249. Why Not You with Ryan Lavarnway

FINE is a 4-Letter Word · Oct 15, 2026 · 34m

Ryan Lavarnway spent ten seasons in Major League Baseball and was called up and sent back down to the minors 26 times over 12 years. He was the slowest player on his high school team, never started a single varsity game at his natural position, and read in old newspaper clippings that every coach he ever had called him both the hardest worker they had seen and an unlikely success.

At 17, desperate to be seen, Ryan raised his hand when his high school coach wondered aloud who would bat fourth. The coach didn't laugh. He asked, "Why not you?" Ryan didn't have an answer, and the doubts that had…