We’ve already reached our second off day and we’re only 10 games into the season. Two off days in 10 games is almost unheard of. I did hear someone say the other day that after this off day we go 27 straight days without having an off day, so it all evens out.
Our team has gotten off to a slower start than I would have expected. We’re sitting at 4-6 right now after taking two out of three from the Sarasota Reds. Our first series of the year we played the Palm Beach Cardinals. We share the facility with them so whenever we play them we have two home games and two “away” games. After beating them nearly every day in spring training they promptly took three out of four from us when it mattered. I got my first start the third game at first base. I ended up going 1-4 but I hit the ball hard every time up, all those hard hit outs always even out, right dad?
For our second series we headed west a couple hours to Fort Myers to play the Minnesota Twins affiliate. The Miracle play their games in a really nice stadium with an even better playing surface. Our first game ended up getting rained out so the following day was filled with a double header, which we split. This series was dominated by 2007 first rounder Ben Revere. He always seemed to be getting on base, followed by stealing a base, followed by scoring a run. He helped them to take two out of three.
Our final series of the road trip was in Sarasota, which is the home of the Sarasota Reds. Sarasota is also where Scott is honing his craft. We ended up taking two out of three, mostly due to our man child Mike Stanton catching fire. Sarasota’s facilities and town aren’t nearly as nice as Fort Myers, it’s no wonder the Reds will be moving out to Arizona next year to a new spring training destination. It was great to see Scott again and see how upbeat he is being about his whole situation. We at together a few times and we realized that it has been since high school that we had seen each other play. There’s a likely possibility that when he comes back he’ll start in high a and I could very well end up facing him. Everyone always asks us if we’ve ever faced each other and the answer is always no, but that very well could change in a couple months.
I can already tell that our team is starting to make progress in the right direction. The first couple series we played a little uptight and it showed with mental mistakes and costly errors, but the effort was still there. The more everyone gets back into the routine of playing every day the more everyone will be performing to their upmost potential. The two main things that have hindered our performance as a team up to this point has been our hitting and our ability to close out games. If you were to ask anyone on our team, they would tell you that these two things will be two of our stronger areas when it is all said and done.
For me it’s been an all right start. Numbers wise I haven’t had a great start, but I’ve never really been a great starter. I’ve put together some good at bats, haven’t struck out a lot, and have hit quite a few balls pretty well. I’m not one bit worried because I know how long of a season it is and I know how even keeled you have to be to be successful.
Well that’s all I have for now, I’ve got to get going to make an eye appointment that I already missed once last week. I’ll try to blog again in a couple days to give a little more insight into life in the Florida State League.
“A timid person is frightened before a danger, a coward during the time, and a courageous person afterward.” –Jean Paul
Monday, April 20, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Minor league optimism...
For minor league baseball players today is the ultimate day of optimism. No matter what you did last year your numbers are reset at zero and every team has the opportunity of going 140-0. Everyone is upbeat and the locker room is a great place to be, but I’ve come to realize that it doesn’t last for long. Even if the team is winning, you will always have at least one guy on the team that is struggling and worrying about their job security. Like all the other teams, ours is filled with positive outlooks and everyone is expecting a successful year.
As for me, count me in with the rest of every minor leaguer. I’m go into this season after finishing strong the last week of spring training, and going into it healthier and stronger than I have ever been. Physically I can compete with anyone out there, but what separates the big leaguers from the minor leaguers is the ability to be stronger mentally than anyone out there. From what I’ve heard, the Florida State League will definitely challenge the mental capacity of any hitter. In our first meeting with our hitting coach he told us that there wouldn’t be any complaining about the conditions or the size of the field. That alone should eliminate a lot of the built in excuses that come with playing in the FSL.
I’ve set a bunch of goals that I want to accomplish throughout this year. First I thought of some mental/approach goals and then some numbers goals. The way I look at it is that if I come to the park every day ready to get better and I accomplish all my mental/approach goals then the numbers will all take care of themselves and I’ll be where I want to be at the end of the year.
Since my last blog I’ve had a few amazing things happen to me. On the last day of spring training I came into the locker room to find my name, along with about 10 other minor leaguers, on the daily plan sheet to dress out for the final major leaguer spring training game. I have no idea how the organization decides who get to suit up for these games, but nonetheless I took it as an honor. When you play in a big league game you get to wear your pants however you want, you get a one ear flap helmet, and best of all you get $30 for the day (meal money). The game got underway at 12:05 and after one at bat for all the big leaguers it was 1:05 and it was a slew of Marlins minor leaguers vs. the Toronto Blue Jays starting lineup. I played first base and got two at bats (struck out the first and grounded out the second). I had an unbelievable time just seeing how everyone goes about doing their job in such a professional manner. The game ended up in a 1-1 tie and I was left with the feeling of wanting more. I’ve now stored that feeling away and am going to use it as fuel to drive me to reach that ultimate goal.
The second exciting thing in my life is that I’ve now moved into what I would call a duplex/condo/townhouse. I’m living with Jameson Smith, Ryan Curry, and Tom Hickman; all great guys who I played with last year in Greensboro. Our living area is about 15 minutes walking distance from the field in a town called Abacoa. We’re having to pay quite a bit more than we paid last year for our place but I knew going in that no matter what kind of place that we would find we would have to pay a pretty hefty fee because of the inflated price of living down here. I’ve turned the bottom floor, which used to be a living room area, into my bedroom. After a few trips to Wal-Mart to construct a make shift closet and bed I’m finally all settled in for what should be an amazing six months.
Our first game is tonight at 7:05 against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Keep an eye out for the Jupiter Hammerheads this year; we will definitely be a fun team to keep track of!
I’ll be back in a few days so sum up our first series of the year. Thank you guys so much for all the support back home. It’s always nice to know that I have such a great group of people that have my back, regardless of I go 0-4 or 4-4.
