RockieBill
04-12-2002, 07:41 PM
From www.rockymountainnews.com
McCracken intent on re-establishing sidetracked career
One of Rockies' first draftees hopes to get bearings with Arizona
By Tracy Ringolsby, News Staff Writer
April 12, 2002
At the age of 32, Quinton McCracken is starting over. A member of the Colorado Rockies' original draft class in 1992, McCracken is ready to put three years of physical and emotional challenges behind him as he tries to re-establish himself in the big leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He can only hope that he can regain a semblance the success he enjoyed for the Rockies, for whom he played his first two big-league seasons in 1996-97 before being left exposed in the November 1997 expansion draft and being selected by Tampa Bay as the first position player drafted.
"I've always had confidence in my ability," said McCracken, who completed a double major in political science and history at Duke in four years while playing baseball and football for the Blue Devils. "It's a matter of being able and getting an opportunity."
McCracken's career was sidetracked after the 1998 season, when he was voted Tampa Bay's most valuable player in its first year of existence. Having hurt his right knee during a workout program after the 1998 season, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee when he hit the outfield wall at Tropicana Field on May 24, 1999. Not only was he out for the rest of that season, but he was limited to only 15 big-league games in 2000.
Released by Tampa Bay after the 2000 season and St. Louis at the end of spring training in 2001, McCracken was signed by the Minnesota organization. He started last season at Class AAA Edmonton, where he hit .338 in 81 games and earned a call-up.
His excitement about the big-league call-up June 5 didn't last long. McCracken's father traveled to Chicago for the Twins' interleague series against the Chicago Cubs from June 15-17. When McCracken went to get his father on the final morning in Chicago, he found him lying in the hotel bed, dead from a heart attack, six months after McCracken's mother had died from diabetes.
"They had been married 40-some years," McCracken said. "Dad was kind of heartbroken. I guess when you lose your mate you can lose your will to live."
Having grown up in a strong family environment, McCracken admits he lost some desire, too. The loss of both parents in such a short time took a lot out of him emotionally. His shot with the Twins didn't go well. "The Twins did everything they could to help me," he said.
Now, though, McCracken is looking forward to a new opportunity with the Diamondbacks, a team he chose to sign with because he makes his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Best of luck, Quinton.
McCracken intent on re-establishing sidetracked career
One of Rockies' first draftees hopes to get bearings with Arizona
By Tracy Ringolsby, News Staff Writer
April 12, 2002
At the age of 32, Quinton McCracken is starting over. A member of the Colorado Rockies' original draft class in 1992, McCracken is ready to put three years of physical and emotional challenges behind him as he tries to re-establish himself in the big leagues with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
He can only hope that he can regain a semblance the success he enjoyed for the Rockies, for whom he played his first two big-league seasons in 1996-97 before being left exposed in the November 1997 expansion draft and being selected by Tampa Bay as the first position player drafted.
"I've always had confidence in my ability," said McCracken, who completed a double major in political science and history at Duke in four years while playing baseball and football for the Blue Devils. "It's a matter of being able and getting an opportunity."
McCracken's career was sidetracked after the 1998 season, when he was voted Tampa Bay's most valuable player in its first year of existence. Having hurt his right knee during a workout program after the 1998 season, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in the knee when he hit the outfield wall at Tropicana Field on May 24, 1999. Not only was he out for the rest of that season, but he was limited to only 15 big-league games in 2000.
Released by Tampa Bay after the 2000 season and St. Louis at the end of spring training in 2001, McCracken was signed by the Minnesota organization. He started last season at Class AAA Edmonton, where he hit .338 in 81 games and earned a call-up.
His excitement about the big-league call-up June 5 didn't last long. McCracken's father traveled to Chicago for the Twins' interleague series against the Chicago Cubs from June 15-17. When McCracken went to get his father on the final morning in Chicago, he found him lying in the hotel bed, dead from a heart attack, six months after McCracken's mother had died from diabetes.
"They had been married 40-some years," McCracken said. "Dad was kind of heartbroken. I guess when you lose your mate you can lose your will to live."
Having grown up in a strong family environment, McCracken admits he lost some desire, too. The loss of both parents in such a short time took a lot out of him emotionally. His shot with the Twins didn't go well. "The Twins did everything they could to help me," he said.
Now, though, McCracken is looking forward to a new opportunity with the Diamondbacks, a team he chose to sign with because he makes his home in Scottsdale, Ariz.
Best of luck, Quinton.