AUBURN - With one swing, Casey McElroy's big league dream disappeared.
At the height of his professional baseball career, perhaps days away from the majors, McElroy struck out on a ball in the dirt, collapsing to the ground in pain.
A dislocated knee cap, torn meniscus and medial collateral ligament. "And when I landed," McElroy said, "I ended up tearing a ligament in my thumb, too."
One swing. Three surgeries.
"I was carted off the field," he said.
A month earlier, in July 2016, McElroy had been selected to play in the Triple-A All-Star Game representing the San Diego Padres' top minor league club, the El Paso Chihuahuas.
When two of the Padres infielders were injured that summer, McElroy anticipated a promotion.
"Those are the nights you spend awake all night hoping for a phone call," he said. "It didn't work out at the time. September comes and teams are able to expand their rosters, so I was really hoping, praying for a September call-up."
On. Aug. 16, playing in Colorado Springs, Colorado, McElroy's third at-bat would end up being his last.
"Went from the closest I've ever been to the big leagues to being miles and miles away," said McElroy, who missed all of the 2017 season while rehabilitating.
More than a year after that fateful strike three, McElroy, then a free agent, played winter ball in Australia.
"I wanted to prove, not only to other teams, but prove to myself that I was healthy and able to play again," he said. "That was my only option."
As spring training 2018 approached, McElroy's agent called to say MLB organizations were offering opportunities to compete for Double-A and Triple-A roster spots.
His last week in Australia, McElroy reinjured his leg.
"It's kind of like God's telling me, 'You need to give it up,'" he said. "The last thing I wanted was to endure another year of rehab. Say I'd go to spring training and end up having another big injury and getting hurt and wasting another year of my life.
"It was a definite answer. There weren't any lingering questions. I knew that right after baseball was over, the first order of business was getting my degree. And start that life."
OPERATION FOLLOW THROUGH
Seven years after leaving Auburn, where he starred as an infielder from 2009-11, McElroy returned to the Plains, a 28-year-old senior.
"It's weird," he said. "It takes a little getting used to. Back then, everything was hand-written. In class, you physically wrote out your notes and turned in papers, whereas now, everything is done online. You turn in projects and papers electronically."
When San Diego drafted McElroy in the 11th round in 2011, after he led the SEC in hits as a junior, the Padres agreed to pay for his final two semesters of tuition, plus room and board, should he return to Auburn.
But there was a catch. In the fine print, professional teams pledge to cover tuition at the rate of a player's draft year, leaving McElroy on the hook for the increase in tuition over the ensuing seven years.
Casey reached out to Scott Duval, a longtime Auburn Athletics operations director who had worked baseball when McElroy played for the Tigers.
Duval connected Casey with Auburn Athletics' academic and compliance staff members, who told him about Operation Follow Through, which provides scholarship assistance for former student-athletes returning to school for their final year.
Thanks to Operation Follow Through, McElroy can complete his media studies degree requirements without student loans.
"There's a significant change in the tuition, plus that money that organization gives you is taxed as income, so for me, being taxed in the California state income bracket," McElroy said. "There's a huge gap between, this is what it's going to cost to go back to school, and this is how much I'm going to be getting from the Padres."
Operation Follow Through bridged the gap, allowing McElroy to graduate debt-free this December.
"Not every college offers that, so I think if anything, that shines a really good light on Auburn as far as living up to their standards of being an Auburn family," he said. "Hey, if you have to leave, and the circumstances are right, we want you to come back and graduate, so we'll help you out.
"If I'm a recruit and I know that if I get drafted or if something happens that I have to go, that Auburn is going to honor their scholarship and help me out, I would definitely want to come here for that. That was something that I was really happy with the university that they don't leave you out to dry. They'll help you out."
As a junior in 2011, Casey McElroy batted .370, earning First Team All-SEC honors.GLORY DAYS
A three-year starter at Auburn, McElroy earned first-team All-SEC honors as a junior by batting .370 with nine home runs and 53 RBI.
As a sophomore in 2010, he witnessed one of the more dramatic moments in recent Auburn baseball history: Creede Simpson's ninth inning homer to help the Tigers come from behind to beat Clemson after winning the SEC West.
