Scholar Stories: Keizer Defines What it Means to be a Team Player
10/4/2017 3:56:00 PM | Baseball, Features
Continuing the popular series that began in 2016-17, each Wednesday MGoBlue.com will highlight a Michigan student-athlete and their academic pursuits. These are our Scholar-Athlete Stories, presented by Prairie Farms.
By Austin Turner
Not every student-athlete is measured by the impact they have on the field. Junior Benjamin Keizer of the University of Michigan baseball team is the perfect example.
Having only appeared in three games so far in his career with the Wolverines, Keizer has done far more than what the boxscores show. His teammates describe him as the ideal team-first guy, but what does that mean exactly?
"I think it is someone who, no matter the circumstances, will put themselves on the line for the team," Keizer explained. "They'll do whatever it takes, accepting their role and coming in every day to not only make themselves better, but also to make the other people around them better.
"I act as the energy provider, pumping guys up and helping them realize how great an opportunity we have here. I remind them how fortunate we are here as student-athletes to not only get a world-class education, but to also develop as people."
As the youngest of three boys, Keizer learned about the beauty of competition and the dynamic of a team at a very young age. Growing up watching his brothers play sports had a huge impact on his life, though his brothers found success in a different sport.
Both of Keizer's brothers played collegiate football: Jonathan, the oldest, played at Michigan. Nicholas played at Grand Valley State University. Growing up, Ben gave many sports a try, but to him the choice was clear.
"Baseball just stuck with me as something where I could express myself as a person more so than in other sports," Keizer said. "Being on the mound and in control of every pitch while having guys around me that depend on me as much as I depend on them is what separated baseball from basketball and football."
Putting the needs of the team over his own has always been top-of-mind for Keizer. That attitude was reinforced after sustaining a tough injury during his senior year of high school.
And he wasn't even playing baseball.
While playing in a rivalry basketball game at Portage Northern, Keizer tried fighting through a screen and ended up tearing his labrum, putting him on the shelf for 8-12 months. The severity of the injury also prevented him from being able to pitch.
Being the competitor that he is, Keizer set his sights on returning to the mound in eight months, but setbacks delayed his return. A full recovery took two years.
Focusing on his recovery was not always easy, especially when making the transition from high school senior to college freshman. Fortunately, he received support from his new teammates from the minute he stepped foot on campus.
"Even though I didn't play my freshman year and I wasn't really doing as well as I would have had I not gotten hurt, the guys here helped me. They didn't care if I could play or not. They knew that I was a brother from day one."
The camaraderie of the team helped shape Keizer's perspective during the healing process, shifting his focus from himself to other people.
"Having the team around me helped me stay centered and helped me within myself to realize that there are bigger things than my injury," he explained. "As frustrating as it was to be me, I knew there were people out there that were dealing with things that were much harder than what I had to deal with."
Keizer's appreciation of his teammates translates to his hard work in the classroom. He's earning a degree in sport management and was an Academic All-Big Ten pick as well as a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar last year. His motivation for studying sports is simple.
"There are so many things you can learn from sports, and there are so many important life lessons to gain from participating. It's made me want to turn it into a career.
"I want to give back in a way that I can show my gratitude. Whether that be youth sports, college sports, pro sports, the Olympics, sporting goods or marketing, I know that the game has given me so much that it is only fair for me to give back as much as I can."
For a guy whose high school walk-up song was the theme to "Rocky," Keizer shows hard work and determination in all that he does.
Similar to Rocky Balboa, Keizer has proven capable of success even when the odds are stacked against him. Whether that be an uppercut to the chin or a hard screen that tears his labrum, Keizer has not let the setbacks stop him from being the hype-man that every team needs in order to succeed.
With his mentality, as a teammate and a student, Keizer will continue to find a way.
