Player Spotlight – Vancouver Pitcher Louis Eggleston
Succeeding through Perseverance
by Caitlen Sullivan
Vancouver Sun Sports Reporter
June 11, 2008
Vancouver’s pitching woes this season have been well documented. First Shane Wookey finally makes it back after another year missed due to a serious arm problem (he’s missed two entire years save for a pitch or two half seasons, and another year’s playoffs) only to be essentially written off as having lost many of his skills. (Ed. Note: no one told Wookey as he stands at 4-1 with a 2.55 ERA). Then indestructible Robbie Sargent proved he wasn’t by going down for three months with a rotator cuff inflammation.
So it behooves us to tell a positive story with a different twist by recounting the career of Louis Eggleston (pictured above). Louis is 33 now and started his professional career way back in 1995 with Laramie in the Charlie Pegler League (A) after being drafted in the sixth round by the Madison Wolves. Three years later in 1998 he was still in A ball, but for the first time he was converted from the bullpen into the starting rotation. Voila! He did well enough to be promoted up to AA and then to AAA all in that season. Had his career been jump started?In 1999, 2000, and 2001, he started a total of 77 games for Nashville (AAA), posting an overall record of 22-22 and an ERA in the low 4.00’s. In September of 2001 he was called up to Madison for a single appearance. He started that game, went six strong innings, and registered his first ever major league victory in his debut performance. He appeared three times in relief during the post season with Madison, doing very well. The future was starting to look pretty good.
But 2002 saw him back in Nashville (where his ERA improved to the mid 3.00’s). Alas, at the end of the year he was plucked away from Madison in the Rule 5 Draft by Des Moines. He pitched very respectably for the Kernels in 2003, making 53 relief appearances with at ERA of 3.88. In 2004 he was up and down between Des Moines and their AAA affiliate at El Paso. Likewise 2005. In 2006 he spent the whole year in AAA. He got only two opportunities to start a game in the Kernel organization during those four long years.
Louis was discouraged! During the off season in 2006 he was claimed by New Orleans, and he reported to Havana, the NO AAA affiliate. He started nine games, going 4-2 with an impressive 2.42 ERA. He got called up but saw action in only three games with the Crawdads, all in relief. At this point Louis considered retiring from baseball or giving Europe a shot. He was 32 and seemed to have no future in the MBWBA.
Then, inexplicably, he was suddenly traded to Vancouver in 2007. What chance would he have there with Sargent, Wookey, Jones, Nichols and the like around? Still, he reported. Things happened (like they can do). After three successful relief appearances he was suddenly inserted in the rotation of a Landis contending team. He hadn’t started a big league game since his debut performance way back in 1996 with Madison, 11 long years ago, seemingly a lifetime. How did he do? He posted a very impressive 9-3 mark with an ERA of 2.53. At age 32 he was a regular in a big league pitching rotation. And he made his first ever post season start and recorded the victory!
This year Lou remains solidly in the Vancouver rotation. So far he’s 4-3, ERA 3.12. Louis is admired by the rest of the staff for having the ability to throw six different pitches. He has a traditional four-finger fastball, a splitter, a slider, a sinker, a curve ball, and a change-up. He throws them all equally well. None qualifies as an out-pitch, but his mix makes each one equally capable of getting the job done. Lou knows he will never be a Hall of Fame contender, but at least he got his chance to start in the bigs and do it well. Bravo, Louis!
