Jeffress Determined -- For His Life, His Parents, and the Majors

[Mass Haas]

Feature from Tom H. after interviewing Jeremy by phone

[TooLiveBrew]

Great to hear Jeffress saying all the right things about re-focusing & re-dedicating. I hope he's able to stay away from the weed. However, I always detest seeing things like this said about marijuana:

 

""It is a drug. It will mess up your life, just like any drug. You may look the same outside but inside you're thinking of something totally different from what everybody else is thinking. You're thinking you can do anything that comes to your mind. If you think you can fly, you're going to try to fly.

 

Yes, your mental state is altered, much like when you're drunk. But you don't think you're able to fly. That's absurd.

[greeg35]

maybe you've been smoking the wrong stuff? Just kidding. I thought that was weird too.

 

From a baseball side I can see why the brewers may have considered adding Jeffress to the 40 man; but from a wider view/personal side I'm glad they did not. I think this sends the right message to Jeffress and the rest of the organization not just about weed (which I'm not too concerned about); but about going about things the right way to be successful (basically getting your stuff in order and acting like an adult and a professional). Jeffress just seems like a weird dude, kind of along the lines of Rickey Williams, and I have my doubts that he can square up on this. This is obviously just a guess; but even if he does get this issue behind him his personality may hold him back from harnessing his potential either way. I'm really pulling for him though.

[battlekow]

I wonder if the team would continue administering private drug tests after Jeffress made the 40-man, and if so, how they would discipline him for failures. If they don't test or do test but don't suspend, realistically Jeffress only has to stay clean through 2010, when he'll have to be added to the 40-man for baseball reasons.

 

I guess it depends on whether or not the team truly views it as a problem or simply a problem in the context of the somewhat draconian minor-league drug-testing rules.

[thumperden]

I assure you I'm not a pessimist, but we've heard this from him before. We as Brewer fans and as people in general hope he can put this behind him, but I'm not confident he can. I'm not sure if we know if it's just a habit for him or an addiction. I haven't read the article yet, but I sincerely hope he's getting professional help to at least change the behavior and/or the triggers that cause him to go to the pot.

I'd like to write to him and show him support somehow. Is there a way to contact him directly? I hope we here at Brewerfan.net can devise a way to send him a constant stream of letters supporting him. Perhaps if he feels the urge in the future, he might pick up one of our letters instead.

Administrators, what do you think we can do to provide support?

[homer]

Administrators, what do you think we can do to provide support?

--------------------------

 

His agent posts here. You could send him a private message (Agent39).

[brewcrewfan08]

Great to hear Jeffress saying all the right things about re-focusing & re-dedicating. I hope he's able to stay away from the weed. However, I always detest seeing things like this said about marijuana:

 

""It is a drug. It will mess up your life, just like any drug. You may look the same outside but inside you're thinking of something totally different from what everybody else is thinking. You're thinking you can do anything that comes to your mind. If you think you can fly, you're going to try to fly.

 

Yes, your mental state is altered, much like when you're drunk. But you don't think you're able to fly. That's absurd.

My thoughts exactly.

 

Hopefully Jeffress has learned his lesson, but lets say he tests positive again. Does this ban him from all of major league baseball, or can he possibly be put on the 25 man roster after? I just find it odd that this is unacceptable when they are not on the 40 man roster, but once on they cannot be suspended for it by the MLB.

[MadScientist]

Great to hear Jeffress saying all the right things about re-focusing & re-dedicating. I hope he's able to stay away from the weed. However, I always detest seeing things like this said about marijuana:

 

""It is a drug. It will mess up your life, just like any drug. You may look the same outside but inside you're thinking of something totally different from what everybody else is thinking. You're thinking you can do anything that comes to your mind. If you think you can fly, you're going to try to fly.

 

Yes, your mental state is altered, much like when you're drunk. But you don't think you're able to fly. That's absurd.

Sounds like it may affect him more than it affects others, which would explain his difficulty in giving it up. His comment on flying sounds more metaphoric - he said he feels like he can do anything that comes to mind - but only he knows how he feels. TLB, you say that it is like getting drunk, but can you say what goes through the mind of an alcoholic when drinking? I wish him the success with his recovery, not just for the Brewer's sake, but because if he is kicked out of baseball, I can see his life going up in smoke.

[thumperden]

Thanks homer. I didn't realize agent39 was his agent.

