Pot Holes on the Road to Enlightenment
He's baaack. Fifty games flew by for everyone but Delmon Young. Is he a changed man, or will the D-Rays phenom be a phenomenal headache for Tampa in a bad-boy-infested Bulls clubhouse?

Bill KISER
MinorLeagueNews.com

DURHAM, N.C. – 06.19.06 - 20-year-old Durham Bulls outfielder Delmon Young has spent the last eight weeks working out the potholes on the road to enlightenment. 

The desired message from Monday afternoon’s much anticipated press conference at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park, his first since his suspension began April 27, was that he, the Bulls, and the parent club, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays would like  this all put behind them. 

Yet Delmon can’t help being Delmon.

Young, named the Tampa Bay Devil Rays' top minor league prospect for the last two years, named No. 2 in the MLN FAB50 2005 Baseball rankings and No. 1 in the nation in other rankings, is ready to get back on the field after serving a highly-publicized 50-game suspension for hurling a bat that struck a replacement umpire in the most televised incident of its kind in minor league history (See: "Devil Ray"). The bat seen ‘round the world cost him more than $140,000 in salary, and sidetracked his quest to earn a spot on the Devil Rays' roster.

It is one of the more generous suspensions for an unprecedented incident of physical violence on an official, Young has stayed in Durham and Tampa, working out at the clubs’ facilities and hanging with his teammates when they’re not on the road. 

True, he has spent the days of his sentence, the longest in the International League's 123-year history, working with youth baseball programs in Durham and Tampa, talking and teaching the game of baseball to handicapped and underprivileged children.

Young was required to serve 50 hours of community service, something to which he and the Devil Rays' management both agreed as part of the penalty issued by International League (IL) president Randy Mobley.

He has spent his nights watching his Bulls struggle to get back above .500 in the International League standings without his bat.

Made-for-Media Mea Culpa

While Young was apologetic to his Bulls teammates and fans, he also showed a cantankerous side during Monday's press conference.

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