"I think a lot of people take the game really seriously and think it's really crazy when someone comes along who goofs around with it," Hayhurst said Thursday before the 51s' 7-3 loss to New Orleans at Cashman Field. "But I think the game should be treated exactly like what it is: a game. I try to have fun on and off the field when I'm playing it."

Hayhurst, 28, isn't your typical pro ballplayer, but he's not just a goofball, either.

In fact, the former Kent State student is a deep thinker who often questions why American society reveres its professional athletes.

"For what? For entertaining us, for winning?" he asked a few hours after speaking to students at Summerlin's M.J. Christensen Elementary School. "The only reason I got to go and talk to the kids today was because I play professional sports.

"People who don't play pro sports probably have better advice on how to live their lives than I do, but they're not pro athletes, so for some reason, we don't care what they have to say ... so I think a lot about the value of a jersey and what it means to wear one."

Hayhurst has shared his deep thoughts, along with some lighter ones, in a "Bullpen Gospels" column and "Misadventures of a Minor League Nobody" blog for his hometown Canton (Ohio) Repository newspaper.

He also has written the "Dirk Hayhurst Non-Prospect Diary" for Baseball America and recently completed a book, the "Bullpen Gospels," scheduled for release around Opening Day next year.

Hayhurst, who made his major league debut with the San Diego Padres last season and is in his seventh year of pro ball, said the book is about "what baseball is really like behind the scenes."

"(Baseball books) are always all these feel-good guidance counselor posters," he said. "It's never so-and-so woke up at 5 a.m. to get on a bus for 12 hours that smelled like tobacco spit and urine and you can't lay on the floor, it's sticky, and guys are crawling all over each other because they don't want to step on the guy sleeping across two chairs. Nobody writes about that."

Hayhurst began keeping a diary during the 2007 season, when he pitched in Single A (Lake Elsinore), Double A (San Antonio) and Triple A (Portland) and thought his career was coming to a close.

"I had spent all this time playing baseball and really had nothing to show for it, so I decided I should probably write down all these things I've experienced," he said. "I wanted to write about the truth behind baseball."

Hayhurst admits to becoming disillusioned with baseball for a while, but he said he still loves the game and eagerly awaits his next call to the big leagues.

"I'd love to get back there, but if that doesn't happen, I'll keep trying my best until they tell me my best is not good enough," he said. "Then I'll go do my best at something else."

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@ reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354.