By Sapna Pathak
Staff Writer

For the past six years, one thing has vexed Tracy Thorpe. It’s thrown his daily routines off, made him lose track of time and even caused him to forget what day of the week it is.

“It’s those darn day-games,” Thorpe said. “Most of our games are at night and then they just throw an 11 a.m. game in there, and it’s usually on a Tuesday or Wednesday, so after the game I’m so out of it I don’t even know what day it is.”

And it’s been this way since he entered the minor leagues. Thorpe said he’s become known for constantly checking with teammates about the next day’s game, for fear he won’t remember and miss it altogether.

I guess it wouldn’t be too bad if Thorpe showed up to the ballpark a little late, considering he is the team’s closer. And when the Cats come home for their final homestand ­ a four-game stint versus the Connecticut Defenders ­ they’ll have their fiery closer rested and ready to go.

As of Friday, Aug. 25, the 23-year-old Florida native had logged 14 saves this season and will be playing fall-ball in Arizona later this year.

While he plays his way through what some are calling his make-or-break year, Thorpe knows there was a time he would have never given professional baseball a second thought.

A football star in high school, Thorpe also spent time on the varsity basketball and baseball rosters, but the goal was the gridiron. His senior baseball season was spent visiting colleges recruiting him to their football programs and soon he’d signed his National Letter of Intent to play at the University of South Florida.

Had it not been for one simple comment from his high school baseball coach, Thorpe may be working his way to the NFL instead of MLB.

“He told me, ‘There’s a good chance you could be drafted [by MLB],’” Thorpe said. “And he said to just keep my options open. It was the first time I gave another sport a thought of going pro.”

Thorpe said after contemplating the difference between a pro baseball and a pro football career, he decided to enter baseball’s draft. He signed with the Blue Jays right out of high school and recalled the most difficult phone call he’s ever made.

“I had to call the coach at USF and tell him what I’d done,” Thorpe said. “It was so hard; I was 18 and had one coach telling me one thing and another saying something else. In the end, I had to think about how long my career could be in each sport.”

Looking back, he said he realizes it was the right decision. This year, Thorpe’s been lighting up the radar gun at over 90 mph and could soon be placed on Toronto’s 40-man roster.

After spending one year in Medicine Hat, Canada, Thorpe moved up to the South Atlantic League for two seasons before heading to Dunedin in 2004. Midway through last season, Thorpe was promoted to New Hampshire.

A torn labrum sidelined Thorpe after the ’04 season. When he returned, he was moved from the starting rotation to the bullpen. More than two years later, Thorpe said he couldn’t be happier in the closer’s role.

“I like starting. You get your innings and your five days off,” Thorpe said. “But I love situational pitching and that’s what I do as a closer. It’s one guy who wants it really bad against me, who wants it really bad because the game’s on the line. It’s a great feeling when you win that battle.”