How baseball prepared me to overcome obstacles in my life

While growing up in New York, I became fascinated with the game of baseball. I started playing it at the age of 5 up until the age of 16. I was a pitcher…and an excellent one, I believed. My coaches thought so too, and overused me as a pitcher, causing my arm to blowout at a young age. Baseball was my first love, and the experiences I’ve gained from it has served me my entire life.

My younger brother and I grew up without our father in the picture. We weren’t fortunate enough to have that kind of “hero” or role model in the household, but baseball in all of its glory was kind enough to provide us heroes to replace him. Watching those talented baseball players on TV, gave me my first heroes. Heroes such as Nolan Ryan, Oral Hershiser, Mark McGuire and Jose Canseco.

Playing baseball taught me a lot about life. It taught me how to compete and to never give up. Pitching gave me the confidence to believe in myself and be in control of my destiny. And playing on a team taught me how to be a team player, and made me realize how much further you can go in life being around a group of talented people.

Baseball also taught me humility. I honestly believed I was destined to play baseball and make it to the major leagues. But unfortunately, God had other plans for me. My arm just couldn’t endure it anymore, and I had to give up my love for the game.

So I had to resort to another plan for my life. I thought about, joining the Marine Corp and then the NYPD after the Marine Corp. This idea seemed like a more suitable plan for me. So, I decided to join the Marines that summer before my 12th-grade year. I was 17 years old. I signed up, with my mother’s approval, and was scheduled to ship off to boot camp after graduation.

Unfortunately, though, I dislocated my collarbone in a snowboarding accident. This injury happened just months before I was scheduled to leave for boot camp. To my disappointment, my orders for boot camp were canceled, and I was unable to join the Marine Corp.

So after graduating from school, I didn’t have a plan at all. I worked at odd jobs for a year, while my collarbone healed. I was not happy with myself or my status in life. The dream to be a Marine was foremost in my mind and so I decided to return to the Marine recruiter’s office and apply again for enlistment.

The recruiter there remembered me and told me I couldn’t join due to my collarbone injury which he believed, would hinder me in completing boot camp. My efforts to convince him otherwise were futile, and so disappointedly I walked next door to the Navy recruitment office. I did not tell them about my injury, and enlisted in the Navy, right there on the spot.

After completing the Navy boot camp in Chicago, orders were given to me to report to Sasebo, Japan. I had no clue where Sasebo was and I sure didn’t want to go to Japan. As I held those orders in my hands, I thought “This is a huge mistake" because my recruiter back home had promised me, that I would get orders to the west coast of California. (I always wanted to live in California.)

Not happy with those orders, I immediately brought it to my drill Sergeant’s attention and told him there was a mistake. He then asked me, with a smirk on his face, “Diaz, did you get it in writing?” I said somewhat confused, “No, I don’t think so!”. He then replied, “Welcome to the United States Navy, you’re going to Japan”. Well, its safe to say, that was the last time I signed anything without reading it.

It turned out my recruiter was partially right. I did get stationed on the west coast, but it was on the west coast of Japan.

My new home for the next four years was the USS Essex, an amphibious assault ship. I was an aviation gas man. My job was to fuel Harrier jets and helicopters on the flight deck.

At the time, I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life. While all my friends were at home partying enjoying the good life, I had to spend the next four years of mine in Japan.

Well, in hindsight, it turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me! The Navy gave me the opportunity to travel and visit countries that I would have never gotten to see.

I was able to visit Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, and Australia, to name a few. I was able to land on the beaches of Iwo Jima, just like those brave and heroic Marines did during World War 2. I was able to meet people from all over the world and experience their culture and way of life.

But the primary benefit I got from being in the Navy was having all that time to self-reflect. It gave me the opportunity to discover who I was as a person and what I wanted out of life. It gave me that hunger to demand more from myself and to live up to my full potential. It gave me the desire to improve myself and to be a better Me! I don’t believe I could have attained that kind of self-discovery had I not been stationed overseas.

So after completing my four years in the United States Navy, I returned home on April 15, 2003, to start a new chapter of my life. I immediately enrolled at the local Community College using the GI bill.

I got a job at Olive Garden and became a server while going to school full time. I also applied at NYPD, but unfortunately was not accepted.

But I was determined, this time and I was not going to give up on my dreams. Whenever it crossed my mind to quit, I’d always remember what Napoleon Hill, the famous author of “Think and Grow Rich” once said, “Most great people who have attained their greatest success, were just one step beyond their greatest failure.”

So after applying at NYPD two more times and getting denied on both occasions as well, I was eventually hired by the department on April 2, 2007.

Working at NYPD was my dream, and nothing was going to stop me from making it a reality.
I’m still with NYPD and am currently a gang officer. I am grateful for the opportunity God has given me there.

I also am eternally grateful to a special someone, without whose support and encouragement I would not have achieved so much.

That special person is my mother! God has blessed me with such a loving and supportive mother. My entire life, she’s made me believe that I could do anything that I want if I only tried and put my mind to it.

I have learned in my 36 years, that life will throw you curve balls, but only you decide what pitch you want to hit. If you stay in that batter’s box long enough, sooner or later your pitch will come, and you will hit it out of the park!