Former Warren Central standout Shea Douglas delivers a pitch during his junior year at Southern Miss. Since leaving USM, Douglas has moved through the Cleveland Indians’ system and has seen time with the Double-A Akron Aeros. (FileThe Vicksburg Post)

[6/9/03]Shea Douglas walks through the lobby of his hotel in Akron, Ohio, and passes a crowd of hangers on with LeBron James as the center of gravity.

Douglas, a former Warren Central and Southern Miss standout, can’t help but notice this teenager, the would-be savior of basketball, the 6-foot-8 phenom who will assuredly be the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft.

James, preoccupied with his posse and enjoying life only the way someone who’s just been given $90 million can, doesn’t notice Douglas.

The two live on opposite ends of the sports spectrum.

James has been given as much money and prestige as he could ever desire before joining the professional ranks, while Douglas lives the simple life of a minor league baseball player, working day in and day out, chasing the dream of even a modest career in the big leagues.

Shea’s had the dream since he was 12, when he and his father, Bobby, would spend all their free time in the family’s backyard-turned-baseball diamond, playing catch or practicing hitting.

“It was his love for the game that drove him,” Bobby said. “When everybody else was doing something else, we were in the backyard.”

Shea, a lefty, began pitching at 14 and dominated local competition. In high school, he twice earned Vicksburg Post Player of the Year honors.

Now in his second year in the Cleveland Indians’ organization, Douglas spent a week with the Akron Aeros, the club’s double-A team, after being called up from the Lake County Captains.

He spent four days of that on the road, and the other three in the Akron hotel with two hangers on of his own, two people who set Shea as far apart from LeBron James as the millions of dollars: Shea’s wife Shaun and daughter Lexus.

See, Shea isn’t your typical 20-something minor leaguer. He’s no hot-head, hard-throwing Nuke LaLoosh or even a close facsimile.

Well, except for that hard-throwing part.

But in almost every way, Shea defies the norm, backs away from the stereotypes of young buck athletes.

This split between him and that lifestyle goes back to his early years of hard work, but mostly to a little over a year ago when he faced a decision.

The decision came three years after his high school accolades earned him a scholarship from Southern Miss, where he continued improving as a pitcher.

He honed his change-up and curveball, and continued to work on a fastball that occasionally sped near 90 mph. Offseason arm surgery before his junior season slowed him a little, but now he said his throwing arm feels as good as ever.

Shea, married and with a newborn daughter, knew if he was picked early enough in the Major League draft he would have to leave the Eagles with a year of eligibility remaining.

He knew if he returned to Southern Miss he ran the risk of being drafted late or not at all after his senior season, and signing a significantly lower contract.

When it came down to it, he needed the money to support his family.

Cleveland finally called his name in the 32nd round, and a disappointed Douglas agreed with the team on a contract that he called “a decent piece of change.”

So he left behind the Eagles, his senior season and a college degree for now to step out into the real world.

Of course, the real world is a little different for minor leaguers.

If the minor leagues put out a brochure to entice players it could read “Chase your dream and see the country.”

Shea, Shaun and Lexus’ adventure began soon after the draft, when Shea joined an Indians’ rookie team in North Carolina for 2 1/2 months, then continued to the postseason in Georgia for two weeks and finally came back to Vicksburg and Shea’s parent’s home in September for the off season.

Douglas worked at Vicksburg Specialty, going in at 6 a.m. every morning to help support his family.

“I don’t know what we’d do if not for them,” he said of the company.

Shea also put in time as a hitting and pitching instructor for local youths.