Player goes from the ranch to the diamond

PALMER — Some boys dream about playing baseball when they’re older, while other boys just want to be a cowboy.

Some of those dreamers will have a future on the diamond and others will find their home on the range.

And if you’re James Ewing, both dreams may just come true.

Ewing has had the opportunity to realize both boyhood fantasies. After starting the summer on cattle ranch in southern Wyoming, Ewing now finds himself back in Alaska for a second season with the Mat-Su Miners.

“I’m excited. I wanted the opportunity to come to Alaska and play again,” Ewing said after making his 2008 debut with the Miners on June 27.

Ewing and his twin brother Michael were on Mat-Su’s 25-man roster last season. But unlike Michael, who anchored the heart of the Miners lineup, James Ewing spent the entire season on the sideline nursing a lingering back injury.

After a healthy junior season at the University of Southern Mississippi, a year in which he led his squad with a .359 batting average, Ewing initially opted for a summer on his brother-in-law’s cattle ranch rather than a few more months on the baseball diamond.

“I wasn’t planning on playing summer ball at all,” Ewing said.

So rather than fielding ground balls and putting together double plays, Ewing started his summer by roam “I was branding, building fence, moving cows on horseback,” Ewing said. “Being a cowboy.”

But that all changed when Ewing got a phone call from Mat-Su Miners general manager Pete Christopher.

“Pete just called me out of the blue,” Ewing said. “I didn’t think it was going to pan out.”

So Ewing found himself with a bit of a dilemma.

Would he be spending his time in the infield or the cattle field?

As it turned out, the idea of another summer of baseball was too much to pass up.

“I was already committed to work for the whole summer, but luckily enough they found somebody else to work,” Ewing said. “They replaced me and it worked out.”

Ewing said the fact that his back injury kept him out of action last summer was a big reason for his return to the Alaska Baseball League.

“Last year was a blast, but it would have been much more fun if I could have gotten into games and played,” Ewing said. “I didn’t get to play in a single inning. It feels good to get up here and get a couple of innings in.”

As of Saturday, Ewing had played in six games, seeing action at second base, third base and short stop.

Ewing, who has one year of eligibility left at Southern Mississippi, said he isn’t sure where his future will take him.

He now knows what it’s like to work on a ranch.

“I always wanted to do it, see what it’s like to be a rancher,” Ewing said. “Learning to rope and ride.”

Between a career in baseball or a job on the ranch, Ewing still can see either of those boyhood fantasies as a reality.

“If I get a chance to play pro ball, I’ll consider it. If not I’ve got the ranch,” Ewing joked. “I’ve got lots of options.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.