One-armed catcher still humble despite acclaim
CORNERSVILLE, Tenn. — Luke Terry looked at his missed calls after his dead cell phone started to charge.
There was a call from Texas — one he didn’t know who was on the other end. So he dialed back. “My man, Luke,” said the voice on the other end.
It was Deion Sanders. Yes, that Deion Sanders — the NFL Hall of Famer, who also played in MLB in the 1990s.
That may be officially when Terry, the 15-year-old one-armed catcher from Cornersville, hit prime time.
“He told me to never give up and always follow my dreams,” Terry said.
That dream still involves baseball. He wants to one day play catcher in college and later in MLB.
Terry still grabs fans attention and tugs at their hearts when they see him catch with one hand.
Videos posted to social media have caught the eye of national media outlets including ESPN, Good Morning America, The Today Show, the Rich Eisen Show and countless others.
“I’m kind of used to it by now,” Terry said. “Most of it is kind of normal. I’ll get a call and they’ll ask me to go on with them.”
But Deion Sanders calling him was another thing.
“He was grinning from ear to ear,” said Luke’s mother Dana Terry, on her son’s reaction when he told her about the conversation.
The latest wave of media attention came after a video was tweeted out a month ago showing Terry catching during a high school game. The video went viral with 6.89 million views.
It eventually reached Sanders who requested information about Luke, saying he wanted to provide new catcher equipment.
Last week Terry was decked out in new Under Armour catcher equipment — a new helmet and catcher’s mask, new chest protection and new shin guards. All of it was Cardinal red to match Cornersville’s school colors.
All of it was courtesy of Sanders.
Luke Terry can’t remember life with two arms. His right arm was amputated as a 19-month-old after he had contracted E. coli and it attacked his arm. But there isn’t much Luke can’t do. He can tie his shoes. He works on his family’s farm. He plays video games. He hunts. He fishes. He just does it with one arm. And he’s mastered playing catcher for his baseball team.
He catches the ball in his glove, flips the ball about 18 inches in the air, dropping his mitt at the same time. He then grabs the ball in mid-air and can either fire it back to his pitcher or to a base if someone is running.
For those wondering, Cornersville coach Ben Putman says Luke has been able to throw some runners out.
Catching the first pitch of a Baltimore Orioles game from MLB Hall of Famer Jim Palmer hasn’t changed Luke either. Neither has throwing out the first pitch at an Atlanta Braves game. He’s just Luke. “He’s a good ole country boy,” Putman said. “That’s Luke.
“He just wants to do what the rest of the team is doing. He wants to play ball and try to win.”
The day the world met Luke Terry
It was a year ago when The Tennessean introduced Luke Terry to the world. A video published showing how the then eighth-grader caught without a right arm.
He even was a successful hitter, batting third in the lineup.
Things have changed some this year. He’s a backup catcher to junior Caleb Crowell, used primarily as a courtesy runner for either Crowell or the Bulldogs’ pitcher.
His playing time behind home plate is reserved for junior varsity games as he transitions from middle school to high school.
Eagleville baseball coach Travis Holland first saw Luke more than a year ago at a middle school game. It was Holland’s tweeted video over a year ago that first caught everyone’s attention.
Holland, though, had never spoke to Luke.
That changed a week ago prior to Cornersville’s game at Eagleville in the first of a two-game series.
“It actually happened when we had to take our tarp off the field (before a game),” Holland said. “He just came out there to help us pull the tarp off. I looked up, and it was him.
“We just spoke for a minute on his experience and the things he’s been able to do. The reason I videoed him in the first place was how special it was and how impressed I was. He was pretty quiet about it.”
Luke still remains fairly quiet about his success.
“I can’t imagine with all of the publicity and still being the same kid he was before all of this,” Holland said. “Clearly, he is the same guy.” He’s just Luke. Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com.