Daubert going all out for a 2d shot in majors
BROCKTON -- If you are a baseball historian, you'd smile when you hear that Jake Daubert is playing third base for the Brockton Rox.
Why? Because in the early part of the 20th century, a Jake Daubert played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds.
Baseball scholars are divided on whether Daubert belongs in the sport's Hall of Fame. Although Daubert put up some heady numbers -- two-time batting champion, MVP, lifetime batting average of .303, and still the holder of the National League record for sacrifice hits with 392 -- during his 15 years in the majors, he is not in Cooperstown.
(Daubert's career was cut short tragically: In September 1924, he had an emergency appendectomy and subsequently died from complications from the surgery.)
The Jake Daubert of the Rox has been on the outside looking in, too. He wants to play big league baseball. He had an opportunity, after a starry collegiate career, but he was injured and now is hoping for a second chance.
After earning accolades at Rutgers University in New Jersey, he was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in the 15th round of the 2000 major league draft.
Daubert signed and had a solid summer for the Everett (Wash.) Aqua Sox of the Northwest League. The following season, he was promoted to the Mariners farm club in the Midwest League, the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers.
His career nearly ended there when he was hurt.
Daubert remembers it well.
"It happened during pregame drills," he said. "I went to catch a pop-up near the dugout steps, which were concrete. I slipped and fell on my shoulder and heard a pop. I got up, and couldn't move my arm. I had an MRI. Doctors said everything was OK, but I knew something was wrong. Every time I tried to throw the ball, it hurt."
He went home to Toms River, N.J., and saw his own doctors for a second opinion. "They said I had a deep bone bruise and extreme tendinitis," he said. Unable to play, he was released by the Mariners.
Daubert didn't quit. He spent the winter rehabilitating his shoulder through physical therapy, hoping for another chance to play professional baseball.
He got that opportunity with the Rox, even though his shoulder was not completely healed, which he said contributed to his 16 fielding miscues in the 2003 season.
"All of my errors last year were throwing errors because I really didn't have the arm strength. It also affected my hitting. I couldn't get any extension," said Daubert.
This year, with a fully recovered shoulder, Daubert is racking up impressive numbers again. He leads the Northeast League in runs scored (51) and leads the Rox with 11 home runs. He carried a .307 batting average through 66 games.
He hasn't missed a game this year; in fact, he has missed only one game the Rox have ever played, last Aug. 5, when his shoulder was sore. Even then, he did not want to sit.
"We try to play every day and play well, because you never know if there is a scout in the stands. Just give it all you got," said Daubert, who turned 25 in May.
It is a bittersweet streak because he would like it to end -- by signing a contract with a major league team.
"He can play third base with anybody," said Rox manager Ed Nottle. "He has been a key to our success here in Brockton. This year, especially at third base, he has showed everything and more. When I was coaching for the Red Sox at Pawtucket, I didn't have a third baseman as good as he is. He has the tools. He has a tremendous work ethic. He just needs an opportunity from somebody."
Daubert hopes to get that second shot.
"There are so many things that can happen to a ballplayer. Everybody asked, 'When are you going to be in the big leagues?' But they don't understand everything that goes into it," he said. "When I was with Seattle, a West Coast team, there were only three of us from the East Coast on the team. Right from the get-go I felt I didn't fit in.
"I'm just hoping somebody gives me a chance. There are scouts at all our games. I was told the Red Sox were interested in me, but I haven't heard anything."
He would like to be the second Daubert in the major leagues.
Oh, the two Jakes aren't related. "Not at all," said Daubert. "My grandfather contacted their family years ago to see if we were related, but we're not." 