We are in the Championship. This is what we have been waiting for all season. I am getting antsy to get this thing started. We will face Potomac (Nationals) tonight in Game 1 in another best of 5 series. We have had 2 off days in a row after sweeping the first round of the playoffs against Kinston. Game 3 showed what this team is all about. We went down 5-4 and scratched across a run in the 9th on a 2 out single by Jon Gilmore, against a closer who was 30-33 in save opportunities...sorry about it. Then we grinded it out another 4 innings and scored 5 in the 13th to put it away (Axelrod was coaching 1st base this inning). It was a great win for us and just reinforced our resilience and the toughness of this team.

Yesterday we had a short workout at the field and met an Admiral who was in command of the USS Enterprise during 9/11 who coordinated the ensuing retaliation in Afghanistan. He talked to us for a bit about that experience and also how baseball was a joy and release for him during that time and how we do the same for the fans that follow us. These are things that are easy to lose sight of being players and being so close to the game.

I have game 2 again here at home. I can't wait to get this thing started tonight, time for team Beastmode.

"Nothin' to it but to do it"
-Ronnie Coleman

The regular season is over. Now its playoff time and we are a confident team. We won 12 of our last 16 and we celebrated winning the 2nd half title on Sunday. We did something very hard and won both halves of the regular season. We celebrated Sunday at Salem, Va after our game in the clubhouse. Best riot of the year for sure, complete with campaign getting sprayed everywhere, coolers of water being dumped over heads and Ke$ha bumping on the stereo...classic.

I pitched well last start and have gotten a week to rest here before playoffs. We are playing the Kinston Indians who also come in hot. They have some very good pitching so we will just have to match them. Here is a short preview of the series: http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100906&content_id=14352256&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Ol' Corley just hit you all with some truth.

I will start game 2 and am really looking forward to getting after it. Tonight I will have the honor of receiving Dash pitcher of the year, its a great honor with all other pitchers who have been here. Bottom line is we are all pumped to get out there and take this thing and get a ring. Beastmode time.

As some of you may know or have heard, baseball players can be a little weird. It seems like the longer you play this game the more eccentric and strange you and everyone else gets...here is the definition...This is a great interview of Brian Wilson the Giants closer. Gotta love it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yf0j1rmZVbM

1 week left in the regular season. The anticipation for the playoffs has arrived. We still have some meaningful games left which effect the playoff picture. We are already in but other teams are battling to get in like Salem (Red Sox) who we have 5 more games against next series.

Right now we are at home starting a series against Lynchburg (Reds) today. Yesterday we had a much needed off day, the first one in something like 29 days. We just got done sweeping Myrtle Beach, Sunday we had a walkoff win at home which set off yet another "riot" in the clubhouse. This time it was complete with music from Three Days Grace's song "Let's Start a Riot." Go figure. It was a solid riot though, some quality chair banging, couch flipping, chair throwing, and table flipping. No card throwing this time, we always seem to lose the cards which puts a big damper on pregame routines of passoy and casino.

After a week off to set things up for playoffs better, I will start tomorrow. My previous start last week was at Lynchburg where I went all 7 in the 1st game of a double header...so that goes down as a CG in the stat book, I'll take it but one of these days I want to go all 9 and really earn it.

Also, I just got some good news that I am going to "Instructs" a.k.a instructional league. This is a great thing for me because it shows people like what I am doing and it feels good to be recognized for it and to continue play after the season is over. So I will be back in Phoenix starting Sept 19 for around a month.


Go hard and finish strong.

Back home for 4 against Salem (Red Sox) then we hit the road for 7 games. We are in the middle of a long stretch, I think 29 straight days with games. We did have a couple rainouts a little while ago that helped ease this stretch but its definitely a grind.

I was very happy with my last outing, continued to pitch well. I have complete confidence in what I am doing and everything feels great. I pitch again tomorrow here at home.

