Brandon Beachy Atlanta Braves

Below is a great story about Brandon Beachy, pitcher for Atlanta Braves. Click here for a link to the original article by Mark Bowman.
11/23/11 4:10 PM EST

Beachy thankful for support, chance at dream
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

ATLANTA -- Brandon Beachy seems genuinely appreciative of the many individuals who have aided him during a journey that became more improbable as he spent this year enjoying a record-setting rookie season with the Braves.
Two years ago, Beachy was a relatively unknown Minor League pitcher who had just completed his first full professional season. One summer earlier, he had seen his life's path significantly altered when the Braves signed him out of a relatively obscure collegiate summer league staged in rural Virginia.

And it's been just four years since Beachy was attempting to celebrate Thanksgiving while dealing with the fact that he was still just a few months removed from that horrific day when his ill-fated attempt to prank his siblings led to a fire that destroyed his parents' home.

"To be where I'm sitting now, I have a lot to give thanks for," Beachy said. "There is a lot of good that has come out of that experience. It's just one more experience in my life that shows how blessed I've truly been.

"It reminds me to not take anything for granted because it can be taken away so quickly."
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Given a choice, Beachy would like to forget all that transpired on July 4, 2007. His innocent attempt to startle a couple of his younger siblings proved disastrous when the smoke bomb he threw in their direction led to the fire that destroyed the family's old farmhouse in Kokomo, Ind.

A gust of wind seemingly introduced one of the smoke bomb's sparks to a stack of fireworks that were located in the house. With smoke and flames growing more intense, family members rushed outside to find safety. There they quickly realized there would be no way to control the mighty flames before firefighters arrived.

Suddenly, Beachy, his parents and his six siblings were without a home to call their own. They spent the next 10 months living approximately a mile down the road at his grandparents' house.

"Everybody kept talking about how happy they were that nobody was hurt," Beachy said. "I didn't want to hear that. All I could think of was that I burnt my family's house down. It took me a while."

When Mark DeMichael began recruiting Beachy to play baseball for him at Indiana Wesleyan University, he saw an athletic third baseman with tremendous character. His respect only grew as the young athlete proved to be an energetic and upbeat leader during his first two seasons at the NAIA school.

But it didn't take long for DeMichael to see things were much different when Beachy returned for the start of the 2007-08 school year. As the team went through fall workouts, the once-congenial third baseman proved to be short-tempered and combative.

Still filled with the guilt and anger that had continued to simmer since the fire, Beachy unloaded his fury on a teammate after taking a round of batting practice one September afternoon. This led DeMichael to call the young third baseman to his office for a stern conversation that was filled with tears and encouragement.

"He was just carrying so much guilt," DeMichael said. "I just told him that it's OK and nobody blamed him for what had happened. I told him in order for anybody to forgive you, you have to forgive yourself, accept you're human and open yourself to allow others to care for you.

"It was a conversation we had to have. I hate to think what might have happened had Brandon continued to travel down that road."

It was a conversation that had both immediate and long-term benefits. When asked why he believes the fire made him a better person, Beachy credits DeMichael for reminding him that there are times when he needs to express his emotions and allow others to help him in times of need.

"It has taught me not to keep things in," Beachy said. "If people want to help, let them. It's OK to not be macho."

As Beachy posted a 3.68 ERA and set a modern rookie franchise record with 169 strikeouts in 25 starts for the Braves this year, he proved to be even-keeled and willing to accept advice from his veteran teammates. But the 25-year-old hurler still possesses some of that same hard-headed determination that has allowed him to hurdle many obstacles he has encountered, dating back to his collegiate days.

"From the neck up, they don't come any better," said DeMichael, who is now IWU's athletic director. "He's intelligent and he's determined. He's always shown he's going to find a way to get the job done."

When Beachy went to play in the collegiate summer league in 2008, he simply wanted a chance to pitch. He rarely pitched in high school, and because of some shoulder soreness before his junior year, his pitching experience at IWU was limited to his role as the team's third baseman/closer.

A short time after going to Virginia, Beachy caught the attention of veteran scout Gene Kerns, who convinced the young pitcher to skip his senior season and accept the $20,000 signing bonus the Braves were willing to offer.

Over the next few weeks, IWU's former third baseman served as a reliever for the Braves' rookie-level affiliate in Danville, Va. One year later he would make eight starts while primarily serving as a reliever for Class A Rome and Class A Advanced Myrtle Beach.

When the 2010 season began, Beachy remained in relative obscurity as a member of Double-A Mississippi's bullpen. By the time the season concluded, he was enjoying the first three starts of his Major League career and dealing with the stress created by the fact that the Braves were in a tight battle to win the Wild Card.

When Jair Jurrjens was unable to pitch during the final two weeks of the regular season, the Braves did not give Kenshin Kawakami another shot. Instead they brought Beachy out of the instructional league to make these three starts.

Three years after being burdened by the guilt created by the fire, Beachy was standing on the mound at Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park, challenging Ryan Howard and realizing a dream that had seemed so improbable before the Braves had found him out of nowhere just two years earlier.

"It really is incredible how quickly I've gotten to where I am," Beachy said. "I really believe God has had his hand in my journey and that I'm here for a reason."

When Beachy and his family celebrate this year's Thanksgiving within the confines of their rebuilt home in Kokomo, there will be plenty of reason for them to give thanks for the improbable journey they have experienced during the four years that have elapsed since the fire.

"Playing baseball is not just for me," Beachy said. "My whole family gets such a kick out of it and they enjoy it just as much as I do. They're watching all the games whether I'm pitching or not. They've definitely transformed into some of the biggest Braves fans out there."

Mark Bowman is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs