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Sunday December 4, 2011

MLB reports:   We welcome Loren Deans to MLB reports!  Loren was originally drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 37th round of the 2003 draft.  Unfortunately, Loren never ended up signing a contract with the Rangers and playing professional baseball.  His baseball journey is a tale of fate and twists that led him off the diamond.  Now Loren is back and hungrier than ever to jumpstart his career.  Joining us today exclusively on MLB reports, we learn about Loren Deans and his journey back into baseball.  This is the story of Loren Deans in his own words.  

Name : Loren Deans

Height : 6’3″
Weight : 200 lbs
Position : Centerfield/OF/Closer
High School : Capistrano Valley

Loren Deans-  Guest MLB Blog:  After graduating Capo “Capistrano” Valley  High School, I was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 2003 Major League baseball draft. It was supposed to be a draft-and-follow deal (ended in 2007), which allowed me to play another  year of college ball. I would then have the opportunity to be re-drafted in a higher round. Back then, based on the draft-and-follow, Texas kept full rights of me for that year in college ball.  I was looking forward to having a great year in College and joining the Rangers quickly afterwards

So I went to Irvine Valley College. That ending up being probably one of the roughest years of my life. Looking back,if I could have done things differently, I would have rather signed the contract with the Rangers as a raw 17-year-old out of high school and just developed with Texas.  Losing that year in professional baseball ended up setting me back much further then I could have ever imagined.

I definitely did not have the best college experience.  I went to Irvine valley college not taking classes too seriously, which led to run-ins with the coach.  Once I got my act together and was playing top-notch ball, of course the first injury of my entire life happens! A head-first slide ended my season on my throwing shoulder. Texas was then nowhere to be found that summer. I rehabbed that year (and am now 100% healthy by the way!)

So I moved on to play for  Seminole State College in Oklahoma… talk about culture shock HA!  Southern California guy going to Oklahoma on a limb was intense. I played my usual centerfield and batted lead off in Oklahoma. I don’t talk about this period in my life much, but truthfully there were many issues facing this team. The coach in Oklahoma had distractions at home and was not all there in the head mentally. So I had enough and left the team in the winter. I went back to California and played a winter at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo, where I was tearing it up. I batted cleanup for the first time since my sophomore year in high school. Driving the ball to all field with power playing and I was at the top of my game. Unfortunately, I was not able to play ball that spring due to car problems and living arrangements. Talk about living in the trenches!  I was there. Struggling to survive and maintain work and place of home… it was extremely difficult. I found it hard to train and deal with all that was around me.  But at the end of the day, I make no excuses.

I recently tried out in May 2011 for the Independent baseball league: NAL “North American (Baseball) League”, in Pasadena, CA. That is where it all currently lays in front of me. My life is in a 180° spin for the better. I have a great job and life at home, although the baseball game continues to burn strongly inside of me. I am 26-years young in my opinion, with plenty of time to succeed in baseball. The passion is inside me.  It seems that once you fall out of the baseball loop, it is very hard to get back inside the system. I am currently training and preparing for the upcoming season in a big way.  I will NEVER give up! It is my vision that an organization will find this diamond in the rough.  A team will view me as a 5-tool utility player.  All he needs is to be given a chance. I am training and working towards a comeback because my skill level I believe is high.  The fire is there. It is my time!

Loren Deans

You can follow Loren on Twitter (@SwinGzLo) – Please feel free to contact Loren with any questions and comments that you may have!

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