After setting a national high school record for consecutive wins with
his 51st, senior righthander Jon Peters of Brenham (Texas)
High became the only high school baseball player to grace
our cover. He also put Brenham on the map. The town, which
before Peters's
streak was known primarily for its Blue Bell ice cream plant,
would see its favorite son finish with a 54-1 career mark,
including 53 straight victories, and lead the Cubs to three
state titles. But Peters's playing days ended less than
three years later with a blown-out arm. "I just had
bad mechanics," he says.
Even while at Brenham, Peters was damaged goods. During his
sophomore year he underwent surgery to his throwing arm.
Peters believes the surgery was the reason no major league
team wasted a pick on him in the June '89 draft.
"There were too many
questions about my arm," he says. More arm
operations followed in the next three years as Peters went from Texas
A&M, where he was never able to pitch, to Blinn College
in Brenham, where he was 1-1 in '91. During the spring of
'92 he tore his rotator cuff and decided his career was
over. He was 21.
Peters returned to A&M in the fall of '92, serving as
the baseball team's undergrad assistant and graduating two
years later with a degree in kinesiology. He earned his
M.A., also in kinesiology, from Sam Houston State in May
'96 before baseball came
calling again. His former high school coach, Lee Driggers,
asked him to be one of his assistants at McMurry University
in Abilene, Texas; Peters took the job last fall. But while
he enjoys coaching, Peters's heart is in teaching. This
summer he taught a
college course in personal health at a Texas prison.
"There's more to life than
baseball," he says. "Baseball doesn't last forever. For kids
playing college ball, education needs to be their top
priority."
Next week Peters, now 26, leaves Brenham, where he has been
living at home with his mother, Ruth, for Louisiana State
to pursue a doctorate in pedagogy. When asked if he'll get
involved with LSU's baseball program, which has won four
College World
Series in the '90s, including the last two, Peters says,
"People tell me
I love the game too much to stay away.
Depending on my time, I may
volunteer my services—if they'll have
me."
He's not really in baseball shape, having played only a
little outfield recently for a local softball team, but he
does, after all, still hold that national record.
"Sometimes I do wonder, What if?" he says.
"But
I have no regrets. It was just never
meant to
be."
—by Paul Gutierrez
photograph by Richard Mackson
Issue date: August 11, 1997
Past Editions of Catching Up With...
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