JUNE 30, 2017, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A9
ABD,
continued from Page 1
to AAA and struck out fi ve
batters in his fi rst two innings of
work. He thought he was on his
way to the majors but a setback
began to put his baseball career
in a tailspin.
“They tried to change my
delivery a little bit and my
mechanics and I ended up
getting hurt,” said Bibens-
Dirkx, who had shoulder
surgery in 2007.
“The next year I struggled,
just mentally, physically, it wasn't
all there.”
Bibens-Dirkx was then
released by the Mariners before
the 2009 season.
In July of 2009, Bibens-
Dirkx got another chance with
the Chicago Cubs. He started
with the Class A Peoria Chiefs,
moved up to AA to start the
following season as was back in
AAA by the summer.
Bibens-Dirkx spent the rest
of the 2010 and 2011 seasons
primarily with the Iowa
Cubs before signing with the
Washington Nationals, who
invited him to spring training in
2012. But Bibens-Dirkx didn't
make the big league roster,
instead being assigned to the
AAA Syracuse Chiefs. He was
then demoted to AA before
being released.
Bibens-Dirkx spent the rest
of 2012 with the Colorado
Rockies organization before
signing with the Toronto Blue
Jays in 2013. He pitched mainly
in AAA but couldn't make the
next step.
“There were a couple
of times when I thought I
probably should've been given
the opportunity,” Bibens-Dirkx
said. “There were times that
opportunities were probably
there and I just wasn't pitching
well and didn't deserve it.”
Bibens-Dirkx then found
himself out of the minors
and in an independent league
playing with the Lancaster
Barnstormers in Pennsylvania.
“It's guys who don't
necessarily want to go get a real
job yet,” Bibens-Dirkx said of
independent baseball. “It's not
the end of all baseball but it's
defi nitely leaning towards that.
It's not necessarily the easiest
thing to get out of. A team
really has to take a chance on
you or is in need of something
that you can provide. There
are so many guys in the minor
league system already.”
Thankfully for Bibens-
Dirkx, the Rangers were
looking for a pitcher with
experience to send to AAA and
he had spent a lot of time there.
Bibens-Dirkx
signed
with Texas in June of 2016
and reported to the Round
Rock Express. Bibens-Dirkx
remained in Round Rock for
the rest of 2016 and started the
2017 season there as well before
fi nally getting the call he had
waited so long for.
“I started practicing my
signature when I was seven
years old,” Bibens-Dirkx said. “I
had an idea of what I wanted
to do. You can't really see that
far in the future at seven years
old but that's just something
(playing in the major leagues)
I wanted to do and I wanted
to work as hard as I could to
achieve that.”
The hard work included
spending his offseasons pitching
in Venezuela.
“Going down to Venezuela
every offseason has really helped
me because I'm playing against
a lot of these big league guys
down there,” Bibens-Dirkx said.
“I've been getting big league
hitters out, which I think has
fi nally opened people's eyes.”
Bibens-Dirkx got the call to
the majors at 7:30 a.m. on May
6 and fl ew to Seattle, where the
Rangers were in the middle of
a three-game series with the
Mariners. He was activated on
May 7.
“My phone fl ooded with
texts from guys on the (Round
Rock) team,” Bibens-Dirkx
said. “A couple guys said, 'No
matter what happens to me, this
makes my year, you getting an
opportunity.' That meant a lot.”
Bibens-Dirkx went to the
Rangers as a long relief pitcher,
someone who could eat innings
when the starter struggled. But
on May 31 Bibens-Dirkx was
tasked with starting himself.
Against the Tampa Bay Rays,
Bibens-Dirkx's goal was to
pitch at least fi ve innings. He
made it four and two-thirds
but would get a second start
against an organization that had
released him fi ve years earlier
— Washington Nationals.
“I want to prove people
wrong and say you should have
given me a chance,” Bibens-
Dirkx said. “Going into games
against teams you played for that
didn't give you an opportunity,
there's always that extra little
chip that you want to prove that
they defi nitely made a mistake.”
