletcher came so close to never even playing collegiate baseball, he would likely be the last player on the team to cash it all in.
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