Sam Long Earns Second Chance on the Diamond with White Sox

After growing up as the only person in his large family (six siblings) to play baseball, Sam Long had one goal; to use his left arm to get a good education to help pay for college, while getting to play the game he loved.
Sacramento State gave him that opportunity.
Going into his freshman season with the Hornets, Long's head coach Reggie Christiansen told him that he was going to have the ball for the team's first mid-week game against the Bulldogs of Fresno State.
Despite Fresno State being ranked #24 in the nation and the start coming as a complete surprise to the freshman, Long went 5.0 innings on the bump at a hostile Bob Bennett Stadium in Fresno, allowing only two runs on six hits, capturing his first collegiate win.
Sam's first and second year in college couldn't have gone any better to assure himself he made the right decision to attend Sac State. In his freshman season (2013-2014), Long went 8-2 with a 3.03 ERA, including being named a Louisville Slugger Freshman All-American and the WAC Freshman of the Year. Long also captured a spot on the All-WAC Second Team.
"It was happening so fast that I was forced to get into a quick groove on the mound and just pitch my butt off," Long said.
After a great freshman campaign, Long's numbers got even better during his sophomore year. Compiling a 2.81 ERA through 89.2 innings, Long collected six wins while using a 6.32 strikeout-to-walk ratio to do so.
With the all-important junior year coming up, a season in a collegiate baseball player's life where you can move your way up the MLB First Year Player Draft board, Long spotted some discomfort in his back during a start. He had two herniated disks, threatening his career.
Despite all the discomfort, Long knew that if he wanted to go play pro ball, he would have to pitch threw pain to prove to scouts that he has Top-10 round stuff.
"I stuck with it and pitched through it," Long said. "It was tough. It was a battle. Trying to rehab and pitch at the same time isn't for everybody but I knew how bad I wanted to play pro ball. Heck, there were some days where I had to get my roommates to help get me out of bed."
Pitching through discomfort his entire junior season, Long posted a 3.99 ERA through 85.2 innings on the mound, while going 5-8 in 15 starts, proving to be his worst statistical season in college.
Hoping to go in the first 10 rounds, Long dropped to the 18^th round of the draft to the Tampa Bay Rays.
After pitching all of 2016 and 2017 in the Rays' farm system, making his way up to the Bowling Green Hot Rods (Class-A) and posting an impressive 1.08 ERA in six games out of the pen, the Rays released Long the following season on the last day of Spring Training in 2018.
"I went home and I was just shocked. I actually ended up coming to a decision to just stop playing. I figured it would be tough to make a name for myself in a different organization and I felt like I did enough to satisfy myself with baseball."
Done with baseball, Long went back to school to take summer classes and get his EMT certification.
"I was working as an EMT and one day around late September or early October, I was just sitting there thinking about what I wanted to do, and baseball was in the back of my head the entire time. The end goal for me is to one day become a firefighter but I just couldn't get baseball out of my head at the time."
While growing up in California, one of the most competitive states in the country to play high school ball, Long had many friends who went on to play pro ball as well, guys that he kept seeing move up through the professional ranks. And with all respect to his friends, Long knew he could compete with his friends.
"I saw a lot of my buddies moving that I knew I could compete with in professional baseball and it was just eating away at me. I knew I had a chance to get back out there. October comes and I sit down with my girlfriend and call my Dad and tell them I'm going to give it another shot."
At this time, Long had not been training for roughly six months. To say this journey back to professional baseball was going to be hard was an understatement. Baseball isn't like riding a bike; you can't just get back on the mound and start throwing 92-94 mph while being able to hit your spots all at the same time. It was going to take some serious work for the Sacramento native to get back to top shape.
"I had to start from scratch. All of October, November, December, January and February, leading up to Spring Training, I was doing everything I could every day," Long said.
Using his release from the Rays as a "blessing in disguise" to help his back heal, Long started training at a facility called Optimum Athletics in Sacramento. Optimum is headed by Casey Weathers (drafted 8^th overall in the 2007 Draft by the Colorado Rockies) and another former MiLB player, Ryan Matthews.
"Once I started training with Casey and Ryan, they would post all my bullpen videos. There was one video where I was throwing 92-95 mph and everything looked really sharp and a Twitter account called @PitchingNinja retweeted the video." @PitchingNinja is ran by Rob Friedman, a MLB and ESPN Pitching Contributing Analyst.
Before Long went to bed that night, the video had 800 views. The next morning, 80,000 people had seen the tweet. After that, 15 MLB scouts were wanting to be in on his next workout.
"The White Sox didn't even see me throw in person. I think they just saw the video on Twitter. The White Sox area scout called me and asked me what my thoughts were on not having my big workout in front of those teams and just signing a contract with the White Sox."
After a few days, Long signed the contract but not before he had some discussions with his agent and family. "I didn't get back in this to do the whole negotiating with money and teams," Long said. "I got back in this because I just wanted to pitch again. I just wanted an opportunity. And the White Sox gave me that opportunity."
After signing with the White Sox, Long had just two months to show why he belonged on one of the White Sox's minor league affiliates right out of Spring Training.
"There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I wasn't going to make a team," Long said. "I don't know exactly why but I just felt that everything that I was working so hard for, I had to make it work. I went in guns blazing and that first bullpen, I just let it eat," Long said while laughing.
"My goal was just to get a uniform. I didn't care where I was sent. I just wanted to get out there and get back to what I was doing before."
In his Intimidators uniform this season, Long has posted a 2-0 record with a 3.27 ERA in 13 appearances. Through 22.0 innings on the mound, Long has recorded 29 strikeouts and only issued four walks, holding one of the best strikeout-to-walk ratios on the team.