In 2005, there was a Minor League game between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. Despite that this game was merely practice for the drafted players, the eyes of over ten thousand viewers and live video cameras were upon them. After the seventh inning, a call unexpectedly came down to the Rex Sox’ bullpen coach. Afterward, the bullpen coach turns to one of the Red Sox draftees, a pitcher, and said simply, “Searles, you’re in on the ninth.”
Jon Searles had been eagerly awaiting the chance to pitch during that game prior to that. The opportunity came about because of the fact that one of the other minor league pitchers had done only five innings rather than the supposed six, leaving an inning open for Searles. When the ninth finally came around, Searles ran out onto the field toward the pitching mound with confidence and the willingness to prove himself before thousands of onlookers and a series of TV cameras.
He struck out first one of the Cincinnati batters, and then another. After the game ended, famed Red Sox manager Terry Francona gave Searles a high-five as he was coming off the field. Searles later showered, ate, and was greeted by dozens of voicemails and text messages from family and friends congratulating him.
Jon Searles now works as a fixed income salesman at First Empire Securities in Hauppauge, Long Island, NY. He is 30 years old, lives in Huntington, Long Island, and enjoys golfing, hiking and (of course) baseball.
Looking back on the minor leagues, Searles stated, “It taught me a lot, made me a better person, and put a lot of things in perspective for me.”
Jon Searles grew up in Plano, Texas and had been playing baseball since little league in second grade.
“Baseball was very competitive in the neighborhood that I grew up in,” he said. “I always liked playing with the older guys.”
When he later moved to Huntington, Long Island, Searles was pitching in a pre-season game for his high school baseball team where, unbeknownst to him, he was being watched by a drafting scout. Although he had originally been avidly playing football and basketball, this changed when he was selected to participate in the 1999 Major League amateur draft.
Across his decade-long career in the minor leagues, Searles pitched and played centerfield for several teams including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Montreal Expos, Chicago Cubs, Boston Red Sox, and San Diego Padres. He stated that there were ups and downs about playing in the minor leagues. His pros included the accomplishment, opportunity, competition, the fans, his teammates, and all the stadiums that he played in.
He further stated that the competition that came with playing in the minor leagues was both a reward and a difficulty.
“Everyone on the team was the best player from where they came from, but now that we’re all on the same team we’re all at about the same skill level,” Searles explained.
Despite the achievement and enjoyment, there was a slew of other difficulties as well. The players had a rigorous schedule that often revolved around 6 to 12 hour bus rides, sleeping on the go, stopping at fast food restaurants along the way; all the while they were packed together on a bus with twenty other guys.
Another struggle in the minor leagues was the pressure to excel. Among the players, there was this need to stand out amongst the other teammates the need to prove that they are able to advance to the major leagues. At one point, Searles was given a signing bonus, which he saw as an incentive to prove himself even further.
Furthermore, Searles felt that he had to personally prove himself to hometown family and friends back in Huntington.
“They had been following me in the papers and on TV. Whenever I came back home, they always wanted to know how things were going and when I would get to the major leagues,” Searles said.
The rewards that came with hard work and achievement were always there to balance out any difficulties, however.
In 2005, he was playing with the Chicago Cubs as shortstop. During the game, famed former Rex Sox player Nomar Garciaparra made a successful play by hitting a ground ball toward Searles. He later gave Garciaparra a high-five.
“I’d seen him (Garciaparra) do that play on TV before, only this time, he did the same thing for me,” Searles said.
At another game in Portland, former U.S. President George Bush Sr. came to give the ceremonial first pitch for the game. While Searles was out on the field stretching, Bush Sr. came out onto the dugout with his baseball mitt and asked Searles simply, “You want to play catch?” He played a short game of catch with the former U.S. President in order for him to warm up for the ceremonial pitch. He told Searles later on, “Thanks for playing catch, I really needed that.”
After the Red Sox/Reds minor league game, Searles had returned to the locker room to dispose of his jersey (no name on the back because of minor league) into the laundry bin. A man who had seen Searles pitch during the game stopped him from throwing the jersey into the laundry bin, saying, “You did good.” A week later, he came back to find his Red Sox jersey with the name “Searles” stitched onto the back of it.
While playing a game in Somerset, New Jersey, Searles was up on the pitching mound just like any average day. However, during one of the pitches, he threw the ball and immediately everything in his vision went black and hazy. The shock from the pain of a torn ligament was so debilitating that it was almost impossible for him to see whether or not that thrown pitch had been successful or not.
“I knew the guy missed it; I just didn’t know if it was because the pitch was fast, or fell short,” Searles explained. “The pain felt like hitting a funny bone…times a thousand.”
After he received Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery, Searles took some time away from baseball to collect himself. At the time of 2008, he had graduated from University of Pennsylvania with a degree in finance. As for baseball, he was undecided on whether to retire or come back from his elbow injury.
Later on while caddying on a golf course, Searles told his story to one of the men that he was caddying for. He gave him his business card and offered him a job in finance. Searles replied that he would consider it.
After putting some thought into it, Searles followed up on the job offer at First Empire Securities; he got the job after two interviews. He stated that it had been time to move on from baseball and to get a real job, so he did.
When reflecting on the decision, Searles stated, “I wish I’d played in the majors, yeah, but I’m ok about it. It (the minor leagues) was an incredible experience for me.”
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