“Tough times don’t last but tough people do.” I know I’ve used that quote before but it’s my favorite and I wanted to start the season of with one that meant the most to
As for me, count me in with the rest of every minor leaguer. I’m go into this season after finishing strong the last week of spring training, and going into it healthier and stronger than I have ever been. Physically I can compete with anyone out there, but what separates the big leaguers from the minor leaguers is the ability to be stronger mentally than anyone out there. From what I’ve heard, the Florida State League will definitely challenge the mental capacity of any hitter. In our first meeting with our hitting coach he told us that there wouldn’t be any complaining about the conditions or the size of the field. That alone should eliminate a lot of the built in excuses that come with playing in the FSL.
I’ve set a bunch of goals that I want to accomplish throughout this year. First I thought of some mental/approach goals and then some numbers goals. The way I look at it is that if I come to the park every day ready to get better and I accomplish all my mental/approach goals then the numbers will all take care of themselves and I’ll be where I want to be at the end of the year.
Since my last blog I’ve had a few amazing things happen to me. On the last day of spring training I came into the locker room to find my name, along with about 10 other minor leaguers, on the daily plan sheet to dress out for the final major leaguer spring training game. I have no idea how the organization decides who get to suit up for these games, but nonetheless I took it as an honor. When you play in a big league game you get to wear your pants however you want, you get a one ear flap helmet, and best of all you get $30 for the day (meal money). The game got underway at 12:05 and after one at bat for all the big leaguers it was 1:05 and it was a slew of Marlins minor leaguers vs. the Toronto Blue Jays starting lineup. I played first base and got two at bats (struck out the first and grounded out the second). I had an unbelievable time just seeing how everyone goes about doing their job in such a professional manner. The game ended up in a 1-1 tie and I was left with the feeling of wanting more. I’ve now stored that feeling away and am going to use it as fuel to drive me to reach that ultimate goal.
The second exciting thing in my life is that I’ve now moved into what I would call a duplex/condo/townhouse. I’m living with Jameson Smith, Ryan Curry, and Tom Hickman; all great guys who I played with last year in Greensboro. Our living area is about 15 minutes walking distance from the field in a town called Abacoa. We’re having to pay quite a bit more than we paid last year for our place but I knew going in that no matter what kind of place that we would find we would have to pay a pretty hefty fee because of the inflated price of living down here. I’ve turned the bottom floor, which used to be a living room area, into my bedroom. After a few trips to Wal-Mart to construct a make shift closet and bed I’m finally all settled in for what should be an amazing six months.
Our first game is tonight at 7:05 against the Palm Beach Cardinals. Keep an eye out for the Jupiter Hammerheads this year; we will definitely be a fun team to keep track of!
I’ll be back in a few days so sum up our first series of the year. Thank you guys so much for all the support back home. It’s always nice to know that I have such a great group of people that have my back, regardless of I go 0-4 or 4-4.
“Tough times don’t last but tough people do.” I know I’ve used that quote before but it’s my favorite and I wanted to start the season of with one that meant the most to
Friday, April 3, 2009
Final Roster
Tomorrow will be our last day of spring training and with a day left the management set our final rosters for the low a and high a affiliates. Before we went out to the field they made their final roster adjustments and when we gathered around for our meeting for the day we were told to take a deep breath because we had endured all of the releases. As we were standing there listening to our field coordinator talk about how hard his job was I thought about what a difficult thing it would be to have to tell someone that they weren’t going to be able to continue to follow their dreams with the organization. In the long run most everyone will have to face being told that they got released. A couple days ago the Marlins released a player who hit 40 plus homeruns last year. That’s the business of baseball though; organizations are always looking out for the best product to put on the field to represent the ownership.
Today was a pretty interesting day for me also. Right before we headed outside, the high a first baseman was called in to see the farm director. He came back to the locker room with a look on his face reminiscent of someone who had just seen a ghost, it wasn’t a good sign. He told everyone what they had told him and part of what they said was that I was going to be playing first base this year. I had thought that I would play over there every once in awhile but I quickly realized that I would be playing over there a lot more than I had originally thought. Before today there had only been one game that I had played over at first base this spring, another reason why it was such a surprise to me. If you haven’t picked up on it yet I will be starting this year with the Jupiter Hammerheads, our high a affiliate.
Our team, on paper, looks as if it should be a pretty solid team. We have prospects who are 19 and we have vets who are 28. We’re carrying 6 outfielders, which is almost unheard of, but a few guys are also able to play some other positions, myself included. Only one of our starting pitchers from Greensboro made the jump to high a and a handful of relievers were with him. All together I will be playing with around 8 guys that I played with last year.
The league that I will be playing in, the Florida State League, has the reputation of being one of the toughest leagues in minor league baseball for hitters. It’s a combination of the pitching getting better and the ballparks are big and the ball doesn’t fly well in Florida in the middle of summer. I think that most organizations look at the league as a make or break league. A lot of guys have made their careers in this league. The common opinion is that if you can hit in the Florida State League then you can hit in the big leagues. I look at it as a win-win situation. Nobody expects hitters to put up great numbers and if you do then it looks that much better. I’m looking forward to the year; I’m going to take what they give me and try not to give any at bats away.
The FSL is also one of the best leagues in terms of travel. Every team is in Florida so there won’t be any 14 hour trips like you experience in most every other league. We also play all of our games in nice ballparks, all of which are spring training homes to various teams. The one downside that everyone talks about is the lack of fans at the games. I don’t really see that as a big deal though, I can remember some cold mid-week games back at Missouri where we would be able to count 15 or so people sitting in the stands. When it comes down to it baseball is a game of a bunch of head to head matchups and during those matchups nothing else should matter.
I have a few more stories for you guys later this week. I just wanted to let everyone know what I would be doing this summer. I would love for everyone out there to come down to south Florida and take a vacation and in the meantime you could catch a Hammerheads game!
“If I’m going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I don’t do it at all.”
