The Fourth Ring: Phoenix Prospectors, 2013

Nobody has a record of my fourth championship except me, the people who were there, and a Facebook post.

The league

The Freedom Pro Baseball League was an independent league in Arizona that existed for two seasons. It isn't on Baseball-Reference, which is why my career line jumps from 2012 to 2016.

When I left the Czech Republic in 2012 I told a friend I was heading home to play for a team Tom Novak, my old pitching coach, was coaching in a new league in Arizona. By 2013 I was a Phoenix Prospector.

The season

2013 was busy. I'd launched MADE Baseball that spring and was coaching two youth teams. In July I broke my hand, and the cast kept me from pitching for over half the season.

I wasn't the best teammate that summer, and I said so. On the morning of the final I posted:

I haven't been able to be the best team mate this season based on a busy real life schedule... it has been a blessing and a pleasure to be able to play with a great group of guys this summer on the Phoenix Prospectors.

The final

We beat the Peoria Explorers two games to none. The championship game was at the Peoria Sports Complex on 1 September at 7 p.m.

The next day I posted: "Feels good to cross the finish line as champions! It's not a sprint, it's a marathon!"

I was 28. Four rings in seven years of pro ball, on a hip replaced at 19.

Not all of it is in a record book. If you're coming back from a replacement and want someone who's done it, that's what I do.