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Carter's Spirit won't be broken

by Melissa Chodan
July 7, 2005 - Canadian American League (Can-Am)
North Shore Spirit


Players end up in the independent leagues for various reasons. Most have had at least a fleeting experience with an affiliated minor league organization and are trying to work their way back.

Some have passed their prime for making it to the majors and are simply playing for the love of the game.

And for others, there really is no explanation except for maybe luck or fate or lack there of. North Shore Spirit outfielder Stephen Carter is a prime example.

Carter, 23, graduated from Eastern Kentucky, a Division I school in the Ohio Valley Conference, with two standout baseball seasons but was not drafted or invited to a minor league camp as a free agent.

And North Shore, of the CanAm League, was the only team to give him a real opportunity.

In his junior year, he hit .361 with an on-base percentage of .485. He stole 11 bases in 12 attempts and drove in 30 runs in 40 games.

But that was only a mere preview of what the healthy six foot tall righty was capable of. Carter came back his senior year to dominate the conference. In 46 games, he batted .451 with a .538 OBP. He also claimed 42 RBIs and 21 stolen bases.

Amazingly, in those two seasons he only grounded into a combined five double plays and struck out approximately once in every seventh time at the plate.

But after graduating in 2004, the amateur draft came and went but Carter was not one of the selections. Taken back that there were no serious inquiries made about him, Carter grudgingly took some time away from baseball and indulged in his other passion - golf.

Carter and his family and friends still don't know why he was overlooked by affiliated clubs.

"Obviously, there's a reason why," Carter said. "I don't know what it is. I guess God didn't want me to be drafted. That's fine with me. Independent baseball is still professional ball. It a chance to play, to play everyday. I'm thankful for it more than most kids are."

This past Thanksgiving Carter finally received the chance he sincerely deserved when he said he got a call from Jeff Kunion, director of play procurement, inviting him to play for North Shore.

"He called me and was like we would really enjoy for you to come play for us," Carter said. "It was completely out of the blue. I didn't know what to expect. ...He didn't have to say anything. I just said tell me where to sign and I'll be there tomorrow if you want me to."

Carter added: "Things worked out for the best and I'm here. I've been here for a month and I'm absolutely in love with it."

During his first stint in professional baseball, Carter has been very productive in limited action. In 18 games, he is batting .333 with seven RBI.

It has seemingly been an easy transition for him to make the jump from college ball to the professional level but he has had to make some adjustments to how he approaches the game. Carter said one of the main differences has been the pitching.

"They don't necessarily throw as hard but they can locate a lot better," Carter said. "They have a lot more movement, a lot more pitches. You've got to get used to it."

Another major transition Carter had to make was using wooden bats.

"You have to stay on the ball a lot more," Carter said. "There's not as much forgiveness in wood as there is in metal. You have to get it going pretty early."

The Kentucky native has also had to make adjustments off the field since baseball brought him to the Northeast for the first time and into the heart of metropolitan life as he has had the opportunity to play at stadiums in New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts.

"I'm not used to the people or the pace of life," Carter said. "It's hard to get used to. I'm just a kid from Kentucky trying to make it up here. It's a lot different. I can't understand half the time what people are saying but half the time they don't understand what I'm saying. I had to come up a few days early just to get used to everything."

And like a true southerner, he still misses his beloved sweet tea while trying to understand why there's so much traffic in the region.

"It's a southern thing," Carter said. "I don't know why people up here don't have sweet tea. I just drank sweet tea like it was going out of style. That and the way people drive up here. It's insane. It's just hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait, hurry up and wait but that's one of the things I have to get used to up here. Slowly but surely I'm adjusting."

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