-Al-Waleed bin Talal
Today was a pretty interesting day for me also. Right before we headed outside, the high a first baseman was called in to see the farm director. He came back to the locker room with a look on his face reminiscent of someone who had just seen a ghost, it wasn’t a good sign. He told everyone what they had told him and part of what they said was that I was going to be playing first base this year. I had thought that I would play over there every once in awhile but I quickly realized that I would be playing over there a lot more than I had originally thought. Before today there had only been one game that I had played over at first base this spring, another reason why it was such a surprise to me. If you haven’t picked up on it yet I will be starting this year with the Jupiter Hammerheads, our high a affiliate.
Our team, on paper, looks as if it should be a pretty solid team. We have prospects who are 19 and we have vets who are 28. We’re carrying 6 outfielders, which is almost unheard of, but a few guys are also able to play some other positions, myself included. Only one of our starting pitchers from Greensboro made the jump to high a and a handful of relievers were with him. All together I will be playing with around 8 guys that I played with last year.
The league that I will be playing in, the Florida State League, has the reputation of being one of the toughest leagues in minor league baseball for hitters. It’s a combination of the pitching getting better and the ballparks are big and the ball doesn’t fly well in Florida in the middle of summer. I think that most organizations look at the league as a make or break league. A lot of guys have made their careers in this league. The common opinion is that if you can hit in the Florida State League then you can hit in the big leagues. I look at it as a win-win situation. Nobody expects hitters to put up great numbers and if you do then it looks that much better. I’m looking forward to the year; I’m going to take what they give me and try not to give any at bats away.
The FSL is also one of the best leagues in terms of travel. Every team is in Florida so there won’t be any 14 hour trips like you experience in most every other league. We also play all of our games in nice ballparks, all of which are spring training homes to various teams. The one downside that everyone talks about is the lack of fans at the games. I don’t really see that as a big deal though, I can remember some cold mid-week games back at Missouri where we would be able to count 15 or so people sitting in the stands. When it comes down to it baseball is a game of a bunch of head to head matchups and during those matchups nothing else should matter.
I have a few more stories for you guys later this week. I just wanted to let everyone know what I would be doing this summer. I would love for everyone out there to come down to south Florida and take a vacation and in the meantime you could catch a Hammerheads game!
“If I’m going to do something, I do it spectacularly or I don’t do it at all.”
-Al-Waleed bin Talal
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Spring Training update
Spring Training is winding down and it so hard for me to believe. It just seems like yesterday that I was getting a tow off of the side of the highway. For me it’s been a successful spring so far. I’ve been working extra hard getting ready for the year, not only in the cages but also on my mental game and physically strengthening my body. I’ve also been trying to pick the minds of some of the guys in the organization who have done well in the past. I talked to Logan Morrison, the Florida State League MVP, about his approach to his at bats and he told me that through 130 games last year he only gave away five at bats at most. Giving away an at bat would consist basically of stepping into the box without being fully engaged mentally in the at bat. I’ve been making sure that throughout Spring Training I make a habit to only step into the box when I am ready and my mind is 100 % in the right frame of mind.
I’m about 30 at bats into Spring Training and I’m slowly making the progress that I’ve been looking for. For me the hardest part of hitting is timing. When I’m struggling I can always link it back to not being on time, late or early. At the start of the games I was all right with making an out as long as I was seeing a lot of pitches and having a productive at bat. Lately it’s been paying off for me as I think that the more pitches that I saw early on have led to more successful at bats lately. So I guess if you were wondering how things were going for me on the field, you now know. I’ve made some progress in the areas where I’ve wanted to and I’m still working for the start of the season.
Spring Training days can be very long and drawn out at times. I usually wake up around 6:00 and get to the field at around 6:45. My day at the field usually comes to an end around 6:30 PM. Obviously there’s a lot of time in between spent with teammates. I’ve made an effort to become closer with more of the guys in the organization. When you have people that you get along well with around you, it makes the day much more enjoyable. The group that I’m in, the high a group, consists of guys anywhere from 19 to 28, but everyone has one thing in common and that’s the dream of making it all the way to the big leagues. For the most part we are all in the same boat, and everyone can relate to how things are going for you at any given point.
One of the down sides to becoming close with someone in an organization is that you never know when that locker right next to you might become unoccupied. If you can remember back to last year my roommate, Jordan, was released towards the beginning of Spring Training. It’s such a tough thing to ponder because you never want the thought of getting released creep into your mind. I always like to think that I’m making a good impression and that I’m going to make a team but the realist in me realizes that at some point I will most likely get a tap on my shoulder to see the assistant general manager or that call in the off season from a higher up in the organization. I don’t worry about all that stuff though, I ease my mind by working hard and giving it all I have and that gives me the satisfaction of knowing that people will see that and respect the way that I go about my business.
Minor league baseball players can resemble young high school girls if you were to ever overhear a conversation between a group of players. Before our 9 AM meeting begins everyone stand around in the outfield in groups talking about who got released, who’s on the chopping block, and who is safe. I can always expect to get out to the outfield and hear someone ask me if I had heard about what happened to so and so. You never want to hear your name come up in those conversations or in the conversations about who is about to get released. In my opinion the organization has their mind about 90% of the way made up before Spring Training even begins. During my first year a guy who had a mediocre previous year hit three home runs and the next day he was let go. It’s hard for me to believe that he was given a fair shot during Spring Training to make a team. There are plenty of stories like that and everyone always seems to have an excuse as to why they weren’t given a fair opportunity. I’ve heard about every excuse in the book and they all are exactly that; excuses. Our manage last year told us that you can go through your whole life blaming the world for your misfortunes but you won’t ever get anywhere until you take responsibility for the actions and reactions in your life.
One of the great things for me about Spring Training is getting to be close to the big leaguers and seeing behind the scenes action. I still feel like the same kid, walking around the facility, that I was when I was 14 going down to Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona. I’m as big of a fan as any of the players that I’ve encountered. A lot of guys are fans but they don’t ask for autographs or try and talk to the big leaguers because they don’t want to look like a little kid basically. I, however have realized that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m going to take full advantage of it. If you can remember my blogs from last year I got pictures taken with various big leaguers. I’ve continued getting pictures this year. About a week ago I got a chance to meet Ryan Howard and my new favorite player, Chase Utley. They were both really grounded and down to earth. I talked to Howard about being from Missouri and I found out that he played on the St. Louis Lafayette basketball team that lost to Liberty in the 1998 state championship game. Utley was a real quiet guy and he seemed to be really surprised that someone would want a picture and a little chat with him.