[ILuvDaBush]

I'm glad that he's focusing on his career as well. It speaks volumes to his character and maturation process that he finally sees it as a detriment to his ability to get to the majors. However, honestly, I am truly indifferent about his usage once he gets to the majors. There's never been any documented history of him making poor choices as a direct result of his usage. The only documented ill choice was the usage itself knowing he was subject to the testing. As Henry David Thoreau once opined, "Unjust Laws Exist." Contemplate that statement for a second. Laws conterintuitive to justice exist. Illegal laws exist. Would we be as quick to chastise him if there were laws in place about interracial dating and fraternizing and he overtly thumbed his nose at such laws?

 

I know this isn't the place for this debate, so I will end this statement here and again wish the good sir Jeffress the greatest of luck in his endeavor towards the majors. I have a vested interest in seeing him succeed after all the praise I've long heaped upon his shoulders (I still remember a Fangraphs.com article esposing about the quality of Jeffress' season in '08 and how it was better than any other RHP prospect's in the minors). The good gent has all the talent in the world and would seem to be of the highest quality of character, poor choices withstanding. He has taken ownership of his situation and has never made excuses. Good luck, good sir Jeffress.

[HiAndTight]

Frankly, as one who has seldom partaken, I am not one to judge. I frankly think it's a enourmous waste of time and resources.

 

 

That aside, if it's right that he be punished as he is or not, the fact of the matter is that he IS being punished. He IS getting in trouble. Nothing more needs to be said.

 

So even though you may think it's not fair, it is what it is. Deal with it. Grow up and stop doing it.

 

 

And for the record, I do not buy any addiction with regard to pot. I think he's saying what he's being told to say, but he's not an alcoholic, or addicted to pain pills or heroin. So in that respect my sympathy is even less.

[Team Canada]

Let's not get any further into legalization or addiction discussion than we already are. This is about Jeffress and his career.

[HiAndTight]

I don't think anyone was getting into a discussion on it. I think we were all pretty much in agreement that regardless of our feelings on that issue, Jeffress needs to deal with the rules as they stand.

[ILuvDaBush]

And that's exactly what I'm saying. I think very high of his character because while his civil disobedience was hurting no one explicitly (himself included), the fact that the repercussions implicit with said actions were hurting him. Thus, when everything was said and done and his career was at a crossroads, he made no excuses and simply set his goals sans the devil's lettuce. Unfortunately, that's one less thing he has in common with Tiny Tim Lincecum.

[mothershipconnection]

The appropriate legal status or addiction potential are irrelevant. The issue is whether or not he can change his behavior to conform to an explicit rule. My employer explicitly prohibits me from having facial piercings. Nothing illegal or immoral about it, but no matter how much I want to get a facial piercing (I don"t), I have to conform to company rules if I want to keep my job. I'm also prohibited from using tobacco, to which I'm addicted, while I'm at work. I like my job, and know the consequences for ignoring the rule, so even though I don't like it, I go without tobacco for the day. Jeffress simply must realize that he's employed in a business with rules that he has to obey, and that the payoff for obedience is very, very big, so is the penalty for disobedience. You can argue that your company should change their rules, but if you want to keep your job, you need to behave according to the rules in place.

 

Like everyone else here, I'm wishing Jeffress the best, as he has the potential to have a giant impact on our favorite team. However, if he fails another test, I won't be really sad to see him go. If an employee ignores rules, even when they know it will get them fired, I doubt they have the capacity and discipline needed to be great at their job. It shows that they either have a huge attitude problem and will continue to cause problems, or just don't care about their job at all, and will not put in the required effort.

[NastyTwig]

What if you really like facial piercings, and just take it out when you go to work? Can your boss suspend/fire you because he saw you at the movies and you had your face-ring in?

[Invader3K]

If there's something specifically in your contract saying you'll abide by that, then I suppose so.

[ILuvDaBush]

I'm actually the polar opposite in reference to Mathership. If he does end up failing, I will feel terrible for him. As you have said, losing your job and livelihood because of a purposeless law or rule would really depress me. Then again, Jeffress is by far my fave pitching prospect of the Brews. Highest ceiling arm I can remember. The Neugz and Sheets (who is definitely the closest) were phenomenal and I always gushed about Rogers' (whose ceiling is higher than Yo's) and George of the Rose's ceilings, but Jeffress could become Doc Gooden or Pedro. So if he does flame out and light a J, I will rue that day.

[Invader3K]

I just want him to succeed because, you know...we need good, young, cheap pitching and all that.

 

Hopefully this time off has let him get through his issues and he'll be coming back with a mind on proving himself as quickly as possible. I hope the Brewers consider fast tracking him to the Majors in whatever way possible.

[HiAndTight]

mothershipconnection wrote:

Like everyone else here, I'm wishing Jeffress the best, as he has the potential to have a giant impact on our favorite team. However, if he fails another test, I won't be really sad to see him go. If an employee ignores rules, even when they know it will get them fired, I doubt they have the capacity and discipline needed to be great at their job. It shows that they either have a huge attitude problem and will continue to cause problems, or just don't care about their job at all, and will not put in the required effort.

