Danny Farquhar gave a comeback a shot.
He’s at peace with how it played out.
And now, it’s on to the next chapter in his baseball life: working as a pitching instructor in the White Sox’ minor-league system.
Farquhar, 32, attempted a comeback with the Yankees this season after suffering a ruptured aneurysm and brain hemorrhage during a game as a Sox relief pitcher on April 20 last year, collapsing in the dugout after pitching against the Astros in Chicago.
“It’s hard to kind of, like, really, truly, put it out there for people, what the last 15 months have been like,” Farquhar said. “I definitely have a greater appreciation for just how short our life is and how quickly things can come to an end.”
Farquhar will embark on a new beginning when he heads to Class AA Birmingham next week to begin work with Barons manager Omar Vizquel and pitching coach Richard Dotson. He doesn’t know exactly where it will lead, but he figures to have a better idea after getting his foot in the door at Birmingham.
“It’s a very special opportunity I’ve been given,” Farquhar said.
Farquhar first had to try a comeback, despite the long odds, and he says he’s at peace after he allowed seven runs and six hits in three innings for the Yankees’ Class AAA team, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, this season. The Yankees put him on waivers June 19, which “put everything in perspective,” he said.
“The injury affected me more than I was willing to accept,” he said. “It’s one of those where I never want to be like, ‘Oh, you can’t do this.’ I want to push through. Honestly, it all came to me when I got to Triple-A and I was watching the guys throw, and they were really, really good, throwing really, really hard. That’s when I realized how far behind I was. I put a year-plus into work, busted my butt hard to get to that point, and I was really far behind.
“When the Yankees released me, we drove across the country from Scranton to California, and you have a lot of time to reflect, and you realize it’s time to move on to the next stage in your career, which I’ve been talking about. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for some time now.”
