Indians relief pitcher Shawn Armstrong has made a solid impression on the club the past few months. First, he broke camp with the team after a strong spring and, following a few roster moves, is again on the active 25-man roster as a member of arguably baseball's best bullpen.
But lately, baseball has only made up half of his daily workload. He's also been hitting the books.
Armstrong was well on his way to earning his degree in pre-physical therapy at East Carolina University when he was drafted by the Indians in the 18th round of the 2011 amateur draft. He put his college education on hold to focus solely on baseball.
A year ago, he decided it was time to go back and finish what he started. Armstrong got in touch with ECU to work out an online-only course load. By switching his major to university studies, he could do it without losing any credits and complete his degree entirely on the road. In August, he was able to resume his studies.
Armstrong's fiancee, Sarah, recently graduated, which spurred him on to complete his degree as well. And, he'll be the first member of his immediate family to do so.
"Mom, dad, brother, sister, I'd be the first to graduate from a four-year college," he said. "So I wanted to knock it out and get it done. ... We talked about it last spring and they said to check back in the fall and apply. We had to go into the whole thing, figuring out where my classes and coursework could transfer."
Armstrong completed four classes last fall, an easier schedule to manage during the offseason. Then came the spring, and five more classes, just as the team had to report to spring camp in Arizona.
His time in spring training was split between baseball and college. As Armstrong was tearing through spring camp en route to winning a spot on the Opening Day roster as the seventh man in the bullpen, he was holed up in his room most afternoons, studying and completing assignments.
On days he didn't pitch in a game, Armstrong would go home after his morning workouts, eat lunch and then complete as much schoolwork as he could for the next four or five hours. Every day during the work week, Armstrong was reading chapters or studying for an exam or taking notes from an online video lecture.
"I was in a book five days a week," he said. "I'd come home, eat and then just try to knock everything out."
Then the next morning, it was back to baseball, over and over for nearly two months until the regular season began. That's when the team began flying _ to Texas, back to Arizona for a series, and so on _ to start the year. Each flight, Armstrong wasn't enjoying a free movie or reading SkyMall Magazine. He was writing term papers and college essays.
"I knocked out like all of my coursework before the regular season started so that I just had all papers left," Armstrong said. "So when we began the season and I broke camp with the team, I knocked out a paper each flight."
There was only one scheduling issue. A professor wanted everyone logging in at about 6:30 p.m. for the class each day. That was going to present a fairly unusual issue once the season started, with Armstrong heading out to the bullpen around the time the professor would be in mid-lecture. He explained his situation and the professor obliged, allowing him to do his work in the mornings.
About the only time and place he hasn't studied or completed his course work is in the bullpen during games. He doesn't often talk about it at the ballpark, saying it's "a little too cut and dry."
With the club in Detroit earlier this month, Armstrong pitched 22/3 scoreless innings and struck out three batters on the night of May 2. That's what fans saw. What they didn't see was Armstrong taking a business administration exam the next morning before he reported to the ballpark. The exam went well, and he has since finished that semester.
He's just two classes shy of graduating. One of them started this past week, a tobacco, drug and alcohol awareness class required to graduate. It was a tight schedule. Armstrong had to have his textbook overnighted to Cleveland in order to have it in time before the team left for Houston. That's not the sort of issue most ballplayers deal with in the major leagues.
Armstrong will finish his degree and be eligible to graduate in December. And unlike his current classes, he'll be doing that in person. He's finishing what he started, and his family wants to see it happen.
"My mom wants me to graduate and walk, so I'm definitely going to walk," he said, smiling.
