Adam Housley did some serious soul searching in the spring of 1997. The search led him from playing baseball to witnessing hurricanes and a prison execution.

The submarine-style pitcher from the Napa Valley who won a College World Series title with Pepperdine University and made it to Double-A baseball was released at the end of spring training by the Milwaukee Brewers.

At a crossroads in his life, he returned to his family’s home in Napa.

Several teams, including the Oakland Athletics and San Francisco Giants, called to see if Housley wanted back in the game. A right-hander drafted in the 62nd round by Montreal who spent two years in the minors with the Detroit Tigers and another two with Milwaukee, Housley was giving some thought to playing baseball in Europe.

At age 26 he was wondering if he had any future as a pitcher. He wasn’t exactly sure what his next move was going to be.

“It’s tough on your family in the minor leagues because they don’t know where you’re going to go and you don’t know where you’re going to go,” Housley said. “I realized that every year I was going to be that guy on the bubble no matter how well I did. I played with a lot of guys, and I include myself in that, who put up good numbers. But it’s not about what you do, it’s about the potential you have.”

After sitting down and talking with his family, Housley — a 1989 Vintage High School graduate — made a decision to walk away from the game and go in a different direction in life.

“I think for anybody, your dreams sometimes change,” he said. “Even though I had dreamed of playing baseball — and I will always wish I had played in the big leagues — sometimes it’s not meant to be.”

Said Housley’s father, Art, who started Ranch Markets in Napa and Yountville 31 years ago: “I told him, ‘I think it’s time you get on with your career.’”

A new home on screen

Adam Housley wasn’t out of work long. A job opened up at KNVN, an NBC-TV affiliate in Chico. Housley put his baseball gear away and went to work as a news reporter. He had done some work in radio, including some play-by-play duties for KVON 1440 AM in Napa.

“I thought, here someone is giving me a chance. Maybe somebody’s telling me something,” he said. “I decided that when I got offered the job in television that maybe things were meant to happen for a reason. I took the chance. Obviously, it was the right decision.”

In the 11 months he was in Chico, Housley did it all — reporting, shooting his own video and producing his own stories, writing and editing those pieces. He also worked as a reporter-sportscaster at KTXL-Fox 40 in Sacramento for 18 months and as a lead reporter-anchor for KFTY-Channel 50 in Santa Rosa for two years.

Housley won a Northern California Emmy award for On-Camera Sports for his work at KTXL. He also received an Associated Press Television-Radio Association award for Best Sports Reporting.

“It sounds corny, but I try to tell the story as if I’m talking to my family — my mom, my grandma, my brother, my dad,” he said.

“I think the key is to treat people the way you want to be treated. I’m no different because I’m on TV. I’m no different because I’m a reporter. I’m just like anybody else, I just happen to have the job of being on TV and telling their stories.”

He has been with the Fox News Channel as a Los Angeles-based correspondent since 2001, covering not only breaking news and major events throughout the country and world, but occasionally anchoring at the network’s New York studios.

“I was lucky,” he said. “I made quick moves. I was at a network in four years.”

During his career with Fox, he has been in Thailand, providing extensive on-site coverage in the wake of the Southeast Asia tsunami.

He was also the lead reporter for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 2003 California campaign for governor and has covered six hurricanes, including Katrina and Rita.

“You’ve got to find a way to convey what’s going on, besides the sounds, the smells, everything,” he explained. “While you’re there, it’s not my job to be on the air and cry. It’s my job to be on the air and to tell people and show people what’s going on, to be their eyes and their ears. It can be tough, but it’s my job. It’s an on-going battle every day, when you’re covering a story like Katrina or the tsunami. You’re seeing things that you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.”

Memorable moments in a young career

Internationally, Housley has reported from Kuwait, Iraq, Bahrain, the Persian Gulf, Pakistan, Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

“I’ve been lucky, I’ve covered almost every major story in the last 41/2 years,” he said. “You’re on the front row of history. I’ve seen history take place. Being able to witness that, it’s a dream job, really.”

In December 2005 Housley was one of a few reporters selected to witness the execution of Stanley “Tookie” Williams at San Quentin State Prison.

“How do you explain watching somebody die? It was like nothing I could have prepared myself for. It just wasn’t what I expected. It was as if he came in, he laid down and went to sleep. I think a lot of the people that supported ‘Tookie’ Williams kind of looked past the victim’s families and some of the things that they had to deal with. It’s something that I’ll always remember,” said Housley.

“But to be honest with you, it wasn’t as hard as covering the tsunami. Here’s a man who was convicted of killing people being put to death. It was a difficult story. But compare that with several hundred thousand innocent people who died in a matter of seconds.”

While at Fox, he has also reported on the Discovery Shuttle landing from Edwards Air Force Base and the trials of Scott Peterson, Michael Jackson, Robert Blake and Winona Ryder.

“I get a chance to cover all the stories around the world that are the biggest stories at the time. I get to meet and greet people that I would never have met before,” he said. “Fox News gave me that opportunity, and I work with some good people. I’ve been fortunate to cover some amazing stories and I’ve been fortunate to cover some stories that weren’t necessarily the most enjoyable stories to cover but were historical.”

He spent a week earlier this year in Managua, Nicaragua doing an exclusive interview with Sandanista leader Daniel Ortega.

“He was a very nice man,” said Housley, 34. “I don’t agree with his politics. I didn’t go down there to do a hit piece. I went down there to do a fair piece.”

Housley stays in Santa Monica most of the year and has a home in the Green Valley area of Solano County, but he isn’t home much.

He’s been to 12 countries and in the last two years has traveled extensively.

“As a kid, Adam wanted to win, no matter what it was,” said Art Housley.

“If he missed a goal playing soccer he was upset with himself. He’s always been really competitive, so when he goes out there for the story, he wants the story. He hustles.”

Sports a big part of his life

Housley was a three-sport athlete (soccer, football, baseball) at Vintage, and he had success in summer-time baseball, earning Junior Olympic All-America honors for the Napa Senators and All-State as a Joe DiMaggio League player.

He was originally a walk-on at Pepperdine, going 4-1 with a 3.45 ERA in 16 games as a reliever for the Waves’ 1992 CWS title team.

Pepperdine beat four straight opponents — Wichita State, Texas and Cal State Fullerton — to win the title.

For his collegiate career, he was 8-5 with a 2.80 ERA with four saves in 49 games. He’s a member of the Pepperdine Sports Hall of Fame and was nominated by the school for Rhodes Scholar recognition.

Housley played two summers in the Cape Cod League, one of the top leagues for collegiate players. He was drafted in the 62nd round by the Expos in ’92, but elected to return for his senior year of college. He was student body president at Pepperdine.

Detroit signed him as a free agent, and after two years in the minors he was signed by Milwaukee and played two more years in that organization.