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MOOSIC – Anger kept exploding inside Slade Heathcott for most of his adult life, threatening to destroy the promising baseball future he envisioned.
The rash of crippling injuries he suffered along the way didn’t help much.
Instead, they only fueled a rage that he couldn’t explain, and gave him one more reason not to accept any fault.
“I blamed everybody around me for all of my failures,” Heathcott said. “I had tons of negativity around me. I’ve been a negative influence – a bad influence – my entire life. I finally just said, ‘I’m done making excuses.’”
He knew what he had to do.
To reach his dream of someday playing Major League Baseball in the outfield at Yankee Stadium, Heathcott had to let the animosity go.
His troubles went all the way back to his childhood.
Heathcott was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol as a high school junior. He was banned from his high school baseball team when he ran into academic troubles. He pointed a shotgun at his father during an argument and spent his final year of high school living out of a truck.
All those demons were supposed to be left behind when the Yankees made Heathcott their first-round draft choice of 2009.
But the Yankees discovered his alcohol problem early in his minor league career. They provided him help, through Alcohol Anonymous, and Heathcott found faith through religion.
Through the grace of God, he says, Heathcott will start the 2015 season in the outfield for the Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders tonight.
“It’s a blessing to be out here every day,” Heathcott said. “This is a game played all over the world. Kids and adults alike would love to be in our situation.”
His situation changed drastically, then changed again.
Oh, Heathcott was always a prospect. The Yankees are still impressed by his potential – his sheer speed, his ability to go on hot hitting streaks, the strength in his arms befitting a guy who used to play linebacker in high school.
But that big-league body kept breaking down.
After playing the 2010 season for Class A Charleston, Heathcott underwent shoulder surgery. He had another shoulder surgery that took away the second half of his 2011 season.
He needed knee surgery following the 2013 season for Double-A Trenton, then played just nine games for Trenton last year before the knee needed a second surgery.
Heathcott thought his career may be over before it really began.
“I didn’t know how well I’d be able to play after this,” Heathcott said, “didn’t know how well I was going to be able to come back – or come back at all.”
That trepidation came from the uncertainty surrounding the latest of his four surgeries in five minor league seasons.
“Not because of the lack of confidence in myself,” said Heathcott, who has played in just 80 games over his six minor league seasons. “It was the pain level and things I wasn’t able to do five months out of surgery. I told myself I may not be able to get back to playing at the level I was used to.”
When he did come back, his spot on the parent Yankees’ 40-man roster was gone.
The Yankees didn’t tender Heathcott a contract during the offseason, removing him from their top 40 protected players, although they later re-signed him to a minor league deal and offered him an invitation to big league camp in spring training.
“Physically, things that have happened have been out of my control,” Heathcott said.
It is the rest of the things he gained a firmer grip on.
While listening to a leadership book and with a son about to be born, Heathcott said a switch flipped inside him.
He changed his diet. He changed his sleep patterns. Most importantly, he changed his attitude.
“You watch (recently-retired Yankees icon Derek) Jeter, guys who have a knack for winning,” Heathcott said. “They never blame anything for their lack of success. They just find a way to get it done. I’m going to try to eliminate excuses.
“That’s a big goal of mine.”
His accomplishments in spring training aren’t to be taken lightly.
Heathcott hit .333 with seven RBI and tied for fourth in the Grapefruit League by scoring 12 runs in 33 spring training games with the parent Yankees. For his strong spring, Heathcott received the James P. Dawson Award, which goes to the best rookie in the Yankees camp.
“I was surprised with spring and the mental approach and how the at-bats were going,” Heathcott said. “It’s been awhile since I played. I don’t think I’ve ever broke camp healthy, maybe one year in (Class A) Charleston. I was either just trying to get back to 100 percent or not quite 100 percent. This year I feel healthy.
“Best baseball shape I’ve ever been in.”
Maybe in the eyes of the Yankees organization, too.
Instead of shipping him to Double-A as they originally intended, the Yankees sent Heathcott to the RailRiders to begin the 2015 season after his strong showing this spring.
The real strength for Heathcott, though, comes from changing his old ways.
“I just focus on my goal that I have, just keep working on my mental approach,” Heathcott said. “This is a game of adjustments.
“I have to make my adjustments every day.”