The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Litchfield’s Blazek still gets joy from the game
TORRINGTON — School’s in session; area summer baseball leagues are done; Red Sox fans stopped caring a while ago.
Is there a better way to stretch summer a little longer than talking baseball with someone who’s been there and back?
Chris Blazek is one of the best athletes ever to graduate from Litchfield High School — class of 2002.
“The best thing for me was playing three sports (soccer, swimming and baseball),” he said at Torrington’s 99 Restaurant Wednesday afternoon. “Then I could focus on one sport in college.”
College scouts focused earlier. Blazek, now 35, was a 6foot, 175pound lefty whose high school fastball hit mid to upper 80s.
He settled on Division I University of Vermont, but “I never thought I’d get drafted,” he said.
Others weren’t so surprised. He was AllState for two years, capping his high school career with a Class S semifinal thriller against current Shepaug coach Scott Werkhoven’s state champion Westbrook team in the semifinals.
“I knew I had a good fastball and curve. It was just a matter of confidence,” said Blazek, the only freshman on the Catamounts’ 2002 varsity team. “I pitched 12 innings, struck out 16 and walked about the same number.
“My big jump came that summer, playing with the Middletown Giants in the NECBL. I always had the fastball and curve, but I wanted at least one more pitch, so I threw a changeup when I was playing catch.
“Every summer after that, I had a goal to perfect something. I was overwhelmed at first in college — everybody’s good. I got some confidence as a sophomore when I pitched a nohitter against Pace University.”
By the end of his junior year at UVM, Blazek had the school strikeout record and also the school record for walks.
“It was never any fun playing the infield behind you,” grinned one of his exteammates. “You’d walk three guys; then you’d strike the next three out. There was nothing for me to do.”
Division I strikeouts — especially by a lefty — catch MLB scouts’ attention.
“Once you start hearing from 15 or 16 teams, you figure you’re going to get drafted,” Blazek said. “Some of them wanted to be buddies; some played
the tough guy, giving you dollar amounts to sign. It’s more structured now.”
One of Blazek’s relatives was Rico Brogna’s teacher at Watertown High School, so Blazek had a connection to an advisor through Brogna.
“He watched me pitch a shutout (at UVM) and said, ‘I don’t think you’re top five (rounds), but I signed a guy like you at number seven.’ ”
On draft day, the advisor didn’t show up. Blazek, at college, watched the draft through the fifth round, then on through the 10th without hearing his name, then went out to practice.
The next day, he got a call from the Houston Astros saying they would take him in the first few rounds of the day — the 23rd.
Blazek’s first stop was TriCities in shortseason A ball.
“I pitched in the first game, then we went out for a couple of drinks. The manager called me into his office before the second game. ‘Did you run into any cops last night,’ he asked me. “I was horrified. Then he said, ‘If you’re not going to tell me the truth, I’m sending you off to Lexington.’
“I didn’t know it was a promotion,” said Blazek now.
Lexington was fullseason A promotion with a bonus of staying on the University of Kentucky campus without having to go to school.
The hits kept coming for three more years, building to Blazek’s selection for the Class AA AllStar game in Scottsdale, Arizona, as a teammate of Clay Buchholz.
“Everybody was freaking out because he was starting against Phil Hughes on the other team,” Blazek said.
But Chris Blazek had a sore shoulder. The trainer had no file on him because Blazek, in four years as a reliever, had reported no injuries.
“I could throw 140 pitches as a starter in college and not feel tired. The only difference I noticed was my fastball would straighten out by the third or fourth time through the order.”
Now he had a frayed labrum. He flew to Houston to meet with MLB’s head of surgery — the same doctor who operated on Yao Ming’s foot.
“The normal procedure takes two surgeries; I had eight,” Blazek says. “I got my velocity back, but never had the carry that makes you think you can still throw harder. And I never had a good feel for my curve again.
“They were going to send me to high A, but you get to the point where you want to take the next step and I didn’t want to bounce around the minors until I was 28. I had offers from the independent leagues, but I hadn’t spent a summer home since I was 18.”
It was time to go — but not from baseball.
For all the glories of summers in the pros, especially with four pitching friends with whom Blazek still keeps in touch, his fondest memories are high school; his minorleague days with the guys in the bullpen cadging about what they do differently in this or that particular situation; and, as much as anything, joining the TriState Baseball League’s Litchfield Cowboys in 2011 as player/ coach.
“We all just clicked,” he says. “In pro ball, people are always coming and going, but, with the Cowboys, I wanted to win. My thought was ‘How do I get this guy better?’ ”
Litchfield won the league title in 2011, 2012 and 2015 before Blazek finally limited himself to spot fielding appearances this year.
“My wife, Rebecca, and I have three kids — Joe, 6; Sophie, 4; and Amanda, 5 months. I coached TBall this year. We had the kids all lined up; a flock of geese flew in; and the kids disappeared. I may not coach TBall again.
“But I walked up the road to a Babe Ruth game and an outfielder made a great throw all the way in to the catcher and they mobbed him celebrating.”
There’s nothing quite like a summer playing baseball for fun — and to win.