Still throwing the hook
Former major league pitcher Doug Creek transitions into second career as Florida coast angler
Editor's note: This is part one of a series.
He choked up a bit as he thought about how he almost lost his wife, Allison, and two children, Colton, 4, and Aubrie, 3, to preeclampsia, a rapidly progressing disorder that affects 5 to 8 percent of all pregnancies and is responsible for "killing more women than breast cancer," he says. "It takes about three babies a week."
Creeks says he's seen families where the baby survives but the father loses his spouse. And vice versa. He thinks, "there but for the grace of God …"
Helping others with the condition is now the main thrust of Creek's charitable efforts, he told an ESPNOutdoors.com reporter as they chatted in the lobby of a hotel in Punta Gorda before the coffee arrived for the 6 a.m. continental breakfast.
His Red Baron boat in the dark parking lot, Creek was apologetic that high wind advisories had scrubbed a fishing trip for tarpon in Boca Grande Pass. He could have stayed in bed and made a phone call but he felt obligated enough to spend two hours sharing how his life transitioned from baseball to fishing.
Creek, 38, who retired from baseball in 2006, became a licensed captain and competes in fishing tournaments in the region, including the Oh Boy! Oberto Redfish Cup series, and guides others on fishing trips.
"I love this fishery," he says. "There's always something to do." Keeping his hand in baseball, he also offers pitching instruction to youngsters in the area, focusing on proper technique to help them avoid injuries like his, which required Tommy John surgery.
Admittedly not an MLB star, he says he was fortunate to compete at the highest level, where his mantra was "prepare so you can execute."
"My whole career, my life, has been about preparation," he says. "Prepare, prepare, prepare. That way when you have your opportunity, all you have to do is execute. You know what you need to do, just do it."
Doug Creek is living the life.
"I'm very happy. I'm still working," he says. "I'm a fishing guide. I rely on my guiding and my baseball business."
A career in the majors
Creek spent his time in the bullpen, waiting for his manager to throw up his left arm on his walk to the mound — signaling it was time for Creek to perform his specialty.
"A lefty killer. That was my job; getting the lefties out," he says. "Late in the ball game, we had a left-hand part of the lineup coming up, I need to come in there and get the outs.
Creek's path to the majors picked up steam when he was named West Virginia's Gatorade Player of the Year out of Martinsburg High School, where fishing took up his free time.
"My grandparents had a cabin on the Shenandoah River and I'd go down and sit with my granddad on the johnboat and go catfishing," he says. "Every now and then we'd go bass fishing. When I got old enough to ride my bike — it was a different world back then, you could ride your bike to a fishing hole — I'd go catch trout and bass. I had a love for it."
But that didn't take away from his love for baseball. Creek made Team USA twice and set records for career victories and strikeouts in reaching Georgia Tech's Hall of Fame. The California Angels drafted him in the fifth round in 1990, but he waited and signed in 1991 as a seventh-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals. After three minor league all-star appearances and a couple of championships, Creek debuted in the big leagues with the Cardinals in late 1995, not allowing a run in six games.
"When I broke into the big league," Creek says, "Tony Fassas, the ancient lefty — he was 45 or something; he almost caught up with Jesse Orosco; he'll pitch till he can take his pension — Fassas and Tom Henke took me under their wing." Creek found wings of his own on an up-and-down career that saw him on seven teams in nine seasons. First, the Cardinals traded him to the San Francisco Giants, where he played alongside Barry Bonds in 1996 before spending most of 1997 at Triple AAA Phoenix. He fared well as a starter there and subsequently the Chicago White Sox bought his contract, which was re-purchased a month later by the Hanshin Tigers. He was off to Japan.
"I had a great experience in Japan," he says. "It was a point in my career where I felt like I was stalling. I had kind of been pigeonholed as this type of pitcher. I was struggling and I wasn't turning the corner, but I knew I had it in me."
Creek compiled a 9-1 record and his 2.16 ERA and 101 strikeouts led Japan's Western League, but his time in the Central League went south at 0-4 with a 5.65 ERA.
As he had throughout his baseball days, Creek went to wet a line when he wasn't walking between them. He began to fish bass tournaments while in the minors, and tried his hand fishing in Japan, where he saw differences other than the smallish fish.
"They didn't mind taking out a pocket knife and cutting up some sushi right there on the boat," he says "They had little ketchup packets of soy sauce and wasabi."
The experience helped spice up his major league career.
"I thought 'if I just get out of the scene for a year,' — and I had the opportunity to make some good money — get away from American baseball," he says of Japan. "I came back and it was like, 'Hey where have you been?' Then I got to the big league and stuck."
He pitched well as a starter on the Chicago Cubs' Triple A team in Iowa, but was released after struggling with the big club. Tampa Bay came calling and that's where he found his niche in the bullpen, and also began to carve one on the water.
"I didn't really stick till my late 20s," he says. "Once I became a reliever (in 2000), I hit my stuff. I was able to help some teams."
After appearing in 45 games in 2000, Creek pitched in a career-high 66 games in 2001 while lowering his career ERA to 4.31. Relieving also helped fuel his competitive fires.
"I loved coming every day ready to compete," he says. "When you're a starter, you know when you're pitching. As a reliever, I'm watching the game. Preparation. Who's hot tonight? I might see one pitch from my starter that I see beats him. If I have to get this guy out later on tonight in a big situation, I've got that in my bag."
It was in Tampa Bay, at a celebrity fishing tournament, that he began to make fishing connections, including his first meeting with current Redfish Cup partner Captain Michael Anderson. Despite a number of other professional athletes at the event, Creek found himself "migrating more toward the guides. I wanted to hear more about fishing."
"Anytime I wasn't on the baseball field, I was on the water," he says. "You didn't have to worry about me hanging out late at the gin mill. I was in bed."
Creek recalls how Devil Rays general manager Chuck LaMar would run into him on the water early some mornings.
"As often as he saw me out on the water, I bet he wondered where my thoughts were," Creek says. "He'd say, 'I bought this boat to get away from you guys for awhile. I turn and around and you're out here catching fish with me.' "
The Seattle Mariners took Creek away from those fishing spots in 2002, and he finished the season with 52 appearances and a 3-2 record. Next it was off to Toronto, but his 2003 season with the Blue Jays was cut short by Tommy John surgery to repair ligaments in his throwing elbow.
After recuperating, it was back to the Cardinals for 2004, but he only pitched in relief at the Triple A club in Memphis. Adding depth to their pitching roster, the Detroit Tigers picked up Creek in 2005 and he reached the big leagues for 20 games. In 2006, he hung up his spikes.
"I wasn't getting the job opportunities," he says. "I wanted to have more time with my family." At 5-10, about 200 pounds, Creek summed up his career as one of tenacity. As scouts would say, he had decent tools, but what allowed him to compete at the highest level of the sport was his tenacity.
"Staturewise, stuffwise, I had some pretty good stuff. I threw the ball pretty well," he says. "I wasn't a guy that was extremely gifted. I had to work hard at everything I got.
"And it's the same thing as fishing. I know I'm going to get my shot. Execute. Get up there and make the most of my opportunity. I didn't need — I didn't want — an all-star career. I wanted to be the best player I could be."
