MB

Ya so we are concluding our 4 game series against Myrtle Beach today. We have lost 2 of 3 so we will try to even the series today and go into playoffs on a win. Also we are tied with Salem for 1st place in the second half with 1 game left to play.

We are staying at a nice hotel right near this big tourist scene called Broadway at the Beach. There are a bunch of shops, restaurants, and clubs surrounding this man made lake. Right on the other side is the baseball field. Apparently the beach is like a mile away but I didn't go. I figure I will be at the beach soon enough, plus who wants to see the Atlantic Ocean?

I start game 4 of the playoffs which will be at the Salem Red Sox place. I might throw in relief today so I get some game action before my start.

These pillows on my hotel bed are amazing, I have 4 of them and they are legit. I'm gonna bury my head in all of them at the same time right now.

Words of Wisdom: "The most powerful life is the most simple life. The most powerful life is the life that knows where its going, that knows where the source of its strength is, and the life that stays free of clutter and happenstance and hurriedness."
--Max Lucado

9/2/09 Keep it simple

Not much to report after I last wrote. It is now September which is cool literally. It was like 65 degrees last night, I was actually cold. I had to wear my jacket out there. I bet when I go back home to SB I will be cold too.

Yesterday I found a Whole Foods Market over in Winston. Best place ever! I heard they are moving in to where Circuit City was on Hitchcock in SB. Im gonna probably live there.

I did ok, got through 5 innings with 1 run against Lynchberg. I pitch tomarrow against Salem, the Red Sox affiliate at home.

After this we go to Mrytle Beach Fri, Sat, Sun. From what I hear its a pretty fun place.

Last post I was talking about the clubbies. My buddy Ben Orloff sent me a link with some great songs by to ex-players. They just talk about what its like in the Minor leagues. One song is about clubbies...."Wheres the Scrubbing Bubbles? I need to clean my shoes."
Classic stuff if you have time check it out www.myspace.com/stacheandhawk

Words of Wisdom (simply): Keep it simple

Update

Just sitting in the living room of my aunt/uncles house watching Borat of all things. We are back in Winston-Salem after a 7 day, 8 game road trip. It seemed like we were gone 2 weeks it was a long trip. We went to Lynchburg then to Salem. Salem has a very nice facility good clubhouse, funny clubbie named Dave.

A good clubhouse is a huge thing. Some places are tiny and have little lockers where it is hard to put all your stuff. This place was spacious, big lockers solid showers and bathrooms. The clubbie posts all kinds of pictures of girls in little red sox outfits and illistrates them haha its pretty funny Dave calls himself Big Papi.

We got rained out last night at home so we play another double header today, I pitch game 1.

Season is coming clse to ending, playoffs right around the corner...good stuff
Got to go!
Whoawhoawewa!

Words of Wisdom:

"Dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them's making a poop, the other one's carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge."
--Jerry Seinfeld

Apply yourself both now and in the next life. Without effort, you cannot be prosperous. Though the land be good, You cannot have an abundant crop without cultivation.
--Plato

Lynchburg

After my last post i got settled in in Winston-Salem and my Aunt Lisa's house. It is about half an hour away so I don't spend much time there. I usually have weights at 10 in the morning downtown so I just hang around downtown before going to the field at about 2.

I did well in my last start and will now be in the starting rotation. I am scheduled to pitch tomorrow (Sunday) but it appears we are in for some big storms spurred by Hurricane Bill.

We are on another 7 day roadtrip, right now in Lynchburg Virginia. We were scheduled for a double header yesterday but it rained out game 2. At one point we were sitting in the dugout and it was raining lightly and all of a sudden in the bleachers on the 3rd base side it just started pissing in one spot and then that little spot slowly moved across all the bleachers and onto our dugout on the 1st base side. It was like when the fans do the "wave."

Lynchburg is where Liberty University is. I remember because they had a solid basketball teams back in the day and went to the NCAA Tournament a few times. Lynchburg is the Pirates affiliate and there are a few guys I know on the team. Wally Whitehurst is the pitching coach. He was my pitching coach with the Padres in 2007 with Fort Wayne and in 2008 with Lake Elsinore. Also R.J. Rodriguez who I played with on both those teams above. Also Jordy Mercer and Justin Wilson who I played with on the 2006 national champion SB Foresters.

