LOS ANGELES -- Ben Shaffar spent eight seasons plodding the minor leagues as a pitcher and finally gave up the dream in 2006, after tasting Triple-A in the Philadelphia Phillies' organization. He was going to finish school, then assimilate to a normal work life. But a friend kept badgering him about coaching at a baseball academy near Lexington, Kentucky, for 13- and 14-year-olds.
In the summer of 2008, Shaffar finally obliged, and one of his first pupils was a skinny, undersized kid named Walker Buehler -- now the rising star in the Los Angeles Dodgers' rotation, the one who will start Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Monday.