BURNED OUT AT 19; MOORPARK LINEBACKER QUIT BASEBALL.Byline: Gerry Gittelson Daily News Staff Writer Is it OK for a 19-year-old to change his mind? That's what Moorpark College Moorpark College is a California-state funded community college located on a 134 acre (542,000 m²) property reclining on a hill in Moorpark, a town in Ventura County, California. linebacker Judd Granzow wants to know. Granzow quit a promising professional baseball career with the Dodgers in 1995. Many questioned his decision when the former multi-sport star from Faith Baptist High School turned his back on the Dodgers' Yakima, Wash., affiliate less than a year after cashing his $75,000 signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee by a company as an incentive to join that company. These are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive to the employee e.g. if the annual salary is lower than they desire. . ``I just burned out on baseball,'' Granzow said. ``I really worked my butt BUTT. A measure of capacity, equal to one hundred and eight gallons. See Measure. off, maybe worked too hard. I was so focused, and then I just hit a wall. I just didn't want to play anymore.'' Shocking? Oh, yes. ``What I liked most about Judd was how extremely dedicated he was to baseball,'' said Dodgers scout Joe Ferrone, aware of the irony in his recollection. ``He told me baseball was Baseball WA is the governing body of baseball within Western Australia. Baseball WA is governed by the Australian Baseball Federation External Links Baseball WA Australian Baseball Federation Claxton Shield | all he wanted to do. I was extremely surprised when he quit. He was a solid prospect. That's why I drafted him.'' Granzow hit .228 with four home runs at Yakima after hitting 22 home runs in a little more than 100 at-bats his last two seasons at Faith Baptist. A shoulder injury greased grease n. 1. Soft or melted animal fat, especially after rendering. 2. A thick oil or viscous substance, especially when used as a lubricant. 3. a. The oily substance present in raw wool; suint. Granzow's departure from baseball but was not the deciding factor. Granzow had a plan of his own, surprising everyone but himself this year by deciding to play football at Moorpark College. The freshman linebacker has added 30 pounds of muscle and is now 6-foot-4 and 235 pounds. Moorpark's coaches couldn't be happier. Granzow is the complete package in football, too. ``I've been at Moorpark for 18 years,'' said Moorpark defensive coach Will Thurston, ``and Judd is physically one of the top five players ever. He's that special.'' ``Special'' is a tag that has followed Granzow - in both baseball and football - since ninth grade, when the slender Slender “though well-landed, an idiot.” [Br. Lit.: Merry Wives of Windsor] See : Stupidity 14-year-old took over as starting quarterback in Faith Baptist's last regular-season game and led the Contenders to the Southern Section eight-man championship. Granzow was a man among boys at Faith Baptist in Canoga Park. As a junior he passed for 2,224 yards and 29 touchdowns, and rushed for 1,160 yards and 23 touchdowns. That's 53 touchdowns in a season when most Faith Baptist wins were shortened short·en v. short·ened, short·en·ing, short·ens v.tr. 1. To make short or shorter. 2. by eight-man football's 45-point mercy rule A mercy rule, also well known by the slightly less polite term slaughter rule (or, less commonly, knockout rule and skunk rule), brings a sports event to an early end when one team has a very large and presumably insurmountable lead over the other team. . When baseball season rolled around, he struck out 140 as a pitcher and batted over .500. But Granzow was not such a standout in the classroom, passing his classes but failing to meet NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association requirements on the SAT. A full scholarship to Cal was in the balance. ``I missed qualifying by 10 points,'' Granzow said, ``but I didn't think it was a big deal. I wanted to be a baseball player.'' Things change, people change. For this fall, Granzow traded in his baseball cap for a football helmet. And Granzow has matured, studying hard between workouts the last 18 months. He will earn his AA degree this spring and is practically a lock to land a major-college football scholarship for next season. ``I'll tell you something, this kid has really come along,'' Moorpark head coach Jim Bittner said. ``He's just an athlete. He could start at a lot of different positions for us. The only linebacker I've seen who compares to him is Tom Briggs Tom Briggs may refer to:
Thurston is expecting big things. ``Judd has blossomed in less than a month,'' Thurston said. ``It will depend on how he reacts in a game situation, but Judd will dominate. It might be the first game, it might be the third game, but it's gonna gon·na Informal Contraction of going to: We're gonna win today. happen. He's going somewhere.'' Moorpark opens against Antelope Valley College Antelope Valley College is a comprehensive community college located in Lancaster, California, USA. It is operated by the Antelope Valley Community College District, with a primary service area of 1,945 square miles covering portions of Los Angeles and Kern counties. at home on Saturday night. Granzow feels he's found his purpose. He couldn't be in better physical shape - he runs a 4.6 40-yard dash and bench-presses 390 pounds - nor could he be happier. ``I love playing defense,'' he said. ``Linebacker is the perfect position for me.'' Granzow's development as a football player parallels his growth as a person. ``We all have a plan in life,'' he said. ``Sometimes we follow it along, and sometimes we have to take a different path. I just turned 21, I'm happy, and I'm enjoying life. I feel like I have a great future in front of me if I stay on this path. But I'm not thinking about what's ahead, and where I might end up playing football. My plan is to just go on that field and take care of business.'' CAPTION(S): Photo Photo: ``I really worked my butt off, maybe worked too hard. I was so focused, and then I just hit a wall. I just didn't want to play anymore.'' Judd Granzow on his baseball career Phil McCarten / Daily News |
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