Regrets? Not For These 2 - Bucyrus Telegraph Forum

MANSFIELD -- Living one dream meant abandoning another for Grady Sizemore and Ryan Garko.

Before they became two of the Cleveland Indians' bright young stars, they were accomplished high school quarterbacks.

Sizemore, a Seattle kid, could envision himself in Matt Hasselbeck's shoes, leading the Seahawks into Sunday's Super Bowl XL.

Garko, a Pittsburgh native, could have been Ben Roethlisberger of the AFC champion Steelers.
In their dreams. The ones that didn't materialize because they were too busy making another fantasy come true. There are no pangs of regret when you're living Plan B as major-leaguer.

"I hurt my shoulder and didn't play football my senior year," said Garko, one of the Tribe's top prospects. "I decided to just focus on baseball and getting into college."

After moving from the Rust Belt to the West Coast, Garko started at quarterback for two years at Servite High School in Walnut, Calif. He took his 4.2 grade point average to Stanford University, where he played four years of baseball and led The Cardinal to the finals of the College World Series his senior season.

Garko batted .402 that spring -- and wasn't sacked once.

If Garko had played football for Stanford and Sizemore had not backed out of a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Washington, they would have become PAC-10 rivals, dueling Matt Leinart instead of trying to catch up with a 100 mph fastball.

"I didn't expect to get drafted," said Sizemore, a third-round pick of the Montreal Expos in 2000 before getting swapped to the Tribe two years later with Cliff Lee and Brandon Phillips for Bartolo Colon. "I told (baseball)

teams I was going to school and wasn't interested in playing baseball.

"That," Sizemore said, grinning, "didn't really work out."

Sizemore never took a snap for the Huskies, signing with the Expos right after high school graduation. Four years later he graduated to the majors and blossomed into the Indians' starting centerfielder and lead-off hitter.

Last year, his first full season in Cleveland, Sizemore hit .289 with 22 home runs, 81 RBI and 22 stolen bases. Best of all, he never got his bell rung by an unblocked linebacker or swallowed his mouth guard on a blindside hit.

"I have no regrets," Sizemore said of his career choice. "I had a great time playing football and I loved getting after it. But baseball's where I want to be. I don't regret anything. But when you're sitting there during the off-season, watching football with nothing to do, you miss it."

Only 23, Sizemore is younger than Garko (25) and relief pitcher Fernando Cabrera (24), the other players who joined him on the Tribe caravan when it rolled into Mansfield last week. But Sizemore was the old man of the group when it came to major league experience and savvy.

"I'm a young guy, but I don't feel like it," Sizemore said. "I've been playing ball for a long time and once I get out there on the field age isn't a factor."

Garko hopes his time has arrived, like it did for Sizemore last season. In hopes of making the leap from Class AAA, the catcher-by-trade is learning to play first.

"I'm going to play both," Garko said. "My goal is to get a lot of at-bats, and to do that I'm going to have to play another position because Victor (Martinez) is an all-star and he's going to catch 130 games.

"First base is a lot less demanding physically and mentally because you're not working with the pitching staff. The days I'm playing first, I'll be able to rest my legs. I think it's going to help me in the long run offensively and in terms of the longevity of my career."

Garko hit .330 in 2004, stopping at all three levels of the Tribe's minor league system. He spent last season in Class AAA Buffalo, where he hit .303 with 25 doubles, 19 homers and 77 RBI in 127 games and was named team co-MVP.

"I talked to Eric (Wedge, Tribe manager), and there's a small window open for me to make the team," Garko said. "Grady was in the same situation last year. He was a fifth outfielder and was going to be sent to Buffalo. But he had a great spring and there were a couple of injuries and the next thing you know he had the season he did. I'm in the same spot. I just have to show I can play both positions defensively and help the team win."