 

I have to say, I cringe when people try and compare a every day job with that of a professional athlete. They really are so enourmously different in nearly every aspect that I don't feel you can try and draw those same analogies or comparisions.

 

I agree, as does every person I've seen so far with your first paragraph that, however you may feel about the rules, the fact is, if you want to keep your job, you must obey them.

 

Anyway, I think he could have a great deal of success even if he continued to smoke(were it not illegal). I don't believe that his smoking means he'd have issues causing problems in the locker room, or wouldn't work hard or any of that. Maybe in the everyday work place, but again, two very different situations.

[HiAndTight]

I'm actually the polar opposite in reference to Mathership. If he does end up failing, I will feel terrible for him. As you have said, losing your job and livelihood because of a purposeless law or rule would really depress me. Then again, Jeffress is by far my fave pitching prospect of the Brews. Highest ceiling arm I can remember. The Neugz and Sheets (who is definitely the closest) were phenomenal and I always gushed about Rogers' (whose ceiling is higher than Yo's) and George of the Rose's ceilings, but Jeffress could become Doc Gooden or Pedro. So if he does flame out and light a J, I will rue that day.

Agree with everything you've said.

 

What's more, I'll feel bad for the kid because in about 5 years he's REALLY going to understand how badly he screwed up, and then he'll spend the rest of his LIFE thinking about what a special life he could have had, had he not thrown it all away.

 

Of course, I don't think "lifetime" ban really means for the rest of your life. I don't think that Jeremy Jeffress would absolutely NEVER be allowed to pitch again. I mean, how many times did Mr. Howe get a "lifetime" ban?

[battlekow]

It's undated, but I think this is a new article about Jeffress from his hometown newspaper; I'm excluding the redemption-story stuff and just pasting the baseball-relevant information, which is interesting:

 

Jeremy Jeffress Working Toward Returning To the Diamond

Joe Chandler/The Gazette-Virginian

 

Jeffress says his intent is to don a Major League uniform for the Milwaukee Brewers by the end of the 2010 season. That could happen for Jeffress if he stays on the right path, particularly with the Brewers searching for quality pitchers and looking for a return on the million-dollar-plus signing bonus they gave Jeffress when he signed with the club in 2006.

 

The path to the top level will, however, have to be taken one step at a time.

 

Jeffress said he is scheduled to report to Phoenix, Ariz. on Jan. 16 to begin workouts.

 

"When I get out to Phoenix in January, we (the Milwaukee Brewers) have a camp called our winter program," Jeffress explained.

 

"They get certain guys to come out there to get ready for spring training in March. I'll be out there for about two months training and working out until spring training begins."

 

Jeffress says he will likely to return to the Milwaukee Brewers' [high] Class A affiliate team the Brevard County (Fla.) Manatees after spring training.

 

"I'll probably get five or six starts in Brevard and then move back to (class) AA in Huntsville, Ala.," noted Jeffress.

 

The 2010 season is an important season for Jeffress, the 16th player taken in the 2006 Major League Baseball Draft.

 

"This coming season is my 40-man year," Jeffress pointed out.

 

"That's the year in which I have to be on the (Milwaukee Brewers') 40-man roster, or I can be traded. They (the Milwaukee Brewers) don't want to trade me, so I will probably be on the 40-man roster at the end of the season."

 

Jeffress works out every day, even when he comes back to South Boston for visits with his family, preparing himself to face the challenges of the 2010 season.

 

"I throw every day and take weekends off," Jeffress said.

 

"I'm pitching pretty well. I've got more command of my fastball. I have more command of my secondary pitches. The curve ball is in my back pocket, and I'm ready to pull it out whenever I need it. I'm trying to fine-tune it as much as I can."

 

Jeffress also is working on his change-up and has just developed a pitch he calls his "two-seamer," a pitch that resembles a breaking fastball. That gives Jeffress four pitches in his arsenal.

 

The hard-throwing right-hander, a pitcher noted for his 100-plus mph fastball, thinks the Brewers still have regard for him as a potential starting pitcher.

 

"I'm really open to being whatever they need me to be," he pointed out.

 

"They (Milwaukee Brewers officials) have always told me I would probably be a starter. I have a strong enough arm to make it through seven innings. Because of that, they will probably keep me as a starter."

 

http://www.gazettevirginian.com/images/stories/122109jeffress.jpg

[TooLiveBrew]

Thanks, bk. Nice find. I hope he can really take a step forward in 2010. His focus seems to be on track, and hopefully the optimistic talk about his command isn't just talk.