The middle of March means that I am smack in the middle of spring training. I've had an oppurtunity to pitch against competition twice. My first apperance went great against AA competition. I was confident and executed my game plan the way I wanted to. This was approx. 10 days ago. In the days that followed, I was given the oppurtunity to be in the bullpen for 2 big league spring training games. Many times, minor leaguers are sent with the big league team to "back up" the schedule pitchers in case one of them gets in trouble. I wasn't fortunate to get into either game, but the chance to rub shoulders with the guys that are already where I want to be is almost as valuable. Unfortunately, this pushed my next apperance in actual game back almost a full week. For a pitcher, it is necessary to be able to adjust to changes in the daily routine. In my case this time, I fel t a bit rusty on the mound as well as apprehensive because I was pitching in the AAA game. It didn't go quite as well as my first outting, but there were still some positives to be taken. Although I gave up a few runs, I minimized the damaged and made an adjustment during the inning to correct the problems I was experiencing. This was 2 days ago and I will get another apperance tomorrow in the AA game. I am excited to throw again, but also looking forward to having a better outting this time. Of course, if the outting isn't perfect, it won't be the end of the world. It is, after all, spring training and an opportunity to work on things to get better. None the less, I am competitive and ready to go after the hitters I face.
On another note, my boss from the painting company back home came out to AZ to watch me play some. It was a welcome break from the repitition and "groundhogs day feel" of spring training even if it meant adjusting my routine for a few days. I guess its a bit of a catch 22. While its nice to get a chance to see a familiar face and get out of the hotel for a while, it requires a little extra effort to accomodate some one else for a bit.
Another minor inconsistency has been the failure of my equipment company and agent of getting my equipment to me in a timely fashion. In fact, I still don't have any of the stuff I ordered. I don't know what exactly the hold up is, but it has become a bit of an extra concern that all of the equipment I was supposed to have waiting for me by the beginning of spring training has not yet shown. I've been using stuff that I brought myself from home. Despite this being the case, I've refuse to allow it to bother me much because I still have the responsibility to pitch whether or not I have new equipment.
There's less than 2 weeks left in Spring Training. I and everyone else will know where they will be playing baseball this season by March 29th.
Stay tuned.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Mar. 7, 2008 (Day 42) - Pushing Westward
I've been in Tucson now for 4 days, which obviously means that I made it successfully across the country by car. The following are the highlights from my 3 days of driving.
Day 1 -
- Route 81 near Blacksburg was stopped for 1/2 hour because a tractor trailer ran completely off the road and was hanging off a cliff.
- I ate at a Famous Dave's (per my Dad's recommendation) outside of Nashville.
- I met some my Lambda Chi fraternity brothers in Memphis and stayed at their house for the night. I had to use our secret handshake to prove I was a brother.
Day 2-
-I crossed both the Tennessee and Mississippi River.
- Contacted a teammate who was also on the road and ended up being within an hour of each other on I-20.
-Made it to Van Horn, TX (1.5 hrs east of El Paso) and split a hotel with my teammate, the Days Inn (temp. 70)
- Woke up in Van Horne to snow and 35 degree weather.
Day -3
- Visited the City of Rocks in New Mexico. It was exactly was it sounds...a huge cluster of boulders that looks like a city.
- Tried to visit the Kurtchner Caverns in AZ but was too late to get a reservation on any of the tours.
-I made it to Tucson and dropped my stuff off after 8 hours of driving on day three and spent the night at a teammates apartment.
So that was my cross-country trip in a nutshell. Spring training has gotten off to a decent start. We've done lots of preparation for defense and hitting. As far as pitching goes, they split us up into 4 teams depending on your experience level. Within those 4 teams, they split all the pitchers into A or B groups. Every other day A's will throw a bullpen and vice versa for the B's. I've thrown one bullpen so far and it went well enough. I would have liked to have located my pitches a little better, but I try not put too much emphasis on the first bullpen of the spring. I will throw another tomorrow.
The hardest part about the first week of spring training is getting your "baseball legs" underneath you. Just wearing spikes for hours at a time and then doing running is enough to wear you out. I paid a visit to the hot/cold contrast tubs today to help wake the legs up. All of the position players start their first day tomorrow. What this means is that our days will gradually get longer until we start at 8ish and don't finish till about 3.
I got to go to bible study for the first time yesterday as well. There was quite a turn out and its always exciting to see some of my peers show interest in Christ the way I do. I am always taken back slightly when I hear what big leaguers have to say about how they believe in God. Its certainly refreshing to know that no how famous or common, we all worship the same God.
Day 1 -
- Route 81 near Blacksburg was stopped for 1/2 hour because a tractor trailer ran completely off the road and was hanging off a cliff.
- I ate at a Famous Dave's (per my Dad's recommendation) outside of Nashville.
- I met some my Lambda Chi fraternity brothers in Memphis and stayed at their house for the night. I had to use our secret handshake to prove I was a brother.
Day 2-
-I crossed both the Tennessee and Mississippi River.
- Contacted a teammate who was also on the road and ended up being within an hour of each other on I-20.
-Made it to Van Horn, TX (1.5 hrs east of El Paso) and split a hotel with my teammate, the Days Inn (temp. 70)
- Woke up in Van Horne to snow and 35 degree weather.
Day -3
- Visited the City of Rocks in New Mexico. It was exactly was it sounds...a huge cluster of boulders that looks like a city.
- Tried to visit the Kurtchner Caverns in AZ but was too late to get a reservation on any of the tours.
-I made it to Tucson and dropped my stuff off after 8 hours of driving on day three and spent the night at a teammates apartment.
So that was my cross-country trip in a nutshell. Spring training has gotten off to a decent start. We've done lots of preparation for defense and hitting. As far as pitching goes, they split us up into 4 teams depending on your experience level. Within those 4 teams, they split all the pitchers into A or B groups. Every other day A's will throw a bullpen and vice versa for the B's. I've thrown one bullpen so far and it went well enough. I would have liked to have located my pitches a little better, but I try not put too much emphasis on the first bullpen of the spring. I will throw another tomorrow.
The hardest part about the first week of spring training is getting your "baseball legs" underneath you. Just wearing spikes for hours at a time and then doing running is enough to wear you out. I paid a visit to the hot/cold contrast tubs today to help wake the legs up. All of the position players start their first day tomorrow. What this means is that our days will gradually get longer until we start at 8ish and don't finish till about 3.
I got to go to bible study for the first time yesterday as well. There was quite a turn out and its always exciting to see some of my peers show interest in Christ the way I do. I am always taken back slightly when I hear what big leaguers have to say about how they believe in God. Its certainly refreshing to know that no how famous or common, we all worship the same God.
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