CHARLESTON, S.C. — Port Angeles High School alum Jeff Ridgway’s major league baseball odyssey took another detour.
The left-handed relief pitcher signed a deal with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs of the independent Atlantic League weeks after being released by the Washington Nationals organization in mid-March.
“I’m going to give it another shot with a four- or five-month window and see what happens,” the class of 1999 graduate said during a telephone interview.
Ridgway was supposed to compete for a roster spot on either the Nationals’ Double-A or Triple-A teams this spring after agreeing to a minor league contract in December.
Yet he didn’t even get to pick up a baseball for the franchise before failing a physical on the first day.
Now he’ll spend his summer trying to prove to teams his left elbow — the subject of two operations during a six-month period — can hold up in the daily grind of middle relief.
“I’m going to go out on my terms,” Ridgway said.
“I’m not going to have someone tell me I can’t throw a baseball anymore because of what is on a sheet of paper.
“This is my opportunity to see what my body is going to be able to do again. I think I still have what it takes to throw a baseball at any level.
“With some more innings, I think I’m going to be fine.”
Ridgway spent most of last season rehabbing his left elbow in Tempe, Ariz., following two surgeries between September 2008 and March 2009.
He was released by the Atlanta Braves last March prior to the team breaking camp, undergoing the second operation a week later.
He had the first operation days after earning his first major league win Sept. 13, 2008, against the New York Mets in Shea Stadium.
The victory ended a 2008 season that saw him post a 3.72 ERA in 10 relief appearances for the Braves during two separate call-ups.
The 29-year-old was originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999, eventually reaching the big leagues in September 2007. He was traded to the Braves that winter.
Ridgway has made 13 total appearances in the majors.
He has a career ERA of 9.90 with 1-0 record and eight strikeouts in 10 innings pitched.
“I did what they asked and did it as best as I could,” Ridgway said of his time in the majors. “I got Hall of Famers out.
“So my experiences in the game are more than I ever expected, and more than I ever dreamed of.
“To give up the ball after doing that. . . . I’ll be fine with.”
He’ll make one last attempt at a return.
He is set to report to the Blue Crabs’ spring training facility April 10.
If he can pitch well with the independent ball club, then he might open some eyes, he said.
If not, he said there are other opportunities out there that he would look at, including positions as a major league scout, roving pitching instructor or coach.
“[This shot with the Blue Crabs] is just giving me piece of mind to know whether or not I’m capable of pitching,” Ridgway said. “If I can’t, I’ll acknowledge that.
“It’s not something I need to do to keep my bills paid.”
