Aside from the obvious correlations that one might draw between the King of Pop and Alfred James Pacino (both in showbiz, both have millions of fans, both have millions of dollars); their ability to inspire a baseball team to go on a 10 game win streak and turn around a struggling season is often over looked.
It all began June 25, 2009, the day Michael Jackson died. (May he eternally rest in piece) The Saltdogs were assembling in the clubhouse around 3pm getting ready for a typical day and another game. The team had been struggling to win games in the first half and needed something to jump start the team. After batting practice, the team returned to clubhouse and saw that MJ had indeed suffered a cardiac arrest and died. Many of the guys felt that it would be appropriate to honor Michael by substituting their intro-songs (music played as a batter walks to the plate) with one of his many hits. The entire starting lineup agreed and as the starting pitcher took the mound to start his first warm up pitches, "Billy Jean" began playing over the loud speakers. To be in the clubhouse and in the dugout, one could feel a little extra spark in all the players' eyes and an extra hop in their step.
Al Pacino's role in this story technically began few days before Michael's death. The movie "Any Given Sunday" stars Jamie Foxx, Cameron Diaz, TO has a small part, and of course Al Pacino as the fiery head coach Tony D'Amato. In the movie, D'Amato gives one of the most passionate, inspirational, and all together awesome pre-game speeches in cinema history (apologies to Russel in "Miracle" and Hackman in"Hoosiers"). To truly understand the power behind this speech, take 5 minutes and check out the youtube link to this piece of motion picture perfection. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WO4tIrjBDkk . As fate would have it, one our starting pitchers happened to have the audio version of this speech on his ipod, and began playing it before each of games, starting a few days before the day Michael died.
For some reason; a reason that this Saltdog can't quite explain, the combination of the energy provided by hits of Michael Jackson and the power of Pacino's speech, the Saltdogs starting winning ball games. Close games, blow outs, it didn't matter. Even more amazing, the day that Michael died, our starting pitcher threw a no-hitter! We proceeded to win 10 games in a row and have been playing inspired baseball every since. Over the next 3 weeks, we listened to the speech every game around 6:30pm just before guys would begin the warm up to start the game. At the conclusion of every speech, the Saltdogs grew more and more animated and more and more "fired up." We also continued to listen to "Dirty Diana," "Man in the Mirror," and other MJ Specials.
Truth be told, the Pacino speech has tapered off a bit as the season keeps trudging along. Interestingly though, MJ songs thrive on as we close in on the last month of the season. The Saltdogs keep playing good baseball, although we haven' won every game.
If there were a way to write down a formula that had the same effect as the Pacino-Jackson Phenomena, it would sell for millions. Every coach from little league to the big leagues, and peewee football to the NFL (and any other sport) would use that formula. Coaches constantly look for ways to keep their players fired up and inspire them to play at a level that might be beyond the sum of their individual parts. I feel this Emergence Theory is many times the differences between a team the wallows in mediocrity or finds a way to make a change for the better and increase its ability to perform. In actuality, the fact their is no one way to achieve this goal is one of the many things that makes team sports so amazing. The millions of intricacies that make up "team chemistry" will always be the second piece to the puzzle that combines with raw talent to make a winning team.
The Saltdogs can thank Michael Jackson and Al Pacino for that piece.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Delayed Dreams
Until recently, I haven't had much time or desire to keep up with the blog. A lot of that has to do with the continuing ebb and flow of the career of a minor league baseball player. To get my readers up to speed, I am engaged, I am not long with Diamondbacks and I am currently playing independent professional baseball for the Lincoln Saltdogs. Also, after changing my mechanics to allow to throw from two distinct arm slots (over the type and side arm) I was off to solid start for the 'Dogs. All of this in a determined attempt to be signed by a different affiliated pro team. However, I was pitching for the fourth time in five days when I threw a pitch and strained my lat muscle on my left side. This injury occured a little over 3 weeks ago. It has truly been a test of patience. Something I firmly believe God has allowed me to experience to precipitate my growth spirtually as well as in over all maturity. I am slated to be activated in four days or so. Assuming there are roster spots available and all goes according to plan, I cannot wait to taste and feel the mound again. I've been diligent with my rehab and am happy to report my last bullpen felt great. Now its a matter of ironing out the mechanical 'kinks' and start contributing to the team again.
