Hart of the Games
by: Terrence Payne

Courtesy of Donna Duval

If being a Division I quarterback and a handling an Ivy League curriculum wasn’t difficult enough, this past spring Yale junior, Brook Hart added baseball to his schedule.

Hart, who was recruited to play football at Yale, always aspired to be a two sport athlete. “It’s just something I thought about doing since I’d been [at Yale], but I wasn’t sure if it was a possibility or not, so this year I just decided to give it a try,” said Hart.

When he proposed his idea to Yale head football coach, Tom Williams, he got his coach’s blessing to play baseball. “[Coach Williams] is for two sport athletes,” said Hart. But because he would miss spring football, some sacrifice was required. “He wanted to make sure I realize it would be a setback in terms of trying to go after playing time in the fall,” said Hart. But Hart still wanted to give baseball a shot.

In his first collegiate baseball season, Hart joined the Bulldogs starting rotation. He went 3-3 on the season, pitching over 40 innings and recorded two complete games. For Hart, returning to the diamond was a challenge. “It was hard,” said Hart. “I just had to start learning how to throw other pitches.”

After pitching his first season since high school, Hart was invited to play for the Holyoke Blue Sox of the New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL). Hart, a 6-foot-5 220 pound lefty, began the season in the Blue Sox bullpen, primarily as a left handed specialist. But as the season progressed, Hart made the move to the starting rotation. “I’ve been preparing myself for any role the coaches have for me,” said Hart.

Since making the move to the rotation, the State College, PA native, has answered the call. In his limited time as a starter, he is 2-0 with a 2.32 ERA. The southpaw’s best game was against the New Bedford Bay Sox, a game in which he went the distance allowing 1 earned run while striking out 6.

Being in Holyoke this summer has been great for Hart. He came into the summer looking for experience and ways to improve. “I need to learn how to be a baseball player and how to train like a baseball player and that’s what I spent most of my time here doing,” said Hart.

During the course of the summer Hart has worked tirelessly to become a better pitcher. “He’s been working everyday on his mechanics,” said Blue Sox teammate and roommate Tim Saunders. “He does what he needs to do to be the best pitcher he can be.”

The improvement in Hart’s game is evident to many of his teammates. “When he showed up, he really only had a fastball,” said teammate Frank Hager. “He learned how to pitch an above average slider and he’s working on a change-up that’s getting better every day. Once you get those two pitches in your repertoire it totally changes the hitters approach.”

It isn’t just the improvements in his game that impress his teammates. It is the fact that he can handle a tough schedule of courses and still be a contributing member on two collegiate teams. Hager, who is going into his junior year at Cornell, knows how difficult it is to manage school and sports in the Ivy League. But he admits Hart is on another level. “I don’t match up with Brook at all. He plays football and baseball. I have enough with baseball,” said Hager. “It’s unreal how he stays competitive with the rest of the competition in both football and baseball.”

Although Hart is one of the more inexperienced members on the team, he has still pitched on a bigger stage than most of his teammates. Back in 2001, Hart played in the Little League Mid-Atlantic Regional final, a game national televised on ESPN, with the winner going to the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. Hart, the starting pitcher, was out dueled by the infamous Danny Almonte. “It sucked at the time, but it’s a cool story to tell now,” said Hart.

Courtesy of Donna Duval

Before and even during games, Hart still appears to be a Little Leaguer, enjoying every moment of baseball, joking around in the dugout, never forgetting baseball is meant to be fun. “He’s a pretty goofy, funny guy. He’s always making jokes and looking to have a good time,” said Hager.

The Blue Sox season is quickly coming to an end and that means one thing for Hart. Put the glove on the shelf and pick up the football. Hart enters camp August 19^th for the Bulldogs and believes to be going in as a back-up. “[I’ll] compete for the starting job, but it’s going to be tough after missing spring ball,” said Hart.

Although football is right around the corner, he still looks forward to the spring. “I hope to continue improving on what I learned here and hopefully be one of the top guys on our staff,” said Hart.

If baseball and football don’t work out for Hart after his playing days for the Bulldogs, he will still have a degree in Political Science from Yale to fall back on. That’s not a bad consolation prize.