Right now I am watching the little league world series. I used to love watching these games, now it makes me a little mad because of how the announcers talk and so overly positive agggh, its a little sickening. Also why do they gotta wear their hats up with their bangs hanging down below? bad look. They are pretty good, its pretty impressive. This kid is throwing in the high 70's from 48 feet i threw in the high 70's my senior year of HS haha.

Words of Wisdom

Whats the deal with lampshades? I mean if its a lamp, why do you want shade?
--Jerry Seinfeld

But the man the man who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts--this person will be blessed in what he does.
--James 1:25

Winston-Salem

After getting the news I was going to Winston-Salem, I was driven the next day from Kannapolis to Winston's home field which is actually Wake Forests field. I got there on an off day, which was more like a travel day because we had a 8-9 hour ride to Wilmington, DE that same day.

So we all got on the bus at 5pm and headed off. We watched some crap movies such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and eventually got there in the early morning. Hands down the coolest part of the trip was driving through Washington D.C. I have never been there before and it was pretty awesome to see the Capital building, Pentagon, and a few of the memorials from the highway.

I started the second game of our double header at Wilmington, the royals affiliate and pitched well. I start in another double header tomorrow at home. After Wilmington we headed to Frederick Maryland to play the Orioles affiliate. We won 2 out of 3 games there and got home last night. Right now I am staying int he quality inn hotel but I will be moving in with my Aunt Lisa and that part of my family today. They live 20-30 minutes away in Mocksville. It should be great getting to know them better and of course having a free place to stay with family is a huge blessing I feel really thankful for the whole situation.

Words of Wisdom: Great opportunities are not seen with your eyes, they are seen with your mind.

Kannapolis...what? Winston-Salem!

I am in my hotel room in Kannapolis. We arrived here after a long road trip that began in Lake County (Cleveland) and ended in Charleston West Virginia. Now I am here in NC. I don't have a place to stay yet all the apartments are filled up so I will have to resort to pestering teamates to let me stay with them now. So tomarrow I am just gonna have....ok change of plans the phone literally just rang and I got the news that I will be going to High A Winston-Salem tomarrow. So I dont have to worry about an apartment here haha.

Wow thats good news, back to a higher level where I was to start this season. I'm pretty happy right now not gonna lie. So this will be my 4th team this year... nutty.

Ill write about my new deal soon.

New beginings

Since my last post I had another great start for the Thunderbolts going 8 scoreless innings. We then set out on the road to Gateway (St. Louis) and Evansville.

Happily I never made it to Evansville. Our manager Tommy Thomson called me in after after our July 31st game in Gateway to tell me that the White Sox had picked me up.

It is a great feeling to be back in the mix with an affiliated team. It totally validates for me all the work I have put in and continued to put in when I was in independent ball. I will definately miss my teamates there, they are awesome dudes.

So now I am playing for the Kannapolis Intemidators in the South Atlantic League. This is the low A affiliate. I am definatley not satisfied being in Low A, but that is where the spot opened up, so I definately won't complain, I just won't be satisfied.

I feel so much more relaxed now, like a weight has been lifted off my back. Its such a gratifying feeling to be with the White Sox. The irony of it is that Jake Peavy was traded from the Padres to the White Sox for 4 minor league pitchers. So thanks Jake for accepting the trade! Haha

Words of Wisdom:

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

John Wooden

Superstitions---ya

My last start in Kalamazoo went great, I am happy with how this season is turning out, I have really grown more confident on the mound here and have really progressed as a better all around pitcher. I have been a middle reliever, setup, closer, and starter here...that about covers it huh. I still havent played shortstop dangit haha.

I get asked about superstitions a lot. People ask me if I have a lot of them, I say no not really. I have a feeling that I have way more than I think we will see. I am just going to list what comes to mind---

1. The night before I pitch I have to do 2 rotator cuff stretches for 30 seconds for my arm while lying in my bed

2. I use the same ankle socks under my regular baseball socks every game.
-the one with less elastic goes on the left foot....i must say these socks are gross but do work
-put the left ankle sock on first

3. Here is the ritual of puting on the uniform after batting practice
--take of shirt, put on dri-fit
--take of shorts and UCI sliders, put on padres sliders
---put on jersey
---put on socks, left one first
---put belt through pants, put on pants
---tuck dri-fit into sliders
--- pull pants over jersey and buckle belt
----put on hat
---douse uniform with axe bodyspray---gotta smell good to play good

4. I have to stretch in the same order or its bad news bears

5. I wear my Phiten necklace EVERYWHERE, but i have to take it off and put it in my right pants pocket before I start throwing off the mound.