We are on a massively long road trip that took us from Lincoln to Fort Worth, TX two days ago that took 11 hours . Tonite after the game, we bus 12 hours to Pensacola, FL. After three games there have to bus 20 hours back north to Lincoln. If you're scoring at home, thats 53 hours of driving in a week. In the words of Bob Seger (whom I think should have been a ball player) "There I go. On the road again, There I go. Up on the Stage." The silver lining is upon my return from this journey, I will be picking up my fiancee from the Omaha airport and will have her with me in Lincoln for the next week.
So my dreams are taking a different than expect path. Being on the DL certainly delays them a bit. Nevertheless, I remain faithful to the plan that God has for me, whatever that may be.
Until Next Time....(Which won't take 9 months, I promise).
We are on a massively long road trip that took us from Lincoln to Fort Worth, TX two days ago that took 11 hours . Tonite after the game, we bus 12 hours to Pensacola, FL. After three games there have to bus 20 hours back north to Lincoln. If you're scoring at home, thats 53 hours of driving in a week. In the words of Bob Seger (whom I think should have been a ball player) "There I go. On the road again, There I go. Up on the Stage." The silver lining is upon my return from this journey, I will be picking up my fiancee from the Omaha airport and will have her with me in Lincoln for the next week.
So my dreams are taking a different than expect path. Being on the DL certainly delays them a bit. Nevertheless, I remain faithful to the plan that God has for me, whatever that may be.
Until Next Time....(Which won't take 9 months, I promise).
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Aug. 23, 2008 - Day ????? - Fayed Up
So its been forever since I've posted. More has happened in the last 2 months than can be appropriately summarized here. Its been more of the same roller coaster ride this year for me and the team. To make a long story short, there are 9 games left in the season and we are stranded in Mississippi waiting for Faye to pass through. We rained out last night and probably tonight as well. My girlfriend barely got out of Pensacola International yesterday, but she's home safe. She came to visit for 16 days including a road trip to Carolina (14 hour bus ride for me = 3 hour plane trip for her). Seeing her certainly made the DOG days of summer flow a little easier. This time of year is always tough for ball players. We've played over 100 games and every day is a bit of a struggle to stay focused and stayed amped for each new game. To make matters tougher, the end of the year is where you want to finish strong and get your stats in as good as shape as possible to carry you with some momentum into the offseason and next spring training.
For me personally, I've pitching with a new lower arm slot in an effort to become more deceptive and hopefully more effective. It seems to going well as I've noticed better movement and overall better results after the initial adjustment period. All in the name of getting to the next level and the big leagues. They say AA is the great separator. You have to prove you can pitch here to move on. There have been plenty of times this season where I've done that, but there have been other stretches where I have struggled. I feel strongly that if this adjustment continues to prove successful, it will do a lot to give me a chance to continue to move up next year.
I've also been scrambling to find offseason work. My employer last year (a painting sub contractor) informed me last month that business wasn't good enough to take me back on this offseason. However, I feel that may be a blessing in disguise because even though the money was good, it was back breaking work. I have decided instead to take an easier day job, most likely at the Nike Outlet I worked at during college. However, I've also decided plunge head first into my private pitching lessons which has the potential to truly prove more profitable than anything else. Not only that, I love teaching the lessons and it doesn't seem much like work to me.
I'm also busy wrapping up the loose ends with bills and moving out of the apartment. I have a great TV and coach/recliner set listed on Craigslist as we speak. More stuff to deal with just like any other minor leaguer.
But all that is getting ahead of myself. I will likely pitch a few more times and that happens to be the only thing that really counts. The other relievers and I joke that its not really August, but instead its April and we have a whole season ahead of us. Just an attempt to trick outselves into mid season focus and form.
