"On the fourth day of camp, my shoulder just went out on my third hard throw," he remembered. "Something just ripped."

Although clubs are not allowed to release players officially because of sports-related injuries, Ted Decareau's shoulder problem marked the end of his short Padres career.

After playing only four innings in the field and some designated hitting here and there, the Padres released Decareau on April 1.

Decareau returned to Cambridge, with his season over by April, and relaxed before graduating with the Class of 1991.

"I just hung around. I had two months just to get drunk," he said with a grin.

Drinking and Surgery

In addition to drinking, he used the spring to figure out exactly what was wrong with his shoulder. With the Padres grudgingly picking up the check, Decareau underwent a battery of tests that culminated in orthroscopic surgery in May of this year.

Instead of finding a torn rotator cuff, his doctor instead found a relatively healthy shoulder with a bone chip.

"I really lucked out," Decareau said. "If it had been anything more serious, I still would have been out."

Decareau believes, after four months of rehabilitation, that he is healthy and back on track.

"Finally, my shoulder is feeling strong. I don't have to ice it three times a day," he said.

The former Padres player has returned to Cambridge in order to tie up the loose ends on the bachelor's degree he received last June.

But his mind is still on baseball. Decareau has been working out with his old college team and trying to spend as much time in a batting cage as possible.

"I haven't seen much live pitching for a while. I haven't really played baseball since the summer of 1990," he said.

Right now, his plan is to finish off his classes, go down to Florida to work out with a college coach that invited him and then, if all goes as he plans, get invited to a training camp.

"All I need is a shot," he said. "I feel like I owe it to myself."

Decareau does not have any illusions about his chances. "It's definitely hard," he said. "When I signed, I was a young junior [20 years old]. Now I'm two years older."

If he doesn't make it in America. Decareau might try to find a baseball team in Europe that would be interested.

What about life after baseball?

"I haven't really thought about that yet," Decareau said. "I'm really trying to push all my energies into baseball right now."