Richie Sexson: standing tall in Seattle: Mariners slugger is back from serious injury and ready to do "whatever it takes" to return to his 40-homer status

Sexson had said in his junior high yearbook that he would one day play in the major leagues. As he moved through the minors, he learned that physical talent only filled out half the ledger.

"When you first get up here, everybody is in awe, but it wears off," he said. "It's really cool to do it for a living, but it's a competitive business and there's always a guy right behind you, so you've got to keep plugging. That's the mental side of the game."

He stuck with the Indians in 1999, crunching 31 home runs with 116 RBI. He became a legitimate star after a trade to Milwaukee, where he hit 45 home runs twice and played in the 2002 and 2003 All-Star games.

The Diamondbacks traded six players for him last year.

Before he stepped in against Hawkins for that fateful at-bat, he had nine home runs and 23 RBI in 23 games. Two nights earlier, Allison Sexson had watched her son bludgeon a baseball 503 feet off the Jumbotron at Bank One Ballpark. No Diamondback had ever hit a ball so far.

Facing An Uncertain Future

Jim Thome, the Indians' first baseman in 1997, thought Sexson looked more like a basketball player when they first started shagging grounders together. A pair of practical joke enthusiasts, they immediately hit it off. Thome was in Sexson's wedding, but he opted not to comment on the details of what surely was a spirited bachelor party.

When Thome broke his hand in August of 1998, Sexson replaced him, batted .321 with 33 RBI over a 41-game stretch and never returned to the minors.

They still talk regularly. Thome said Sexson never seem too concerned that his shoulder injury could have a lasting effect.

"He was pretty upbeat whenever I talked with him, and that impressed me," Thome said.

That sounds suspiciously like dudes just being dudes, keeping their emotional cards close to their chests. Sexson even admits the injury made him feel vulnerable for the first time in his career, calling it his worst experience as an athlete.

"It scared me to death," he said. "Everything runs through your mind. Is this going to happen for the rest of my career? Do I have bad shoulders? Am I just a loser?"

This was not a typical baseball injury. Most damaged labrums are torn at the front due to overuse or a diving collision. Sexson's was ripped where the bone blew out of its socket and pushed through the back of his shoulder. All on a checked swing.

He had nothing to compare it to because he'd almost never been hurt. When he crumpled to the ground in agony, he was in the midst of his 1,642nd consecutive inning. In 2003, he had played every inning of all 162 games for Milwaukee.

So, naturally, with the Diamondbacks falling apart without him, he tried to hurry back after just three weeks of rehabilitation. His comeback lasted a day and another checked swing. He needed arthroscopic surgery on his torn labrum on June 4.

"He was really bummed out for awhile," his brother said. "He felt like he let everybody down. That's just the way he is. He's not just in it for the money. He wants to perform and make everyone else happy. It was very frustrating for him. So he rushed back in."