Under a gray sky that once in a while let a little bit of light through and with gusts of wind bringing cold onto the field, Mike Deese stood at first base, raising his arm every five to 10 seconds.
He did it over and over again -- not with a first baseman's glove, but his black outfielder's mitt. His job at practice Wednesday was to catch throws from all the infielders who were taking fungoes from assistant coach Eric Folmar.
But it wasn't in Deese's plans to be standing on first base at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park Wednesday. However, he tore tendons and ligaments in his wrist at the beginning of the 2008 season, forcing him to have surgery.
It wasn't an injury that the man who was once featured by the Big Ten Network for driving an old Toyota Previa van with a painting of Joe Paterno on the hood could pinpoint when it happened.
"I don't really remember a certain point," Deese said as he had a mouth full of sunflower seeds that protruded from his cheek like it was chewing tobacco. "I know I was either diving back to the bag and one day I was lifting and I was putting down the weights and I felt a pop. I think it was a combination of wear and tear."
Instead of playing what was supposed to be his final season as a Nittany Lion with guys like Drew O'Neil, his former teammate at Young Harris College in Georgia, Deese was forced to redshirt.
Naturally, it upset him at the time.
But now, Deese looks at the injury as a blessing in disguise.
His coach, Robbie Wine, echoed the statement of his injury being a tradeoff, with the dividends being paid out this year.
"Not having Mike last year, you know, the experience on the field," Wine said. "But yet, it's helping us this year. It all goes out in the wash. His experience not only his first year here but last year going through what he went through is going to help him. Help him on and off the field. Going through rehab and doing what he did, the maturity is showing up this year."
Deese's .309 batting average ranks fifth among Penn State batters and his 33 RBI puts him in third place for the Lions in that category. Any doubts his power was sapped by the wrist injury were eliminated last Friday when he homered twice and drove in five RBI in Penn State's 9-7 win over Indiana.
One beneficiary of Deese's injury has been freshman Jordan Steranka, the Lions' leader in batting average, home runs and RBI. Steranka, a third baseman -- a position Deese played before his injury -- said Deese has helped him adjust from being a shortstop at Mt. Lebanon High School in suburban Pittsburgh to a starting third baseman in Division I baseball.
"For me, he was one of the most influential guys this year, just getting me acclimated to college baseball in general," Steranka said. "He's helped me a lot in the field and at the plate just with like different pitchers and adjusting to college baseball in general, he's really meant a lot."
While Deese is back to his 2007 form, where he hit .287, there is something that has changed since his injury. He had to sell his van because it stopped running.
"It's in a junkyard somewhere, but I got $20 for it and I still got the hood."
