Former Razorback Pitcher On Comeback Trail

Wright Returns To Mound After Two Major Surgeries

By Bob Stephens
Special To The Morning News

Dan Wright still remembers the moment his life, and career, took a disastrous turn for the worse.
"It was a pitch in spring training in 2003," Wright said. "I felt it in my elbow. I knew something wasn't right."
The year before, at age 24, Wright was beginning to fulfill the tremendous promise that made him one of the Arkansas Razorbacks' top recruits of the 1990s.
The hard-throwing right-hander didn't become the dominant pitcher Hogs coach Norm DeBriyn envisioned, but Wright was a second-round draft pick of the Chicago White Sox in 1999. By July of 2001, he was in the White Sox rotation and went 5-3. In 2002, he made 33 starts -- the seventh most in the American League -- and posted a 14-12 record, going an impressive 7-2 in his last nine starts.
It seemed he would enjoy a long, prosperous career. But that changed quickly the next spring when Wright's elbow forced him to begin the season on the disabled list.
"I tried to rehab but from then on, I was terrible in '03 and '04," Wright said. "My velocity was down and nothing went right."
Wright thinks he hurt his shoulder while adjusting to his ailing elbow. He was 1-7 in 2003 and 0-4 in '04 and hadn't won in 19 starts when the White Sox sent him to Triple-A Charlotte on May 1, 2004.
A month later, he was on the operating table. It would be two years before he would pitch in a game again.
That finally came a week ago, following three surgeries and countless hours of rehab. Wright pitched two innings for the Tacoma Rainiers --the Triple-A affiliate of the Seattle Mariners -- and allowed two hits and one run in two innings of relief.
"It was great to be out there again," Wright said. "I wasn't sure it would ever happen. I almost quit a couple of times. It's been a long road back."
That difficult journey began on June 1, 2004, when he had "Tommy John" surgery on his elbow. Four months later, he underwent major shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum.
"The double whammy, elbow and shoulder," DeBriyn said. "I know guys -- like (former Razorback) Pete Raether -- that were never able to come back from labrum surgery."
Wright was released by the White Sox on Dec. 15, 2004, but signed with the Seattle Mariners for the 2005 season.
"Every time I got on a mound, I hurt," Wright said. "I couldn't throw in spring training. But the Mariners were awesome about it. I owe them a lot."
He continued to rehab until having another shoulder surgery in February, 2006.
"They cleaned out what they called 'loose bodies' in my shoulder," Wright said. "My range of motion was hindered but it's been better since then. That's when I started getting better."
The Mariners re-signed him and he was in extended spring training -- pitching mostly against young players -- until joining the Rainiers for a Pacific Coast League series in Colorado Springs eight days ago. The 6-foot-5, 245-pounder pitched well enough to impress Pat Rice, the Mariners' pitching coordinator for the last seven years.
"His stuff was a lot better than I thought it was going to be," said Rice, a former Razorbacks pitcher (1984-86). "His fastball was 87 to 91.
"He's a guy that had very good stuff at one time, but we were taking a chance, obviously, by signing him after two surgeries. But we knew Dan was a quality guy."
Wright proved that to be true, Rice said, while spending the last 15 months in Phoenix.
"He worked so hard," Rice said. "He took care of the young guys. When a big league guy does all the right things, it rubs off on people."
Wright insists he still has a long way to go, and Rice agrees.
"There's a lot going on in his arm," Rice said. "He might get more and more velocity, it's just hard to say. Our number one goal was to get him out there. Now we'll see what happens."
Wright said his career could still end soon because doctors told him he has a degenerative shoulder, with little cartilage remaining.
For now, though, he has high hopes. In his Rainiers' debut, Wright displayed a sharp breaking ball to go with an effective circle changeup and better-than-ever movement on his fastball. As always, Wright figures to battle control problems. But if he can locate pitches, he figures to be successful.
"I've always fought control," he said. "With the White Sox (in 2001), I had a no-hitter into the seventh against Tampa Bay but had seven walks."
Rice said Wright's future is probably in the bullpen. Wright said he likes being a reliever.
"I just can't see him throwing 200 innings (in a season) after the surgeries he's had," Rice said. "But he might be very effective out of the pen."
Wright was a starter and reliever as a Razorback. He lived in Batesville as a teenager, graduated from Sullivan South High in Kingsport, Tenn., and was drafted a few weeks later in the 19th round by the Cleveland Indians, who kept offering more money. Wright eschewed their final offer of $500,000 and joined the Hogs as a freshman in the fall of 1995.
Wright didn't hesitate when asked the best memory of his three years at Arkansas.
"It's got to be Norm DeBriyn," Wright said. "He's a great man. Everybody loves him. He's such a good coach and cares so much about Arkansas baseball and guys from Arkansas."
Wright, whose parents again live in Batesville, signed with the White Sox in 1999 for a bonus of $602,000. His salary peaked at $340,000 in 2004, two years after he married Robin Alpe, the former Lady Razorback softball and basketball player from Bentonville.
Dan and Robin have a son, Andrew, who turns three in September. They own a house in Cave Springs, but were in Phoenix the last year except for three weeks surrounding Christmas.
"Dan is a great person and he's been a great ambassador for the Razorback program," DeBriyn said. "I'm surprised he's throwing at that (Triple-A) level but it's good news. If he came all the way back, that would be a special story."