Player gives pros second shot

Miracle’s Moseley spent time in factory

Although it pays well, few people in their right mind would want to work at Bates Acquisitions, a manufacturing company in Lobelville, Tenn.

The temperature inside the factory hits 90 degrees during the summers. Bates’ employees work 12-hour shifts, three days a week. Workers perform the same physical labor over and over. Day after day.

It’s not exactly where you’d expect to find the 49th overall pick of the 1998 major league draft, a then flame-throwing 18-year-old pitcher who scouts compared to John Wetteland, the former New York Yankees closer.

But there was Marcus Moseley working at Bates from October 2002 to February 2004. After five disappointing minor-league seasons, Moseley retired after the 2002 campaign.

“It was hot in the summer, hot in the winter and it was hard labor all day long,” Moseley said of Bates. “Who really wants to do that? Every day I went there I was like, ‘I hate coming to this place. Gosh, I’d rather be on a baseball field.’”

Moseley, 23, returned to the Minnesota Twins organization this spring. The Fort Myers Miracle reliever threw 1.1 scoreless innings in the Miracle’s 7-5 win over Tampa on Friday at the Lee County Sports Complex.

The 6-foot-3 right-hander has put up decent numbers (2-0, 4.32 ERA through Thursday) but those statistics don’t begin to tell the tale of his revitalization. Bates changed Moseley.

“It’s like he’s a different player now,” said Rob Antony, Twins director of baseball operations. “He’s got more poise, more composure than he’s ever had.”

Moseley said he’s now more determined to reach his life-long goal: the majors.

“(Working at Bates) kind of put it in perspective of what things can be like,” Moseley said. “I didn’t get a college education. I don’t have a degree under my belt. There’s not a lot of career opportunities for a guy without a degree.”

In addition to a lackluster career — the right-hander was 14-14 with a 6.28 ERA from 1998 to 2002 — Moseley retired from baseball because his wife, Lori, had a baby in February 2003.

“Marcus was bringing home $800 a month from baseball,” Lori Moseley said. “It wasn’t looking too promising.”

So Marcus quit baseball and looked for work. Hohenwald, Tenn., his wife’s hometown, had no jobs, so he settled on Bates, which offered $17.30 an hour.

Moseley’s job was to “crook” or bend rubber onto bars and then place the bars in an oven. After cooking, the bars were ready to be installed inside the hoods of Ford and Chrysler cars.

Co-workers asked him about baseball daily. They’d tell him he should get out of the factory and return to the sport. Moseley would shrug his shoulders, shake his head and say, “I know.”

Then fate stepped in. Moseley went in search of some paperwork in December. He was studying to be a real-estate agent. Moseley thought he might have left the papers in a Twins bag.

The papers weren’t there. A glove and ball were.

“I go into the garage and he’s sitting down with the ball and glove,” Lori said. “He was teary-eyed and emotional.”

Lori said: “What are you thinking about?”

Marcus: “It’s time to go back.”

Moseley got off to a strong start with the Miracle but has struggled of late. He allowed 11 earned runs in his last 6.1 innings before Friday’s appearance.

Nevertheless, Marcus is happier today than at any time in his career, Lori said.

“Honestly, I think the year off was a good thing for me,” Marcus said. “I was down on myself because I wasn’t pitching well for so many years. Just to let it go and come back was great. It’s a lot more fun of a game to me right now.”