I don't know where to put this, really but...

[Classicblast]

Pasqual is a former teammate of mine. Among the more talented young players I ever saw. He played outfield but could have played just about anything. I met him at spring training in Ft Myers, Florida in 2003. We both had a major league tryout that year but were not selected. Pasqual was only turning eighteen years old during spring training and was considered for major league already.

If it werent' for the politics and big contracts he would likely have stayed.

His time sent to us was a transitional period so that somewhere along the line the AAA team could make room for him and within two seasons see im in the bigs.

He would have held his own by then trust me he would have.

Well he had a slight problem--no he had a big problem. DRUGS!!!!

There are random tests because the players union factors down even to rookie teams but there are some guys that are bound and determined to fool those tests.

He spent about half the season with us in 2003 before going to AAA and back once or twice for a week or two.

They called it a "conditioning assigment" what it was is they were sure that drug tests were coming and they were not sure Pasqual was clean so they slipped him past the testings for a while.

He was suspended for 6 weeks in 2006 even though he was full time AAA by then and he might have seen some Major league time by now but I'm not fully sure. He got busted with possession.

About ten minutes before I typed this post, I received a phone call from my former team's manager.

This morning (or I should say Yesterday morning December 26) Pasqual was fond shot dead in a crack house.

I didn't know him real real well but I did play half a season with him and could appreciate his ablilty. What a waste of life.

It can't be worth it. 21, 22 years old something like that just gone. I would feel worse but that is a decision he made to be a dope head. If he had cleaned his act up three years ago he's be a multi million dollar a year player by now. I know that for a fact. That kid was the most talented player I ever played with or against. maybe not statistically the most accomplished but raw talent this guy was the best teammate I ever had.

[Phil]

That's too bad all that talent and not wise enough to stay clean enough to even stay alive let alone make the big leagues.

[Classicblast]

He was twenty-one. What a waste of good talent.

[tractakid]

Prehaps he couln't cope with the fame.

[Jersey]

I don't think it was the fame. This sounds like a case of a talented player making all the wrong choices, probably because some of his friends did it or because he grew up in that kind of an environment.

Still, it's always tragic when great talent is wasted to a plant or a powder.

[Vanilla Ice]

He may not have lived a long life, but it sounds like he knew how to live what little he had.

[Classicblast]

I'll never understand. He really could have made something of himself and instead of taking his talent as far as he could he finds himself a burnout addict and dies in a crack house.

I don't see how that could be more interesting than possibly making it big in the game.

The rest of us are saying "gee if I could hit just a little bit faster pitching, if I could run the bases half a second faster, if I could just get that throw to first base off a little quicker, if I could only do this or that a little better..."

Here we get a guy who can do all those things and he decides that he would be happier if he could just smoke more crack!!

I really believe this guy could have gone all the way. By the age 35 he would be a multi millionare and his family who comes from the ultimate poverty would all be living in a comfort situation but no, Pasqual couldn't see who else might need him and depend on his success he decides to get high and now he's dead. Waste of good skill. Waste of good life.

[Vanilla Ice]

A moment of silence.

[tractakid]

[Phil]

It reminds me of Rickey Williams in football. The NFL cracked down on drug use so he decided to retire from the NFL and concintrate more on getting high. Good thinking.

[Vanilla Ice]

You two have both been VERY disrespectful to the dead, a moment of silence is not a lot to ask for. I really expected more from you, Phil.

[Jersey]

Originally posted by tmtd:
You two have both been VERY disrespectful to the dead, a moment of silence is not a lot to ask for. I really expected more from you, Phil.[/quote]

Um, pardon me, but didn't your post once say that athletes are more susceptible to this kind of thing? Since Im a responsible athlete, I decided not to tear you a complete new one over the whole thing and left it alone. I then noticed you changed it to the moment of silence, which I thought was most certainly better than what you had said earlier. But now, you go and say this to Phil and whoever else you are addressing? What in the world is going on with you? You are constantly rude to other members on here. I am not afraid to say what I know a lot of people around here want to say. You seem to constantly go out of your way to be rude to people, and then when they respond, you twist it around into some other ridiculous perspective that the person won't understand.

Please, PLEASE, give it a rest?

[Phil]

tmtd said:

You two have both been VERY disrespectful to the dead, a moment of silence is not a lot to ask for. I really expected more from you, Phil.

You can draw your own conclusion about that. It's hard to feel sorry for a crack dealer although I am certainly not glad he died.

I didn't think you would care about this thread at all.

[Vanilla Ice]

tryout said:

Some stuff that you can read two posts up. Removed to save space.

I changed my post because the intention wasn't clear, and that's not what it meant (or quite the wording I used, I believe).

I only said Phil because I had higher standards of him than of g19 who's reply was probably the only actual post that was unnecessary in a thread of this caliber and was the reason I even stated anything in a knee-jerk reaction about disrespect at all.

Because of the nature of this thread, I won't engage in an argument with you (if there is anything else you may PM me), but I hope I explained everything.

[Kevin]

tryout said:

Um, pardon me, but didn't your post once say that athletes are more susceptible to this kind of thing? Since Im a responsible athlete, I decided not to tear you a complete new one over the whole thing and left it alone.

Just because you're a responsible athlete doesn't make all athletes responsible. That's pretty evident even at the high school level. When it gets upper into the higher levels, chances to go astray get amplified. Money and fame can and do corrupt many people.

Classic, you yourself said he came from a poverty situation. That's not uncommon for athletes. People get raised on the streets and are exposed to these things for the majority of their lives. Sports are sometimes a person's only chances of getting off the streets. However, they still have the people they know from the streets. People they fall back on. People to convince them that a little dope won't hurt them. Sometimes everything just gets to be a little too much and they fall back into the hood.

Classic's story is a depressing story. Does is make me feel bad for him? Not really. The guy knew what he was doing and the risks he was taking. Apparently the risks were worth the rewards for him.

[Classicblast]

spartan said:

tryout said:

Classic's story is a depressing story. Does is make me feel bad for him? Not really. The guy knew what he was doing and the risks he was taking. Apparently the risks were worth the rewards for him.

I think we all pretty much agree on that, you, Jersey, Phil, and I.

That there's no need to feel sorry for Pasqual. He made the decisions that he made and that depressing result was not necessarily something to feel sorry for.

I don't know if athletes are more susceptible but there are some agents and scouts who can find ways to sweep these matters under rugs.

Sometimes they go as far as to get physicians to write letters saying that you had been prescribed certain medication. They would choose meds that had similar chemical properties to whatever narcotics you're using so if you did fail a drug test there would be a medical explanation.

I have seen that done a handfull of times.

It's done on all levels from high school right onto major league ball.