Pickens’ future

What Boone Pickens’ recent health struggles mean for OSU.

Boone Pickens’ days are numbered. Heck, all our days are numbered. But Boone has finally admitted it.

In a linkedin.com message last week, the 89-year-old capitalist and Oklahoma State University benefactor finally acknowledged his mortality. If you know Boone Pickens, you know that’s no small step.

Citing a series of strokes he suffered last Christmas and a recent “Texas-sized fall” that required hospitalization, Boone said he had entered the fourth quarter of life.

“Just a year ago I felt immortal, wearing my age with pride, even joking about it,” Boone wrote. “Last year I opened a speech with this: ‘The other day I turned 88 and realized my life was half over.’ I refused to call my 2008 autobiography ‘Life in the Fourth Quarter,’ because, well, hell, I wasn’t in the fourth quarter. But things have changed for me since the strokes. I clearly am in the fourth quarter, and the clock is ticking and my health is in decline, much as it is with others in my stage of life.”

Boone was quick to point out that he’s not on his death bed. His writing was as sharp as the voice we’ve come to know.

An OSU source said Pickens’ thinking “is still crisp” but that his speech has been affected. A speech coach is working with Pickens, who communicates mainly through facial expressions and gestures.

Pickens, a fixture at OSU games since the original $165 million donation that jump-started the

always make excuses. Thank God, me and my wife, we were pretty adamant to never say he couldn’t do something.

“We would figure it out.”

The accident

Levi Prater wasn’t quite 2 years old, but he stood between his father’s legs on a lawn mower. In an instant, a generally menial task around the house turned horrific.

The lawn mower simultaneously converged on a stick and a pothole. As Robert caught the limb he hit the pothole. His son started to fall, but Robert was still able to grab Levi. It just came at a cost.

Levi’s right hand was unable to avoid going under the mower’s deck. When he was pulled up only a portion of his hand, pinkie and ring finger remained.

Levi was rushed to a hospital in Ada and then sent to OU Medical Center, where they worked to save as much as possible. A long road followed. Tying his shoes took extra work. Grabbing a box of cereal from the pantry was sometimes almost impossible.

“When you can’t get it, you get mad but you’ve got to keep trying until you do get it,” Levi said. “It just made me more mentally tough.”

Things got a lot tougher when he decided he wanted to play sports.

Prater’s parents sat him down and didn’t hold back. Playing sports would be a challenge. He’ll have to work harder than anybody else to succeed, they said.

Levi told them he wanted that more than anything.

Robert ultimately would build a pitcher’s mound and batting cage in the backyard, and he would purchase a pitching machine all to help his son be better.

Levi’s mom, Kim, sewed batting gloves to fit his hand. Robert found a special glove from Nike that featured a connected batting glove that strapped near the forearm. Even with just two

fingers, it would stay on for Levi. Robert bought seven of them — ranging from 8 inches to 12 inches.

When Levi reached high school, he returned to a traditional model with his hand big and strong enough. Robert would still help those fit right.

“He’s my kid and I shape his gloves for him and I do not have any idea how you can be running full stride in the outfield and lay out and dive and catch a ball and it not pop out when you only have two fingers,” Robert said.

The final steps

Levi Prater will never forget his dad’s words about becoming a pitcher.

“Pitchers are either heroes or zeros,” Robert told his 10-year-old son. “There’s no in between. You either win the game or you lose the game.”

Levi didn’t care. He was already switch hitting. Pitching was the next step.

Robert hired former Oklahoma pitcher and major leaguer Brian Shackelford to tutor Levi, who immediately shined. By the end of his junior season OU was his college choice.

“I worked harder than everybody else did because I had to,” Levi said. “Brian knew that it was going to be harder, but he would never let me feel sorry for myself or anything. My dad was the same way.”

Now, Levi features a low-90s fastball and two secondary pitches that overpowered hitters. This spring, he earned a spot on The Oklahoman’s All-State team with a sparkling 0.35 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 60 innings.

He had taken his father’s words to heart. There was never a mention again of failing. Instead, it’s about being that hero on and off the mound.

“I just want every other kid that has an injury to read this,” Levi said. “If younger kids see me in four or five years and I’m playing in the League, then there’s no reason for them to give up. I don’t want it to be about me. I want it to be about the next generation of people that has something go