He underwent surgery to fix it and while they had the incision open, they were going to do a Tommy John surgery too. Once in surgery the Doctor saw that the tendon did not need the Tommy John repair so his recovery was very fast instead of a whole year. He was ready to go in the spring of his fourth year. In March, during spring training Tony got his thumb caught in a closing door and broke his pitching hand thumb in two places. The next day the Twins released him. He went home and started the road to rehab and recovery. By June he was ready to go so his agent got him a contract with the Independent League's Fargo North Dakota Red Hawks. He was back in stride and within two weeks the number one team in the Independent League, the Quebec Capitales, bought Tony from the Red Hawks. Back in the game, Tony had a wonderful experience with the Capitales and he helped them win the Independent League World Series. Shortly after that the Toronto Blue Jays bought Tony from the Capitales and TD was back in MLB professional baseball. Tony never quite made it to the Major Leagues but he did have 6 years of getting paid to play a kid's game, he loved it! Never tell him what he did wrong - he already knew Always highlight what he did right - only positive things Write it down and bring a scrap book loaded with his successes Hire professional coaches for training Encourage him to compete against great players Teach him to never show fear My role in Tony's success was simple; Make practice fun
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