About the author
My name is Darrell Sherman and I was born on December 4, 1966 to Emma and Earnest Sherman. I was 11 months older than my sister, Veronica Sherman. Being the oldest of two children, I was told I was a noble child but the protector of my younger sibling. I grew up in a lower to middle class family in Compton, California. My father was a RTD bus driver and my mother was a postal clerk. My parents made just enough money to get by and I knew that we did not have the best life, therefore, I strived to be the best child possible to make life easier for my parents. I also knew at a young age that I would be successful in the classroom. I played three sports (basketball, football and baseball) growing up as a young child. Entering high school, I made a conscious decision to continue playing three sports. During my senior year, I eliminated football and basketball because I was undersized, standing 5'7 and weighing 152 pounds. I chose baseball as a way to get out of the ghetto. I knew if I could get a scholarship playing ball this would take some of the financial burdens off of my parents. I chose to go to Cerritos Junior College where I excelled on the field, winning a state title. After junior college, I received a full scholarship to Long Beach State where I got the opportunity to play in the 1989 College World Series. Although we were eliminated in two games, I was notified during a press conference that I was drafted in the 6th round by the San Diego Padres. It took me three and a half years to get to the big leagues. Because of an unforeseeable hook of the hamate bone injury, my career was cut short in the big leagues in 1994 while playing with the Colorado Rockies. In 1995, I was no longer on a big league roster, therefore, I signed with the Seattle Mariners Class Triple A Team, the Tacoma Rainiers. Seeing that politics would get the best of me, I signed a contract to play abroad in Mexico. I played with five teams (Yucatan, Reynosa, Monclova, Puebla and Torreon) over an 11 year period. In 2007, I hung up my cleats and called it quits. The journey I experienced was no doubt an epic one.