Rookies Hadden, Brewer Embark On Their 2nd Pro Career

The Top 2 anglers in the 2008 BassFan Rookie of the Year (ROY) race compete on different circuits, but they share a common bond – both are former professional baseball pitchers. Their bass-fishing backgrounds, however, are quite dissimilar.

Randy Hadden, who spent 3 years in the Los Angeles Dodgers minor-league system, fished with his father throughout his childhood, and that sport was nearly as important to him during his youth as baseball was.

Billy Brewer, who pitched for 7 seasons in the majors with four different clubs, didn't get heavily into fishing until well after he'd made his debut in "the show." As a big-leaguer, he could afford to take up a big-money hobby, and he had ample free time to pursue it.

Both men had their baseball careers cut short by arm injuries (a bum shoulder for Hadden and a balky elbow for Brewer). But lobbing a bait 60 feet, 6 inches doesn't put near the strain on those joints that unleashing a 90-plus-mph fastball from that distance did – Hadden only experiences pain these days when he raises his arm above his head, and Brewer's always done everything right-handed except throw a baseball.

Hadden always expected to be a tour pro at some point, whereas Brewer is somewhat surprised to find himself fishing at the highest level. But as was the case with pro baseball, both plan to do it for as long as they can remain competitive – or as long as their bodies allow.

Hadden: Divided Loyalties

For as long as he can remember, Hadden has had two favorite sports.

"All I've ever done is fish and play baseball," he said. "I had an old Ranger R81 that I always took to spring training (in Vero Beach, Fla.), and when that was over, my dad would come down and pick it up. Then when the season was over, I'd fish tournaments all through the fall and winter."

He has the same mindset when he pulls away from the docks as he did when he walked from the dugout to the mound.

"When you're out there pitching, there's nobody else there with you that can help you, and it's the same way when you're in the front of the boat. You're by yourself, and you either do well or you don't.

"Emotionally, it's the same type of feeling."

He was the Dodgers' 14th-round selection in the 1999 draft out of the University of South Carolina. He pitched 3 seasons in Class A before suffering a rotator-cuff injury, compiling a 19-12 record with a 4.72 ERA.

Once his injury was diagnosed, he made the decision to call it quits.

"The back part of my rotator cuff was in about 20 different pieces. I had the choice of having surgery and rehabbing for a year and just seeing what happens, or letting it go to scar tissue and finding something else to do for a living.

"In my mind, surgery wasn't a good option. I saw guys waste 2 or 3 years trying to get back from something like that. Some guys make it, but the percentages aren't in your favor."

He caught an 11 1/2-pounder on his first day as a tour pro last month at the Toho FLW Tour and was in 3rd place when the field was cut to the Top 10 after 2 days. He scrounged up a small limit on day 3, but blanked on day 4 and ended up 10th.

The 30-year-old Jacksonville resident's primary goal is to end the season in the same place he sits right now – atop the Tour's rookie standings.

"I'm really looking forward to the next two events. I've pre-fished both Lewis Smith and Norman, and I think they're going to be pretty similar tournaments – bedding fish and a lot of docks.

"I think some people will be delightfully surprised by how many fish there are to catch."

Brewer: A Whole New Game

As a kid, Brewer did a little bit of fishing with his grandfather. But he didn't catch the bass bug until the infamous major-league players strike of 1994.

"I had a little bit of money back then, and I kind of went hog wild and bought a bunch of stuff," said the Bruceville, Texas resident who'll turn 40 next month. "Even after the strike, it was something to pass the time in the offseason because we always had pretty good weather in Texas.

"It's my nature that whenever I do anything, I always go all out."

He was picked in the 28th round of the 1990 draft by the Montreal Expos (now Washington Nationals) out of Dallas Baptist University. He reached the majors for the first time in 1993 with the Kansas City Royals, and also pitched for the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics and Philadelphia Phillies before retiring in 2000 with an 11-11 record and a 4.79 ERA.

He had five elbow operations during his career, including the drastic "Tommy John" procedure in which a ligament in that joint is replaced with a tendon taken from somewhere else in the body. Eventually, his shoulder started to hurt, too.

He found himself back in the minors in 2000, pitching for a manager who was unsympathetic to his plight. Finally, he figured he'd had enough.

"That last year was a bad experience," he said. "At that time I wasn't really in the Word (of God) and I didn't pray or ask for guidance, and maybe I made a hasty decision (to quit).

"But you can't go back. I made the decision, and I'll live with it."

He'd started fishing local tournaments in 1996, and shortly thereafter became friends with Alton Jones and some of the other pros in his region. He got into the Bassmaster Elite Series this year through the Wild Card Qualifier after a decent 2007 campaign in the Central Opens.

So far, he's fished like he belongs – he was 24th at the Harris Chain and 45th at Toho and has picked up two paychecks. And he was thrilled when Jones asked him to help out with the Fellowship of Christian Anglers Society (FOCAS) meetings.

"Jesus is a big part of my life, and I feel like this is the arena He wants me in. I want to go out and catch fish and go about it the right way, and give the glory to God.

"Fishing, and even baseball, is such a small entity in life compared to what the big picture really is, and that's to glorify God."

Unless it involves catching fish, he's unlikely to create many compelling TV moments. A decade or so ago, that might not have been the case.

"Everybody's seen the clips of the reactions that Mike Iaconelli's had when some things went wrong. Well, I promise you, I would've made him look like a puppy. My anger management skills have improved quite a bit."

He believes his physical skills match up with just about anybody on the Elite Series, but he has some catching up to do on the mental side.

"Because I had decent hand-eye coordination, the actual fishing part – casting, flipping, things like that – came pretty easy," he said. "The hard part is figuring things out on a lake I've never seen before. I feel like I'm back to where I was when I was first starting out and just going fishing.

"And honestly, I'm still in that mode. I don't know near as much as I need to know."

Notable

> Hadden owned and operated a lawn care and landscaping business for several years after his retirement from baseball, but sold it about a year and a half ago. "It worked out pretty well because I made decent money, and I was able to take the time off I needed to fish tournaments.

> Brewer said that rookie life on the Elite Series is much different than what he encountered during his first year in the majors. "I was a good rookie. When (the veterans) told me to do something, I did it because I knew my place. There were some other guys who didn't go about it that way, and there was a difference in the way they were treated. But out here, this is the coolest bunch of guys. It's almost like being in a fraternity."

> Alabama Elite Series angler Russ Lane also pitched professionally – he spent a couple of seasons in the independent Frontier League.

> To read Hadden's angler profile, click here. For Brewer's profile, click here.