Hey softball fans and family:

As Carlos noted yesterday, I spent Monday in an emergency room leading up to having my gall bladder removed later in the afternoon.

I’m home now and resting post-surgery and thanks to my (medically prescribed) new friend, oxyCODON, I’m comfortable as can be after having had an organ removed.

I will still be on the site and contributing this week as I rest in bed, but per instructions from my surgeon and others who have had the surgery, it was highly recommended that I push back the Line Drive 2027 HOT 100 player rankings a week.

I’m going to follow that advice… you can find the new timeline below. 

As for what happened, here’s a recap:

Sunday later in the evening about 10:30 pm MST (I live in Idaho) my back was hurting and I asked my son Ashton, a senior in high school, if he could rub it.

He did and it helped a bit but then my stomach started aching. I was able to fall asleep Monday morning at 12:30 am but woke up an hour later feeling queasy and with more back pain.

I laid in bed for hours–getting up at 1:30 am to take Tums and Pepto Bismol–but nothing worked. I finally got up at 5 am and tried to get some work done but within an hour, the pain became so rough I started looking at Urgent Care locations and ultimately an Emergency Room.

Ashton drove me to St. Lukes’ in Meredian, Idaho where they took me in immediately and gave me a CAT scan and an Ultrasound which revealed I had stones in my gall bladder which were causing an infection.

Normally, the surgeon said, the walls of the gall bladder are 1 millimeter thick but mine, due to the infection, was four times that thickness.

The surgeon, with as much kindness and empathy as he could muster, said simply:

“This baby is coming out today.”

 And so it did… I was Gall Bladder Patient No. 4 for him on Monday and had to wait for him to wrap up Lucky Patient No. 3 before I was wheeled in. It was one of those where you’re asked to count backwards from 20 and get to 18 before you wake up and realize the surgery was done.

I asked if I could wear the removed gall bladder as a necklace but unfortunately (very fortunately, actually) it was analyzed and tossed.

I was able to come home last night and was able to get some rest overnight. Now I’m still a bit sore around the mid-section–mostly I think from the four small micro-incisions–but am glad the ordeal from the last 36 hours is behind me.

So, I implore on your patience as I rest and get back to full speed hopefully in a day or two. Thanks to all those who’ve send best wishes, very much appreciated.

Now let’s get the attention back where it should be… on faspitch softball!

*****

New 2027 HOT 100 Rankings Schedule

Each weekday for the next two weeks, starting on August 25th, we’ll honor players via our countdown with 10 spots each day with the following schedule:

• #s 100-91 (August 25, 2025)
• #s 90-81 (August 26, 2025)
• #s 80-71 (August 27, 2025)
• #s 70-61 (August 28, 2025)
• #s 60-51 (August 29, 2025)

• #s 50-41 (September, 1 2025)
• #s 40-31 (September 2, 2025)
• #s 30-21 (September 3, 2025)
• #s 20-11 (September 4, 2025)
• #s 10-1 (September 5, 2025)

Line Drive Softball will also list those prospects ranked #’s 101+ as well as the 2027 Class Position Rankings, Regional Rankings and a spotlight on the top-rated player.

To send in information including player updates and other news, e-mail: Brentt.Eads@LineDriveSoftball.com