Spalding Baseball Player Fights Many Battles
By Brian Bennett of The Courier Journal
For the love of the game: Military service, injuries couldn't end Moel's career
Through it all, there was always baseball for John Moel.
Through a yearlong tour of Iraq when the Army Reserves called him up days before his senior season at Spalding University.
Through a hip injury suffered after he returned from Iraq that forced him to sit out another season. Even after a Humvee accident last summer that left him with a broken neck and back.
There was always baseball.
"Even though it's probably ludicrous, I've always dreamed of taking my game to the next level," he said. "After I've played my last game and there's no offer on the table, then I'll move on to the next phase. But the dream is what keeps me playing."
So here's Moel, improbably playing his senior year for Spalding six years after his college career began. His teammates draw inspiration from the 25-year-old war veteran.
"If we're stressed out about practice or something, we just think about all he's been through and how much he battled to get where he is," outfielder Devin Ward said.
Moel helped launch the Spalding program in 2000. Coach Ken Kocks offered the Jeffersontown High School product a partial scholarship, and Moel joined the U.S. Army Reserves to offset the rest of his college expenses. In the pre-Sept. 11, 2001 world, the reserves seemed a safe way to earn extra cash.
"Nobody ever thought about going to war," Moel said.
In his junior season as center fielder and leadoff hitter, Moel batted .345 with 20 stolen bases. The Pelicans advanced to their first NAIA World Series.
He expected a big senior campaign. But in the week of the 2003 season opener, a FedEx package arrived at Moel's house. That was the Army's way of saying: You're going to Iraq.
Moel arrived in Iraq when the war started that March and stayed until the following March. His unit delivered supplies such as fuel, water and food to soldiers and Iraqis and supported the POW camps. That meant lots of driving supply convoys, amid near daily reports of improvised explosive devices killing or maiming U.S. troops throughout the country.
"We never once got hit with an IED (Improvised Explosive Device)," Moel said. "Guys from my company were getting hurt all the time. But I was pretty lucky."
Moel said he never came under fire, though he did have to shoot at enemy soldiers. In the early days and weeks of the war, he and his fellow soldiers were constantly diving into bunkers and grabbing gas masks as sirens sounded.
He was stationed in the southern part of Iraq, which was more stable than other regions. Moel said the Iraqi people there welcomed the U.S. soldiers, waving to them as they delivered food.
"You only see the bad stuff on TV," he said. "There are a lot of good things going on over there, too."
While overseas, Moel kept up with Spalding baseball through e-mail and telephone calls. The Pelicans made two more World Series, and he ached to be there with them.
Following his discharge in 2004, Moel began practicing for the 2005 season. But during fall workouts, he experienced hip pain, perhaps from trying to do too much too quickly. He had a severely strained ligament and was forced to redshirt. Briefly, he contemplated quitting.
"But I've never really been a quitter," Moel said. "I played three years and I had to finish. I had to play my senior season. That's all there was to it."
Another obstacle arrived last July when Moel was training with the reserves. An axle broke on a Humvee carrying him and four other soldiers on Interstate 71 near Zorn Avenue. The vehicle flipped over several times. None of the soldiers was killed, but all suffered injuries.
Moel broke two bones in his neck and another in his back. He spent a week in the hospital and had to wear a halo for three months.
He showed up to watch Spalding practice at Derby City Field in the halo. Though he seemed an unlikely bet to be playing a few months later, those who knew Moel didn't doubt his intentions.
"After watching him go through the war and the accident, there was no question in my mind he had the desire and want to get back," Kocks said. "It was just a question of whether his body would allow him."
Moel was ready for the start of the season, but his time away from the game and the injuries took their toll. He has no home runs and one RBI entering a home game today against Union College. He was batting less than .100 for parts of the season and said it "was like I forgot how to swing."
In the past week or so things have started to click again. He has hit .300 this month, raising his average to .123, and has started to get more playing time. The Pelicans (16-23) hope he will be a key to a late-season run, while Moel dreams of playing in another World Series.
He's been in school so long that he's earned two degrees, in business and psychology. He's also under commitment to the Army Reserves until next summer. The Army could call him back to active duty at any time before then.
Moel said he's not afraid of returning to Iraq or any other combat zone. With one wish.
"I'm just hoping they don't mess with me during baseball season," he said.
Brian Bennett can be reached at (502) 582-7177.