Dodgers' Farmhand Ely: Forever a Homewood Baseball All-Star

Early last week, Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Rubby De La Rosa injured his elbow. He will need Tommy John surgery, the injury putting an end to his season.

Outside of dedicated fantasy baseball owners and hard core baseball fans, this news item hardly would have gone noticed in the south suburbs.

But the fact that De La Rosa getting injured meant Homewood resident John Ely would be called up from Triple-A, returning to the Dodgers' major league roster, sparked interest in the area.

“They tell John to prepared at any moment to be called up,” John’s mother, Laura, said.  “It is not like they tell you that you should be ready by Tuesday because we are going to need you then.”

Though Ely spent just five days on the major league roster before being sent back down to Albuquerque, it was tantamount to a joyride, except for one minor detail. He was less than his best in a 7-2 loss to the Padres.

Ely allowed four runs on six hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out five.

“He may be a 25-year-old major league pitcher, but he is still a 6-year-old T-baller as far as we are concerned,” father Jack said.

John Ely started playing baseball like lots of other kids, at a young age and at the urging of his father.

“I taught him how to catch and how to throw when he was little, like any dad,” Jack said. “We played in the back yard and went to the parks.”

John grew up in Matteson and played in the Matteson/Olympia Fields league until his family moved to Homewood when he was 9 years old. When the Ely family moved to Homewood, Jack put up a tarp and a pull up bar in the basement to help John with his development.

“I wanted him to throw the baseball into the tarp and use the pull up bar to help build up his shoulders and arms,” Jack said.

Jack felt like he pushed his son up to that point, but then made a decision that might have been the best thing that happened to John involving his baseball career.

“At the beginning, I was heavily involved with John and baseball, but I sort of mellowed out when we moved to Homewood,” Jack said. “I didn’t want him to get burned out, and I knew there were some good coaches out there that knew a lot more than I did.”

Jack said one of the keys to John’s success was the great coaches he had playing for the Homewood All-Stars.

“John had some great coaches when he was on those all-star teams,” Jack said. “Guys like Larry Schulz, Mike Nussbaum, Pete Trainor, Pete Ward, Charlie Tarjan and Bill Spieth. These guys knew their baseball.”

Schulz was John’s head coach on most of those all-star teams, and he could tell early on that John was a special player. “He was focused,” Schulz said. “You could tell he was a very determined young man that loved to compete.

“He was one of those players that goes through the program that you thought could possibly make it to the pros. To see someone that you coached growing up reach their goal is great to see, and it happened to such an outstanding young man.”

Ely Flashed Pro Potential at Young Age

John used a 90-mph fastball as a 14-year-old to open eyebrows at Homewood-Flossmoor High School where he became an all-state pitcher his senior year. After graduating in 2004, Ely attended Miami of Ohio for three years where he excelled on the mound.

During his freshman year, the right-hander led the Mid-American Conference in strikeouts (108) and complete games (6). He also tied for the conference lead in wins with 10.

Ely was drafted in the third round of the 2007 draft by the White Sox. Prior to the 2010 season, he was traded to the Dodgers. Not long after the deal, he made his major league debut in New York at Citi Field against the Mets. Jack and Laura hopped on a plane and were in attendance during Ely’s first career major league start.

“We went with John’s agent to New York,” Jack said. “When he struck out Jayson Bay, I had tears in my eyes. That is when it hit me that he had finally made it.”

After struggling in his first start against the Mets, Ely went on to have six consecutive quality starts, winning four of them and also facing 89 batters without allowing a walk. 

Ely struggled the rest of the season, however, and finished the year with a 4-10 record and 5.49 ERA. This year, he has been pitching mainly in Albuquerque but hopes to rejoin the Dodgers when major league rosters expand in September.

“This was his doing not mine,” Jack said. “He would always push himself to make sure he was the best at what he did. He has forgotten more about baseball than I will ever know.”