The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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56 ■ THE WOLFPACKER Sendek left to take a job at Arizona State fol- lowing the 2006 season, Brackman made the decision to focus on baseball rather than play the upcoming season with Sidney Lowe. As a freshman for the Pack, Brackman went 4-0 with a 2.09 earned-run average (ERA) and in the ACC Tournament he pitched seven innings in a win over Miami. His sophomore campaign was hampered by a hip injury, but he rebounded strongly his junior season with a 3.81 ERA in 13 games, striking out 74 batters in 78 innings. When the 2007 MLB Draft came around, however, word of Brackman's elbow injury suffered late in his junior season was causing his draft stock to slide. He knew he needed Tommy John surgery, and rather than wait through the draft, he went fishing with his family. He was out of service range when the New York Yankees used the 30th pick of the first round on him, thus he did not find out the news until well after it happened. Brackman missed the 2008 season fol- lowing his elbow surgery, but he was back on the mound in 2009. He said that those who have seen the movie "Bull Durham" were given an accurate representation of life in the minors. "It is exactly like that, and the big league is heaven," Brackman con- firmed. "I can remember you order food and get in late at night [in the minors]. I'd throw a piece of wrapper away and you could hear mice eating your food at night while you are sleeping. "I miss the traveling and being on buses, the camaraderie with all the teammates, with 15-20 of your best friends every day. That's the big part I miss." In September 2011, Brackman finally made it to the majors. Ironi- cally the same guy who hated the mile runs at NC State did enjoy running the stairs to the top of all the MLB stadiums he visited. Stepping foot in Yankee Stadium brought chills. "It was overwhelming," he said. In his debut, he pitched 1 1 ⁄3 in- nings and did not allow a run to the Tampa Bay Rays while facing two of their stars in Evan Longoria and B.J. Upton. His cup of tea was short-lived, though. The Yankees de- clined his option after the season and he signed a minor-league contract with the Reds in 2012. A year later, he signed one with the White Sox, but never made it back to the majors. Brackman soon made the difficult decision to walk away. "I wasn't throwing strikes," Brackman noted. "I had already had Tommy John and a cortisone shot in my shoulder earlier that season. There comes a time in everybody's career that they have to hang up their cleats. "It was a very tough time for me, but luckily I had a good support system in Raleigh and came back and got my degree." Avent still marvels at the sight of Brackman on the mound. "You want pitchers to be tall because the ball goes downhill, but at 7-feet it's hard to teach your body hand-eye coordinator and teach your body to do things that smaller bodies can do," the coach noted. Brackman finished his degree in interpersonal communications and has settled down in the Raleigh area, which played a large role in trans- forming the Cincinnati native into a certified country boy. "I don't like the cold winters up in Ohio," Brackman said. "I just have a lot of friends who have settled here and a lot of good re- lationships that I have built here throughout college. I would rather be two hours away from the beach. "I definitely have changed since coming to this state. Being a native North Carolinian has its privileges. I didn't really get to grow up with the mountains or the coast. We had one river in Ohio and that was about it." He has received a couple of offers from high schools to become a pitching coach, but his passion for now is the outdoors — spe- cifically fishing and hunting. In fact, Brack- man joked that a high school coaching job would take too much time away from his fishing in the spring and summer months. "Whatever season it is I try to go after it," he said. "I guess I can I relate to being outdoors playing baseball. Being on a big fishing boat, it takes a lot of people to come together and work as a team. That also lured me to it." Both of his parents were teachers, and eventually Brackman sees himself poten- tially following in some sort of education field. He enjoyed an opportunity last winter to speak to high school students in Hyde County in North Carolina about the importance of a college degree. "I tell this story: going up in the Yankees locker room you can tell the three years of experience that college gives somebody compared to somebody drafted out of high school, just by how they carry them- selves," Brackman said. He also has no regrets other than perhaps wishing his elbow ligament had never torn. The college memories still resonate with him, which in basketball includes rooming with former basketball player Gavin Grant as a freshman to a West Coast swing for games against Washing- ton and BYU that year in hoops to watching his former basketball teammates upset UNC and then rushing the court as a junior. In baseball he can remember facing future MLB star pitcher An- drew Miller twice while going up against UNC, throwing a big game at East Carolina when the Pirates were opening their new stadium and going to Cuba in the summer prior to his junior year with the Team USA national baseball squad. Brackman can even remember Avent at his finest. "The umpire made a bad call and he was going to run out onto the field to speak his mind," Brackman described. "Instead of walking around the dugout fence he tried to jump over the dugout fence. He didn't make it. "He did a tumble over right there in front of the dugout. He went out there and talked to him, but the whole dugout was laughing." Brackman's relationship with Avent remains strong. Brackman ar- ranged for a hand-painted portrait of Jim Valvano that Avent calls one of his most prized possessions in his office. That collection of memories justified Brackman choosing to play both sports at NC State. "I am thankful for everything this school has given me and just my experiences," he noted. "I am so glad I went to college to tell you the truth." ■ After retiring from baseball, Brackman finished his degree at NC State and now lives in Knightdale. PHOTO COURTESY ELLIOTT AVENT "I definitely have changed since coming to this state. Being a native North Carolinian has its privileges. I didn't really get to grow up with the mountains or the coast." ■ Brackman