As a 180-pound Alabama boy works his way through Major League lineups with relative ease, handing out several U-turns along the way, I can't help but smile.

Thousands of miles away, a 24-year-old digs into a box in Detroit as part of a new wave of talent that is giving a downtrodden city something to cheer about.

My attempt at combining a career and holding on to a love for sports has taken me down some less-than-lucrative roads and clocked in weekends. But, I have memories that most diehards would pay dearly for.

That right-hander from 'Bama throwing the pill like nobody's business is San Diego Padres starting pitcher Jake Peavy.

Last night he dropped his National League leading ERA to 1.82 and improved to 8-1 with a victory in Tampa Bay. He has 103 strikeouts and only 27 walks in 94 innings pitched.

Forget that he's hummin' it in around the mid-90s. How in the world does he get every pitch he throws to seemingly move a foot and a half? Looks more like he's tossing frisbees at the mitt to me.

I first bumped into Peavy about 6 years ago when he was taking the mound for San Diego's Class AA affiliate Mobile.

For roughly 7 years now, I've been doing free lance photography work for Baseball America magazine.

While living in Huntsville, Ala., I frequented Joe Davis Stadium in attempt of getting the top prospects on film as they came through town.

Peavy was the first and one of the only athletes to ever ask me about my profession and actually treat me like a person. That conversation still sits close to my heart as an avid baseball fan. He was already a millionaire and was BA's top prospect on the fast track to the Bigs.

I've seen ballplayers with a quarter of his talent walk right past elderly women outside the clubhouse trying to get a grandson an autograph. Yet, there he was taking the time to get to know a local college kid.

The bright-eyed baby face slammin' lasers all over the diamond in the Motor City this week is none other than Milwaukee Brewers shortstop and former Nashville Sound J.J. Hardy.

The Arizona native from a family rich in athletic tradition is hitting .282 with 16 homers and 47 RBIs -- and that's with 100 games to go.

Hardy's glove was supposed to be his ticket to the majors. Few expected him to put up offensive stats much better than respectable. But, here he is, with a terrible shoulder injury still in his rear-view mirror, eating up pitchers in the NL.

BA's Alan Matthews buzzed me at my photo lab to ask me if I had time to do a photo shoot with three of the Class AA Huntsville Stars for a magazine cover in September 2003. After picking up my chin, I jumped at the opportunity. He told me to just have fun with it, but I couldn't help but be slightly nervous.

Sure Hardy, Brad Nelson and Mike Jones were about the same age as me, but this was for the cover. People across the country were going to be walking through Barnes & Noble and see my photograph.

It went smoothly and Hardy gave me his cell number and told me to keep in touch. I thought he was just playing and never took him up on it. After he injured his shoulder several months later, I found his digits and left him a voice mail wishing him luck in his rehab.

He didn't call back, but I doubt he felt much like talking. His career was on pins and needles to say the least.

I don't know Peavy and Hardy well enough to refer to them as friends. But, I do know them as my favorite baseball players.

Danny Parker is sports editor of the Times-Gazette.