It's about time!!

It has been a really long time since my last blog, and to be honest I’ve missed it. It’s something that really helps me put my thoughts together and helps me sometimes to put things into perspective. So here I go, I hope everyone enjoys my thoughts.

It seems like I never have any free time until we’re on the road. When we’re at home I like to get to the field early to work on some things with my swing, then work a little on the mental side of the game, get a little stretch in, and get a couple lifts in before we go out for our pre game stretch. I feel a lot more confident with myself whenever I get my routine in. They say that for something to be permanently engrained in your mind or body you have to practice it the right way for 30 straight days. After the game I get some swing in with a weighted bat and then a light bat to try and help with my bat speed. I end the night with a stretch of my legs and some forearm and grip work.

By the time I get home it’s usually about 11 or 11:30…time for bed. So as you can see I don’t ever have a lot of time to blog. Now that we’re on the road I have a little more time. For instance, our bus to the field doesn’t leave until 5:00 tomorrow. With that said I might just sleep until 4:30!

I really miss my family, fiancé’ and my little puppy. It’s such a hard thing to be away from them for an extended period of time. If I wasn’t getting to play baseball and do something that I absolutely love then I don’t think I could be away from them for as long as I am. My parents have been out twice, Drew has been out once, and my brother and sister and Maizie haven’t been out yet. You would think that once they come out it would ease my mind for awhile, but it really does the opposite. All it does when they come out is make me miss them even more when they leave. But like I said, I only have one chance to play baseball and they all know that and support me 100%.

Something else that has helped me being away from my family is becoming close with some of my teammates. At the start of the year I was pretty much a loner. My best friend in the organization, Jordan, was released and my other good friend, Brett, started in double A and our Greensboro team was filled with a bunch of guys that I didn’t really know. With time I’ve become pretty close with a couple of guys, Bryan Petersen and Emilio Ontiveros. Petey and I have a lot of in depth conversations about hitting and mental toughness stuff and Onti and I joke around with each other nonstop. Emilio is from Venezuela, and has a girlfriend back home. He rarely gets to talk to his family; I can only imagine how he feels. But those guys, along with a lot of other guys on the team, are not only great teammates but great people.

I’ve also acquired a new player into my top tier of favorite players. Before the start of the season it included: Ichiro, Carlos Beltran, and David DeJesus. The new member is Chase Utley. I absolutely love the way that this guy plays the game. He plays about as hard as anyone in the league and is probably the best player in the league. I just love how he gets on tope of the plate, dares people to throw one in, and when they do he makes them pay. Not only do I like the way that he plays but I also think that he has one of the top 2 swings in the big leagues, the other being Joe Mauer. So if you get a chance to watch Utley play, all I can say is enjoy it.

I have so much to talk about and so much to catch everyone up on but for now I’m going to watch a movie and get to bed. Hopefully everyone enjoyed my return to the blogging world.

“You’re gonna miss this
You’re gonna want this back
You’re gonna wish these days hadn’t gone by so fast.
These are some good times
So take a good look around
You may not know this now
But you’re gonna miss this.”
-Trace Adkins

Just a song that helps you to remember to enjoy the moment and not to take anything for granted.