Finishing strong and then returning to a slightly more normal life with the girlfriend and whatnot back at home....thats the goal for now.
Until Next Time
For me personally, I've pitching with a new lower arm slot in an effort to become more deceptive and hopefully more effective. It seems to going well as I've noticed better movement and overall better results after the initial adjustment period. All in the name of getting to the next level and the big leagues. They say AA is the great separator. You have to prove you can pitch here to move on. There have been plenty of times this season where I've done that, but there have been other stretches where I have struggled. I feel strongly that if this adjustment continues to prove successful, it will do a lot to give me a chance to continue to move up next year.
I've also been scrambling to find offseason work. My employer last year (a painting sub contractor) informed me last month that business wasn't good enough to take me back on this offseason. However, I feel that may be a blessing in disguise because even though the money was good, it was back breaking work. I have decided instead to take an easier day job, most likely at the Nike Outlet I worked at during college. However, I've also decided plunge head first into my private pitching lessons which has the potential to truly prove more profitable than anything else. Not only that, I love teaching the lessons and it doesn't seem much like work to me.
I'm also busy wrapping up the loose ends with bills and moving out of the apartment. I have a great TV and coach/recliner set listed on Craigslist as we speak. More stuff to deal with just like any other minor leaguer.
But all that is getting ahead of myself. I will likely pitch a few more times and that happens to be the only thing that really counts. The other relievers and I joke that its not really August, but instead its April and we have a whole season ahead of us. Just an attempt to trick outselves into mid season focus and form.
Finishing strong and then returning to a slightly more normal life with the girlfriend and whatnot back at home....thats the goal for now.
Until Next Time
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
June 4, 2008 (Day 129) - Rain Delays
I hope thus far this blog has provided my readers with an insight into what its like to be a professional baseball player in the minor leagues. Today's entry should help to add further insight into the nuances of baseball's every day life. We were most recently in Jacksonville, FL which is incidentally a beautiful city. We stayed in a Hyatt Hotel right on the St. John's river (which is, FYI, the only river in the US that runs South to North). The hotel and surrounding area were gorgeous. Within walking distance was the Jacksonville Landing, boasting live music and multiple bars, clubs and restaurants, it wasn't difficult to find something to do before and after games. My favorite was dining on the patio of American Grille and watching the boaters dock their 75ft Sea Rays and join the rest of us for a meal.
With summer setting in in the South, the humid is rapidly on the rise. And with humidity comes some mean thunderstorms. The second to last day of our trip began as any other. We got to the field and changed in our BP jerseys and got ready for stretch. When we were first out side, the sun beat down as hot as ever but there some very dark, very ominous clouds beginning to loom over head. After stretch and about half-way through our pitchers throwing routine, the rain drops and lightning began. Intermittent at first and then more rapidly as the Jacksonville Suns prepared for Batting Practice. About the same time, the pitchers (myself included) had begun our conditioning portion of the program. About that time, the heavens began to open up. The Suns quickly vacated the field to allow the field crew to put on the tarp. Meanwhile, the rest of the pitchers finished up their running and went in. I had thrown the night before and therefore had to run slightly longer than average. What that meant is that I was running in the midst of lighting and hard rain. If their had been film rolling, we could have sold that scene to Hollywood.
Once I got back inside and dried off, I changed into my sandals shorts and t-shirt because we were officially in the midst of one of baseball best and worst features, the rain delay. Luckily for me, one of my teammates had befriended one of the field crew guys the day before and he had mentioned they were going to play Rock Band on the PS3 if the rain came. Well, sure enough, me, and two of my teammates slipped off to the field crews locker room and there they were, 2 guitars, drums and a mic all hooked up and rocking out to a Nirvana song. It wasn't long before the 3 of us were jamming to More than a Feeling. The head field crewman's only request was that we sign his door so he could have a memento of those who had jammed with him and his crew. After about a half hour of this, my teammates and I returned to the club house and then I decided to head to the dugout where about 10 of my teammates were literally just sitting on the bench watching the rain. Talking about anything from the oil crisis and the war in iraq, to the new Indian Jones movie, killing time has become an art form for us.
