He ultimately chose to sign with the Yankees instead of playing college baseball at Saint Leo University.

[3] He spent the following season in an auto body shop back in Commack replacing windshields but "couldn't stop thinking about baseball."

He reached out to his former high school coach who arranged a tryout with a Montreal Expos scout and gave him a month to prepare.

[4] Upon signing with the Expos, he told The Palm Beach Post that he resolved to make the big leagues by the time he was 22 years old.

In May of that year, he broke a knuckle punching teammate Chip Lang in the head during a fight and required another surgery.