Hard-nosed play makes Grose a fan favorite

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BY CURT MCKEEVER

John Grose had to grimace his way through trying to be the take-no-prisoners, in-your-face, tough-guy captain for the Nebraska baseball team last season.

Not that the role was out of character for the Huskers' catcher, it's just that for most of the year Grose was playing with a stress fracture in his right elbow.

"It felt like a knife in my bone," said Grose, who insists he's got a clean bill of health and, as a senior, is out to prove why he's been selected in two major league baseball amateur drafts.

Nebraska fans have seen his vast potential.

Two years ago, following a banner year at Chandler-Gilbert (Ariz.) Community College that he hoped would land him better than a 35th-round slot, the Henderson, Nev., product packed his bags and headed to Lincoln.

Although the Huskers already had a proven catcher in Jed Morris, who would go on to earn All-America honors, Grose wound up being a driving force behind NU's run to the College World Series. He was Nebraska's starting catcher in 29 of the final 46 games and ended up hitting .384 while driving in 38 runs in just 44 games.

Fast forward to last season, when Grose, mired in an 0-for-22 late stretch, slid to .302 with 22 RBIs in 45 games and was limited to 26 starts at catcher.

"He always seemed a little too wound up," said Nebraska assistant Andy Sawyers, who started 76 games as Nebraska's catcher while playing for the Huskers in 1997 and ‘98. "That was the first year I'd been around him and I was like, ‘Man, this guy plays baseball like a football player.' It's hard to do that and not have any peaks and valleys."

What frustrated Grose most was the fact that doctors couldn't find anything structurally wrong, partly because the stress fracture trickled toward his forearm instead of running perpendicular to the elbow.

"I don't like to blame stuff on the elbow, but it's the hardest thing I've ever done," he said. "I talked to coach Sawyers after games and I was having a rough time with it, honestly. I tried my hardest not to show it. As a team captain, I probably didn't do that great of a job. That is the first time I've ever had to shut it down."

It wasn't until after the season that Grose, who went back home for another medical opinion, decided to take the summer off and let the injury heal on its own.

When he returned to Nebraska last fall, the pain was gone and Grose set about proving himself all over again. He accomplished that while driving in 26 runs in just 59 at-bats during scrimmages.

More importantly, Grose no longer felt like a defensive liability.

"Coach Sawyers has got me (throwing more over the top), so there's less stress on my elbow," he said. "Every throw isn't just snapping on my elbow. I'm using my shoulder and my whole body."

As a result, his balls are coming in on an flatter plane, making it easier for Nebraska's infielders to handle throws.

Still, Grose figures Nebraska's early opponents will want to test him.

"Last year, a guy would steal and I'd throw it back to the pitcher, you know what I mean?" he said. "I couldn't even make it down to second. I'd like to hope that they would try."

He manages a grin, which would create the same look from Sawyers.

It would be a different one than he had after seeing Grose in person for the first time prior to last season.

"I was like ‘I thought this guy could throw,' " Sawyers said. "I thought he had an above-average arm. He wasn't showing it.

"But he's back. As good as we can tell, he's back. And he's more relaxed."

All of those things can only translate into positives for the Huskers.

"I just think it keeps our identity intact," said Sawyers when asked what a healthy Grose means to Nebraska. "When he went down last year, I think we lost a little of our identity."

Grose maintains this year's club will be the best he's played on, simply because he believes nearly every player understands that the Huskers rely on outworking their opponents.

But if they need a ringleader, Grose will gladly take the role.

"This is my last year, why do I need to reserve my body?" he said. "I honestly want to play as much as they let me.

"Last year, I wanted to do so good and help the team so much, and the second I got hurt my production started to slip, it was like, ‘What's going on?' I'm hitting the panic button. This year, it's so much nicer. I just have fun and play the game. Once you face that adversity, everything seems a lot easier."

Reach Curt McKeever at 473-7441 or cmckeever@journalstar.com.