May 4, 2016
Very few people realize that Siena Heights University starting pitcher Justin McPherson only has four fingers on his pitching hand.
That's because he doesn't tell anyone. He doesn't want to make excuses, and why would he? The 22-year old senior from Lambertville, Mich., currently carries a 4-2 record with a 1.33 earned run average in his final year with the Saints.
They probably don't know that the right-handed pitcher doesn't have a thumb on his pitching hand, and that's just the way he likes it. And they also probably wonder how he gets such movement on his fastball.
No thumb? No excuses. No problem.
It all happened when an 11-year-old McPherson was traveling up north with his brother and sister. An accident occurred, which caused the car he was riding in to roll over on the expressway. Bracing for impact, McPherson stuck both his hands up towards the ceiling, which caused his dominant right hand to get stuck in the window.
McPherson was immediately taken to the University of Michigan Children's Hospital, where surgeons tried everything possible to repair the thumb on his right hand. There was too much damage, however, and the thumb had to be amputated.
"After spending a month in the hospital, they finally let me out," McPherson said, recalling the incident. "I had to do what's called a skin graft, where they actually attached my hand to my hip for close to a month so the skin could grow from my hip onto my hand."
After a total of four surgeries, he started occupational and physical therapy.
Prior to the incident, McPherson had been playing travel baseball for two years, and now faced the challenging task of coming back with one less finger on his throwing hand. A catcher before the incident, McPherson switched over to first base before eventually moving to pitching.
"It was definitely difficult," McPherson said. "I remember towards the end of my physical therapy, my therapist would toss me a tennis ball and ask me to throw it back to him, and we started playing catch. A tennis ball is a little bit smaller than a baseball, so it wasn't too difficult."
He then started to throw a baseball again, trying to re-learn how to grip it.
"I don't have huge hands or anything, so it was difficult," he said. "That wasn't even pitching back then, that was just playing catch. It was a long process, but it wasn't terrible. It wasn't the worst thing that could have happened."
McPherson went on to play baseball at Bedford High School in Temperance, Mich., where he had a successful pitching career. Feeling confident, McPherson contacted Siena Heights baseball coach John Kolasinski with interest in joining the team.
Kolasinski asked McPherson to throw a tryout bullpen session for the team, which Siena Heights is permitted to do as a NAIA institution.
It wasn't until after the bullpen session – and after Kolasinski told McPherson there would be a spot for him on the team – that he noticed the missing thumb on McPherson's hand when the two shook hands.
"That's when I realized that he didn't have a thumb," Kolasinski said. "There was nothing in my mind before that about this being a guy that has a handicap or something that may hinder him, and he never led on to it. He just wanted to go out and compete, and that's what he's done his four years here."
Fast forward four years later: Not only does McPherson laugh at the idea of four fingers being a handicap, he actually feels it gives him an advantage.
"Honestly, I think it benefits me because of the way the ball comes out of my hand," he said. "When I'm pitching, sometimes it will cut, and sometimes it won't. I think that benefits me as a pitcher because it keeps the hitter guessing. I can throw a first pitch fastball that can be perfectly straight, and then the very next one can just take off. It's just the way it comes out of my hand."
In his four years at Siena, McPherson has seen progress in his game each and every year. From being a junior varsity pitcher to earning his spot in the varsity bullpen and eventually becoming a starter his senior year, McPherson has showed improvements that even has his coach impressed.
"His numbers are outstanding and he is pitching against good teams," Kolasinski said. "He has been steady and reliable every time out there, and he gives us a chance to win every time he's on the mound. He really has learned to pitch and do what he's supposed to do to keep himself mentally focused. He's enjoying a great senior year."
Kyle Kuhr, McPherson's best friend and teammate, has been there throughout McPherson's entire journey. The two were travel teammates before the accident and were teammates while at Bedford High and now at SHU. The two are even college roommates and are neighbors back home.
"I think he's handled the situation very well," Kuhr said. "I think he's been very mature about it ever since a young age. He never makes any excuses about only having four fingers. It's his senior year. Last year he wasn't a starter, and this year he is. I'm very proud of everything he's achieved this year."
While what's next may be a second thought with his team in the thick of a Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference race to make the postseason tournament, McPherson does know one thing: he wants to stick around the game of baseball.
"My dream job would be working in marketing with a professional baseball team," said the sport management major who will graduate in May. "It gives me the opportunity to stick around baseball for the rest of my life. My goal is to work for either the Tigers or the Cubs, my two favorite teams in the MLB, and hopefully work my way up in their marketing departments."
** Courtesy of Kenneth DeGraaf