6. Never step on the foul line and if i do, i must cross back over and then back over again to rectify it. I hop over the line with my left foot landing with my right.

7. Before throwing first pitch in game i stand behind the mound and say a prayer for my mom and grandma thanking them and asking them to be with me.

8. draw a J in the dirt for my mom and the big guy

9. In between innings I sit down and put my glove over my left knee and my hat on my right knee.

10 . thats all that come to mind, not many right?!

Hey its mid-July, im currently in Kalamazoo. Yes, despite what you may have heard, Kalamazoo is a real place. I always wondered if Kalamazoo and Osh-Kosh were actually real places or just bad attempts at a joke...now we know.

I am doin fine, having fun with my teamates and trying to ball as much as I can. We are in second place in our division, on pace to make the playoffs.

I had the honor of going to the all-star game last week in Rockford, Il. It was a good time, the most fun I had was rooting on J.T. Restko in the Homerun Derby. He was one of 5 from our team to go to the all-star game.

Hopefully I will have some more news to share soon.

I must go to sleep now, I am starting tomarrow.


Words of Wisdom:

Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win by fearing to attempt.-William Shakespeare

Okay its been awhile which is my bad. Anyway we are approaching the halfway point of the season here, the all-star break begins Monday. We are sitting in third place at 24-19. We have lost a lot of close games, hopefully we can start winning those. Former MLB manager Tony Muser used to tell us with the Padres that 1/3 of games are easy wins, 1/3 of games you get blown out, and its the other 1/3 that make or break a team.

I will be playing in this years all-star game in Rockford, Il. Myself and 3 others from the 'bolts were selected. Hopefully I will get some exposure there and make a good impression on a few scouts and enjoy the experience. It can be frustrating always wondering if I will get signed out of here. I try to put it in the back of my mind so I can focus on just pitching.

I am currently relaxing in my hotel room at the Executive inn at Evansville, Indiana. We concluded the first 3 games of our 6 game road trip in St. Louis and arrived here in Evansville yesterday.

Fun fact: the Evansville stadium is where they filmed A League of Their Own. The movie with Tom Hanks about women baseball players.

Evansville is better than I expected, at least where we are staying. There is a casino and some pretty good food spots within walking distance if I decide to brave the heat.

Yesterday in St. Louis we played a day game, I was in the stands charting, man it was warm...warm and sticky 98 deg, 85% humidity 108 heat index or something. That formula equates to instant profuse sweating. This reminds me of Tony Muser who managed me in Rookie ball with the Padres. It was usaully 115 degrees there and he would always say "boys just remember, its not hot, its just a little warm."

I am a starting pitcher now. I made my first start on Sunday and went 3 innings. I did pretty good, I just need to get used to it and build up the stamina to go deeper into the game. I had a 50 pitch pitch count, I expect Ill be around 60-70 tomarrow.

After being in the bullpen since just after the beginning of my senior season at UC Irvine, it takes a little time to build up the endurance to throw 100+ pitches in a game. You cant physically go right to it.

Starting is a lot different, especially the time in between starts. I can now develop a throwing/lifting/stretching/running routine which I think will help my velocity out. I was happy with my velocity my last start, I hit 93 once. I hope to build on that and that hopefully gets me some more scouts to notice.

Okay over and out

Update

First of all, hats off to the Lakers. So pumped, repeat next year hopefully against the Cavs so the Lebron/Kobe debate gets settled. Seems pretty obvious to me, but some people just don't get it...hopefully you aren't one of these clowns.

As for baseball, the Thunderbolts are sporting a 13-10 record, its all bunched up near the top of the standings, we are 2 games back of River City who we are playing right now. They have a solid squad, a couple guys were in AAA last year.

We got rained out tonight, first rainout of the year, so we have the ole double header tomarrow. For us players a rainout is spent sitting in the clubhouse watching TV, listining to music and playing cards for a few hours. Through much training I have learned to focus on each of these mediums at the same time, it is truly an art form, you can't teach it.

I have been doing well, just going about my business and getting outs as best I can. I am now the closer which is a lot of fun for me. I love being in that pressure position which brings out the best in me. The combination of adrenaline and focus is a blast.