A few days ago I got the chance to meet Hunter Pence, ya that’s his real name, weird right?!?! When I introduced myself I told him my name and he didn’t believe me. If I was in his position I don’t think I would believe it either. The chance of someone having a name so similar to mine is ridiculous. He was a great guy; he asked me about how my career was going and asked about my personal life. It’s a rare thing to talk to a big leaguer and for them to take such an interest in your life. Just think of how neat of a story they could make if Hunter Mense played against Hunter Pence in the big leagues, anything can happen.
There is only about a week left in Spring Training and I feel like I’m finally getting to a point where I am fully prepared for the season. Even though Spring Training has been shorter this year the organization has done a good job of getting everything in while keeping everyone fresh. I’ve also already had my first visit when my mom came down earlier this week and stayed for a few days. It was great to see her but I always feel so bad because I’m so busy all the time that I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I like to. It’s the same thing with Amber, but I think all the special people in my life realize how busy I am and are able to keep that in perspective.
I will definitely blog again in a few days and update everyone on my status as a baseball player and a player in the game of life. I hope everyone out there is doing well and you guys have no idea how much it means to me that you actually enjoy reading what I have to write!
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think they were impossible,”
-Vince Lombardi
I’m about 30 at bats into Spring Training and I’m slowly making the progress that I’ve been looking for. For me the hardest part of hitting is timing. When I’m struggling I can always link it back to not being on time, late or early. At the start of the games I was all right with making an out as long as I was seeing a lot of pitches and having a productive at bat. Lately it’s been paying off for me as I think that the more pitches that I saw early on have led to more successful at bats lately. So I guess if you were wondering how things were going for me on the field, you now know. I’ve made some progress in the areas where I’ve wanted to and I’m still working for the start of the season.
Spring Training days can be very long and drawn out at times. I usually wake up around 6:00 and get to the field at around 6:45. My day at the field usually comes to an end around 6:30 PM. Obviously there’s a lot of time in between spent with teammates. I’ve made an effort to become closer with more of the guys in the organization. When you have people that you get along well with around you, it makes the day much more enjoyable. The group that I’m in, the high a group, consists of guys anywhere from 19 to 28, but everyone has one thing in common and that’s the dream of making it all the way to the big leagues. For the most part we are all in the same boat, and everyone can relate to how things are going for you at any given point.
One of the down sides to becoming close with someone in an organization is that you never know when that locker right next to you might become unoccupied. If you can remember back to last year my roommate, Jordan, was released towards the beginning of Spring Training. It’s such a tough thing to ponder because you never want the thought of getting released creep into your mind. I always like to think that I’m making a good impression and that I’m going to make a team but the realist in me realizes that at some point I will most likely get a tap on my shoulder to see the assistant general manager or that call in the off season from a higher up in the organization. I don’t worry about all that stuff though, I ease my mind by working hard and giving it all I have and that gives me the satisfaction of knowing that people will see that and respect the way that I go about my business.
Minor league baseball players can resemble young high school girls if you were to ever overhear a conversation between a group of players. Before our 9 AM meeting begins everyone stand around in the outfield in groups talking about who got released, who’s on the chopping block, and who is safe. I can always expect to get out to the outfield and hear someone ask me if I had heard about what happened to so and so. You never want to hear your name come up in those conversations or in the conversations about who is about to get released. In my opinion the organization has their mind about 90% of the way made up before Spring Training even begins. During my first year a guy who had a mediocre previous year hit three home runs and the next day he was let go. It’s hard for me to believe that he was given a fair shot during Spring Training to make a team. There are plenty of stories like that and everyone always seems to have an excuse as to why they weren’t given a fair opportunity. I’ve heard about every excuse in the book and they all are exactly that; excuses. Our manage last year told us that you can go through your whole life blaming the world for your misfortunes but you won’t ever get anywhere until you take responsibility for the actions and reactions in your life.
One of the great things for me about Spring Training is getting to be close to the big leaguers and seeing behind the scenes action. I still feel like the same kid, walking around the facility, that I was when I was 14 going down to Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona. I’m as big of a fan as any of the players that I’ve encountered. A lot of guys are fans but they don’t ask for autographs or try and talk to the big leaguers because they don’t want to look like a little kid basically. I, however have realized that this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I’m going to take full advantage of it. If you can remember my blogs from last year I got pictures taken with various big leaguers. I’ve continued getting pictures this year. About a week ago I got a chance to meet Ryan Howard and my new favorite player, Chase Utley. They were both really grounded and down to earth. I talked to Howard about being from Missouri and I found out that he played on the St. Louis Lafayette basketball team that lost to Liberty in the 1998 state championship game. Utley was a real quiet guy and he seemed to be really surprised that someone would want a picture and a little chat with him.
A few days ago I got the chance to meet Hunter Pence, ya that’s his real name, weird right?!?! When I introduced myself I told him my name and he didn’t believe me. If I was in his position I don’t think I would believe it either. The chance of someone having a name so similar to mine is ridiculous. He was a great guy; he asked me about how my career was going and asked about my personal life. It’s a rare thing to talk to a big leaguer and for them to take such an interest in your life. Just think of how neat of a story they could make if Hunter Mense played against Hunter Pence in the big leagues, anything can happen.
There is only about a week left in Spring Training and I feel like I’m finally getting to a point where I am fully prepared for the season. Even though Spring Training has been shorter this year the organization has done a good job of getting everything in while keeping everyone fresh. I’ve also already had my first visit when my mom came down earlier this week and stayed for a few days. It was great to see her but I always feel so bad because I’m so busy all the time that I don’t get to spend as much time with her as I like to. It’s the same thing with Amber, but I think all the special people in my life realize how busy I am and are able to keep that in perspective.
