johnnash@thestamfordtimes

STAMFORD — Some dreams never die.

Drew Bigda, the former Westhill High School multi-sport star whose hard-throwing left arm took him to Holy Cross and then into the Tampa Bay Rays minor league system, found himself at a crossroad recently.

A serious shoulder injury had derailed his career with the Rays, who released him shortly after spring training ended in early April.

He had a decision to make. Should he give up on the game he loves? Or, should he find a way to pitch on, showing those who had given up on him that his shoulder was fine and his future was bright?

"I had conversations with everybody I've ever played baseball with, or for, or against," Bigda said. "I was just trying to figure out what to do. I talked to my father probably 100 times and I've changed my mind probably 1,000 times."

In the end, though, it was the game that won out.

Drew Bigda is a pitcher. And this summer he'll be trying to re-ignite his career and keep his dream alive with the Midwest Sliders, which early last week made him the No. 1 pick in this year's Frontier League draft.

"What it came down is the fact that I'll be 25 years old on (May 16) and everybody I talked to said they'd like to be in my shoes," Bigda said. "They said, 'I'd want to be playing.' All my college buddies who are sitting at a desk, making 8,000 times the money I'll be making said they'd switch places with me in a heartbeat."

It's going to take a lot of heart for Bigda to make it now. But the Sliders are giving him two things: Hope and an opportunity.

"Left-handed pitching is not an easy thing to come by and we had people who thought he could be an important part of our staff," said Midwest general manager Rob Hilliard. "The idea is we hope he can help us and we know we have players who want to get back into (minor league baseball) and we hope we can provide that opportunity, as well."

Bigda knows he's always been a long shot when it comes to baseball.

He admits he was a better hockey player than a baseball player at Westhill and, but he tore up the FCIAC as an all-state outfielder/pitcher for the Vikings.

"He had a very good work ethic," said former Westhill baseball coach Andy DeBrisco. "He was a little wild at times and had to work on his control, but he threw hard and he was a team player. I really liked coaching Drew. He was a good kid."

Bigda went to Holy Cross hoping to play both hockey and baseball. A knee injury, however, ended his hockey career, but that golden left arm kept his athletic career alive.

In his college career, Bigda went 4-10 — but it was his 90-plus mile per hour fastball and a 3.24 ERA his junior year that led to Tampa Bay drafting him in the 39th round of the 2004 amateur entry draft.

He pitched two years in Hudson Valley in the Single A short-season New York-Penn League before going to Southwest Michigan in the Midwest League.

It was there, though, where his shoulder troubles began.

"I had an injury-plagued, kind of weird season in 2006," Bigda admitted. "I went to spring training and pretty much had arm trouble from the start."

In 57 innings of work, all in relief, Bigda fanned 58, but walked 55. He also had 22 wild pitches.

The Rays kept telling Bigda he was dealing with a case of bicep tendonitis, but the Stamford southpaw knew it was something more serious than that.

"At the end of the season, I decided to shut it down," Bigda said. "Then, n November, I started my throwing program to get ready for the season and I couldn't even throw a ball more than 25 feet."

After seeing a doctor on his own, the prognosis wasn't good: A completely torn labrum, which meant surgery so doctors could shave the underside of his shoulder bone.

"The most frustrating part was I knew I was hurt, but pro baseball is a business," said Bigda. "They didn't want to spend the money on getting surgery for a 39th round draft choice. I just felt like I was brushed under the rug."

After rehabbing for more than 10 months and missing the entire 2007 season, Bigda was back in camp this season, feeling as good as he had in years.

The Rays made him stay behind in Florida at extended spring training to further his rehab, but after just a couple innings of work, they gave him his walking papers.

"The biggest bummer was the timing was off," said Bigda. "(Getting released that late) hand-cuffed me for getting picked up by another organization. They left me with little options."

At his crossroad, where a left hand turn would take him to the rest of his life, Bigda made what he felt was the right choice.

He showed up with more than 300 other players at a Frontier League try-out. Midwest, the only team in the league without a home field thereby playing all 96 of its games on the road, took Bigda with the No. 1 choice.

"It was kind of bitter-sweet," Bigda said of his being the No. 1 selection. "It was more funny than anything, because (the Sliders) were the one team I didn't want to draft me because we don't have a home stadium. It's 96 games on the road."

But Bigda knows the Sliders are also given him that chance he needs.

"It's a place to play and a place to pitch," he said. "This is my last shot to prove I can do this. It's a place to showcase that I'm healthy and I can do it."

It's a place where Drew Bigda's dream is still alive.