Last series we played at Southern Illinois against my old buddy Tyler Davis. We played together at SBCC (part of the "big 3" of 2005. Tyler, Justin Aspegren, and myself). We also both played for the Padres together. It is very ironic how our baseball lives cross at the unlikeliest of junctions. What are the odds we end up at the same JC, then get drafted by the same MLB team, then both get released by that team and play against each other in the Frontier league.

I told him that if we meet again on the field in three years it better be in the big leagues.

So here is a little insight into the road trips we make in this league. We played a 7pm game in Cleveland on Thursday night and returned from our roadtrip that night arriving back at our place at 4:30 am and got back at the field at 5pm for our game for that night.

Holla!

Good times

Feeling good, we're feeling alright, yeah

Here is a little about my current life. Back again in the Midwest, I now remember how bizarre of a place this is. Last night, I woke up in the middle of the night to deafening thunder and lightning and heavy rain, then was rudely woken by bright sunlight a few hours later. Then it poured and pounded again when I went to the gym and when I got out it was sunny and outrageously humid. Now its about to rain again...and through it all we play baseball games.

Now I am not complaining...just stating the facts people. Whats with complaining anyway? Where does complaining get you in life? Almost certainly it makes you go backwards. I was given an example from the bible Sunday that relates to this. The message was to not worry about the little things in life. We spend lots of time thinking about minuscule "problems" which inflate like balloons into energy consuming brooding. So I'm gonna do my best to knock that off.

My last post was littered with complaints, justifications, and bitterness. I am just going to move forward and trust that everything will be all right. This is a fun team here, good guys and good players. Most of the team has played affiliated (MLB organization) baseball. We are 7-3, about to head out to our second roady to Lake Erie. From what I understand it is new all turf field and no cleats are allowed. I hope I don't take a tumble haha. I have been doin' well here and am just trying to get better everyday.


Here are some words of Wisdom from the Regee band Rebellution:

"Well it's a struggle everyday we're stressin'.
But what's a life without dedication?
I'm, I'm gonna pick up that soul's intention to soak in music relaxation
Feeling good, we're feeling alright, yeah"

How fitting

While pitching on mother's day at Lake Elsinore I got in the game in the 9th inning. I was hoping I would get in that day because it is a special day, with special meaning to me. I wanted to get out there and do my vary best for my Mom, Joni, and my Grandma, Lula, who are no longer living. I drew their initials on the back of the mound and had a nice 6 pitch inning. Things were beautiful. The next day was an off day and my buddy Robert Perry and I went back to UC Irvine to work out and Newport Beach. We went to "the wedge" an intense body boarding/body surfing spot to watch for awhile and then went into more managable water to do it ourselves. I was having a blast and things were going perfect for me lately. Then life threw me a big curveball.

The next day, I found I am no longer a San Diego Padre who plays for the High A Lake Elsinore Storm. A couple days later I am Windy City Thunderbolt of the Frontier League in Independent League Professional Baseball. I was released last Tuesday and agreed to sign with the Thunderbolts on Thursday. I flew out of LAX and arrived in Chicago on Friday. Here are my first thoughts, I will write more about where I am soon.

My initial thought when I got here was simply...Wow what am I doing here? This is so different than what I have become used to. This is more like the Bull Durham aspect of minor league baseball. Although the stadium is not bad, it is different from the beautiful place I was playing in Lake Elsinore. For instance, instead of a Diamond Club daunting power lines surround the field. But really what has changed? The mound is still 60 ft 6 inches away and that prick batter is still trying to get on base. So as my circumstances have changed, the game of course remains the same. The glamour of an affiliation with the Padres is gone, but I have to remind myself that the Windy City Thunderbolts are still a professional baseball team, and I am still playing ball at a high level with the chance to get signed by an MLB team again.

So what am I doing here? I am taking a stand. I was pitching well at High A Lake Elsinore, pitching my ass off lately. I was certain I had figured things out and I was feeling BETTER THAN EVER about my pitching. I knew I had what it took to dominate in High A and keep moving up. I had allowed one hit in my last 4 games, 4 1/3 innings. The last 3 1/3 nobody reached base. My numbers were getting very respectable for the offensive Cal League. Then I was called into the managers office and was told of my release by the Padres. The clarity that 2 seconds ago I had enjoyed suddenly became mired in confusion and the future blurred. But I refuse to lose sight of the ultimate goal I have. I feel slighted, bitter and shocked, but my resolve is to keep going until in my heart I know I am done. Certainly this is not that time. Whether that time comes a year from now or 15 years from now, I will know.