I will definitely blog again in a few days and update everyone on my status as a baseball player and a player in the game of life. I hope everyone out there is doing well and you guys have no idea how much it means to me that you actually enjoy reading what I have to write!
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think they were impossible,”
-Vince Lombardi
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Spring Training...a real American vacation!
My burnt arms are turning into a tan and my legs are sore from standing around, that can only mean one thing; we’re more than a week into Spring Training!
We finally started playing games yesterday. I forgot how great of a feeling it was to be on a baseball field, under the sun, competing and chasing a dream. It’s such a great thing when the first game of the spring arrives. Everyone begins with a clean slate so that when there’s an out made or a walk given out there aren’t that many “f” bombs thrown around, in a few days though that will definitely change. I take these games very serious but I also realize that there is a long season ahead where I’m going to be frustrated at some point, so for the spring I try and stay as even keeled at possible. One of my goals for this season is to carry a part of my spring training mentality into the regular season. It always seems that the best players are the ones who are able to forget about their previous at bats or games and learn and go forward with that even keeled attitude.
For our game yesterday we traveled north on I-95 to Port St. Lucie to play the Mets. I led off the game with a strikeout, but battled and saw a lot of pitches so for me it was a successful at bat. My next at bat I doubled to left center and my final at bat I walked. We won the game 7-4 and everyone seemed to be happy with the way that things had went. I was happy about my first game back. I saw a lot of pitches, squared a ball up, and got on base a couple times.
When I talk to people about professional baseball one of the questions that always comes up is ‘Is there any type of a team concept?’. I have honestly always been kind of baffled by that question and didn’t really know what my honest opinion was. Last year I finally began to grasp the answer to that question. One thing that I’ve learned about pro ball is that you always have to look out for yourself, because if you don’t then chances are that you’ll be taken advantage of. Our team was once told last year that you need to play for the name on the back of your jersey and collect a check from the name that’s on the front of your jersey. I agree with that to a certain extent. This will be my 4th year in pro ball and I feel like I’m beginning to figure out how to go about my business when it comes to winning games and developing as a player. Of course you’re playing for yourself but the way I look at it is that if you win everyone is in a better mood and when you’re in a good mood, things always seem to go better for you personally. When I first got into pro ball my natural feeling was that I didn’t want any of the other position players to do well because those are guys that I was competing against to make it to the show. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that all I need to worry about is myself. If I take care of what I need to and put up good enough numbers then I’ll make it, no matter what everyone else in the organization does. Granted I might not make it with the Marlins but there are 31 other teams out there that have big league teams that hold the same dream.
One of the really neat things about being in Jupiter during this time of the year is that I feel right at home when I look around the parking lot of our hotel. It’s not often that you go to South Florida and see an abundance of Missouri license plates. As much as I dislike the Cardinals, I will have to admit that they have a very loyal and dedicated bunch of fans. I always enjoy striking up conversations with the Cardinals fans around the hotel. Most of the time they are retired couples, grouped with other retired couples, who are down on their annual trip down to Jupiter to watch their beloved Cardinals. Last night I struck up a conversation with a couple from St. Louis and a couple from Cape Girardeau. They were very excited to hear that a Missouri boy was living out his childhood dream. We talked for about a half an hour and today they stopped by and watch my teammates and I play our game against the Cardinals. That’s when you know that someone is a true baseball fan, when they go to the back fields to watch a bunch of young minor leaguers play. They made sure and said hi to me before I walked back over to our side and it absolutely made my day. I ran into them once again tonight in the hotel lobby and we talked once again for about 30 minutes about baseball, Mizzou athletics, and high school football. Anyone who is able to talk sports and have some intelligent input is a person who I can talk to for hours, and that is exactly how these two families are. I hate to say it, but my opinion of Cardinals fans is slowly shifting, very very slowly shifting!
This blog has taken me awhile to write, the NCAA tournament is such a distracting thing, so I’ll save my stories about getting to meet Chase Utley and Ryan Howard for my next blog. Not to mention that my girlfriend, Amber, has a game starting in about 10 minutes that I’m planning on listening to on the computer/radio. She’s another story too that I’ll save for a later date.
Come back in a few days and I should have a new blog posted.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
We finally started playing games yesterday. I forgot how great of a feeling it was to be on a baseball field, under the sun, competing and chasing a dream. It’s such a great thing when the first game of the spring arrives. Everyone begins with a clean slate so that when there’s an out made or a walk given out there aren’t that many “f” bombs thrown around, in a few days though that will definitely change. I take these games very serious but I also realize that there is a long season ahead where I’m going to be frustrated at some point, so for the spring I try and stay as even keeled at possible. One of my goals for this season is to carry a part of my spring training mentality into the regular season. It always seems that the best players are the ones who are able to forget about their previous at bats or games and learn and go forward with that even keeled attitude.
For our game yesterday we traveled north on I-95 to Port St. Lucie to play the Mets. I led off the game with a strikeout, but battled and saw a lot of pitches so for me it was a successful at bat. My next at bat I doubled to left center and my final at bat I walked. We won the game 7-4 and everyone seemed to be happy with the way that things had went. I was happy about my first game back. I saw a lot of pitches, squared a ball up, and got on base a couple times.
When I talk to people about professional baseball one of the questions that always comes up is ‘Is there any type of a team concept?’. I have honestly always been kind of baffled by that question and didn’t really know what my honest opinion was. Last year I finally began to grasp the answer to that question. One thing that I’ve learned about pro ball is that you always have to look out for yourself, because if you don’t then chances are that you’ll be taken advantage of. Our team was once told last year that you need to play for the name on the back of your jersey and collect a check from the name that’s on the front of your jersey. I agree with that to a certain extent. This will be my 4th year in pro ball and I feel like I’m beginning to figure out how to go about my business when it comes to winning games and developing as a player. Of course you’re playing for yourself but the way I look at it is that if you win everyone is in a better mood and when you’re in a good mood, things always seem to go better for you personally. When I first got into pro ball my natural feeling was that I didn’t want any of the other position players to do well because those are guys that I was competing against to make it to the show. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that all I need to worry about is myself. If I take care of what I need to and put up good enough numbers then I’ll make it, no matter what everyone else in the organization does. Granted I might not make it with the Marlins but there are 31 other teams out there that have big league teams that hold the same dream.
