When athletes come back from injury, there’s always speculation about if they’ll be the same or not. For most professional athletes over 30, the stories can start to look more like career eulogies.
But there’s also 34-year-old Ryan Raburn, coming off of a season-ending knee injury, playing some of the best ball of his Major League Baseball career.
Raburn, a Durant High School graduate, damaged his meniscus in September 2014 and had season-ending surgery, which stuck him with some of the worst stats of his nine-year career.
For 2015, he wanted to prove that he could not only come back to the lineup but also be effective again.
“This year, my main goal is to stay healthy and finish up strong,” Raburn says. “This is probably the best start I’ve had to a year, pretty much ever. If I could stay healthy and everything, I know things will go my way. I’ll do whatever I can to be a part of this team and help the club win.”
AT DURANT
Although Raburn started his high school career at East Bay High, in Gibsonton, he found himself at Durant for his junior and senior years, 1998 and 1999. He played well enough for the Cougars in his two seasons with the team to have his jersey number retired. It’s immortalized in a painting on the Cougars’ clubhouse.
Although he can’t single out one favorite game, play or moment from his Durant days — his memory’s a little fuzzy — Raburn says that the experience of playing with some familiar faces made those days enjoyable.
“A lot of it was a lot of the guys I played with,” Raburn says. “A lot of those guys, I played with in (Little League). Growing up, playing each other and then being on the same team, spending more time with them and getting to know them better.”
When he’s living with his family in his offseason home in Wimauma, Raburn makes an effort to drive to Durant to work with the kids. He hasn’t been out there to work in some time, as last year’s physical rehab took up much of his time, but he plans to be out there with the Cougars as soon as he can this year.
“It’s kind of cool seeing what’s different from when you were in high school,” Raburn says. “They have a little better facilities than when I played there. Coach (Butch) Valdes has done a lot for the team and the school. They’ve done a heck of a job. It’s awesome to see how the facilities have come around.”
COMEBACK SEASON
Raburn’s numbers have jumped considerably above his 2014 totals, most notably boosting his on-base, slugging and OBS percentage by more than 100 points a piece. He’s already matched his 2014 totals of four home runs and 22 RBI, as of July 27, and has been one of the league’s most effective batters when hitting off of left-handed pitchers.
He’s even been the subject of several trade rumors but, as of press time, has not been dealt to the New York Mets or any other team that’s been brought up. Whatever happens, Raburn will just take it as it comes and keep up the hard work.
“It’s stuff you really can’t control,” Raburn says. “It’s out of your hands. I’d love to stay here in Cleveland. I love the organization, I love everybody. But there’s things you can’t predict, so you’ve still got to go out there and play.”
The only downside to the 2015 season is that the Indians aren’t quite in the playoff position they wanted to be in.
“I feel as good as I have in a while,” Raburn says. “As a team, we haven’t quite played the way we want, but we’re hanging in there.”
Contact Justin Kline at jkline@plantcityobserver.com.
BY THE NUMBERS
2014: 74 games; 39 H; 4 HR; 22 RBI; .200 BA; .250 OBP; .297 SLG; .547 OPS
2015: 64 games; 36 H; 4 HR; 22 RBI; .271 BA; .355 OBP; .474 SLG; .829 OPS