Texas Tech University Athletics
On The Way Back - The Joe Dillon Story
October 13, 2004 | Baseball
Oct. 13, 2004
By Jenna Sampson, Texas Tech Media Relations
Sports fans everywhere relish the age old tale of the underdog making a comeback rise to the top. One of the most memorable baseball movies in recent times was "The Rookie," in which actor Dennis Quaid portrayed a Big Lake, Texas, high school baseball coach making a comeback of big league proportions years after a shoulder injury ended his minor league pitching career.
Red Raider fans will be pleased to know that we have our very own version of "The Rookie," a story you don't have to travel to the theater for.
Texas Tech alum Joe Dillon, 29, was recently named the 2004 Florida Marlins Organizational Player of the Year, an award that culminates a long and arduous journey through the minor leagues plagued by nagging injuries. Dillon retired from professional baseball in early 2003 after spending eight seasons in the Royals' minor league system and spent half of the 2003 season as an assistant coach for the Texas Tech baseball team before giving his big league dreams one more try last spring.
Dillon continues to hold the Texas Tech record for homers in a season (33) and was a key member of the 1997 Red Raider squad that captured the inaugural Big 12 title. He was also chosen as a First-Team All-American. The third baseman was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the seventh round of the 1997 amateur draft, but what followed his storybook season at Tech was anything but a fairytale.
His minor league career started off on a bad note with a shoulder injury followed by a recurring back injury that prevented him from playing healthy. Dillon bounced around the Royals farm system and began a frustrating cycle of entering spring camp well, only to have his season hampered by a bad back.
During the 2000 and 2001 seasons with the Double-A Wichita Wranglers, Dillon continued to struggle.
"My back could go out at any time. It was kind of my make or break and I didn't do well," he added.
Following a successful 2001 winter ball season in Venezuela, Dillon spent spring training in Triple-A Albuquerque, but was sent down to Double-A for the season.
"Then my back went out again. Every year I went out it was worse and worse. It would take me longer and longer to get back. In spring training I'd do well, I kept pushing it, I came back too early twice, so 2002 was the worst year of my career," he said.
Dillon had spent the previous offseason strengthening his back to compensate for a structural problem, only to injure his back again.
"At spring training I bent down funny and my back went out again, so I was pretty much done," he said.
Dillon was released after spring training and returned to Lubbock to volunteer with the Texas Tech baseball team. He also enrolled in summer school to finish his undergraduate degree.
"The people in Lubbock are great. My wife's from Amarillo, and at some point I knew I would finish school. It's been home for us and I've been here since the fall of `95. (Coach) Hayes runs a great program here, so I like to help out," said Dillon.
Dillon had back surgery in May of 2003 and spent 18 weeks rehabilitating with no intention of returning to baseball. The surgery was a success, and Dillon began to work out with the Red Raiders trying to get back into shape. He was surprised to find he felt stronger than he had in years, and in late November he started to think about getting into baseball shape. "Walking away from [baseball] was uneasy, but at the same time I had no control over it. My whole career my back bothered me, but I always knew if I had my health I could make it to the big leagues," Dillon added. The muscles in the right side of his back were stripped during the surgery, so Dillon had to completely retrain his body to perform basic baseball movements including swinging a bat.
"I didn't have any set backs at all taking ground balls and hitting. At the end of February I went into the cages and swung as hard as I could. I tried to hurt myself for about an hour to make sure I was strong enough," he said with a laugh.
Dillon left the batting cages that day and went home to make a phone call to the minor league coordinator, only to be told there was no position for him. Five days before the 2004 training camp he was still without a job, so he started calling people who knew to help. A former junior college teammate who is currently a Marlins hitting coach made a phone call to the Marlins' Double-A affiliate South Carolina Mudcats. The rest is history.
Dillon slugged two homers during the Mudcats' 2004 season opener with and batted .342 over the course of 33 games. He was called up to the Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes on May 1 and hit a solid .333 during his brief eight-game stint. Albuquerque called him up again May 21 and Dillon proceeded to dominate the league. He hit .325 and belted a team-high 30 home runs on his way to being named Marlins Organizational Player of the Month for April and May. Dillon also led the Pacific Coast League with a .665 slugging percentage and 70 extra-base hits. He finished the season with 39 homeruns, the third best total in Minor League Baseball. In late September, he was named the Florida Marlins Organizational Player of the Year.
Now that's a great comeback story.
A note for neighbors of the Dillon family, don't be surprised to see a moving van pull up in front of the Dillon house this spring bound for Miami. It's the official home of The Florida Marlins.
For more information on Joe Dillon, check out the following websites:
Albuquerque Isotopes Baseball Club
Florida Marlins Baseball Club