I feel great and the body is feeling fresh. One thing I do with a couple other starting pitchers to recover is jumping in the hot and cold tubs. We affectionately call them "spa days." We go 2 minutes in a 105 degree tub, then 2 minutes in a 60 degree tub and switch every 2 minutes for a total of 20 minutes. I don't know the exact science behind it, but I always feel great after getting done. The first time in the cold tub always takes your breath away because you start in the hot tub and so the first time is pretty shocking.


"Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment"
Jim Rohn

In beautiful Wilmington, Delaware for a 4 game series against the Blue Rocks (Royals). It's ok though because my biggest problem right now is hoping that my milk stays cold enough. This fridge in the hotel room is pretty weak.



This is the stretch run of the season, we only have about 3 weeks left before playoffs. August always seems to fly by really quick because the end of the season is right there staring you in the face.



My last start was the best of my season, probably my career. I went 8 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 0BB and I think 4 K's. I only threw 89 pitches. I felt absolutely in control the whole game. In my start tomorrow my goal is just to go out there and take control of the game and attack those guys. I am really trying to finish up strong and just keep goin hard.

I never look at my own stats, but I always check up on my college teammates from UCI and other buddies I have in Pro Ball. Lots of Anteaters are doin well in pro-ball, its great to see. Also lots of guys who work out at P3 are having great seasons, really good to see.

Tonight we are using all the Kangaroo Court money to buy ourselves a good post game spread. I think I ended up contributing like $10 in fines.....whateeeev.

FINISH STRONG!

All endeavor calls for the ability to tramp the last mile, shape the last plan, endure the last hours toil. The fight to the finish spirit is the one... characteristic we must posses if we are to face the future as finishers
--Henry David Thoreau

We are now in the midst of a 7 game home stand back in Winston. I think we all enjoy being being back here for extended periods like this, its a lot easier to relax and just chill a little bit. We play Frederick (Orioles) the next 4 games and then back on the road to I don't know where. I tend not to look ahead to where we go next until a day or 2 before hand, it adds a little surprise element to it.

I pitched well last start against Myrtle Beach, I had my best velocity all year and had good command down in the zone. Really its no secret how to pitch well. If you can locate down in the zone, things usually will turn out all right. My arm strength is getting better now, I have gone deep into the game my last 2 starts. I have cut out "sides" (a.k.a bullpens or throwing off the mound for any baseball illiterates haha) in between starts and longtoss instead. I feel like this has 2 advantages. First I get a little extra rest and recovery and second I can build arm strength by longtossing on my "day 2"(2 days after my start) which would normally be a side day.

I start tomorrow against Frederick, my goal is to go deep into the game again and be the domination station.

Reports from SB is that Fiesta is going on. Man I miss that, not much quality Mexican food in these parts....like zero. I used to love the one at Mackenzie park as a kid. We felt like we owned the place because we played ball on those fields...good times.

I had a birthday recently, here is what came to mind:

You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, "See if you can blow this out"
--Jerry Seinfeld

*Of course this never happened to me because I don't eat cake.............

We are in Myrtle Beach this weekend , maybe the tourist capital of the world. Our game got rained out yesterday, so we have a double header today, I pitch tomorrow. My last start went well, I got lots of groundballs and was economical enough to go 7 strong innings. My last post stirred up some talk with a couple of my teammates.

Seth Loman now asks me everyday "axe you hot? you tired?" Seth's main interests include: bad movies, mma, having big-league hair, and snuggies. Another teamate, Jon Gilmore also likes the blog. Gily enjoys smashing baseballs, watching intense weight training videos on youtube, drinking gallons of milk daily, and being a heartthrob for 13 year old girls.

I am getting hungry, probably gonna go hit up Joe's Crab Shack in a little bit. Here are some of those killer youtube vids to get you PUMPED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpqksKiImCk&feature=related
-last 10 seconds are priceless

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6mRbQG-PL4

In my last post I wrote that the days are going fast now...after a 23 day hiatus I am giving ya'll (my new southern slang) an update. As the temperature rises in July and August, I am doing all I can do for my body to function at a high level. Honostly, it would be super easy to get lazy with my nutriiton, weight training and mobility, sleep, and overall well-being. Sometimes you have no other options than to succomb to the visiting clubbies spread before and after games, but I do all that I can to be aware of how my body is doing.