Back in the clubhouse, our team trainer had the radar from weather.com up and running and we could see the sky beginning to clear. I spent the last half hour getting my game uniform together and listening to my ipod and eating a pregame spread. At about 745, the first pitch was thrown after about a 2 hour rain delay.
So in review, I played Rock Band, watched the rain from the dugout, listened to my ipod and ate food to kill about 2 hours. No one recipe is correct as long as you can remain sane.
The team won that game, but we dropped 3 of 5 for the series. It made for a long bus trip home where we watched Tin Cup, For Love of the Game, and Mystery, Alaska, without pause until we made it home. We're playing better ball now, but still need to get over the hump and string a bunch of wins together.
With summer setting in in the South, the humid is rapidly on the rise. And with humidity comes some mean thunderstorms. The second to last day of our trip began as any other. We got to the field and changed in our BP jerseys and got ready for stretch. When we were first out side, the sun beat down as hot as ever but there some very dark, very ominous clouds beginning to loom over head. After stretch and about half-way through our pitchers throwing routine, the rain drops and lightning began. Intermittent at first and then more rapidly as the Jacksonville Suns prepared for Batting Practice. About the same time, the pitchers (myself included) had begun our conditioning portion of the program. About that time, the heavens began to open up. The Suns quickly vacated the field to allow the field crew to put on the tarp. Meanwhile, the rest of the pitchers finished up their running and went in. I had thrown the night before and therefore had to run slightly longer than average. What that meant is that I was running in the midst of lighting and hard rain. If their had been film rolling, we could have sold that scene to Hollywood.
Once I got back inside and dried off, I changed into my sandals shorts and t-shirt because we were officially in the midst of one of baseball best and worst features, the rain delay. Luckily for me, one of my teammates had befriended one of the field crew guys the day before and he had mentioned they were going to play Rock Band on the PS3 if the rain came. Well, sure enough, me, and two of my teammates slipped off to the field crews locker room and there they were, 2 guitars, drums and a mic all hooked up and rocking out to a Nirvana song. It wasn't long before the 3 of us were jamming to More than a Feeling. The head field crewman's only request was that we sign his door so he could have a memento of those who had jammed with him and his crew. After about a half hour of this, my teammates and I returned to the club house and then I decided to head to the dugout where about 10 of my teammates were literally just sitting on the bench watching the rain. Talking about anything from the oil crisis and the war in iraq, to the new Indian Jones movie, killing time has become an art form for us.
Back in the clubhouse, our team trainer had the radar from weather.com up and running and we could see the sky beginning to clear. I spent the last half hour getting my game uniform together and listening to my ipod and eating a pregame spread. At about 745, the first pitch was thrown after about a 2 hour rain delay.
So in review, I played Rock Band, watched the rain from the dugout, listened to my ipod and ate food to kill about 2 hours. No one recipe is correct as long as you can remain sane.
The team won that game, but we dropped 3 of 5 for the series. It made for a long bus trip home where we watched Tin Cup, For Love of the Game, and Mystery, Alaska, without pause until we made it home. We're playing better ball now, but still need to get over the hump and string a bunch of wins together.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
May 18, 2008 (Day 112) - The Beauty of Baseball
The title of this entry might be a little misleading. Although I do regard the game of baseball as a beautiful creation, a perfect balance of control and aggression, power and finesse, explosive instant gratification and slow burning satisfaction, it has its way reminding you just how fragile success can be. I mean this both from an individual and team aspect.
