Major League Baseball

Strickland's long road leads back to the majors

Published Jun. 21, 2010 6:43 p.m. ET

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Florida reliever Scott Strickland was gripped by every emotion he could think of, all at once. He had been summoned from the bullpen for the 237th time in his major league career, yet this moment was like nothing he ever experienced.

So he froze.

``Give me a second,'' Strickland pleaded.

Hey, he had waited 149 million seconds - give or take a few thousand - for this. One more wouldn't matter.

He took a deep breath, adjusted his jersey and ran onto the field. In that moment Friday night, exactly four years, eight months and 22 days after his last major league appearance, after the birth of two kids, two near-retirements and countless moments of frustration, the right-handed Strickland was officially back at baseball's top level.

There's no guarantee how long he'll stick with the Marlins, but Strickland cannot believe the chance came his way again.

``It's been a long road,'' Strickland said. ``I've pitched well and just never got the opportunity to break in and finally get that opportunity that I didn't think was going to come again. It just means a lot, a lot to my family, a lot of hard work, man. Grinding it out.''

Drafted in 1997 by the Montreal Expos, Strickland has since been under contract with the Mets, Astros, Pirates, Padres, Yankees, Dodgers and now, the Marlins. He appeared in 77 games with the Expos in 2002, 68 more with the Mets the following season, before elbow problems knocked him out of the game.

And since the end of the 2005 season, every pitch Strickland had thrown was in the minors, including going 3-0 with eight saves and a 1.72 ERA this season for the Marlins' Triple-A affiliate in New Orleans.

Late Thursday night, the phone call summoning him to the show finally came.

``It is, I think, the best story we could tell our kids,'' said Strickland's wife, Charisse, who's back home in Houston with their twins. ``How much work he did, the sacrifices he made, I can't wait to share it with them. It's definitely rewarding.''

Those kids, Jaden and Calie, play a big role in Strickland's story.

Now 3, the twins were born three months premature. ``They were little ducks,'' Strickland said, holding his hands about nine inches apart to show their approximate size when they came into the world, then pointing out that his daughter was so tiny at birth, he could slide his wedding band up her entire arm.

Strickland was on the cusp of joining the Yankees when the twins arrived, literally on a flight headed toward New York when news came that the pregnancy was in trouble. He changed planes in Cincinnati, went back home to spend three months sitting in an intensive-care unit with the kids instead of continuing on to New York, never questioning if he made the right decision.

To make ends meet, he played winter ball, not seeing his kids for months at a time. He's even been part of his family's repossession business, owning a truck that the company uses.

``When you don't have the money to fly your family out everywhere, it's tough,'' Strickland said.

That might not be a problem much longer.

The Marlins are in desperate need of relief help, making a slew of moves in recent weeks in efforts to find the right mix of guys to serve as the bridge between the starters and closer Leo Nunez. If Strickland pitches well, he'll be in the majors for a while.

``It's perseverance,'' Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. ``When we sent him down, me and (pitching coach Randy) St. Claire in Jupiter during spring training, he was talking about quitting. I said, 'Strickland, you never know in this game. Keep the uniform on. You never know.' Sure enough, he's got an opportunity to pitch in the big leagues.''

A well-deserved one, at that. During the last 4 1/2 seasons before this call up, that time spent entirely at the Triple-A level, Strickland went 18-4 with 57 saves and a 2.91 ERA.

Yet it was never good enough to merit a promotion, always wrong-place, wrong-time. Until now.

``You've got to be happy for him,'' Gonzalez said.

Strickland has made two appearances so far, giving up three hits and a run in one inning. The run came Friday, when Strickland was so nervous in his return to the bigs that he kept regripping the baseball. And 1,200 miles away, back home in Texas, Charisse Strickland had to go be by herself for a few minutes when that quick appearance was over, the emotion of the night too much for her to bear.

``There's been a lot of praying for him, motivation, trying to help him,'' Charisse Strickland said. ``I've always known it would be hard, but I've always known he could do it. When he gets knocked down, he keeps picking himself back up.''

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