So what am I doing here? I am going to do my best and leave the rest to God. I trust and have faith that I will be signed by another MLB team. I look forward to proving more people wrong. I have proved people wrong my whole life and to them I would like to say thank you lighting that fire under me. On the other hand, there are incredible people behind me that do believe in my and their support is vastly more important than the nay sayers.

Nothing in this game has ever come easy for me, I made varsity my junior year of hs, didn't play much. My senior year was successful but I threw 78 mph. I kept at it at SBCC, I stunk my freshman year. I was told I would be a decent Division II player. What a wakeup call! From that point I decided I didn't want to be a decent Division II player, I wanted a lot more. I went crazy with workouts. I did a throwing program and threw longtoss several times in howling winds and sideways rain at SBCC's track. I ran every day in any conditions as hard and fast as I could. I lifted weights 6 days a week. Admittedly I didn't know what I was doing to the degree I do now, but I was getting after it more than anyone ever has and I believe that 100 percent. Nobody worked harder than me. And it paid off, I had an incredible season, I was at first pumped to get my first recruiting letter to a Division 1 School in Saint Mary's. As the season went on it turned into as scholarship at the now baseball powerhouse UC Irvine. I continued to work really hard, we got to the college world series my Senior year and I got drafted by the Padres in the 30th round.

30th round is late, I signed for the minimum $1000. So I obviously had to prove myself and work hard all over again. Now this is especially true after getting released. This game has always been a process for me so this is just another path of patience that I must travel.

As Coach Dave Serrano of UC Irvine would say, "The hay is in the barn" I will just have to go out and trust the hay and let it work for me.

Stay on the table

First of all, for all of Santa Barbara, I am thinking of you all. Praying you and your homes are safe. My dad called me last night and was in the mandatory evacuation zone and asked me what I wanted to be saved. I have faith that everything will be okay, but its a shocker none the less. What a question to answer huh? It puts makes you realize what you have and what things are truly important to you. No doubt about it that it is the things most valuable to your heart that come first.

As for my current state of affairs, the Storm is beginning to build here. We were really on a roll for a while after my last post, playing great baseball. We have since lost 3 of 4 but now stand at 15-12 which is solid. We were on commuter trips almost all last week which gets a little tiring. Driving an hour after the game you are not able to get to bed at a decent hour and weights in the morning can cut the gift of sleep short 3 days a week. We are actually only required to go 2 days a week but since when have I settled for the minimum?

After early struggles I feel pretty comfortable right now do to a few physical and mental adjustments. The biggest thing for me was to just get back to being myself. Just do what I do. Do what I did to get me here. Not just in baseball but in all parts of life I think it is human nature to change even if things are going well for you. We always think there is probably an even better way and in that quest for even greater success, we lose sight of what made us successful or happy in the first place. Of course little adjustments and improvements can be made. I have added some pieces to the puzzle myself. However the table is only so big and you cant build that puzzle off the table into thin air.

Oh, to answer your pressing queries about what Baek bought for spread (as if anyone really cares) he got us Buffalo Wild Wings and his next start got us Pizza. The wings were fun because one of the cartons was labeled "atomic." Let me tell you, atomic is very accurate. Almost everyone tried one and we were all literally crying because of the heat/laughing combo. My lips were even raw the next morning.

So stay on your table everybody

Nut Job

Since I last blogged we have been playing some pretty solid baseball over here. We started the season 0-5, now we are 9-9 in second place. I could tell this would be a good team and we are starting to come together pretty good here.

We have already seen a few changes with the team with people getting injured and recovering from injury so we have got shuffled around a bit in the early going...such is the system in minor league baseball.

I had strung out some solid performances in the early going until Saturday which was a setback for me. I struggled with my control a little bit and walks will kill you once you reach this level. I feel like it was just one of those fluke days but the truth is I can't have those. Its like you're walking around having a nice day and then you step in some dog doo...it stinks and you gotta clean it up.

I had a great day yesterday. It was our day off which is a very rare thing. We play 140 games in 150 days and 4 of those days come all in a row for the all-star break. So I woke up early and one of my buddies on the team and I headed over to Irvine and Newport Beach for the day. We did a little workout at UCI in the morning and then hit the beach for most of the day.