Since my last entry, I've had quite a roller coaster ride in terms of personal performance. My outing in Huntsville ended up with 5 runs over an inning and two thirds with possibly one hard hit ball to account for the damage along with 5 seeing eye singles. I've thrown 3 times since them with much better results. In a lot of ways, my past 2 weeks epitomize the life of a reliever. One tough outing may take weeks to undo, and that's only if you have no other slip ups along the way. The best thing one can do is remain positive and remain consistent in one's approach. The second you start stressing and second guessing your abilities is the second you start losing ground on the competition. I feel confident more and more that I can pitch successfully in this level and the next, but it requires a level of focus and execution that is elevated from previous levels of pro-ball. But personal struggles aside, our team is 3 for its last 13 and is currently on a 5 game slide. This type of run, as you may imagine, doesn't do much for a team's confidence. I've been on streaks like this before and its always the same situation. There is never one symptom that is the cause of the problem, rather a combination of poor execution on a variety of levels that keep victories just out of reach. The only blessing is that it is a long long season and even the struggles we are having now will not doom us yet. We still have plenty of time to "right the ship" and make a run to put us right back in playoff contention.
In other news, the girlfriend is coming in to town when I return from this current road trip for Memorial Day weekend. For whatever reason, the distance seems harder on her this year and the previous year. I'm think the time together here will certainly be beneficial to ease the stress. The rising gas prices (and plane tickets) are not making things any easier on our attempts to see each other though. It's just another tough reality of being a minor league ball player. We simply don't make enough to be buy plane tickets every month and still manage to break even, let along save any money. Its certainly a test of responsibility and self denial when you get your paycheck and basically must dedicate it all to bills. I'm not sure if its a produ`t of today's society or my personal selfishness, but I find it difficult save every last dime. To put it bluntly, sometimes I just want to spend some of the money I make on me. I guess at some point that is no longer a good excuse. That point is usually about the same time my credit card bill comes.
Time to tighten up. Another game in Jackson, Tennesee tomorrow.
Until next time...God Bless.
Since my last entry, I've had quite a roller coaster ride in terms of personal performance. My outing in Huntsville ended up with 5 runs over an inning and two thirds with possibly one hard hit ball to account for the damage along with 5 seeing eye singles. I've thrown 3 times since them with much better results. In a lot of ways, my past 2 weeks epitomize the life of a reliever. One tough outing may take weeks to undo, and that's only if you have no other slip ups along the way. The best thing one can do is remain positive and remain consistent in one's approach. The second you start stressing and second guessing your abilities is the second you start losing ground on the competition. I feel confident more and more that I can pitch successfully in this level and the next, but it requires a level of focus and execution that is elevated from previous levels of pro-ball. But personal struggles aside, our team is 3 for its last 13 and is currently on a 5 game slide. This type of run, as you may imagine, doesn't do much for a team's confidence. I've been on streaks like this before and its always the same situation. There is never one symptom that is the cause of the problem, rather a combination of poor execution on a variety of levels that keep victories just out of reach. The only blessing is that it is a long long season and even the struggles we are having now will not doom us yet. We still have plenty of time to "right the ship" and make a run to put us right back in playoff contention.
In other news, the girlfriend is coming in to town when I return from this current road trip for Memorial Day weekend. For whatever reason, the distance seems harder on her this year and the previous year. I'm think the time together here will certainly be beneficial to ease the stress. The rising gas prices (and plane tickets) are not making things any easier on our attempts to see each other though. It's just another tough reality of being a minor league ball player. We simply don't make enough to be buy plane tickets every month and still manage to break even, let along save any money. Its certainly a test of responsibility and self denial when you get your paycheck and basically must dedicate it all to bills. I'm not sure if its a produ`t of today's society or my personal selfishness, but I find it difficult save every last dime. To put it bluntly, sometimes I just want to spend some of the money I make on me. I guess at some point that is no longer a good excuse. That point is usually about the same time my credit card bill comes.
Time to tighten up. Another game in Jackson, Tennesee tomorrow.
