WhitehouseTexas.com

Baseball, as life, works in mysterious ways.

Former Whitehouse star Travis Chick was traded for the third time in his professional career.

“I was pretty upset,” he said. “I was like, ‘Can I just find a home one time?’”

Two months later, Chick will be fulfilling a lifelong dream - playing in the big leagues.

The Seattle Mariners plan to promote the right-handed pitcher Friday, as Seattle hosts the Texas Rangers.

Chick is among the nine September call-ups Seattle plans to add as major league rosters expand to 40 during the season’s final month.

Despite setting his goal to make “the show” by the end of the season, the promotion came as a surprise.

“I pitched Wednesday night, because (the organization) told me I wasn’t going to go,” he said. “After our game Saturday night, they told me I was going. They changed their mind I guess. I wasn’t going to complain.”

Chick is currently in Tacoma, Wash., the location of Seattle’s Triple-A affiliate, awaiting the Mariners return from Detroit.

Chick, 22, isn’t sure how the Mariners will use him. But whether it’s as a starter or reliever, Chick said he doesn’t mind either way.

“I just want to finish strong, make an impression and stay healthy,” he said. “Hopefully I can put myself in a good position to make the club next spring.”

The Mariners currently stand 14 games behind first-place Oakland, so it figures Seattle will take a good look at some of the younger players.

Chick went 4-2 with a 3.19 ERA in 11 starts for Double-A San Antonio. Prior to the trade, he was 4-5 with a 4.61 ERA in 16 starts for Chattanooga (Tenn.), the Reds’ Double-A affiliate.

He entered the 2006 season as the 10th best prospect in the Reds’ organization, according to Baseball America.

For a player who has spent five years in the minor leagues, the “big league” life could become overwhelming.

Since learning of his promotion, Chick has been asking questions and getting advice from players who’ve been there and done that.

Some of the players include San Diego closer Trevor Hoffman, who is second all-time in saves, and 1984’s National League Cy Young award winner Rick Sutcliffe.

When Chick was traded from Cincinnati in July for reliever Eddie Guardado, the Mariners became his fourth organization since 2004.

Last July, Chick was traded to the Reds by San Diego in exchange for infielder Joe Randa. A year earlier, the Florida Marlins, who drafted Chick out of high school in 2002, sent him to the Padres for pitcher Ismael Valdes.

“I talked with the Mariners’ front office (after the trade),” he said. “And I realized everything was a little greener over here.”

And with all the excitement that comes with making the major leagues, add to it the possibility that his debut could come against the Rangers this weekend, sleep might be hard to come by for the Chick family.

“I think it would mean a lot,” said Chick on the chance of pitching against the Rangers. “The game will be televised back home. With the game in Seattle, everybody who said they’d be there for my first game, at least they can watch it on TV.”