One of the really neat things about being in Jupiter during this time of the year is that I feel right at home when I look around the parking lot of our hotel. It’s not often that you go to South Florida and see an abundance of Missouri license plates. As much as I dislike the Cardinals, I will have to admit that they have a very loyal and dedicated bunch of fans. I always enjoy striking up conversations with the Cardinals fans around the hotel. Most of the time they are retired couples, grouped with other retired couples, who are down on their annual trip down to Jupiter to watch their beloved Cardinals. Last night I struck up a conversation with a couple from St. Louis and a couple from Cape Girardeau. They were very excited to hear that a Missouri boy was living out his childhood dream. We talked for about a half an hour and today they stopped by and watch my teammates and I play our game against the Cardinals. That’s when you know that someone is a true baseball fan, when they go to the back fields to watch a bunch of young minor leaguers play. They made sure and said hi to me before I walked back over to our side and it absolutely made my day. I ran into them once again tonight in the hotel lobby and we talked once again for about 30 minutes about baseball, Mizzou athletics, and high school football. Anyone who is able to talk sports and have some intelligent input is a person who I can talk to for hours, and that is exactly how these two families are. I hate to say it, but my opinion of Cardinals fans is slowly shifting, very very slowly shifting!
This blog has taken me awhile to write, the NCAA tournament is such a distracting thing, so I’ll save my stories about getting to meet Chase Utley and Ryan Howard for my next blog. Not to mention that my girlfriend, Amber, has a game starting in about 10 minutes that I’m planning on listening to on the computer/radio. She’s another story too that I’ll save for a later date.
Come back in a few days and I should have a new blog posted.
“In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.”
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Spring Training 2009!
The time has finally arrived. After six months of living back at home, waiting tables at Rancho Grande, and working out at the Mabee Center I am finally back down in Jupiter, Florida and more importantly back on the baseball field.
I started my drive down from Liberty on Tuesday March 10th. I was embarking on a journey that was supposed to be a 22 hour trip; it would turn out to be a lot longer. I drove through Nashville and Atlanta on the first day and finally after 14 hours of traveling I decided to stop for the night at Days Inn in Ashbury, Georgia. I woke up the next morning at 9:00 and was on the road by 9:30. I had about six hours left, so my estimated time of arrival was 3:30. I had made four hours worth of progress and had gotten on my last leg of the trip, the Florida Turnpike, when things began to go downhill.
I had the truck set to cruise at 70 MPH, a nice easy pace. All of the sudden the truck began to sputter and I could immediately tell that something wasn’t right. I looked down at the dash and the “check gauges” light had come on. I looked around at the gauges and saw one that stuck out, it was all the way down at zero. I don’t know the first thing about cars but I knew that this wasn’t a good sign. I quickly pulled over to the side of the turnpike and shut down the truck. I looked in the owner’s manual and after some extensive research I found out that the gauge that was low was the oil pressure gauge. I do know that the engine needs oil to run and if there wasn’t any oil going into the engine then something was really wrong. Once I realized what was going on I knew that there was no way that my truck would be making the rest of the trip with me.
Luckily we have Triple AAA, which was always seems to come in handy, and they were able to come pick me and my truck up and tow me an hour to the southeast to a little town called Malabar. It had already been a really long day, and as I sat around the auto repair shop I was spinning my wheels trying to figure out how I was going to finish up my final hour and a half of my trip. I finally decided on a rental car, and everyone knows that Enterprise picks you up. So I called them up and somehow, with the way that my luck was going, they still had one car that wasn’t rented out yet. A little while after calling the local Enterprise they were there to pick me up in a 2009 Dodge Journey. We headed back to fill out some paperwork and by 5:30 I jumped on I-95 headed south towards Jupiter.
I finally got into Jupiter at around 7:00 and I was hoping that the way my drive went wouldn’t be an indicator of how my Spring would go.
Every year from February to March Jupiter is home to around 500 professional baseball players. I would say that Spring Training in this area helps with the town’s economy but I’m not really sure if this area could get any wealthier. I was reminded the other day about how rich this area really is when I noticed six Lexus parked right next to each other. Out of all the fans that come down to Jupiter to watch Spring Training I would say that 90% are Cardinals fans, 8% are just plain baseball fans, and maybe 2% are Marlins fans. It’s weird to come down to Florida and see half of the cars in the hotel parking lot with Missouri license plates.
I was part of the last group of players to get down to Jupiter. The first group arrived towards the start of February, all guys who were attending big league Spring Training. The second group included guys that were attending mini camp which began at the end of February. The guys that attended mini camp were younger guys and guys who received a large signing bonus. Next were the pitchers and catchers, followed by the “visa” players (players from outside of the country), and finally I arrived on March 11th with the rest of the guys who didn’t fit into those categories. So if you followed that I was in the group the included American non big league invites who were older, didn’t sign for a lot of money, and played a position. For me it’s a tough thing coming down later because the natural feeling is to feel that you aren’t quite fully prepared. Part of the reason why I work so hard in the off season is so that I don’t ever have that feeling of being under prepared. Scott and I were talking when we were back in Liberty about how weird it seemed that we were still back at home working out in the cold when there were big league Spring Training games that were getting underway on TV. And then I had to deal with people who saw those games and then saw me and would ask me “Hey I thought you played baseball, I saw some highlights the other day on Sportscenter”. Explaining that to some people can be difficult to say the least.