Until next time...God Bless.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
May 4, 2008 (Day 99) - Hotels and Road Trips
I am currently sitting in a La Quinta hotel in Huntsville, AL. Its funny to think of the hundreds of hotels in hundreds of cities that I've stayed in since the beginning of my freshmen year of college. That was six years ago now and it feels like it was yesterday. I would have to say that 90% of them are identical. Their only differences coming in small variations in room design and whether or not they offer continental breakfast. They are all "OK" for a day or two but get very old after a long road trip. We are smack in the middle of a 10 day haul, having completed a series win in Birmingham earlier today. The La Quinta we are staying probably falls in the middle of that 90% of mediocrity. Plenty of places to eat around (which is huge) but not much for a morning breakfast and our room kinda smells like urine. It always bothers me a bit when I get used to the smell. I don't think urine is a smell I want to get used to.
Incidentally, the other 10% of hotels are like a treat and can make any road trip a little more bearable. There are always one or two a year that are awesome. The Sheridan in Norfolk, VA, Fun City in Burlington, Iowa, The Pruneyard in San Jose, CA are all top notch. We've yet to visit an upper echelon (sp?) hotel this year, but the older guys say there are a few places which are great. I am looking forward to those.
The team is still trying to find its groove. We play really well (pitching, hitting, and defense) for a game or two but then can't seem to put a team away. As I said, we won our last series 3 games to 2 which is definitely a plus. However, we were up 2 games to none and then didn't win again until the end of the series. As soon as we start putting a few games together where we score early and maintain solid pitching and defense, we will be very tough to beat. I've thrown once this trip so far. Didn't give up any of my own runs, but gave up a foul ball that the ump called fair that scored 3 of my starters runs. As a reliever, I take pride in maintaining the score when I get in the game. I couldn't do much about the bum call by the ump, but its frustrating none the less. I will likely throw tomorrow or the next day in this series.
Other than baseball, I am looking forward to seeing my parents in June when they come to Tennessee (Knoxville) to see me play and to seeing my girlfriend when she comes to visit over Memorial Day. The distance is wearing on us both some this year. I am not sure if its because the honeymoon is over or because we both are tired of being apart, but its been tougher this year on both of us. I've come to understand that times like these are trying and its getting through these things that make you stronger as a couple. I also feel it necessary to deal with these things now instead of trying to avoid them and sugar coat them. Again, I think it will benefit us both in the long run. Either way, Memorial Day can't come soon enough.
Until Next Time.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Apr. 22, 2008 (Day 87) - Ran out of P words
The team is now on its second road trip of the year, this time to Chattanooga, TN. There's not a ton of new information to report. The focus of the last week or so has been to get in a groove as best as possible. The most significant portion of this road trip has been how we got to Chattanooga. Our last game at home ended in 11 innings to West Tenn. After the game, we ate dinner at the park, showered and loaded the bus up for the trip. About an hour and a half after the game ended, we were on our way to Tennessee. Being a low guy on the totem poll (senioritywise) I had to share a sheet with our shortstop, and it was looking like it was going to be long overnight ride. Fortunately, four of my teammates decide they wanted to play cards at the card table in the back, opening up a seat for me to try and sleep in. Well, they managed to play cards for the entire over-night bus trip. By the time we pulled into the Chattanooga hotel, I had 6 hours of restless sleep (which isn't really sleep at all) in my own sleep, and the four guys who were playing cards (mostly hearts and euker) were delirious from lack of sleep. We leave for home after tomorrows early game, so I doubt the same situation will occur. This means I will be doubling up on the trip home.
We're playing decent baseball as of late, but can't seem to string together a long win streak yet. We are second in the division and need to get on a roll to take control of the division. I've been happy with how my season has gone so far, but really just hope to continue the same way over the course of the long season.
It's also been neat to see the guys who are attending baseball chapel on Sunday (basically church for ball players). What is ironic to see the new faces and the same guys from last year meet for "church." Some guys that are going this year, didn't go last year. I hope this means God has been working on their hearts some. I also hope I will see more ways to reach out to them if the opportunity presents itself.
I am looking forward to getting back home and getting to relax in my apartment, instead of a hotel. We also have an off day coming up, I am hoping to find something to do. Lots of guys play golf - which I don't. So I need to find a beach or something (perhaps Pensacola again) to go where I can kill some time.
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