March 13, 2007

By Nick Brockman

"For love of the game" means more than just the title of a movie to Ohio pitcher John Angelicchi. Those words signify motivation and a way of life.

They have been in the back of Angelicchi's mind since soreness in his shoulder sidelined him during fall workouts and, combined with past problems, could have jeopardized his baseball playing career.

"I always was the type of person that never showed pain," Angelicchi said. "During the fall I had a little soreness in my back and told coach."

Angelicchi, a junior right-hander from Woodmere, Ohio, also encountered arm problems after his senior year in high school, making his latest situation even more worrisome.

"They went in there (senior year) and found out it was a torn labrum," he said.

Angelicchi rehabbed nearly his entire freshman year at Ohio before returning at the end of the season -- six months earlier than projected. In five starts, he posted a 3-0 record with an impressive 2.66 earned run average. But Ohio Head Coach Joe Carbone said once Angelicchi showed pain during the team's fall workouts, the team took all precautions.

"We shut him right down," Carbone said. "We sent him back to his doctor in Cleveland."

For the next 13 weeks, Angelicchi did not workout nor did he pick up a baseball while his teammates continued their off-season preparation.

When Angelicchi returned from winter break, he felt frustrated yet still hopeful. He eventually sought the opinion of Dr. Timothy Kremcheck, team physician for the Cincinnati Reds. The condition remained the same, but this time Angelicchi found hope.

"He looked at my MRIs and said he has had worse shoulders in the majors right now," Angelicchi said of Kremcheck. "He advised me to keep pitching, and that was a great relief."

Carbone said that Kremcheck leads his field when it comes to diagnosing baseball injuries, so Carbone felt comfortable sending his players to Kremcheck.

"He's very well respected throughout the major leagues," Carbone said. "He seems to be the most aggressive on this, and everything he's ever decided with our guys has been on the money."

Though Kremcheck deemed pitching possible, Angelicchi had to face the fact that he would be playing in pain. Surrendering to the pain never became an option, though. All Angelicchi needed to hear was that his career still had a pulse.

Carbone said Angelicchi's passion for the sport would not allow him to give up pitching.

"Baseball is very important to him. Pitching is very important to him," Carbone said. "For some guys, they might have said, `OK, I've had enough; I don't want to experience the pain in my shoulder anymore. I just want to get my degree.'

"And that's fine. It's all about what you want to do in life, what's important to you.'

Since Kremcheck's analysis, Angelicchi has been placed on a rehab program and hopes he will take the mound in time for the opening Mid-American Conference series March 23-25 at Northern Illinois.

"I've been put on a throwing program," Angelicchi said. "I have to go in every day to rehab with a strength workout, and then also our conditioning and lifting. I'm close to 85 percent. They're going to give me a couple more weeks, and then I should be back on the mound."

Carbone said that although Angelicchi has progressed well during his rehab, the team will be cautious on how to use him.

"We've been taking him slow and easy, and he hasn't had any problems at all," Carbone said. "I think he'll be OK."

Many collegiate athletes do not advance beyond amateur status, yet Angelicchi said he never considered giving up baseball.

"It's just for the love," he said. "You do this stuff for 18 years, and when somebody tells you to stop, it's just hard to deal with it.

"Even if I don't go to the pros, it's still just you put all this time, all this money in there -- you just can't give it up. You just got to fight through it."