After our first day of physicals and testing (I finished second in our testing) it was great to finally be back on the baseball field working towards the ultimate destination. The first few days of workouts have gone by pretty smoothly. Coming into camp I had mostly hit off the tee and had taken a few rounds of front toss. I hadn’t seen any batting practice and definitely hadn’t seen any live pitching. The first day I walked into the clubhouse and looked at the schedule I realized that I would be seeing live pitching before I even took a round of batting practice. I honestly wasn’t really worried about it though, I knew that eventually we would be seeing live pitching and at this point I was in the same position as everyone else. I kept thinking about one of my favorite sayings “Get comfortable being uncomfortable”. What I take out of that saying is that you can’t be afraid to work on the things that you aren’t good at and you can’t be afraid to look foolish at times.
After six months of not seeing live pitching I stepped back into the batters box with the same confidence that I had towards the end of last year. When I get in the box I look at it as a one on one battle, and no matter who you’re facing you have to think that you’re better than that other guy. It felt just like riding a bike for me. The first pitch I saw I fouled off and the following pitch I drove to the warning track in right center. The feeling of hitting a baseball on the sweet spot of a wood bat is absolutely priceless. When you hit a ball good you can’t even feel it and the sound that it makes is just as good.
The following couple days have been just like the first day. We’ll begin playing our games this coming Wednesday. We only play 10 games this Spring Training, apparently the Marlins are trying to save a little money just like the rest of America. For me there are a few things that I want to accomplish during this years Spring Training. I want to maintain my physical strength, become as comfortable as I can in the batter’s box, go into the season as confident in my abilities as I can, and stay healthy.
This is the first of many blog entries that I plan to enter this year. The life of a minor league baseball player is a very little known about lifestyle, but it’s a great ride that I feel like people would enjoy to hear about and I love to write about it. Check back in a few days and in the meantime fell free to email me with any questions that you might have at hminliberty@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to my next writing adventure!
By the way…how bout them Tigers!!
“When I’m focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything can stand in the way of my doing something.” –Michael Phelps
I started my drive down from Liberty on Tuesday March 10th. I was embarking on a journey that was supposed to be a 22 hour trip; it would turn out to be a lot longer. I drove through Nashville and Atlanta on the first day and finally after 14 hours of traveling I decided to stop for the night at Days Inn in Ashbury, Georgia. I woke up the next morning at 9:00 and was on the road by 9:30. I had about six hours left, so my estimated time of arrival was 3:30. I had made four hours worth of progress and had gotten on my last leg of the trip, the Florida Turnpike, when things began to go downhill.
I had the truck set to cruise at 70 MPH, a nice easy pace. All of the sudden the truck began to sputter and I could immediately tell that something wasn’t right. I looked down at the dash and the “check gauges” light had come on. I looked around at the gauges and saw one that stuck out, it was all the way down at zero. I don’t know the first thing about cars but I knew that this wasn’t a good sign. I quickly pulled over to the side of the turnpike and shut down the truck. I looked in the owner’s manual and after some extensive research I found out that the gauge that was low was the oil pressure gauge. I do know that the engine needs oil to run and if there wasn’t any oil going into the engine then something was really wrong. Once I realized what was going on I knew that there was no way that my truck would be making the rest of the trip with me.
Luckily we have Triple AAA, which was always seems to come in handy, and they were able to come pick me and my truck up and tow me an hour to the southeast to a little town called Malabar. It had already been a really long day, and as I sat around the auto repair shop I was spinning my wheels trying to figure out how I was going to finish up my final hour and a half of my trip. I finally decided on a rental car, and everyone knows that Enterprise picks you up. So I called them up and somehow, with the way that my luck was going, they still had one car that wasn’t rented out yet. A little while after calling the local Enterprise they were there to pick me up in a 2009 Dodge Journey. We headed back to fill out some paperwork and by 5:30 I jumped on I-95 headed south towards Jupiter.
I finally got into Jupiter at around 7:00 and I was hoping that the way my drive went wouldn’t be an indicator of how my Spring would go.
Every year from February to March Jupiter is home to around 500 professional baseball players. I would say that Spring Training in this area helps with the town’s economy but I’m not really sure if this area could get any wealthier. I was reminded the other day about how rich this area really is when I noticed six Lexus parked right next to each other. Out of all the fans that come down to Jupiter to watch Spring Training I would say that 90% are Cardinals fans, 8% are just plain baseball fans, and maybe 2% are Marlins fans. It’s weird to come down to Florida and see half of the cars in the hotel parking lot with Missouri license plates.
I was part of the last group of players to get down to Jupiter. The first group arrived towards the start of February, all guys who were attending big league Spring Training. The second group included guys that were attending mini camp which began at the end of February. The guys that attended mini camp were younger guys and guys who received a large signing bonus. Next were the pitchers and catchers, followed by the “visa” players (players from outside of the country), and finally I arrived on March 11th with the rest of the guys who didn’t fit into those categories. So if you followed that I was in the group the included American non big league invites who were older, didn’t sign for a lot of money, and played a position. For me it’s a tough thing coming down later because the natural feeling is to feel that you aren’t quite fully prepared. Part of the reason why I work so hard in the off season is so that I don’t ever have that feeling of being under prepared. Scott and I were talking when we were back in Liberty about how weird it seemed that we were still back at home working out in the cold when there were big league Spring Training games that were getting underway on TV. And then I had to deal with people who saw those games and then saw me and would ask me “Hey I thought you played baseball, I saw some highlights the other day on Sportscenter”. Explaining that to some people can be difficult to say the least.
After our first day of physicals and testing (I finished second in our testing) it was great to finally be back on the baseball field working towards the ultimate destination. The first few days of workouts have gone by pretty smoothly. Coming into camp I had mostly hit off the tee and had taken a few rounds of front toss. I hadn’t seen any batting practice and definitely hadn’t seen any live pitching. The first day I walked into the clubhouse and looked at the schedule I realized that I would be seeing live pitching before I even took a round of batting practice. I honestly wasn’t really worried about it though, I knew that eventually we would be seeing live pitching and at this point I was in the same position as everyone else. I kept thinking about one of my favorite sayings “Get comfortable being uncomfortable”. What I take out of that saying is that you can’t be afraid to work on the things that you aren’t good at and you can’t be afraid to look foolish at times.
