Daniel Ponce de Leon - One Line Drive: A Life-Threatening Injury and a Faith-Fueled Comeback

I did not know the street address of Principal Park in Des Moines, Iowa, home of the Iowa Cubs, the day I first stepped onto its field. Why would I? I had never been in that stadium. I didnt even know the address of my home stadium back in Tennessee. At the time I was a pitcher for the Memphis Redbirds, the Triple-A minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Since I had started the 2017 season off pretty well, I was hoping my days in any minor league ballpark would be numbered. There were no guarantees about when it would happen, but I knew if I continued to pitch well, with the grace of God, there would be a chance Id be called up at some point to pitch in a Major League Baseball game. I learned the address of that stadium in Des Moines much later, and once I heard it, I knew I would never forget it: 1 Line Drive.

Just like the play that almost killed me.

It was May 9, 2017, in the top of the second inning of the fourth game of our series with the Cubs, and I was pitching for the Redbirds. The time was a little past one thirty on a beautiful spring afternoon, when, in an instant, my life changed forever. At the time, I had no idea that almost dying that day would be a gift from God.

Everybody remembers random details from important days in their life. Thinking back to certain milestones like special birthdays, the days on which your children were born, your wedding day, or some big achievement or recognition at work, most people have certain parts of those days lodged in their memory bank. What I remember most vividly about that day is that the bottom of my baseball spikes were green.

The Cubs expected a big crowd that day, and in order to make the field appear more vibrant, the groundskeepers had painted portions of the grass green. At some point, I walked right through it, and when I looked at the bottom of my shoes when I was on the mound, they were covered with fresh green paint.

It was an afternoon game, rare for a weekday, but there was a special promotion the Iowa Cubs were doing for schoolkids around the city, so the game started at one oclock. Having a chance to go to a baseball game instead of school? I dont know many kids who wouldnt sign up for that. I wish that had been an option when I was growing up. Theres a restaurant in Des Moines called Mullets, which is well known and close to the hotel where we were staying, and I was planning on having breakfast there before heading to the ballpark to get ready to make my start. The place was popular, and on this day packed, so I went to Plan B and ended up having a lighter meal than I normally would on a day I was pitching. It would be the only food I ate the entire day.

My inspiration on days I am pitching comes from Christian music. Its as much a part of my routine as listening to the national anthem. Its something that takes my mind and my spirit where they need to be to compete. I have playlists on my phone, and during warm-ups that morning I had those familiar worship tunes in my ear as I got ready. It was still very early in the season, but I was off to a good start, and I was hoping to continue to pitch well against Iowa. The Cardinals had promoted me at the beginning of the season from Double-A to Triple-A, so I was now just one step away from the big leagues. If a pitcher on the major league roster got hurt, I could get a call to replace him, so every game was ultra-important, as I hoped to constantly be on the radar screen of the decision makers in St. Louis. In my first game of the season, I had struck out eight batters in four innings, and I believed if I kept pitching like I had so far in 2017, Id be with the Cardinals soon.

Back in Florida, my girlfriend, Jenn, was at home with our young son, Casen. As a starting pitcher, I played only about every five days, so it was easy for Jenn and her family in Florida, and my dad and other family members of mine in California, to follow my career by watching games online on days that I started. They could tune in to my one game per week and stay caught up. Jenn had been visiting frequently since wed left Florida in late March, and she already had a plane ticket booked for her and Casen to come to Memphis on Friday. I was excited to see them in a few days and fired up to pitch on this sunny and beautiful day.

The first inning took me longer to settle in than I wanted. I gave up a couple of hits, but no runs, and I walked out to the mound to start the second inning, making note of the backdrop in the outfield. In most ballparks there is whats called a batters eye in center field. Its a black or dark wall that is there to provide a backdrop for hitters so that they can pick up the white baseball being pitched to them. In Iowa they dont have that. They just have openness in the outfield, and then far off in the distance you can see the gold tower on top of the Iowa State Capitol Building, with the sunlight bouncing off it. This makes daytime games there tough on the hitters to recognize pitch spin and tracking. That means pitchers generally have an advantage, although I hadnt yet shown that.

The leadoff hitter for the Cubs to start the second inning was Victor Caratini, a left-hander I was facing for the first time. My catcher gave me a sign to throw a two-seam fastball. I agreed with the choice and gave him a quick nod. My fastball was a pitch that had been working fairly well since the season started. I went into my windup to deliver the first pitch of the inning.