ADAM LaROCHE

By PATTI ARNOLD
The Daily Sentinel
Grand Junction, Colorado

Adam LaRoche didn't realize it at the time, but he pitched his last game in Grand Junction.

The MVP pitcher/first baseman for Seminole (Okla.) State College had told scouts he wanted to be drafted as a first baseman. The Atlanta Braves jumped at that, and within a couple of years, LaRoche was their starting first baseman.

"Even though that's what I told all the scouts, I'm done pitching, I want somebody to draft me as a first baseman, I don't want to pitch, Atlanta was the only team that wanted to do that," LaRoche said. "It never crossed my mind that was the last game I'd ever start. If I keep hitting like this, I might be pitching real quick."

LaRoche got off to a slow start this season after being traded to Pittsburgh and laughed about moving back to the mound.

"I do miss it," he said. "I didn't think I would as much as I do now six years down the road."

After the performance LaRoche turned in for the Trojans in 2000, it's hard to believe only one team was interested in the big first baseman.

He was second in the tournament in double plays (7) and had a perfect fielding percentage. He hit .478 with 10 RBI.

Oh, and on the mound? Well, it's easy to see why teams wanted to put him in their rotation - two complete games, both wins, and an ERA of 0.56.

LaRoche was a hands-down selection to the JUCO Golden Anniversary team, and the only thing he regrets is he won't be able to be part of the festivities.

"It's pretty neat. Shoot, I wish I could be there to be part of it," he said.

His older brother, Jeff, a police officer in Vail, will stand in for him.

LaRoche grew up learning the game from his father, who was in professional baseball for 25 years, playing for 14. His father is a pitching coach in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.

Adam left Fort Scott, Kan., for Seminole for the opportunity to play for the traditionally strong Trojans.

"I played for my dad a couple of years and loved it, but there's only so much, you don't listen to your dad like another coach, for whatever reason. I've got all the respect in the world for him, but he was my dad. That's part of the reason I left.

"I owe a ton (of my success) to Coach (Lloyd) Simmons at Seminole. I did some pretty stupid things there and he stuck with me. He was basically like a father to me at Seminole. That guy knew the game like nobody I'd been around."

Although he left the Midwest for pro baseball, he's back every offseason. He and his wife, Jean, own a ranch with their children, Drake, 5, and Montana, 3, outside Fort Scott.

"We've got cattle, two horses, it's kind of a project right now," he said. "We're a couple of years away (from it being a real working ranch). It's a lot of fun and a great form of exercise. It's a never-ending job."

His father-in-law and some friends from high school run the ranch during the baseball season.

Growing up in a baseball family, LaRoche always believed he'd play in the big leagues.

"I think I always expected it. I didn't tell anybody that, but I knew that this is what I wanted to do and I did it," he said.

"The whole time, the two or three years I was in the minor leagues, I was almost expecting it, waiting for it to happen. That started all the way back in Little League.

"I grew up around the game, was a batboy for my dad's teams. I did a lot of things that were really cool as far as seeing the big-league atmosphere. A lot of kids look at it and say, 'that would be neat.' They've got no chance (unless) you look at it as 'that's what I'm going to do.' ''

That's the attitude LaRoche took during the JUCO World Series. Seminole finished third, losing to Grayson (Texas) County College.

He still remembers walking onto Suplizio Field for the first game.

"I don't know what was different, but I loved playing up there," he said. "That whole atmosphere and how that was our first game all year with a big crowd. That place was rocking for some of those night games.

"Out there on the field you feel something inside, 'man, this is like a big-league ballgame' The lights, the TV cameras are out there, the place is packed, it was just like a big-league atmosphere.

"That's the way that tournament should always be run. It's a step above what everybody has always experienced. That was the coolest. You look around and think, man, this is probably what a big-leaguer feels like."

He got that feeling again in his major-league debut.

"Without a doubt," he said. "You have to understand, at that point in our lives, it's magnified. This is on a different level, but the feeling I got that first game (at JUCO) was probably the same I had my first game in the big leagues, walking out into that stadium.

"I wouldn't change anything about that year, aside from Grayson beating us."