Scott Maine realizes big league dream

CHICAGO -- There's a scar that goes from ear to ear across the top of Cubs reliever Scott Maine's head.

"I almost died twice," the rookie lefty says, rather matter of factly.

It was five years ago on Aug. 9. Maine was driving home from a dental appointment on the Florida Turnpike and lost control of his 2003 Toyota Tacoma. He struck another car, then swerved. His truck zipped down an embankment, hit several trees and finally stopped.

Maine wasn't wearing a seat belt and his head smacked the windshield. He suffered head trauma, and was hospitalized 22 days. Part of the surgery needed involved the insertion of seven titanium rivets to repair his fractured skull. He never drove that truck again. It was crumpled like a smashed tin can.

"It's not really a big deal to me," Maine said Wednesday in the Cubs clubhouse, his big league career just eight days old. "It's not like, 'Oh my God, I almost died.' I'm still here, walking and talking. Until my heart stops beating, I guess then I'll worry about it."

At the time of the accident, the left-hander was pitching for the University of Miami. He'd experienced some trauma before. As a freshman with the Hurricanes in 2004, he tore a ligament in his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery. But that wasn't life threatening.

"When I was in the hospital [after the car accident], doctors didn't think I was going to be able to walk or talk again, it was that bad," Maine said. "The time I was there, I was like, 'OK, I'm going to be pitching this year for Miami,' and I ended up pitching that year for Miami.

"It's just the way my mind has always been," he said. "When someone tells me I can't do something, I'm going to prove them wrong. That's the way I've been my whole life."

He did pitch for the Hurricanes briefly in 2005, wearing a protective plastic mask that covered his face and protruded over his forehead. In '06, he went 12-3 with a 4.57 ERA, picking up Miami's only win in the 2006 College World Series.

"I'm not missing any limbs," Maine said. "My head is still there. Some of my brain is still there."

Some of it?

"They didn't remove anything," he said, "but when your brain gets traumatized like that, you lose brain cells and stuff like that, so that's what I basically lost."

Maine was rated among the top 10 baseball prospects in the country when he played for William T. Dwyer High in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. In June 2006, he was selected in the 23rd round by the Rockies but did not sign. The next year, he was chosen in the sixth round by the D-backs and turned pro. Arizona converted him to a reliever in the Minors and it's worked so far.

The Cubs acquired him in November 2009 from the D-backs for Aaron Heilman. At that point, the lefty was 4-5 with seven saves and a 2.90 ERA in 48 relief appearances between Double-A Mobile and Triple-A Reno in 2009. Cubs scouting director Tim Wilken had watched Maine at Miami and endorsed the move.

Maine began this year at Triple-A Iowa, shuttled back to Double-A Tennessee for 13 games and then moved back up before his callup. In 33 games with the Triple-A team, he posted a 3.51 ERA and picked up five saves, striking out 47 in 41 innings. At Tennessee, he fanned 15 in 17 1/3 innings and compiled a 2.08 ERA.

Does Maine, lucky to be 25, appreciate life more now?

"There's two extremes -- you can be overappreciative or you can be scared about stuff, like not getting into a car again," Maine said. "I'm basically the same since before the accident. I'm smarter about things, but I'm basically the same.

"Yeah, something really bad happened to me but it's not going to change who I am," he said. "It's going to make me realize things I probably didn't realize before. But it doesn't change who I am."

He made his Major League debut in the seventh inning Aug. 27 in Cincinnati, striking out Johnny Cueto, then serving up a home run to Jay Bruce, which gave the Reds a 6-1 lead over the Cubs. Maine got the next batter to ground out, walked Joey Votto, then induced Scott Rolen to ground out.
In his last two appearances, both at Wrigley Field, he's given up two hits, walked one and struck out two over 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Maine is somewhat nonchalant about not wearing a seat belt when the car accident happened.

"The way I thought about things, my seat belt comes across my shoulder and I never wear a seat belt," he said. "That's why I had the head injury because my head hit the windshield. If I had the seat belt on, who knows? Maybe I would've broken my shoulder."

He wears one now.

The doctors who told Maine that he'd never walk or talk again can cheer for the lefty who beat the odds and is pitching in the big leagues. But he's not done yet.

"I'm sure you've always had dreams and hopes and when you got to them, you're happy and excited for yourself and maybe you want to do more to get to another level," Maine said. "That's like me -- I don't want to be done right where I'm at now. I want to stay here and do better things.

"I'm not saying it will happen," he said, "but in 15, 20 years, if I'm still in the big leagues, then I'll pinch myself and say, 'Did that really happen?'"



(mlb.com)