Faces on the Field: Lance Broadway

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The first impression Lance Broadway gives is that of a quiet, introspective young man. He's polite and respectful, not giving any hint that at one point in his career, he was a bit of a rebel who had to be reigned in.

While most young players have moments in which they find themselves clashing with their coaches, Broadway's stubbornness left him at a crossroads, one at which he was forced to make some serious decisions about his life and his career. Fortunately for the White Sox, who made Broadway their top pick last season, the big right-hander decided to travel the high road, sacrificing some of his ego in order to become a better pitcher.

Now, with Broadway establishing himself as one of the premier pitchers in the Double-A Southern League, it's easy for the Texas native to look back and smile about when he would just say no when it came to some coaching. Broadway was a talented pitcher in high school, though not consistent or refined when he made his way to Dallas Baptist University to begin his college career.

But after clashing with the coaching staff as a freshman and sophomore, the young hurler had an epiphany of sorts and the results, well, they speak for themselves. After finishing up strong at Dallas Baptist, he transferred to Texas Christian, where he went 15-1 with a 1.62 ERA last season, which prompted Chicago to choose him with the 15th overall selection.

"I never had success in high school, and I couldn't get hitters out consistently," said Broadway, who is 4-2 with a 2.37 ERA for Birmingham. "I had a lot of highs and lows and it wasn't until my sophomore year in college that I started to consistently do the things I wanted to do. Reality had just set in. I had failed for so many years and didn't understand why I had failed.

"Then I started to taste a little success and it was an unbelievable motivator, and I was thirsty for more. I became a little more coachable. In high school I was concerned with velocity when I had none. But I worked with two great college coaches who allowed me to be more coachable."

Current Dallas Baptist head coach Eric Newman was the school's pitching coach when Broadway was there. A former Padres farmhand, Newman brought considerable experience to the position and forced Broadway to be a bit more introspective. Newman had been a player-coach at the Dodgers' Vero Beach affiliate in the Florida State League before arriving at Dallas Baptist and also played in the Cubs and Diamondbacks systems. He helped Dallas Baptist fashion a team ERA of 3.28 last year, placing the Patriots seventh in the country among Division I schools. Clearly, he has an eye for pitching talent and after butting heads with Broadway -- he even had to suspend him for one weekend series -- the youngster finally began to understand what Newman was saying.

"The thing with Lance is that I didn't necessarily try to change who he was as much as I was trying to make him understand this is what you have to do if you have visions of being a pro ballplayer. You have to act a certain way and carry yourself a certain way. It's funny that his last name is Broadway because he sort of had that Broadway mentality.

"He had to learn how to be humble and accept success and failure on an even keel. Most importantly, he was going to have to work for it, nothing was going to be given to him. And we would hold his feet to the fire when they needed to be held. From then on, he was an extremely coachable kid, allowing himself to become that type of player by listening and applying himself."

Overcoming personality clashes with former coaches, though, was insignificant when compared to what Broadway endured as an infant. What most people don't know is that Broadway only has half of his right lung, the other half surgically removed when he was less than a year old because it wasn't functioning.

Though he was too young to remember, Broadway recalled stories relayed about how he had actually stopped breathing several times as an infant, one of which required a baby sitter to perform CPR. He hasn't had any problems since the surgery, bearing only a scar on his right side that serves as a reminder of what he endured.

"I have one big lung and one little lung," said Broadway, who says he has no trouble running and doesn't get winded easily. "I imagine it has expanded by now but when I was a baby it filled with fluid and it wouldn't expand. I had a lot of problems that first year."

All of Broadway's problems, either physical or mental, seem now to be in the past. He doesn't possess overwhelming power or speed, only occasionally creeping into the low 90s with his fastball. But he's continuing to learn how to pitch and as he makes his way through the Southern League schedule for a second time, the more advanced hitters in Double-A are keeping him honest.

He's working on keeping his fastball down in the zone and if he's capable of doing that on a consistent basis, he'll probably make his way to Triple-A Charlotte before the year is through.