Besides that, it is easy to stay up late and waste time. Believe it or not, it is hard to go to sleep right away after a 10 hour day of being in 100 degree humid weather. It is especially hard after an intense game or after I pitch when the game runs through my head over and over and over. I have tried to wake up around the same time every day, Usually in the 915, 930 range unless we are getting in from a road trip and I dont get to bed until the early morning.

This is the time of year that I love. I love it because everybody else hates it. This is when I resolve to seperate myself and finish strong. I have learned to never say things like "I'm hot" or "I'm tired." It enforces that thought into your subcouncious and the subconcious of those around you.

I will finish this blog strong too, I will post more often! sorry Grams!

Again the days have gone by quickly, this time of year that's what seems to happen. The first have of the season seems so long and then the last couple months zoom by. I am now back in Winston-Salem after having 2 starts in AA. One of the pitchers there came off the DL. I knew going in that they had lots of guys on the DL and I might only be there for a little bit, so its not like I'm shook up or nothin. I did really well in my last start against Chattanooga (Dodgers). We played there for 6 games, they are a pretty loaded team. I went 6 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 BB, 5k. I felt good about it because I just attacked them and mixed my pitches well.

The coaches there were really pleased with what I can do and hopefully I will be back up there this year. So after moving into an apartment and getting all that set up, I drove back to Winston haha. This can be a tough deal, you never really know whats going on. Players get moved quickly and you never get too comfortable in one place. Im lucky because I get to stay with family here so it was easy to come back and have a place to go to right away.

So im back wearing that purple...I will be starting Saturday at Lynchburg (Reds), Virginia. Im just looking forward to gettin back on the hill and goin hard...doin what i do.

“Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing that we see too late the one that is open.”
-Alexander Graham Bell

"Depreciate every so-called obsticle. Minimize them...Make a true estimate of your own ability, then raise it 10 percent. Do not become egotistical but develop a wholesome self-respect"
-Norman Vincent Peale

The last week has gone by real quick. Last Wednesday I was moved up to the AA Birmingham Barons. I drove the 7 hours from Winston to here on Thursday. I definitely did not sleep much that night because of Game 7 of the NBA finals and all the packing I had to do for the early morning departure. We all watched the game in the Dash clubhouse after our game and it was a blast. We had all the Latinos in there goin nuts whistling and everyone talking smack to each other, it was awesome. When the Lakers won all the Lake Show fans jumped around in a circle like we would for a walkoff homerun celebration at home plate.

So all told it was a great day, the Lakers won and I got promoted. I started last Sunday against the Jacksonville Suns (Marlins) and went 4 innings giving up 2 runs. I felt like I pitched like crap and my mindset sucked. I got it out of the way though and now I will settle in. I pitched the Sunday day game so it was a little bit warm out there and I was on 3 days rest from my last start. However I pitched away from contact and was trying to be too fine with my pitches. The 4th inning I said something like "screw it" and just went out there and got pissed off and had my only clean inning with 2 strikeouts. I really need to take that mentality every time out and just attack hitters like I do and limit my pitch count so I can get deep into games.

We are the road now for 6 games against the Chattanooga Lookouts (Dodgers). I don't know why but they play a lot of long series in the Southern League. In most leagues you play 3 or 4 game series, but here its 5 games a lot of times. I will start again on Saturday.

One of the perks of AA is you get some more perks. Like you don't carry your baseball bag to the bus or take it off. On the road, the bus takes all our stuff to the field and the road clubbies unload it and put it all away for you in your locker. They also clean your spikes after the game. Drawback is you pay more in clubhouse dues its like $11-12 per day plus tip at the end. The food spread is similar probably a little better. Last night we had ribs, mashed potatoes and beans.

So I'm gonna do my best to make the most of this opportunity and just keep goin hard. The hay is in the barn as Coach Serrano would say. Now its time to let it work for me.

Read Philippians 4:13. repeat it 10 times a day