The number one rule of sports reporting is chiseled in stone and non-negotiable. It’s a simple and straightforward command that can never be broken — though I’ve seen some so-called reporters in small towns do it over the years.
No cheering in the press box.
None. Ever. The End.
That means you cover the game or the subject in an absolutely neutral manner, keeping your emotions in check to tell the story accurately and without bias.
Of course, we’re all human and there are times where you silently hope for good outcomes because they’re fun and their success would make for a great story. I can count on one hand how often I’ve felt that way over the years, but one of those times occurred this week.
After learning of his professional baseball odyssey and visiting with him, it’s impossible not to silently cheer for Springfield Cardinals pitcher Logan Sawyer. Talk about a guy who’s stared into the face of adversity and kept on smiling, a fellow who never quit chasing his dream. Sawyer’s story is one to admire.
The oldest Springfield Cardinal
At 30, Sawyer is the oldest player on the Springfield Cardinals if not all of the Double-A Texas League. His teammates, some nearly a decade younger, sometimes ask him for life advice or just take a playful jab when quizzing him about what life was like in the 1990s.
“I don’t know everything. I’ve made plenty of mistakes,” Sawyer said. “I just try to give them advice or encouragement if I can.”
Here’s a brief rundown of Sawyer’s road to Springfield, where the right-handed relief pitcher has six saves and a 3-3 record for the Cardinals in 2023:
Drafted by the Colorado Rockies in 2014, after playing at Division II Lincoln Memorial University in his home state of Tennessee, Sawyer was released by the Rockies following the 2016 season. Admittedly, Sawyer did not light the baseball world afire with an 8.39 earned run average in 20 appearances that season.
Sawyer would not pitch again in affiliated baseball until this season.
Bullpen session leads to Tommy John surgery
In between, he went back to college to finish his degree and got a job as a strength and conditioning coach for a baseball academy in Jupiter, Florida. Encouraged by colleagues at the camp, he joined several other prospects in throwing a bullpen session for pro scouts in an effort to perhaps get on someone’s radar for another shot.
“It was getting closer to spring training and my velocity jumped up and my stuff was getting sharper,” Sawyer said. “I was at the last bullpen with the scouts there before they broke for spring training. They go, ‘Hang on, we want to see a couple of more sliders. The slider looks good.’
“So I threw another slider. It did not feel right. I was dumb enough to throw another one and they said ‘Throw us another.’ That sealed the deal for me. Felt like a hot knife going through my elbow.”
But wait, there’s more.
“They said, ‘Finish on a fastball.’ The idiot that I am, I threw a fastball and it felt even worse.”
The diagnosis was a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. It required the surgery famously known as “Tommy John” for the 1970s Dodgers pitcher who first underwent a then-experimental procedure. Facing a year or rehab before pitching again — and already with Father Time working against him — Sawyer figured his baseball dreams were over.
Getting back to work
But Sawyer is a dreamer. He went back to work as a strength coach and worked out after hours to rehab his arm. Encouraged by a series of baseball friends, he sought another comeback and began a journey that took him from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, to Australia to Evansville, Indiana, to throw baseballs for not very much money.
“I signed with Lancaster for indy ball in the Atlantic League,” Sawyer said. “I’m grateful for that opportunity. I did OK and was fortunate enough to go to Australia and play that winter. That was another great experience.”
But he got sick on his way home from Australia. That was January of 2020, just as COVID-19 was starting to boom.
“I think I brought COVID home with me,” he said. “And of course, there was no (minor-league) baseball and I didn’t get to play at all in 2020.”
Sawyer, feeling uncertain about his profession, said he turned things over to a higher power.
“I surrendered to God and was praying, saying, “God, If you don’t want me to play baseball anymore, just take the passion and love away from me and let me go do something else.’ I woke up the next morning absolutely on fire for baseball. I said ‘OK, that’s my answer right there.’ I dove into every avenue after that.”
Finding a spot in Evansville and an omen in St. Louis
But it was hard to impress anyone because scouts, grounded by COVID, weren’t traveling. Sawyer threw mostly to audiences of a catcher and buddy or two.
Sawyer signed with the Evansville Otters of the Frontier League in 2021 and became the team’s all-star closer, saving 25 games. He returned to the team in 2022 and was named the Frontier League relief pitcher of the year, with 22 saves as only 15 of 104 batters he faced reached base. He didn’t allow a run all season and struck out 39 while walking only three.
During a road trip to play the Gateway Grizzlies, he had a hotel room that faced downtown St. Louis. He could see Busch Stadium and the Gateway Arch. During a phone call with his wife, Natalie, who was back home in Knoxville, Tennessee, he blurted out, “Wouldn’t it be crazy if I’m sitting here today and they end up signing me and next year I could end up playing there?”
But after the season, scouts remained lukewarm and chances to throw for them were minimal. Finally, he was encouraged to use social media to showcase himself.
“I didn’t have social media, but I made a Twitter account,” Sawyer said.
It was a short highlight reel and he tagged Rob Friedman, whose account @pitchingninja has 472,000 followers. Friedman retweeted Sawyer and, overnight, the video had more than 200,000 views.
That led to Sawyer being noticed by the Cardinals. While he hasn’t pitched in Busch Stadium yet and hadn’t even talked to anyone from the Cardinals until shortly before he signed with St. Louis last November, he couldn’t help but think of that hotel-window moment as an omen.
Solid spring training leads to spot in Springfield
A solid spring training earned Sawyer a roster spot for Springfield. He and Natalie, along with their long-haired miniature Dachshund named Opie, reside here. After a career of ups and downs, there have been more this season. After six scoreless appearances in July, he surrendered two runs on Wednesday night and took the loss as the Cardinals fell to Arkansas 5-4.
But that setback is nothing compared to the many crappy hands Sawyer has been dealt over the years. He is grateful for the opportunity to be the oldest player in the Cardinals’ organization still chasing his dream.
“It means everything to me,” Sawyer said. “All the hard days of waking up early, to go work out before work … we don’t get paid a crazy amount in indy ball so you have to put in a lot of work in the offseason. To see that pay off and stay the course means everything to me.”
Asked how often he thinks about pitching for the big-league Cardinals, Sawyer smiled and said, “Every day. Every day. But if I never get there, it’s not because I didn’t try everything in my power.
“I’m gonna keep playing this game until they tell me I can’t and they rip the jersey off my back.”
Springfield Cardinals this week
Tuesday — Springfield 7, Arkansas 3
Wednesday — Arkansas 5, Springfield 4
Thursday — Springfield 9, Arkansas 7
Friday, 7:05 p.m. — vs. Arkansas (Holly Jolly Fireworks)
Saturday, 6:35 p.m. — vs. Arkansas (Elf bobblehead giveaway)
Sunday, 6:05 p.m. — vs. Arkansas (Ice Cream Sunday, Kids Run the Bases)
Tickets — Visit the Hammons Field box office or the Springfield Cardinals’ website
