[5/5/05]

In Monday night’s second game of a Class 5A baseball playoff series between Warren Central and Gulfport, Admirals’ coach Michael Lindsey called on star pitcher Tyler McCabe for relief in the seventh inning.

McCabe had thrown 145 pitches 2 1/2 days earlier in a win over the Vikings, and now was being called on to pitch again. Lindsey said afterward that McCabe would have only pitched the seventh inning, if the game had gone into extra innings.

A week ago, Benton Academy coach Terry King called on his star pitcher, sophomore Stuart Morgan, to pitch the final innings of a series-clinching win over Porters Chapel.

Morgan had thrown a complete game the night before, easily eclipsing 100 pitches.

Each coach, who knows their players’ strengths and weaknesses more than I do, made a decision to win the ball game no matter what.

Across the Benton Academy dugout sat PCA coach Randy Wright. His depleted pitching staff was hanging on by a thread to hopes of a state championship.

He joked that he planned on pitching Johnny Wholestaff in the second game because he needed his top two pitchers in the first game.

Actually, he used his Nos. 2 and 3 pitchers in the second game. Wright’s best pitcher played shortstop through the end of the regular season and two rounds of the postseason.

At the time, few knew what was wrong with standout sophomore pitcher Michael Busby, only that his throwing elbow was hurting.

He made throws from deep at shortstop to first base, turned double plays and seemed to have little trouble throwing to first during infield warmups.

After one long throw, Wright turned to his best player and said he didn’t look like he had an injured arm.

So why not pitch him, even for an inning, coach?

Winning here is not worth it, Wright said over and over. Jeopardizing a kid’s career is not worth it. It’s just not, he said again.

On Tuesday morning, Busby underwent surgery on his throwing elbow. Renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews, a Birmingham surgeon who has worked on countless professional athletes and performed the same surgery Busby had on Chicago Cubs pitcher Greg Maddux, did the surgery that will sideline Busby for as many as nine months.

In four months, Busby’s brother, Chris, said, he can begin tossing a baseball.

If all goes well, Michael Busby will be back on the mound for the start of the next baseball season. Before the injury, he was hitting 90 mph on the radar gun and was virtually unhittable.

Even injured, he probably would have been close to unhittable in the postseason. but who knows how much worse his injury could have gotten.

While others may pursue victories at any cost, Randy Wright saw past that.

He correctly saw past the present. He correctly saw past a possible state championship run. He correctly saw past what many others don’t: It’s just not worth it.