The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

NOT more than a day after he got his release from the Pittsburgh Pirates, professional baseball player Antoan Richardson has secured another job with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

“I’ve just moved from one team to the next, but I didn’t know what to expect because jobs are hard to come buy,” Richardson told The Tribune. “A lot of guys are looking for jobs currently, so I didn’t expect it to happen so soon. But I’m thankful that it happened.

“Me and my agent made a couple of phone calls and we got this opportunity.”

Now in his 11th year in the Major League system, Richardson will report to Arizona for their spring training with his eighth team today.

“I’m going to go there to get back in sync. Once I get my feet back on track, I will be assigned to one of their affiliated teams,” Richardson said. “I will have to get in some playing shape and get in some of the repetitions that I missed over the past month and a half and obviously last year.

“We will evaluate the situation and take it from there.”

Richardson, who played briefly with the Texas Rangers this year before a back and leg injury that led to surgery ended with him being granted free agency, signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates in December through his marketing agency Orpheus Sports.

After getting a “clean bill” of health, Richardson said he was eager to get back to work on the baseball diamond, but things just didn’t work out for him with the Pirates.

“I think we had a breakdown in communications, me, my agent and the organisation, so me and my agent felt that it wasn’t the best fit at the time, so we decided to get out and go somewhere where it would be a better fit and a better opportunity to play,” he said.

The 32-year-old journeyman, who was drafted as the 35th pick in the 2005 amateur draft by the San Francisco Giants,  has reached the Major League where he played twice, first with the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees. He’s hoping that the third time around will be the charm.

“It’s never been easy and it ain’t going to get easy,” he said. “But I enjoy the journey. I enjoy fighting for everything that I get.”

As a switch hitter who relies on his speed, Richardson said the first and foremost thing for him to do is to prove that he’s indeed back to 100 per cent.

“I think they want to evaluate me to see if I’m the same player that I once was, post-injury,” he stated. “I think they feel there is some value in me if I am. So I just want to go there and prove to them that I am indeed better than I was. I’m not going into it with any expectations, but just to perform as best as I can and may the chips fall where they may.”

At this stage in his rehabilitation, Richardson said he’s definitely back to the level where he feels he can contend for a spot on a roster in any of the top affiliates in the Dodgers organisation.

“I just haven’t had that many reps and to actually get on the field and challenge my body,” he said. “I’m hoping that going to Arizona, I will get the chance to test my body. That’s all I could ask for.”

And in the process, he hopes that he can get back to what he loves doing - playing baseball.