It was great to just chill and look at the ocean, its a comfort zone thats for sure. The water was cold to quite cold but we jumped in and just body surfed anyway for about an hour. My fingers remained numb for 3 hours but it was well worth it. It was awesome to just sit there and take it all in, watch the waves and listen to the sounds of the world, read my book (The Shack), talk, and get a terrible sunburn haha.

As we were leaving this 43 year old OC housewife came over and talked to us...Ill just tell you she was a nut job but totally hilarious ended our day with lots of laughs.

Tonight we have a commuter trip to Rancho Cucamunga. Cha Seung Baek, the Padres' number 3 starter has a rehab assignment with us and will make the start tonight. The best thing about getting big leaguers with their rehab assignments is that they buy us all food for after the game. Now it makes me wonder what Baek will get us....could be interesting. My bet is he tries to be a crowd pleaser and buys us pasta.

My Training

I get questions a lot about my offseason training. I train at a place called P3 (Peak Performance Project) in Santa Barbara. Here is the website that explains the philosophies and includes some videos and lots of info.

www.p3usa.com

Check it out!

Welcome to the good life

By several sources of encouragement (or demand) I will be sharing some thoughts and experiences I have in my 2009 baseball season.

To give you the run down on the life of this professional baseball player, while writing this I am currently laying in my bed at the Days Inn in Bakersfield at 11:07 AM. I am proud to say I am watching my boy Axel Foley causing havoc in Beverly Hills Cop III. Axel has been the butt of a couple of my nicknames in High School, i.e. Axel Foley-Rod and Beverly Hills Dyldo…true story. We were just talking yesterday about how many nicknames I have and I told these guys that they have barely scratched the surface with what they have come up with so far.

I am playing for the Lake Elsinore Storm, the High Class A affiliate of the San Diego Padres. We are 9 games into our season and after a 7 day home stand we are on our first road trip of the year. First stop: 4 games in Bakersfield and then 3 games in San Jose. Bakersfield is not as bad as I thought it would be, there is a solid assortment of food options around the hotel and the TV’s have inputs for my PS2. A few of us are hooked on MVP 05’ and we have some heated games that send expletives and shouts of glory flying under our doors and down hallways. Another way we pass our downtime and bus rides is playing cards.

We play a game called “Passoy” I really have no idea how to spell it. You might spell it b-e-s-t c-a-r-d g-a-m-e e-v-e-r. Basically the gist of the game is you deal out all the cards to 3 players, the goal is to get rid of all your cards first by playing all poker hands. The two people that lose and have cards left in their hand pay the winner a quarter for every card left in their respective hands. There is a lot of strategy involved and there are some crazy swings in terms of the money you are up or down. Last year I made about $80. But its basically about having fun.

Speaking of fun, that is one of my goals for this season. I feel like last year in my dedication and determination to progress and do well, I lost sight of the present moment and how blessed I am to do what I do. At the end of last season I figured it out realized this is about fun and its counterproductive to be all baseball all the time. You have to be well rounded and get away from the pressures baseball can put on you at times. In college I had the distraction of school and roommates and such. Now that I play professionally, its baseball…period. However I want to do my best to stay busy and have healthy distractions.

As for the start of our season, we opened up at home in front of an 8000 + sellout. We have probably the nicest facility in the California League and we are treated extremely well by the staff, booster club and fans. We opened up against Visalia and it was great to play against an old teammate in Ollie Linton. We played together at UC Irvine, he was our starting center fielder there and now at Visalia. That UCI team was a beautiful thing, we were truly like brothers. I faced Ollie once last year in Fort Wayne and we faced off 2 more times in our first series this year. So far he is 0-3 but I don’t want to gloat because he might just get me eventually. All the guys on my team were giving me a hard time because I started laughing out there on the mound. I threw a slider down the middle and Ollie fouled it off and looked at me with this face as if to say “your so lucky man.” I just started laughing…sorry, I just couldn’t help myself. His teammates were messing with him too because of a few laughs we shared on the field. Its a special thing to look over and see one of your buddies and to just share a moment and a look, knowing you both have taken that next step towards playing at the top of our profession.

See in my eyes that’s what it’s about. Those times are the true essence of having fun playing baseball and it’s a beautiful thing.



I have to go eat
-Axe