Jack Wheeless still attends Cal State Long Beach, even after leaving the Dirtbags.
After being hit by a car while running in his hometown of Clovis, California, Jack Wheeless had a rough two years of rehab that led to to the end of his baseball career.
In October of 2013, a car ran a red light through an intersection and hit Wheeless while he was running his usual 6-mile route through his hometown. The impact threw his body up in the air and cracked his pitching arm open.
His surface wounds eventually healed, but when he went back to the doctor in April to get cleared to throw, several X-rays and MRIs revealed he had a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder. The labrum is a piece of cartilage that keeps the shoulder joint in place.
With his arm still injured and healing slowly, Wheeless was unable to play his senior year of high school.
“After his accident he was obviously very limited,” said Wheeless’ high school coach, Alek Friedman. “He became a player-coach who dedicated himself to mentoring the people around him.”
Wheeless started playing baseball when he was 4 years old, but did not take the game seriously until he was in high school. He actually did not like playing the sport, but only stuck with it because he was good. Knowing that he was better than other players his age was his main tool for motivation.
“After I played a lot more I learned that being a pitcher you can control basically if your team wins or not,” Wheeless said. “So that’s what I like, that pressure, and that’s what I miss most.”
Once he made the varsity team in high school, Wheeless said he realized he had the opportunity to get a college education out of his skills on the mound, even though he always wanted to play soccer.
Before the accident, he was offered a partial scholarship to be a Dirtbag. And, in spite of the injury, the coaches at LBSU still wanted him. After going through two surgeries in the middle of his senior season, Wheeless focused on physical rehab until he arrived at The Beach.
Wheeless said although he had multiple scholarship opportunities at other schools, he felt that LBSU was the most personable and the coaches had a real desire for him to play for them.
Wheeless’ left arm bears a scar that serves as a reminder of the the accident the ended his baseball career two years ago.
Going into college, Wheeless knew if he were able to play, it would be the last leg of his baseball career. Before he was hurt, he thought there was a chance at playing in the major leagues, but after the injury he said he needed to be more realistic.
“The pain of knowing that I would never be as good as I once was, was constantly on my mind,” Wheeless said.
He did not play his freshman year of college, but continued rehab and eventually started the throwing program and training.
His limitations did not stop him from pushing through the practices. Wheeless’ former teammate Jacob Hughey said watching him get prepared to pitch was one of the most comical things he’d ever witnessed.
“Every time before Jack pitched, he would down three raw eggs – disgusting – and then do a full Rocky-montage workout right before he went out there,” Hughey said.
When Wheeless was finally healthy enough to play, he was unable to throw at the same level he had before the accident. Because of this, the Dirtbags had to cut him from the team.
Wheeless would have rather the accident never had happened, but he does value what it did for his family. He said that after it happened they got closer.
“It made me a lot more appreciative of life because I never really thought of how easily I could die,” Wheeless said.
Wheeless is studying sports broadcasting at Cal State Long Beach and hopes to be either an announcer or sports analyst.