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Dewon Gets Another Shot

MLB.com reports that the St. Louis Cardinals have signed former Rays' draft pick Dewon Brazelton to a minor league deal. You can't hope but wish for the best for him, especially after all the hardships he's went through in life; here's a bit of what I said about him in LaMar-itis:

Brazelton would never live up to the hype although he shared many similarities with another young Rays pitcher, James Shields. A lack of confidence in his non-changeup pitches lead to mental instability and predictability; Dewon would never throw more than 120 innings with the big league club any given year. His career ERA sits over 6.3 after a year with San Diego in which exchanged another troubled former top prospect, Sean Burroughs for Dewon in the off-season. Burroughs is no longer with the organization.

Dewon himself admitted he didn't have thick enough skin to be a first round pick and under enormous pressure, but his back story is one that few know about. Born with a twin brother, Fewon, who suffered from cerebral palsy and died at age 22, Fewon would never walk or talk, and making matters worse the brothers were raised by a village more so than a single parent. Brazelton was emotionally close to his brother and made many references to Fewon giving him his talent while they were together in their mother's womb.

Although you'd like to think his tale would end up in Hollywood, professionally and personally Brazelton would suffer through more losses than victories.