Blairs back together: Brothers looking to push each other as roommates in Arizona

Shane Blair is really looking forward to this fall – and not just because he's going to be able to play baseball again.

The 2008 Rock Falls grad is healthy – finally – after taking a year off following surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder. With rehab nearly complete, the former Rockets catcher is ready to resume his baseball career at South Mountain Community College in Phoenix.

But Blair is excited for another reason besides getting a chance to play ball at one of the premier junior college baseball programs in the country. The move to Arizona also means the chance to be around older brother Seth, a pitcher for the Arizona State Sun Devils.

"It's been really tough having to go through this without Seth around," said Shane, who's going to share an apartment with his older brother. "It's been a long time since we were together, but I'm sure it will be right back to the old ways. We'll have our days of fighting and whatever, but we'll always get along."

Seth is of the same mindset. After two years of pitching for one of the top Division I baseball programs around, the 2007 Rock Falls grad is ready to play mentor to a familiar face.

"It's going to be awesome," Seth said. "I'm sure with him being away from home for the first time, he thinks he's going to be able to do a lot of different things that he's not able to do now.

"I'm going to have to be a role model, help him focus on what he needs to do to play baseball at the next level. It's going to be an eye-opener for him, but I think it will be a cool experience for both of us."

It wasn't always this buddy-buddy between the two brothers. Separated by one year in school, the two often argued and fought as kids. When Rock Falls coach Donnie Chappell, a longtime friend of the Blair family, moved Shane up as a freshman to play varsity baseball with sophomore Seth, there were some doubts in his mind as to whether or not the two could coexist on the field and in the dugout.

"Four years ago, we'd probably be having a very different conversation," Chappell said. "I think their parents and I were actually worried back then about them being together, hoping they didn't kill each other and fight all the time out on the field.

"But as they've gotten older, they've become really close, and both of them do seem to push the other one in their own way. It can only help them being down there together."

Hard work may as well be both brothers' middle name. While Seth and Shane are both blessed with abundant natural ability, neither would be where they are without all the hours of extra time and effort that they put in.

For Seth, the work never stopped. After not signing to play pro baseball out of high school, the older Blair went to Tempe and earned a part-time starting spot in the Sun Devils' rotation as a true freshman last year.

This season, Seth has become Arizona State's No. 3 starter, pitching every Sunday behind Mike Leake and Josh Spence, two of the top pitchers in college baseball. He's helped lead the Sun Devils to the top of the college baseball standings heading into the final month before the NCAA tournament begins.

"Being able to pitch behind those guys, to be a part of this pitching staff has been so great, such an experience," Seth said. "Last year we had a lot of big boppers, so we could afford to give up six or seven runs and still win the game. This year we're more pitching-oriented, and – as a pitcher – it's fun to be around a team like that.

"We're better than a lot of people expected this year. Our goal every year from Day 1 is to win a national title, and this team has a good feeling around it."

As for Shane, he was forced to find other ways to get his athletic fix in. He didn't pick up a baseball or swing a bat for nearly five months following his August surgery with White Sox team doctor Anthony Romeo, and says he's only 85 or 90 percent with his throwing arm.

So the younger Blair turned to running and lifting weights, dropping 20 pounds from his high school playing days to get ready for his return to the diamond.

"Now I have to prove myself again, show these college coaches why I should be playing for them," said Shane, who also missed most of his junior season at Rock Falls due to a broken wrist. "Sitting out a year made me see things a lot different, really put it into perspective. I'm really looking forward to being totally healthy again and showing what I can do."

Shane isn't the only one. After he took a few trips to the desert to watch Seth pitch this year, his older brother is ready to return the favor and watch Shane play again after two years apart.

"He certainly has the talent," Seth said. "He hasn't really gotten the opportunities he's been wanting, and now he's got one more opportunity to show people what he's made of. He has to take this chance and grab hold of it."

It's words of encouragement like these that have kept Shane going throughout this long year away from the sport both Blair boys love.

In August, the night before his shoulder surgery, Seth sent his younger brother a text message to reassure Shane that things were going to be OK.

"He basically wished me luck," Shane recalled, "then said, 'This is your second chance. Not a lot of people get that, so you have to live your dream from now on and make the most of it. Go out and do what you're supposed to do and the colleges will call.'

"I kept that message, and every time I felt a little down about my rehab or not being able to play, I'd read that and it would push everything back into focus."

Earlier this spring, Shane got a chance to return the favor for his older brother. After a couple of rough outings in a row for Seth, Shane texted him and reminded him to get back to the basics and rediscover what got him to Arizona State in the first place.

"I was kind of being a head case out on the mound and letting things get to me," Seth remembered. "He sent me a message and told me, 'You came to school to prove people wrong, all those people who were chirping about how stupid you were for not signing with the pros right out of high school. Remember how you said you'd go to Arizona State with a chip on your shoulder and throw well.'

"It was a little kick in the butt. I was letting the little things get out of hand and bother me, and he reminded me that I just need to be a baseball player and focus on pitching."

Seth has done just that. Even though he's only a sophomore, the right-hander has become one of the team leaders on a Sun Devil squad packed with freshmen. His mentoring skills, showing the new guys how to juggle their schedule and handle life away from home has prepared him for the role he expects to take on when Shane joins him.

And Shane is ready to find himself out on his own, just as his brother has. South Mountain is in a league that uses wooden bats, so Shane is preparing himself mentally and physically for that change from aluminum that has sidetracked many a good high school and college baseball player throughout the years.

Maybe Shane doesn't know it, but his battle through the injury bug the last couple of years has actually provided some inspiration for the the older brother who has always inspired and been there for Shane. That may prove key as Seth enters his crucial third year at ASU – the year where he can once again be drafted by a Major League team.

"One of the biggest things about being together again is that he's going to push me just as hard as I'm going to push him," Seth said. "Anytime I feel lazy, I can look at him and see he's fighting for his chance to even play baseball. If I'm complaining about going for a couple of workouts, that's not fair. Watching him battle to even get a chance to play baseball, that's going to put things into perspective for me and make me work that much harder to achieve my goals."

Seth Blair file

School: Arizona State

Sport & position: Baseball pitcher

2009 stats: 4-1 record, 2.65 ERA in 10 starts; 51 IP, 25 R, 15 ER, 43 H, 54 SO, 20 BB, 8 HBP; opposing batters are hitting .225 against him in 191 at-bats

FYI: Majoring in business communications.

Shane Blair file

College: Will enroll at South Mountain (Ariz.) C.C. next fall

Sport & position: Baseball catcher

2008-09: Took a year off from baseball to rehab after having surgery in August to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder.

FYI: Surgery was performed by White Sox team doctor Anthony Romeo.