Super Sonic A's reliever

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jan 10, 2009 | by Joe Stiglich

You might say Brad Ziegler grew up with his head in the clouds.

His paternal grandfather was a military man who later became a pilot, and every birthday card he sent young Brad came with a drawing of a plane inside of it.

Flying in a fighter jet had been a dream of Ziegler's ever since he can remember. So imagine the adrenaline rush for the A's reliever when he received a VIP ride-along in a Blue Angels F/A-18 Hornet jet on Thursday.

Taking off from the U.S. Naval Air Facility in El Centro (about 125 miles east of San Diego), Ziegler accompanied Lt. Frank Weisser on a 45-minute journey he won't soon forget.

They broke the sound barrier. They flew upside down. They weaved through mountains surrounding the Colorado River and tried every move you remember from your favorite "Top Gun" scene.

Relaying the experience in a phone interview the next day, Ziegler still hadn't come off the emotional high.

"I think I'll be excited talking about this for years," he said.

Securing a Blue Angels ride-along isn't easy. A brother of Ziegler's brother-in-law is training to be a Marine fighter pilot and put him in touch with the right people. Ziegler's agent took over the planning from there.

Ziegler, who set a major league record with 39 scoreless innings to start his career in 2008, was already getting excited for the flight toward the end of last season.

Surprisingly, there was little training required of him beforehand. But he did sit through an orientation where he learned breathing and muscle-movement exercises designed to keep him from blacking out during the high-speed adventure.

The flight began innocently enough, with Weisser and Ziegler hovering about 10 feet off the ground after take-off.

"He said, 'Are you ready to fly?'" Ziegler said. "As soon as I said, 'Yeah,' we went straight vertical."

The plane rocketed upward to 8,000 feet in a span of three to four seconds, Ziegler estimated.

"They say it's like an elephant sitting on you," Ziegler said. "That's something I couldn't relate to. Who's had an elephant sit on them? But you have all these tingly feelings inside. Then you're just being pressed against your chair."

It took a mere five minutes to zip over to Yuma, Ariz., where the Blue Angels do much of their training.

That's where Weisser and Ziegler broke the sound barrier, cranking up to a speed of about 770 mph. During the flight's most intense moments, Ziegler experienced seven G-forces, which calculated out to about 1,400 pounds of pressure against his body.

All things considered, he held up well physically.

NFL stars Drew Brees and Larry Fitzgerald and NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr., are just a few of the athletes who have previously flown with the Blue Angels. Ziegler believes his training for baseball had his body adequately prepared.

Mentally, he was drained. That's why he was amazed at the calm nerves of Weisser, who hopped out of the cockpit afterward as if he'd just driven around the block.

"I compare it to when it's the eighth inning at Yankee Stadium, A- Rod is up and I'm on the mound. I feel comfortable in that situation," Ziegler said. "For a lot of people it's unnerving to watch. But (for a pilot during a flight) that's his element."

Flying with the Blue Angels is slightly more adventurous than a ballplayer's typical offseason activity. From that standpoint, it'd be understandable if the A's had some anxiety about Ziegler's need for speed.

But if anything, general manager Billy Beane was excited for his pitcher.

"Given the chance, I certainly know that I, and others, would like to have that opportunity," Beane said.

It just continued Ziegler's current joyride. After a hard road through the minors, he finally made it to the big leagues last season at age 28 and carved out space in the record books.

"It's all happened so fast," Ziegler said. "I've gotten to do a lot of neat experiences in the last eight months or so. For all that to be coming from nowhere and have all these chances, it's awesome."

Contact Joe Stiglich at jstiglic@bayareanewsgroup.com.