by Sam Bundy

Florence Morning News

In his mind, Christian Rosa still hears his mother crying over the telephone.

Upon receiving a contract offer from the St. Louis Cardinals while playing independent league baseball in Illinois last June, Rosa had called his biggest fan a world away in Puerto Rico to give her the news.

“She was,” Rosa says with a reflective pause, “so happy.”

It was the beginning of a glorious summer for Rosa, who was an all-star catcher with the Florence Red Wolves (of the Coastal Plain League) in 2007.

After agreeing to terms with the Cardinals, Rosa reported to the Batavia Muckdogs of the rookie New York-Penn League. And it didn’t take long for him to start paying dividends.

In his first at bat as a professional, Rosa homered. He also doubled in that game and had two RBI.

As the summer played out, Rosa appeared in 32 games, batted .286 (30-for-105) with four doubles, two homers, 12 RBI and four stolen bases. Solid numbers for his first pro season.

Making things sweeter for Rosa was Batavia posting a 46-28 record – the best winning percentage (.622) of any Cardinals minor-league team in 15 years – while winning the New York-Penn League championship.

“We were like a family. We played as a team,” Rosa said. “I was having fun. Playing baseball, that’s what I love.

“I enjoyed every single day. And every day I got to play, I proved it.”

Following the season, Rosa spent a month in the Cardinals’ instructional league camp in Palm Beach, Fla. And after going through spring training with the Cardinals in Florida in March, Rosa learned just how tough a business baseball can be.

Without warning, he was released.

“I was surprised. I never thought I was going to get released,” Rosa said. “Everybody was telling me that I was doing great.

“I did things right. But they told me they needed to release some people to create some (roster) space for the (June) draft, and they got me. But it wasn’t because I was doing things wrong.” 

The Missing Piece 

Batavia manager Mark DeJohn says Rosa indeed did everything right. But the lack of a strong throwing arm resulted in his release.

“I absolutely loved having Christian on my team. We won a championship that honestly means more to me than any World Series or other league championship rings I have, and Christian was a big part of that,” DeJohn said. “To be a kid who was undrafted and coming out of an independent league, he was just outstanding in a lot of areas.

“He received the ball well, blocked it well, called a good game, did a good job with the bat and ran well for a catcher. It’s just that his arm is well below average, and that’s heartbreaking because Christian is the type of kid you really get attached to.”

The arm strength needed to be a pro catcher is, for the most part, God-given ability and there’s not much Rosa can do to improve that. DeJohn says Rosa should try to get back into independent ball at another position and continue to learn as much about the game as possible.

“I would have liked to have tried to keep a kid like Christian in the organization and make a coach out of him, but we just had so many catchers that we couldn’t keep him,” DeJohn said. “He’s bi-lingual and he’s a great guy in the clubhouse. You get him around an experienced manager, have him learn how to teach and he’d be an asset to an organization.”

Since being released, Rosa says he’s talked with a couple clubs but hasn’t received another offer. Instead of going home to Puerto Rico, though, Rosa is back in Florence living with Chris and Sharon Hutchinson, his host family from 2007, and working for the RedWolves.

On game nights, Rosa sells beer, carries ice and helps maintain the field. Anything to stay close to the game.

During the day, Rosa works to be a better player. When he’s not lifting weights, he takes batting practice with West Florence High School coach Bob Kleinknecht. He hits “about a hundred” balls a session and has the blisters to prove it.

“I took (getting released) like a challenge,” Rosa said. “It’s making me work even harder.

“Baseball means everything to me. I take it so serious. I would do anything to be playing again. Anything.” 

A Mother’s Vision 

Rosa gets his work ethic from his mom, Zaeda Fernandez, who raised three boys without much help from the father she divorced.

Fernandez, who works as a secretary, took Rosa to a baseball field when he was 3 to see if he would like the game, and he’s played ever since.

“I never had the help from my dad. It was always my mom who helped me,” Rosa said. “I learned from her to never quit. We grew up by my mom and she never quit on us. She sacrificed everything to make my life better and my brothers’ lives better.”

The 22-year-old Rosa, who was born in Toa Boa, P.R., came to the United States at age 16 to pursue baseball and an education. He played college ball at Frank Phillips Junior College in Texas and at Tusculum in Tennessee, where he earned a degree in sports management.

If Rosa doesn’t get another offer to play, he says he will try to break into the business side of the game. But at this point, that’s not a scenario he wants to talk much about.

“I’m a Christian and my mom is a Christian, too,” Rosa said. “God told her in 2003 that I’m going to make it to the major leagues and bless every life that I touch through baseball.

“I want to make that true. I’m going to make it. Somehow, someway, somewhere.”

Editors Note: This story was written by Sam Bundy of the Florence (SC) Morning News.  We sincerely appreciate Sam and the Morning News allowing us to reprint it here.

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