gillies

By PAUL HAGEN, phillynews.com

HIS PARENTS suspected something was wrong. Every time they took little
Tyson Gillies to have his hearing checked, though, the doctors couldn’t
find anything wrong.

Then, when Gillies was 4, they closed the curtain between him and the
specialist while he was being tested.

Busted.

“I was actually born with [30 percent hearing in one ear and 60 percent in
the other],” the 21-year-old outfielder, who was acquired by the Phillies
from the Seattle Mariners organization as part of the Roy Halladay trade,
said yesterday. “But they didn’t realize I was hearing impaired until I
was 4. I was able to fool the guy because I was reading lips at a young
age.”

Gillies was at Citizens Bank Park yesterday to participate in the
inaugural Phillies Prospect Education Program – evidence enough that he
hasn’t let his hearing loss deter him. He was one of six players invited
to attend, along with righthanders Phillippe Aumont and J.C. Ramirez, who
also came from the Mariners, plus organization outfielders Domonic Brown
and Anthony Gose and righthander Trevor May.

Over the last 2 days they listened to a variety of speakers, including
manager Charlie Manuel and second baseman Chase Utley, former player and
current broadcaster Larry Andersen and former Eagles coach Dick Vermeil
address several facets of major league life.

It doesn’t hurt that Gillies led the Class A California League with a .341
batting average for High Desert last season or that he had a .430 on-base
percentage or that he stole 44 bases.

He’s a high-energy guy who carries himself with poise and confidence. If
you didn’t notice the hearing aids, there would be no reason to suspect
he’s legally deaf.

Not that he hasn’t had to make some concessions. Since he doesn’t wear his
hearing aids while sleeping, he worries about not hearing his alarm clock.
Solution: An alarm that also shakes the bed when it goes off.

It would be natural enough for Gillies, who was used primarily as a
leftfielder last year but has played all three outfield spots, to try to
figure out where he fits in with his new organization.

Let’s see, Raul Ibanez is signed for 2 more years, but he’s 37. But Brown
is considered by some to be the Phillies’ best prospect. Shane Victorino
is signed for 3 more years but Jayson Werth’s contract is up at the end of
this season . . .

“A lot of people definitely start thinking about stuff like that, adding
up numbers and everything, but I try to stay away from it,” he said with a
laugh. “I try to just keep playing and focus on what I’m doing, and you
never know what’s going to happen.”

If he makes it, Gillies won’t be the first deaf player in the majors. Most
recently, Curtis Pride dealt with that issue while playing in the bigs.
The funny thing is that Gillies hadn’t heard of Pride – pun intended -
until he was asked about him a couple years ago by a reporter.