Going head-to-head with
two-time Cy Young Award
winner Max Scherzer and
Submitted
Keizer City Councilor Roland Herrera visited with Austin Bibens-Dirkx in Texas after the Rangers
game on Wednesday, June 21.
facing a lineup that included
2015 National League Most
Valuable Player Bryce Harper
and 2016 Silver Slugger Daniel
Murphy, Bibens-Dirkx allowed
just three hits and one run, a
solo home run to the fi rst hitter
of the game, over seven innings
to earn the win on June 11.
“That might be probably one
of the most memorable outings
that I might ever have in my
career,” said Bibens-Dirkx, who
retired 19 Nationals in a row.
“I just kept the ball down with
making quality pitches and if
you do that in any league, you
can get guys out.”
Playing at a National League
ballpark, Bibens-Dirkx also got
to hit for the fi rst time, going
0-for-2 with two strikeouts
against Scherzer.
“I fouled off a couple
pitches,” Bibens-Dirkx said.
“The ball comes in pretty
quickly.”
After allowing fi ve runs in
a no-decision against the Blue
Jays in his next start, Bibens-
Dirkx bounced back to shut
down another of the best
lineups in baseball. In New
York, he allowed fi ve hits and
one run over seven innings to
defeat the Yankees on Saturday,
June 24.
Bibens-Dirkx's success has
been emotional for Keizerites
like city councilor Ronald
Herrera, who coached him as
a 13-year-old little leaguer and
followed his career since.
Herrera watched Bibens-
Dirkx's fi rst start with his
stepdad Jeff McDonnell and
former
McNary
athletic
director Mike Maghan.
“It was very emotional for a
lot of us,” Herrera said. “I was
teary eyed. The whole thing is
so incredible. It's a movie. Austin
has put our town on the map.
He was always a scrapper, always
hustling. It's a lesson to kids
to stick with what you really
believe and love. Austin had a
dream and he never gave up. It's
the best example I've seen of
hard work and determination.”
In Texas for the National
Association of Latino Elected
Offi cials Annual Conference,
Herrera went to the Rangers
game on Wednesday, June 21.
He then watched Bibens-Dirkx
start against the Yankees from a
sports bar in Dallas.
“It gave me goosebumps to
walk into the stadium and see
him on the fi eld down there,”
Herrera said.
Bibens-Dirkx entered his
next start, Thursday, June 29 in
Cleveland, with a 3-0 record
and 3.68 ERA over 36 and
two-thirds of an inning.
“I'm enjoying every second
that I'm up here,” Bibens-
Dirkx said. “I'm going to try
to take full advantage of every
opportunity that they give me
and hopefully it's enough to
stick around. If not, I'll go down
and do everything I can to
scrape my way back.”
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FLAGS,
continued from Page 1
because of their wives
friendship.
A native Iowan, Nordyke
ended up in Oregon in 1980
after retiring from the Corps.
He had been stationed in
New Orleans and continued
to live there after he retired,
but his friend, an Oregonian,
suggested that Nordyke move
to Oregon where the economy
was booming and jobs were
available for the picking.
So, he and his wife packed
up and sold their home,
moving across country for the
promise of a job. It wasn’t long
after relocating that Nordyke
found a job and bought a
house in Keizer.
“I went to work at the
penitentiary for 16 years,” he
said.
He and his wife settled in
and set about making Keizer
home. They became involved
in the local Elks club, the VFW,
the American Legion and the
Fleet Reserve.
When Nancy’s mother
was looking for a place to
retire, they suggested Oregon
and then helped her relocate
to the area. And when she
passed away, they buried her in
Claggett Cemetery.
“We came out to put
fl owers on her (Nancy’s)
mother’s grave,” Nordyke said,
remembering how it all began.
It was a holiday, though he is
not sure anymore which one
it was. The veteran’s graves
were bare. There were no fl ags,
nothing there to pay tribute to
their service and sacrifi ce.
“I said right there this is a
no-no,” Nordyke said.
He went out and bought
100 small fl ags mounted on
dowels. Armed and ready, he
went out to the cemetery and
placed fl ags at each veteran’s
grave. He has not missed a
holiday since.
These days the Claggett
Cemetery caretaker buys
the fl ags, though Nordyke
continues to go and put
them out, making repairs and
cleaning them once they are
collected.
It is the least he can do, to
make sure their service is not
forgotten.
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