My Favorite Major League Baseball Player

My Labor Day weekend was spent at Miller Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. As a fan and teacher this could go down as a labor day moment that will last a long time.

Vinny Rottino was a student in my classroom at Racine St. Catherine's High School. My memories of Vinny as a student were positive.He was bright, hardworking, respectful, a good listener, and always made very positve contributions in class by asking that question no one had thought about. After high school Vinny played at a Division III school in Wisconsin called UW-LaCrosse. He set his sights on the major leagues after becoming an all-conference baseball player along with a 4.0 GPA.

One of the greatest things about being a teacher is seeing your students go on to do incredible things. Granted for me it is the small things that go unnoticed that mean a great deal such as seeing students become outstanding parents raising their kids, being active in their community, voting, and becoming politically engaged in their respective community regardless of party.

The game was an historic one for Vinny. He had his first major league hit and scored in the same inning. Wisconsin is pulling for him!! After a disastrous 8th inning in which the Brewers gave up 7 runs Vinny came up to bat. I was worried that he may receive some boos but the crowd clapped and cheered for Vinny's at bat. It was a strange feeling because I have been to Miller Park several times but it marked the first time I stood up and cheered for a single when the Brewers were down 10-0!! People around me looked at me like I was crazy but who cares what they think!! My favorite major league baseball player is making a move and people better take notice!!

Rottino Proves That With Hard Work And Confidence, Anything Is Possible
Date Posted: 6/12/2006
by Rick Kubitschek, The Nashville Sounds Web Site

The road to professional baseball is never a certain path or an easy one. Some players get drafted right out of high school, some attend college and proceed to get drafted, and yet others find more indirect routes into professional baseball. The only thing that is certain about the road to professional baseball is it takes talent and lots of hard work.

Vinny Rottino knows all to well that the road to professional baseball is a bumpy one and takes lots of hard work and dedication. Rottino paved his own way into professional baseball by working hard and believing that anything is possible.

Rottino played baseball for St. Catherine’s High School in Racine, Wisconsin. He graduated in 1998 and, despite being one of the best ball players on his team, he remained under the radar of the division one schools. Knowing that he had the talent to play baseball at a higher level, he attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, a Division III school, to work on his game and get an education.

Rottino doesn’t regret attending UW-La Crosse over a more prestige baseball university or not getting drafted right out of high school.

“It’s a big change, being 18 and living at home in high school to being a pro or lost in a sea of people,” said Rottino. “You all of a sudden have to be responsible for your decisions, and that can be difficult. I know I wasn’t ready for that kind of responsibility.”

Rottino used his time at UW-La Crosse to fine-tune himself, as a person, and as a ballplayer. He worked hard on and off the field.

During his stint at UW-La Crosse, he never received anything less then an A. He graduated with a 4.0 and a degree in chemistry. His hard work also allowed him to excel on the field.

He finished his college career as the Eagles’ all-time leader in at-bats (587), hits (199), runs (129), and doubles (50). He also holds the single season record for most home runs, 15. Rottino was the best at everything he worked at and he thought he was everything a professional team would want in a player.

“I had heard from several scouts that I was going to be drafted,” said Rottino. In his mind, he had already started to plan for a life in professional baseball.

Draft day came and passed and Rottino was without any takers. “I was really disappointed,” Rottino said. Even though he was not drafted, he still held onto the hope that he might get picked up by a team as a non-drafted free agent.

With the hope of signing as a free agent, the dream of playing professional baseball was still very much a reality for Rottino. That option came and passed just as the draft had. The idea of playing professional baseball was starting to look more and more like a hoop dream, rather than a reality.

While his dreams of playing professional baseball lay in limbo, Rottino decided to continue his education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He enrolled in the pharmaceutical school and was ready to continue his higher education.

Even though Rottino was getting ready to embark on a new phase of his life – one that didn’t center around baseball, that didn’t mean the game was completely out of the picture.

“I was always concerned about baseball,” said Rottino. While getting ready to attend UW-Madison, he decided to give independent baseball a chance. Rottino started playing for the Racine Kiwanis of the Land O’ Lake League.

The independent leagues are a place where ballplayers go for one last shot at getting signed by a major league organization. Rottino knew he had the ability to still play ball and the independent league allowed him to continue to put a jersey on every day. Like most players in the league, Rottino still had that hope, in the back of his mind, that some major league organization would see his ability and sign him.

That hope of getting signed by a major league organization came true thanks to Rottino’s can-do attitude and a little help from Kiwanis head coach Jack Schiestle, a former Mets scout.

Schiestle knew the talent Rottino possessed and set up a tryout with the Milwaukee Brewers. The Brewers saw Rottino’s ability and potential and decided to pick him up before another team found him. Rottino became a member of the Brewers organization on February 3, 2003. Rottino’s dream was finally coming true.

“If you believe in something hard enough, it will come true,” said Rottino. “I just tried to improve a little bit every day. Imagine if you do that everyday how great of a ball player you will become.”

Rottino’s daily improvements had made him into a better ballplayer and helped him achieve his dreams. He has gone from a non-drafted college player to a force to be reckoned with in the minor leagues.

Coming into the 2006 season, he was ranked as Milwaukee’s 28th-best prospect by Baseball America and during the 2004 season was selected as the Brewers’ Minor League Player-of-the-Year.

Rottino has never thought of himself as a great ballplayer or expected to be the best.

“I don’t set goals for myself,” said Rottino. “I just stay focused on what’s going on between the lines during the game and everything will work out.”

He knows that if he just continues to work hard and do what he has been doing everything will fall into place.

It hasn’t taken long for everything to fall into place for Rottino. During his four-year pro career, he has moved through the ranks of the minor leagues with extreme speed. He hasn’t spent more than one season in any of the levels he has visited.

Along with flying through the ranks of the Brewers’ minor league system, the major league club has been keeping an eye on him. Milwaukee gave Rottino a chance to prove himself during the last two years in the Major League Spring Training Camp.

“Last season I was really star-struck,” Rottino stated. “Coming into this year’s spring training, I realized I could hit these guys.” He was going up against guys he had seen giving interviews on ESPN and guys he had learned to respect for everything they had accomplished. His first spring training was to get the jitters out and get comfortable with the idea of playing with the major leaguers, and this year, he felt like one of them.

At such a young age of 25, Rottino already has the work ethic and the attitude of a 10-year veteran. He already has the understanding that confidence and hard work helped him get to where he is and will continue to help him reach his dreams of playing ball every day in the major leagues.

“It’s a blessing to just be putting on the uniform everyday,” Rottino said. If he keeps up his intense work ethic and improves at the rate he has been, the uniform he will be putting on just might say Brewers across the chest.