Sims' dream gone in an instant
Promising career cut short almost before it began
It was only one pitch. And it was a waste pitch at that.
But the only resulting waste from that high and tight fastball was that Ron Sims would never see his career reach fruition. For that matter, he would never see with his left eye again.
Napoleon Robinson's 0-2 offering slammed into Sims' skull, costing him his eye and what appeared to be a very promising career. But what that pitch, so innocuous when it left Robinson's hand nearly two decades ago, couldn't do was take away Sims' perspective.
Now 37, a husband and father of four, Sims has spent much of his adult life working in a chemical plant in Mobile, Ala. He never got to play first base for the Braves, never got to participate in their dozen years of dominance. Rather, he watched Atlanta become a steamroller in the National League from his living room, regaling his children with tales of what might have been.
"I don't hold any grudges," Sims said. "I'm just happy the Braves took a chance on me. Not many guys had the opportunity I had. I just wish everyone could feel that way, have the feeling of it [playing pro ball]. It sticks with you and I can always look back and say I made it part of the way. I just happened to come to a crossroad.
"My kids have asked a lot of questions about it. I tell them it wasn't intentional. It [baseball] was something I enjoyed doing. But you have to take the good along with the bad."
I'm asking myself if I could do this and I'm not liking the answer.
Sims signed with the Braves out of South Alabama after the 1988. Then, it happened. In his first professional game.
Nice job by Kevin Czerwinski on the article. Go read the whole thing.Sims, young, eager and ready to prove himself worthy of a professional contract, had spent the previous two weeks working out at extended Spring Training with Atlanta's coaching staff. A switch-hitting slugger, the Braves tinkered with his stance, opening it to a point where Sims didn't feel comfortable.
Yet he accepted their advice, not wanting to be a problem. Had he spoken up, mentioned that he wasn't comfortable, things might have been different. But Sims kept quiet and ultimately, it may have contributed to what happened that day.
"I guess they thought I could get the inside pitch by changing my stance," Sims said. "I was taught to respect my elders and do what they say, and that's what I did. They changed my stance and it was kind of awkward for me. I hadn't yet adapted to getting out of the way when the ball was in tight and I stepped, the ball hit me in the eye."
Sims had gone 0-for-2 in his first two professional at-bats before stepping to the plate in the seventh inning against Robinson, who also was making his professional debut for the Gulf Coast Dodgers. Sims took the first pitch and swung and missed at the second before Robinson's heater changed his life. The pitch smashed his eye and the bones around it, breaking his nose as well.
...
Sims went down but never lost consciousness. He was frightened but couldn't see, only hearing the commotion around him. Team trainers packed his face in ice, and he was transported to a local hospital.Sims went home a week later as it became apparent he would not regain sight in his left eye.
His right eye still had 20-20 vision but could have begun to experience "sympathy" problems, so it was decided to have what remained of his left eye removed. Sims said he tried to talk the doctors into letting him keep his eye, but there was no chance of that happening. He underwent surgery 10 days after being hit and had a glass eye inserted that October.
"I really didn't know the severity of it until I got back to Mobile," Sims said. "The doctor told me I had to have the surgery. I had just turned 19 and it was a crushing blow to have something that I always dreamed of doing go down like that. There were a lot of mixed emotions, but I coped with it. "
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