BOSTON -- Like most Rhode Islanders, Ryan Westmoreland was glued to the World Series last October. He was decked out in all the Red Sox gear he had. He was beyond thrilled when Koji Uehara threw the final strike past Matt Carpenter.

BOSTON � Like most Rhode Islanders, Ryan Westmoreland was glued to the World Series last October. He was decked out in all the Red Sox gear he had. He was beyond thrilled when Koji Uehara threw the final strike past Matt Carpenter.

And then Westmoreland exchanged text messages with Will Middlebrooks and Daniel Nava, two longtime friends from their days together in the Red Sox farm system.

�I�m still close friends with all of those guys, and that means a lot to me,� he said. �I�m out of the game, but it�s good to see that those players are still thinking of me, texting me.�

In a parallel universe where life was fair, the Portsmouth native might have been on the field with Middlebrooks, Nava and the rest of the World Series-winning Red Sox team.

Westmoreland was one of the top prospects in the Red Sox organization just four years ago. He�d shown five-tool ability in his first exposure to minor-league baseball, hitting .296 with a .401 on-base percentage and .484 slugging percentage as a 19-year-old with short-season Single-A Lowell in 2009. He stole 19 bases without being caught. He played terrific defense in center field.

As polished as his skills were, his trajectory figured to have him in the major leagues as early as 2012, by 2013 at the latest. He looked like a future Red Sox cornerstone.

But Westmoreland underwent surgery to remove a cavernous malformation from his brain stem during spring training in 2010, derailing his fast track to the major leagues. He made enough progress in his rehabilitation that he took part in games in the Dominican Winter League in the final days of 2011 � even reaching base twice.

Then Westmoreland suffered a setback and underwent a second brain surgery in July 2012. He announced his retirement from baseball last March and reset his focus on regaining a normal quality of life.

For his inspiring determination to overcome insurmountable obstacles, Westmoreland was honored at the Boston baseball writers� dinner on Thursday. He sat at the head table with the likes of Jon Lester, Jonny Gomes and New York Mets ace Matt Harvey.

That came less than two weeks after the Lowell Spinners � the only professional team he ever played for � announced they would retire No. 25 in Westmoreland�s honor during the upcoming season.

�That was incredible,� he said. �I was really blown away. It took three or four days to sink in. For myself, my family, my friends � everyone, really � it was a special night.�

Westmoreland now is taking classes in business management at Northeastern University, and he�s continuing his rehabilitation work in Middletown. The rehab work, he�s gotten used to. The schoolwork? Not so much.

�Doing college, it�s a little weird going back after six years off,� he said. �I can�t remember the last time I wrote a paper. That threw me off, but I caught up quick. I tried to remember the high school days. I�m doing well so far.�

After he announced his retirement from baseball, Westmoreland gradually shifted the focus of his rehabilitation work away from throwing and swinging and back toward more general skills like core balance and coordination.

�I�d like to be training and getting ready for a season,� he said. �But at the same time, I have a pretty big task to come back from. I�m trying to focus my energy on rehab and getting better. It is different not doing baseball stuff, but there�s another task at hand.�

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