A few weeks ago, I decided to pick up a baseball and try my hand at pitching again. 15 years after blowing out my knee, and 13 years removed from a nasty torn rotator cuff that never healed properly, I decided, on a whim, to try my hand at pitching...with no conditioning and no warming up (not smart, I know).

I only threw about 20 pitches, and the results weren't great. I still have a pretty nasty curve, and an unpredictable knuckleball, but I've lost close to 40 miles per hour on my fastball, which was rather depressing.

Then, yesterday, I decided to step into the batting cage and take a few swings. 75 of them to be exact, and I connected on most every pitch, including some screaming line drives to left field. I only hit one pitch to the opposite field, but I hit more pitches than I missed.

About the last four pitches or so, I could barely lift the bat anymore, but I kept swinging anyway. Today I'm in an almost unbearable amount of pain, but it feels really good. For some reason, at the age of 31, I felt like I wanted to feel 16 again, and see just why the Royals were looking at me back when I was in high school before the injuries.

I know I'll never live that dream of playing in the major leagues, but for just one day after more than a decade of not swinging a bat, I feel really good about hurting so bad.