Archives
	Legion WS, Day 1
	Legion WS, Day 2

By John Royster
Yakima, Wash.
August 28, 2001

YAKIMA, Wash.--As thorough as modern scouting is, some players slip through the cracks. In Joe Pietro's case, it was two cracks.

Pietro, the center fielder for the Omaha Post 1 team that consists of players from Creighton Prep High, has had two back operations in the last 13 months, including a spinal fusion. A congenital problem (shared by his brother and grandfather) caused two stress fractures in his lower back, near the junction of the spine with the hip.

That was more than enough to scare scouts away when he graduated from Creighton Prep this spring, but his play since then has brought them back.

Pietro (pronounced PE-tro, not pe-A-tro) was batting .474-0-8 with four stolen bases in 38 at-bats in regional and World Series play. His Omaha team plays Brooklawn, N.J., in the Legion semifinals Monday night.

He also runs like the wind, consistently 3.8 seconds from home to first from the left side, occasionally reaching 3.6 on bunts. He's scheduled to begin classes next week at Creighton University, but has drawn scouting attention primarily from the Indians and Braves and might sign as a nondrafted free agent before then.

"A lot of scouts here have never seen him play before, and they're shaking their stopwatches," said Post 1 manager Pat Mooney, who also coaches Creighton prep. "He doesn't have a sprinter's frame, but he's a very strong, powerful runner. He's real fun to watch when he's standing on first base and somebody hits a double."

During surgery in late July 2000, doctors inserted four screws and two rods, and grafted bone taken from Pietro's hip around that to form a nice, stable mass where spindly bone had been. Only it wasn't massive enough in the front, so in January they went back in--from the front, all the way through his body--to graft more bone.

Which meant Pietro had to go through rehab twice. As if the first time wasn't difficult enough.

"About a month after my first surgery, I gave up on everything in my life," Pietro said. "I didn't think I'd ever be playing baseball because of the amount of pain I was in, and the fact that it was a big part of my body."

After the second operation, doctors estimated he could resume playing sometime between April 1 and July 1, and it wound up being late April. Pietro pinch hit the same day he was cleared to play, and started the next day.

He was able to do lots of cardiovascular work but not weightlifting, with the result that his speed was good as soon as he returned. He ran 4.2 to 4.3 immediately, and now is back to 3.8.

Because Creighton Prep went deep into the state playoffs--it won the title on Jim Hinrichs' home run in the bottom of the seventh inning of the final game--Pietro was able to get in almost 50 at-bats during the high school season.

He still has a dull pain during and after games, and probably will for the rest of his career. But he's almost all the way back.

"My reactions are still a little slower, picking the ball up off the bat or seeing the spin out of a pitcher's hand," he said. "Those are the things I need to work on. Just those really small things that make a big difference in baseball."