BaseballAmerica.com: Majors: Going Deep: Cooper Brannan

Cooper Brannan's career as an infantry rifleman in the Marines ended two years ago, when on his second tour of duty in Iraq, a grenade blew several fingers off his left hand. Yet that horrific moment ultimately led to a second career beginning right now: Padres minor league pitcher. Brannan, 22, still has only four fingers on his left hand but will carry 40 times the normal life experience inside his new uniform. I spoke with the righthander about getting signed by the Padres, his experience in Iraq, and playing Wiffle ball in the desert with buddies who never came home.

ALAN SCHWARZ: There's understandable speculation that the Padres' signing you is just a favor for a young vet. Everyone wants to know: Are you a real baseball player?

COOPER BRANNAN: Oh yeah, oh yeah. When they went to sign me, I asked them--it wasn't even like I asked, it was more like, "I know I have what it takes and I can get to that level. I just need somebody to work with me." After two and a half years in the Marines, I went out there and threw for them and threw 85, and they got me a pitching coach and three weeks later they already got me throwing 93. That's pretty much what I needed.

They see something that is untapped and they can't wait to tap it. And once it comes out, I'm going to do great things, and in my heart and my mind I know I will.

SCHWARZ: You didn't get drafted out of your Arizona high school in 2003, and joined the Marines a few months later. Did you assume your baseball days were over?

BRANNAN: Not really. I'd told my dad even before I enlisted that I would be in the major leagues someday. I'm glad that it's happening now because I'm a lot more mature, and my decision-making is a lot more responsible. The Marine Corps gave me that.

I know some people are like, "Man, you were in Iraq. How was that? Awesome?" Not so much the experience that you're over in a war environment, but the fact that you're over there with brothers in arms. It's all about camaraderie, teamwork, and that's what I loved.

SCHWARZ: What sort of combat were you in?

BRANNAN: I've been in some pretty serious stuff. I was a basic rifleman, and that line of work, you fight, you get in combat, and I saw some pretty bad stuff. They say that infantrymen are the backbone of the Marine Corps. It's a tough situation, but we're really making a difference over there. You can see it in the Iraqi people who want to make a difference, and you can tell the people who don't. It's not like it's going to happen overnight.

SCHWARZ: What do people back here in the United States not know about what it's like for soldiers over there?

BRANNAN: The biggest thing that a lot of military guys get upset with--and this isn't for the people that show their support, it's the people that do some of the protesting and things like that--is that we're over there fighting for them. The biggest thing that people need to realize is that America is blessed--you're blessed to be born here. It is such a different world over there. These people are still living in the 1400s. It's an American dream to live in America. It truly is. And people take advantage of that, and that's what a lot of military guys can see.

SCHWARZ: Back to baseball; you pitched while you were in Iraq, right?

BRANNAN: A bunch of the guys, we had our gloves mailed to Iraq, and we just threw catch on our off-time. We were supposed to be sleeping, but we threw the ball around and we had a great time with it. We probably had at most about four or five guys that threw. We'd joke around, playing pickle or what-not. Or we'd have a barrel and put a little target on it and throw it at it. We'd make up some games with a couple old beat-up balls.

Somebody had a Wiffle ball and Wiffle bat sent to them. We'd draw little baselines in the dirt. You just kind of stop and pause and think, "Wow, I'm halfway across the world playing Wiffle ball."

SCHWARZ: Forgive me if this is a painful subject, but of the four or five guys you played with, were any of them casualties of war?

BRANNAN: I lost one of my friends. I've lost quite a bit of friends, but they were fighting for their country and I know that they're looking down upon us, and are as happy as can be.

SCHWARZ: How were you injured?

BRANNAN: My second time over I was a squad leader in charge of 12 Marines, so my duty was to make sure they had the right equipment, the right tools, the right food, ammo and everything before we left the base. It was a flash-bang grenade. I reached back to the left side of my flack jacket and when I pulled it out, it just went off. They sewed the thumb back on, they sewed the ring finger back on. Unfortunately I couldn't keep my little finger and medial part of my hand.

I thought a mortar landed on us. I thought we were all done. As I started coming to, I couldn't hear anybody because it had blown my ears pretty bad. I looked down at my hand and it was pretty messed up. The first thing that I thought, and it may sound selfish, but I was like, "Damn, I hope I can play sports."

I was down in the dumps for a little bit, I really was. But when I started coming around and working harder at occupational therapy, I saw one of these guys come by in a wheelchair and it about killed me. He had both of his legs missing and he was the happiest guy I've ever met. After that, I couldn't believe how selfish I was acting. I've got four fingers still left, and I lost a pinky--I lost a pinky! I hope that everyone can kind of feed off of that and feel how lucky they are.

SCHWARZ: I know you wound up pitching on some military all-star teams, but then everything changed when you went to a radio station in San Diego and ran into a former Marine named Sandy Alderson, who just happens to be CEO of the Padres.

BRANNAN: My buddy and I, a fellow wounded Marine, we were there at the station to talk about our injuries, our experience, and Mr. Anderson and Bud Black, the new manager, came in. My buddy goes, "Here's your chance, man. If you don't do it, I'm doing it." So he goes up to him and I kid you not, he goes, "Hey, you've got to check my boy out, he throws pretty hard, you've got to give him a tryout." But Sandy Alderson took it very serious, and Buddy Black too.

I told him, "You don't have to play favorites with me. I just want to see if I still have it." This is something that I've always been wanting to do my whole life, and now I'm going to hit the ground running, man.

SCHWARZ: With the damage to your left hand, do you have any problems fielding?

BRANNAN: No sir. I actually was playing shortstop for (military) teams when I wasn't pitching. For everyone out there who's down in the dumps, whether it's a military man or anybody that's gone through any kind of pain and suffering, I hope they really learn from this, that you can pick up and strive to do better and fulfill your dreams.

SCHWARZ: Now that you're starting your second career, have you ever thought, "What if I'd reached back for that grenade with your right hand?"

BRANNAN: I would've done what the Marine corps taught me: adapt and overcome. I would've tried working with my left arm to try to become one of those goofy lefties.

You can reach Alan Schwarz by sending e-mail to alanschwarz@baseballamerica.com.