Sports fans will want to keep their eye on this young man who has his eye on the ball – baseball, that is. Ryan Ketchner, 24, is a pitcher in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and his goal and lifelong dream is to make it all the way to the majors. Ketchner was born deaf, which actually gives him an advantage over other pitchers: a natural ability to block out stadium noise while on the pitcher’s mound.
“A lot of coaches say that it is probably good for me because I can concentrate more than most people. I love to pitch. When I am on the mound, I am in a ‘zone’ – no distractions – just me, the catcher and the hitter. It doesn’t matter to me what the fans are saying. I can’t hear them, so it never bothers me,” says Ketchner.
Dream in the Making
“When I was about six years old, Dad asked if I wanted to play baseball. I asked him if it was okay for me to play because I couldn’t hear and he said, ‘Of course, you can do it,’” Ketchner recalls.
One of Ketchner’s sports heroes was Deaf ballplayer Curtis Pride. “My dad told me about him. Curtis used to play for the (Montreal) Expos. My dad took me to a spring training game and I got my baseball bat and glove autographed by him,” Ketchner recalls. (Today, Pride and he have the same player agent, Joe Strasser.)
Those early encouragements were an essential element in Ketchner’s success. His parents, Tim and Kim Ketchner, have always given him ample support without trying to push him in one direction or another. Their parenting philosophy has allowed Ketchner to make his own life choices and the Ketchners are proud of their son’s choices thus far. “Ryan is a very unique individual. He has his goals and he doesn’t stop short of them. He always pushes himself,” comments Tim Ketchner.
In June 2000, just as he was graduating from John I. Leonard High School in Lake Worth, Fla., the Seattle Mariners drafted him in the 10th round of the Professional Baseball Draft because of his high level of skill as a left-handed pitcher. After the draft Ryan quickly established himself as one of the rising young stars in the Seattle organization. In 2001, Ryan was the co-Most-Valuable Pitcher for the Mariners’ Everett team in the Northwest League.
Next he played for the Mariners’ Wisconsin team in the Midwest League in 2002 and spent 2003 with the Mariners’ Inland Empire Team in the California League. The L.A. Dodgers had their eye on this gifted pitcher. Prior to the 2004 season, the Dodgers acquired Ketchner in a trade for major league player Jolbert Cabrera and Ketchner was on their AA team in Jacksonville, Fla. There he ranked second-best in earned-run average among all pitchers in the entire Dodgers organization.
Last year Ketchner was forced to miss the season due to an injury to his left elbow – his pitching arm. He had surgery for a torn ligament and is currently in rehabilitation.
Spring training for 2006 started the first week of March in Vero Beach, Fla. Is Ketchner ready to take the mound? “Well, I am not rushing. I am young still and hopefully have a big future ahead of me. I will not pitch in a game situation until May, which will be one year since my surgery.” Ketchner’s injury has been a setback but not for much longer. “I have something to look forward to – something to work hard at so I can achieve my goal. I have to be smart.”
Sports writers have said Ketchner has a “killer curve ball,” but he favors his “change up.”
“A lot of batters are fooled because my change up looks like a fastball to them.”
His strategy obviously is working. Ketchner was voted his team’s Most Valuable Pitcher in 2002 and 2003 for the Mariners. Also in 2003, he was named Most Valuable Player in the post-season playoffs.
Ketchner’s dream to play in the majors is looking bright and sports fans and Deaf advocates alike are routing for him. If Ketchner is called up to the majors, he will be the first Deaf major league pitcher since Luther Taylor, who played nearly 100 years ago.
“I have obstacles like anybody; some are just different. It has always been a challenge for me to communicate with hearing people. It was very hard and frustrating. I had to work hard as a little boy,” Ketchner remembers.
Ketchner chose to be oral after his parents let him explore all communication possibilities. Ketchner’s mother recalls he was a little too oral at times, which got him in trouble in middle school for talking too much. Ketchner also uses American Sign Language with his mother and sister.
The perfect setting for a conversation with Ketchner is a quiet place. “I prefer to have one-on-one communication. It is hard for me when there are a lot of people in the room and everybody is talking at once. I can hear low tones but only with my hearing aids. Otherwise, I hear nothing,” says Ketchner.
Dodger teammate and good friend Joel Hanrahan says Ketchner talks with his teammates easily and most have learned how best to communicate with him. “Ryan has an amazing skill of reading people’s lips, which I have tried to do when I am around him, and if you ask me, is impossible. It took me a little bit of time to understand Ryan when he was talking to me but after a few minutes I picked up on it and we actually have pretty good conversations.”
Hanrahan recalls the importance of communication in his first interaction with Ryan as it did warrant some explanation: “It was his first day in Las Vegas. He had left his workout socks in Jacksonville and I saw him looking in the trash container. He pulled out a pair of my old socks that I had just thrown in there and I said to him, ‘Dude, what are you doing? Do you need some socks because if you need some socks all you have to do is ask.’”
“Ryan fits in well with his teammates,” says Hanrahan. “It seems like he knows everything that we are talking about, even when he is not around. He picks up on things very quickly, just like the rest of us. Sometimes I even get jealous of him because he can’t hear the people yelling at him,” says Hanrahan.
Texas-style Wedding
Baseball has been good to Ketchner, not just professionally, but personally as well. Two years ago while doing a public relations appearance in Jacksonville, he met his future bride, Tana Stavinoha. The couple is set to wed in October 2006, and details of the event and their story are documented on their wedding Web site. Stavinoha writes: “I was working as the director of Community Relations for the Jacksonville Suns Baseball Club. Ryan’s agent called to tell me … about an appearance Ryan would be making at the Saint Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind. … Ryan met me in my office and that’s truly when it all began! I was mesmerized by Ryan! With only a little time, we fell in love!”
Their San Antonio wedding will be Texas-style. “We’re going to two-step our way through the day and into the night, so bring your cowboy (or cowgirl) boots and hat and be prepared to party Texas-style for a country classic wedding to remember!” the couple bids their guests.
In the meantime, they are both still learning about each other’s worlds. “We really work together to teach each other about the differences. Sometimes Tana and I are at home but she is on her laptop and I am on mine and we communicate through instant messaging and that is fun!” says Ketchner.
Ketchner continues to visit Deaf schools to encourage young people. “I have been speaking to Deaf kids every year no matter where I am playing. I love to encourage them. They need role models in the Deaf community. I want to be a role model for them; that is so important to me,” says Ketchner. “You know, I used to be young like them. There were times I wanted to quit. My dad wouldn’t let me. My dad really pushed and inspired me in a very positive way. My advice to young people is not to let their disability keep them from trying things. They have to give it a shot.”
Besides encouraging students, Ketchner is also educating them about the abilities of a person with hearing loss. On one visit to The Clarke School in Jacksonville, Fla., a student asked if he could drive. He still laughs about that one.
Ketchner sees the good in people and hopes that is what others see in him. And that goes for the major league coaches, too. We all hope that one day soon, Ketchner will be added to the list of successful ballplayers who just happened to be Deaf. Go Ryan!
