Massachusetts ShoreMassachusetts ShoreCoachNestled along the Massachusetts shore, lined with oaks that may have seen the arrival of the first Americans, there is a quaint baseball park, bordered only in the outfield by a thatched wooden fence and some pines. The Pawtucket Pawsox of the Cape Cod League call this unique sanctuary home. Today is a Friday evening. The sun slowly pulls the last traces of orange from the sky, and the skyscraping light towers illuminate a 6 foot 4 inch right-hander, made only taller by the Georgia clay mound. Like most in the minor leagues he is a fighter and a worker. He is far from home and at the climax of a magical journey of a career.
Reaching local stardom at an early age, Aaron Knieper pitched in all of the big games. He pitched in all of the not-so-big games too. People could see the potential that this lanky kid from Saginaw, Michigan possessed. As he piled up innings in his youth, they only contributed to more to his experience but were slowly taking their toll on his meal ticket, his arm. Aaron was still careful about his health, but youth often disguises ignorance. As his body matured, it ceased to stretch in ways it had before, and his workload drastically increased upon being drafted by the Boston Red Sox out of college. Now he was playing for a job. Then, one fateful day everything changed. It was his elbow. And there it all ended.
Most young athletes dream of becoming professionals, but those dreams almost always end at or before the college level. It is a major disappointment for those who are told that they are not good enough to play anymore, yet Aaron was. He had almost reached the show and it killed him inside. He wasn’t ready to let anyone tell him that his career in baseball was over. His stubborn pursuit of a dream, which had carried him this far, would now have to change with no hope of returning to professional baseball. He went back home and spent some much missed time with his mom and sister, for his father had passed away when he was young. Most of time was spent relaxing in front of the television pondering what to do next. Aaron had never had a “real” job and did not even finish college. It was then that
In 2005, his baseball career began. On Aug. 4, 2008, after a month-long hiatus, Aaron sent his fiancĂ©e to meet with Aaron. Aaron and a friend were looking for advice for a future couple. At home, Aaron told his fiancĂ©e he was taking a break from baseball, just to recover from a broken leg. He didn’t want to leave and moved to Colorado Springs, Colo., to be closer to his father, who had died. The two would only watch baseball when, on December 23, 1999, Aaron and his fiancĂ©e returned home from a three-week vacation. The next year, after a five-day stay, he returned to San Diego.
At his time of return, Aaron was 20 years old. His father had lost his father. The young man’s family had started a local clothing and accessories store and had started an extensive business, but still they didn’t feel an obligation to help. The day after he hit 19 home runs through March 5, his dad was gone.
When the following year was announced, Aaron looked a little different from when he went back home and began to get better. He worked on his body, in an activity that required constant daily work. He took over chores, and in March 2005 began finishing his studies at Cal College of Medicine. He began to focus on improving his body’s ability to deal with the challenges and uncertainties of his professional baseball career. Then he stopped playing baseball and began the offseason to focus instead on his professional career. As Aaron went through the summer and fall of 2005, his fiancĂ©e saw something that surprised them. His father was dying of cancer, and he was in the hospital with the family. The family called him because he had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, and he had been hospitalized for three days. He went home to see the family and was heartbroken. He was not in or feeling well since, but he was still very happy to be around because of what he has done in his career.
In 2006, Aaron finished his major league career as a professional baseball player. This was his second full year at Cal in a year. After a week in Boston, he went to the same hospital Aaron had been in recently, and the three of them began making plans for 2014. They had both graduated from Cal to head to the University of Nevada in Las Vegas. He felt ready and happy to return home to his family and give his life to help others like them. Aaron started to feel better, now realizing that his father would not survive with his illness.
He started working on his body and in February 2007, he took a job as medical student at the University of California San Francisco. When the time came, Aaron was asked why he chose San Francisco. He knew that it was a nice city, where everyone could go to college. The choice of San Francisco made him excited to get back into the game. That summer, he won his first Gold Glove for both his family and his university. Aaron then got his second MVP award in his honor for his play in