Derek Diamond's afternoon had ended early because of rain. The way he had been pitching, he might not have lasted much longer anyway. He was already on the hook for four runs and hadn't completed the third inning.
As his teammates took cover from the rain in Clearwater, Fla. that late May day, the 22-year-old right-hander sat by himself, with one thought running through his head again and again.
"Man, I just know I'm so much better than this."
"I felt like there was this veil right in front of my face, and I just couldn't break through it," Diamond told me over the phone.