CLEVELAND — As he walked off the mound at Progressive Field for the first time, AJ Blubaugh was afraid to look up into the stands.
The sight of his family and friends might have been too much.
“I didn’t want to be tearing up in the dugout,” the Astros reliever said with a smile.
Blubaugh got to live out one of his boyhood dreams on Monday night when he pitched a scoreless inning against the Guardians -- his childhood team, the one he watched religiously growing up in Mansfield, Ohio, about an hour's drive from Cleveland.
The 25-year-old right-hander had made previous visits to the ballpark as a fan, and before Houston's 9-2 win in the series opener, Blubaugh fondly recalled the time one of the stadium's workers handed him a foul ball hit by former Cleveland third baseman Casey Blake.
“I thought it was gold,” Blubaugh said. "I remember thinking, I’m hanging on to this forever.”
He felt the same way following his short stint against the Guardians. Blubaugh was cheered on by a large contingent of family and a group of 150 that filled two school buses from the Clear Fork School District, where he previously worked in the offseasons as a substitute teacher.
Blubaugh taught Grades 1-12 in subjects ranging from Spanish -- “I know very, very little,” he said -- to physical education.
“Gym teacher was so much fun,” he said. “I got my throwing in playing dodgeball with the kids.”
Blubaugh laughed when asked if he was a fun sub or a disciplinarian.
“You would be surprised how much the kids will listen to you when you play professional baseball,” he said. “It’s definitely a perk.”
Shortly after arriving at the ballpark, Blubaugh said he walked around the field to soak in the sights and relive some cherished memories. He cut his baseball teeth cheering for Cleveland's teams in the early 2000s, and he quickly rattled off the names of favorite players, including Grady Sizemore, Travis Hafner, Asdrubal Cabrera and Michael Brantley.
“All those guys who got me to fall in love with the game,” he said.
When he was brought in by Astros manager Joe Espada to pitch the seventh inning -- during which he induced José Ramírez to ground out, struck out Kyle Manzardo swinging and, after a walk of Rhys Hoskins, recorded a flyout from George Valera -- Blubaugh made sure to savor something that may not come around again.
“It wasn't much, but it was enough for me to accept where I am and take in that moment I've dreamed of,” he said. “It almost felt like my debut all over again.”