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The Chicago Cubs recently expanded their roster for the final month of the season. Included in that expansion is catcher Koyie Hill...

Koyie Hill Called Up to Chicago after Months of Therapy

by Thomas (Senior Writer)

16

781 reads

Opinion

September 01, 2008


The Chicago Cubs recently expanded their roster for the final month of the season. Included in that expansion is catcher Koyie Hill. You might ask, "What's so special about that?"

Well, just 10 months ago Hill lost three fingers and a thumb on his right hand in a table saw accident.

Koyie, who made his MLB debut with the L.A. Dodgers back in 2003, had all three fingers and the thumb reattached by a specialist shortly after his accident. Hill wanted to play ball so badly that he considered having his pinkie amputated so that he could have a better grip when he threw the ball—the most important skill a catcher needs.

After hours of therapy and relearning everything, Hill managed to regain control. During his therapy he said, "I had to learn how to give high fives all over again. Everything is different."

Hill, who had plans to become an architect before playing baseball, and his dad, who works as a carpenter, were in the garage in October of 2007, working on some wood that was to be used for a window frame. While Koyie was using the table saw, part of the wooden frame got stuck in the saw and Koyie's hand went with it. 

“It cut my thumb off first, went through all the muscle in my thumb, and it went back and turned and cut all four tendons and all four fingers and all four ligaments,” he said.

All Koyie could think of was baseball. "I sat in a doctor’s office here in Chicago in December, and he looked right at me and said he didn’t think I was going to play again. You got some of the best people (saying) `I just don’t know, I don’t see it, but good luck.'" 

"In the back of my mind, I always knew if I got the opportunity to play like I did, the Cubs kept me in the lineup down there, I knew I was going to be able to do it. I knew it was going to be hard and it looked ugly at the beginning.”

Hill first joined the MLB as a catcher for the L.A. Dodgers back in 2003. However, the Dodgers had all-star catcher Paul Lo Duca, so Hill didn't get much playing time. In 2005, the Dodgers traded him to the Arizona Diamondbacks for veteran outfielder Steve Finley. 

Hill became the starting catcher for the D'backs at the beginning of the 2005 season. However, luck was not on Hill's side, as he spent the majority of the time as a backup to Chris Snyder. In the 2005-2006 season, Hill made only 34 appearances. 

Eventually, the Yankees picked Hill up, but this time he was sent to AAA to the Yanks' then-affiliate the Columbus Clippers. However, the Yankees weren't impressed with Hill, and he was released from the organization in 2006.

In November of 2006, the Chicago Cubs signed Hill to a minor league contract. During that season, Hill was essentially a backup for catcher Henry Blanco. He played 36 games for the Cubs in 2007, but spent most of his time in Iowa playing for a AAA team.

Due to his accident in October of 2007, Hill's career looked to be over. 

However, through hours of therapy and determination, he made it back into baseball less than a year later.

"It was a long deal. We did three or four hours of therapy every day and you battle a lot of nightmares and ups and downs emotionally as far as your career. I’m proud I’ve been able to overcome. Every day I got to keep on top of it. We feel like we got it under control for the most part.”

Hill is the Cubs’ third catcher in the final month, just happy to be in a pennant race and playing baseball. When his days of playing are over, he said he might have his ring finger taken off for good because it is giving him so much pain.

But at age 29, that’s a long way off. Now, he’s just working every day with stretching exercises to keep his fingers as limber as possible.

The Cubs also activated right-hander Jon Lieber from the 15-day disabled list, right-hander Angel Guzman from the 60-day disabled list, and recalled right-hander Michael Wuertz and infielder Micah Hoffpauir from Triple-A Iowa. They also selected the contract of infielder Casey McGehee from Iowa.

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16 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Jim Neveau 10 months ago

    I honestly cannot believe the incredible effort that Koyie put into this. I think it's a credit to him that he came back from this accident, and a credit to the Cubs for sticking with him during his recovery. A class player and a class organization. All you hear about is greed in sports, but this shows that indeed some owners and GMs are human. Great article.

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    • Thomas 10 months ago

      thanks Jim. Its a shame he got tossed from team to team in his early days. He's not that bad of a player.

      It does show that not all ppl are in it for greed. Good for the Cubs and good for Koyie Hill.

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  2. L.J. Burgess 10 months ago

    I saw this today on Fox...very inspiring. You related it well.

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  3. Nino Colla 10 months ago

    Thanks for sharing this, I'm not sure I would have heard about it if you didn't write it.

    That's just an incredible story. Really great thing to see in this day and age and I hope he continues his career. That's just an unbelievable thing to come back from.

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  4. Christian Karcole 10 months ago

    Wow, amazing story. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! 5 stars.

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  5. Bob Warja 10 months ago

    Thomas, you did an excellent job of relaying the story, I almost felt I was there as I was reading it.
    What an amazing story of perseverance. (BTW, isn't it ironic that the word 'perseverance' has the word 'sever' in the middle of it, as in Koyie severing his fingers?).

    Good job.

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  6. Joe G 10 months ago

    Good stuff Thomas. I hadn't heard this story before, thanks for sharing.

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  7. Ken Moniz 10 months ago

    This is quite the story. Congratulations Koyie Hill

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  8. Bryan Thiel 10 months ago

    I always liked Hill, but I lost track of him when he fell off the map a bit. Good to know he's back, albeit under slightly strained circumstances.

    Good for him. It's inspiring to hear how he stuck with it.

    BT

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