"Everyone just erupted," McElroy said. "That was probably my most fond memory, playing here at Auburn. It was really cool to host a regional, we hadn't done that in a long, long time. Gameday had a different feel, and the festivities. Everything around the stadium, too, the parking deck. It was a great atmosphere to be a part of."
Even more memorable than the walk-off wins, McElroy says, were the relationships.
"The team camaraderie," he said. "You get that in the minor leagues, but in professional baseball, it's more individual than anything. Everyone is fighting to make their way to the big leagues, whereas in college, you're fighting to win games. You really, really care about each game, especially in the SEC.
"You're literally spending every single day with your teammates for the majority of the day. That locker room atmosphere is something that I will always miss, and all of the extracurricular things of going to football games, tailgating, that you definitely miss once you're away."
From a packed Plainsman Park to an empty diamond in the desert, McElroy's transition to professional baseball in the Arizona League provided a stark contrast.
"All of the games were at noon in Arizona in the summer," he said. "It's 120 degrees, legitimately. And no one goes to the games. Zero people. I come from Auburn and the SEC where there are great atmospheres to being on the back fields, and I'm like, 'Oh, this is professional baseball.' There's no one in the stands and it's stifling hot. I was falling asleep by 6 o'clock at night. It was like a culture shock."
From Peoria, Arizona to Eugene, Oregon, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lake Elsinore, California, San Antonio and El Paso, Texas, McElroy focused on making it to the majors while making the most of the journey.
"Keeping the end goal in your mind is what makes the grind a lot easier," he said. "It's really cool in the minor leagues, you visit every little city in America, it seems like. I've gotten to travel to some really cool places. Small towns that really like their minor league teams.
"At that time, a lot of friends my age were entering the work place, going to 9 to 5 jobs. The same thing every single day. For me, it was baseball for five months out of the year and then get an offseason job and work on your game and then back to baseball again."
After each season, McElroy would return to Orlando, earning money giving baseball lessons and parking cars. Working valet at house parties and golf tournaments, he would often park cars for celebrities. One former SEC football coach, however, refused to relinquish his keys.
"I thought it was funny Lou Holtz wouldn't let anyone touch his car," McElroy said. "It was like a 2000 Honda Accord. "He wouldn't let anyone park his car. We're like, 'Alright, Lou. You can park yourself.' That was cool."
'THE PROGRAM HAS GROWN'
McElroy returned to Auburn just as the Tigers were making a thrilling postseason run, winning two SEC tournament games, sweeping a regional, and winning a super regional game for the first time in program history.
"The state of the program is really good," McElroy said. "Butch [Thompson] is very genuine. He'll tell you what he thinks, and he's really caring. He really invests his time and energy into the players. He doesn't just see them as people who can help him win.
"All of the renovations, all of the resources they have now that a lot players in the past didn't have. That goes into his investment in the players. That alone draws a lot of high school or junior college players to the program."
When Butch Thompson was an assistant on the Plains a decade ago, one of the players he recruited was a left-handed hitting infielder from Orlando, Florida. Casey McElroy.
"He writes his recruits hand-written letters," McElroy said. "That was one of the big things for me why I wanted to go here was because of Butch. A lot of times you'll get typed out letters from colleges and it's just not as personal. For him to take the time to write a personal letter shows you how much he really invests in his players.
"The program has grown from that foundation and attracts new players and they've breathed new life into the program. I think he's on the right track. They're one pitch, one hit, from being in the College World Series. I think he has the program going in the right direction. I'm glad that Auburn [signed Thompson to a contract extension] through 2024."
In August, McElroy will begin his final semester at Auburn. Thompson hopes Casey will have time this fall to mentor Auburn shortstop Will Holland, one of the top prospects in the 2019 Major League Baseball draft.
Coaching baseball appeals to McElroy, but he's not ready yet to commit to it as a full-time career.
"I still love the game and am still very interested in the game," he said. "I love helping younger players work their way up. But right now I wanted to see if I was good at anything else. Because I know that coaching will always be on the table if that's something that I really wanted to get into.
"My baseball knowledge that I've learned over 24 years of playing baseball and being around the game, that's not going to go away. I know that's something that will always be there for me, so I really wanted to give other things a chance and see if I could find something that I'm good at or really interested in."
Jeff Shearer is a Senior Writer at AuburnTigers.com. Follow him on Twitter: