Komminsk recalls stint in Italy
03/02/2006WINTER HAVEN, Fla. -- Brad Komminsk was jobless in 1994.
He had gone through Spring Training in the White Sox camp, but the team released him before Opening Day. So Komminsk went looking for work in baseball. He wasn't overly particular about what kind, either.
But not even he expected to end up playing in Europe.
"Some guy called me and says, 'Hey, you wanna go to Italy?'" Komminsk said. "I said, 'Yeah.' I always wanted to go to Europe, you know. I thought I'd play some baseball and have a great time."
Komminsk, 44, did both. He also learned that baseball had a reach far beyond the borders of North and South America. He joined the likes of pitchers Rick Waite and Jim Morrison as real-life Yankees spreading the gospel of baseball on foreign soil.
Now, Komminsk was quick to point out that he didn't go to Italy to be a pioneer. He went to play baseball, which he'd done all of his adult life. Having spent parts of eight seasons in the Majors, he was a baseball player, and in chasing the baseball, he didn't hesitate to let the game take him where it did.
"I really didn't know what to expect in Italy," he said. "But it was fun. I really enjoyed it. I had a great time over there."
But he knew early on that it wasn't the Major Leagues. The 10 Division I teams in Italy played games twice a week. He remembered facing some decent players there, though nobody in the league resembled Alex Rodriguez, Albert Belle, Ken Griffey Jr. or Greg Maddux.
A good comparison, Komminsk said, might be to a college baseball team. And those college teams had equipment that Komminsk warmed to quickly.
"Aluminum bats," he said, smiling. "It was great!"
What also was great was the treatment. He found the Italians, who are fielding a team for the World Baseball Classic, eager to embrace the game and its players, and he liked exploring a place that he'd never been to before.
He didn't delude himself that he was in the Majors and playing against top talents.
"It's not their job, you know; it's secondary," he said of the Italian players. "They all have other jobs, so you work around their schedule. [In the U.S.], you're a professional; it's your job. This is what we do for a living."
He remained mindful of the differences. He understood them, and he even learned to embrace them.
After all, he was playing baseball; he was having fun, which was what mattered most to him.
Komminsk, now a roving instructor with the Indians, spent two seasons in Italy before a dispute with the team owner made him realize he needed to return to the U.S. in 1995. He hasn't been back to Italy.
"I'd love to go back," he said. "One of these days, I'll go back."
Source: http://cleveland.indians.mlb.com/
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