Colin Bates – Class of 2006While athletes are often said to have “something in their back pocket” that brings them success, not many can point to the literal truth of that statement. Pitcher Colin Bates can: his own removed rib bone. Bates’ celebrated story starts well before his rib enters the picture (and his pocket). As a Naperville Central Redhawk, Bates tackled life with passion and charisma, finding delight on the baseball diamond. While the thrill of competition was definitely enticing, Bates points to the power of relationships as the heart of his experiences. He said, “Every coach that I had while at Naperville Central was instrumental to my success. By creating an environment of hard work and the attitude necessary to embody a winning culture, we became a family for the four years I spent at NCHS. From coaches like John Schermann and Mike Stock, to Dave Kalal, Bill Seiple and Phil Lawler, the attitude and expectations were always the same. And while I’ll never have enough time to go over all of the teammates, every single individual mattered as much as the next. From A to Z, everyone wanted the same thing: to win our last game of the year!” And win they did. In Bates’ senior year, Naperville Central won its first baseball state championship, and he was named the Illinois High School Coaches Association State Player of the Year. As a four-year standout at pitcher and third base, Bates earned All-State honors as a senior from the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune and Prep Baseball Report. He was a two-time All-Conference choice and 2006 Conference Player of the Year. His love of all things baseball continued into the summer months where he played with the White Sox Academy, going 5-0 with a 2.10 ERA. After graduation – where he was just as proud of his successful completion of teacher Jim Braun’s calculus class and passing the AP Calculus exam as he was of that hard-earned championship ring – Bates headed to the University of North Carolina, eager to continue his baseball career as a Tar Heel. Life threw him a bit of a change-up that freshman fall when he had to undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery to address a blood clot in his right shoulder. The twelve-hour surgery, which involved, among other steps, grafting a vein out of his right thigh into his shoulder, damaged a thoracic nerve that would take months to heal and sparked an intense three-month regimen on blood thinners. Post-surgery, his doctor handed Bates an envelope with his rib in it as a memento. When he first began the rehabilitation process, he was unable to lift his throwing arm more than eight inches above his right thigh, which also required therapy. Despite the challenges, Bates was resilient and focused, working hard both in the classroom and in physical therapy. During his redshirt season, he was named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll and made the Dean’s List in his spring semester. As Bates reflects on that time period, he recognizes that the patience he gained in recovery was instrumental in the success that followed. When he returned to the mound in the fall of 2007 in an intra-squad scrimmage, Bates had his rib in his back pocket. “I kind of kept it as a reminder to think like ‘Even if you have a bad outing, you’ve made it through a lot, try not to get down on yourself,’” he said in an interview with PennLive.com’s Jacob Klinger. In his first season back, Bates was a 2008 Freshman All-America selection and was ranked as one of the top right-handers out of the UNC bullpen. He posted a 6-1 record, striking out 57 batters, while walking only 20, for a 2.9-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He held the opposition to a .214 average and went 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 25 innings in ACC play. He pitched in five games in the NCAA Tournament and did not allow an earned run in 3 2/3 innings in the College World Series. As a sophomore, he made 34 relief appearances as Carolina’s top right-hander out of the bull-pen, going 4-4 with 6 saves and a 3.15 ERA over 60 innings. He struck out 59 and walked just 19, all while holding the opposition to a .240 average. He finished second in the ACC and tied for eighth nationally in appearances and was ranked eighth in the ACC in saves. He was a 4 time member of the ACC Academic Honor Roll and an 3 time member of the All-ACC Academic baseball team, all while being a highly influential member of UNC College World Series Teams from 2007-2009. In the summer of 2009, Bates was drafted in the 37th round of the Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft by the Oakland Athletics but elected to return to North Carolina to finish his degree in Business Administration. In 2010, he was drafted in the 23rd round of the MLB Draft by the Washington Nationals and he went on to play 6 professional seasons with the Nationals organization. While a celebrated member of the Harrisburg Senators, Bates showed the world he could paint more than corners when his artistic talent came to light. In Mick Reinhard’s 2015 article for PennLive.com, Bates revealed his long-time love for painting, a passion he credits his dad, Brian with cultivating. At Naperville Central, Bates took art classes as an opportunity to expand his interest and paint. While he dabbled with it when he could in college – he was even featured in an NCAA-sponsored online student-athlete art exhibition his sophomore year – he returned to it in earnest in the off-season of his professional baseball career. After creating a collage style gift for his future in-laws, Bates painted a "Tour of Chapel Hill,” originally designed for the North Carolina alumni organization, The Rams Club. The print soon became very popular, so Bates worked with the collegiate licensing company to get it officially licensed. Bates shared with Reinhard, "I love that print and I have a lot of Carolina family and friends that have it. When I go to their houses, it's really cool to see. I feel like I'm a part of their home now.” In quite a literal sense, Bates has shared pieces of himself with everyone who has been fortunate enough to share in this life’s story. From teammate interactions with the rib in his back pocket to loved ones displaying his art on their walls, Bates’ generous and strong spirit have touched all who know him. Reflecting on the trajectory of his life so far, the 2019 UNC Kenan-Flager Business School MBA Candidate is intensely grateful: “I would like to thank my entire family for their undying support throughout my entire athletic career. This includes my wife, Cydney, my parents, Briane and Diane, my brother, Brandon and his wife, Julie, uncles, aunts, cousins down the line, and the entire community that surrounded me during my time playing. I could not have had the career that I did without your love and support. So, THANK YOU!”