After six months of not seeing live pitching I stepped back into the batters box with the same confidence that I had towards the end of last year. When I get in the box I look at it as a one on one battle, and no matter who you’re facing you have to think that you’re better than that other guy. It felt just like riding a bike for me. The first pitch I saw I fouled off and the following pitch I drove to the warning track in right center. The feeling of hitting a baseball on the sweet spot of a wood bat is absolutely priceless. When you hit a ball good you can’t even feel it and the sound that it makes is just as good.
The following couple days have been just like the first day. We’ll begin playing our games this coming Wednesday. We only play 10 games this Spring Training, apparently the Marlins are trying to save a little money just like the rest of America. For me there are a few things that I want to accomplish during this years Spring Training. I want to maintain my physical strength, become as comfortable as I can in the batter’s box, go into the season as confident in my abilities as I can, and stay healthy.
This is the first of many blog entries that I plan to enter this year. The life of a minor league baseball player is a very little known about lifestyle, but it’s a great ride that I feel like people would enjoy to hear about and I love to write about it. Check back in a few days and in the meantime fell free to email me with any questions that you might have at hminliberty@yahoo.com. Thank you so much for reading and I look forward to my next writing adventure!
By the way…how bout them Tigers!!
“When I’m focused, there is not one single thing, person, anything can stand in the way of my doing something.” –Michael Phelps
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
2008 Recap
2008, what a year it was. It was an absolute roller coaster ride for me but after everything it's definitely a year where I gained the most knowledge, mostly about myself.
I can remember all the way back when 2008 rolled in. I was laying in bed watching a movie with Drew, she was asleep so I woke her up for a second, gave her a kiss, wished her happy new year and she was back to sleep (this New Year's will be explained later). So it started off pretty uneventful but I was a very happy person.About 20 days into January I got called down early to Spring Training so the Marlins could make sure that my shoulder was fully healed. The call came earlier than expected and the flight down to Florida seemed to come even sooner. It was tough because I knew that I wouldn't have a chance to see a lot of the people that I loved so much for at least a couple months. But then again I was getting to go down to Florida in the middle of the winter to train with some big leaguers and get ready for a season where I got to play a game that I love.
Once I got down to Florida it was finally nice to settle into a place where I knew I would be for at least a couple months. I had the opportunity to get some individual attention with some of the various instructors in the organization. I worked out and hit with a few major leaguers and really took everything in as a learning experience. After about a month and a half of “winter workouts” it was finally time for minor league spring training to begin.
I think that spring training started on the 5th of March. I was once again rooming with Jordan and we picked up our friendship right where it had left off. The first couple weeks went by pretty fast and I felt like my preparation was showing itself. We were having a blast; my mom, sister, Madi, Drew, and Jordan’s fiancé Sam were all down visiting. A couple days into the visit I was hit with a wake up call. Jordan, my best friend in the organization, was released after having a great couple outings. I was shocked at how he could have been released, it made me believe that they already had it in their minds that they were going to release him no matter what he did. But I had to move on and I had already decided that while everyone was down there I was going to make my commitment for a certain someone official.
When my mom made the trip down she brought an engagement ring that I had prepared for Drew. I was ready to make the leap and take our relationship to the next level. I had decided that I didn’t want to spend my life with anyone else and I wanted to make sure she knew that. I had pondered ideas about how I was going to ask her for a couple months, but there wasn’t ever one that I really thought would work out the way that I had wanted it to. So what I did was had my mom give me the ring and my idea was to just keep it in my pocket and whenever I felt that the time was right I was not only going to surprise her but I was also going to surprise myself.
Drew and I were over at my family’s hotel room and we decided that we wanted to show my mom our favorite, most laid back bar in Jupiter. It just so happened to be right across the street along “Love St.” We walked to the end of the pier at Square Grooper and as my mom was taking a picture of us I got down on a knee and asked the woman of my dreams to marry me. She said yes and we shared the biggest hug ever and as we walked back to the hotel I could’ve sworn that we were the two happiest people on the face of the Earth. I was ready for where our relationship was going and excited for what the future had in store for us.
Spring training came to an end a couple weeks later and it was off to Greensboro, North Carolina where I was assigned to play for the low a Greensboro Grasshoppers. I knew that would be a very different experience for me. I went into the season not knowing anyone on the team real well and I also went into the season being one of the older guys on the team. I was going to have to do some growing up, this was the year that I needed to stay healthy and take care of my business on the field to show the Marlins that they had made the right choice with drafting me. Greensboro was an unbelievable city with a great fan base and a ridiculous stadium. I stayed to myself for the most part during the first month, staying quiet and trying to let my play on the field do my talking. I tried to set an example for the younger guys, I felt as if after being around for a couple years and being around some older guys myself, I had an understanding of what it took to be successful.
I quickly gravitated towards some of the older guys on the team and in particular, Bryan Petersen. We seemed to have a lot of the same interests and he held high regard for a lot of the same things that I valued most in my life. Together we began to discover the mental side of the game. Since my junior year at Mizzou I had always thought that it was important but I never had realized how much work it takes to be a mentally tough person. Re-discovering the mental side of the game combined with the work that I put in the off season really helped me to succeed during the summer.
The first half of the season seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. I had a so-so first half, hitting around .265, but I felt as if I was learning a lot of new things and most importantly I wasn’t ruffling any feathers. The second half started with a conversation that I never saw coming.
A couple days after the start of the second half we were playing a series in Lexington, Kentucky when I got a call from Drew. She told me that things just weren’t the same to her anymore and that she wanted to move the wedding date back. I was absolutely crushed; I didn’t know what to do or where to go. From the time that we had been engaged until this conversation we had only seen each other for a total of four days. The next few days were especially hard for me. Everyone on the team could tell that there was something wrong with me and there were only a handful of guys that I felt comfortable enough to share my thoughts with. Everyone, including our roaming hitter instructor John Malee, seemed to tell me that I just had to let it run its course and that everything would work itself out in the long run. At this point it was hard for me to not take my personal life with me onto the field and it really showed in my play. I felt like I was just going through the motions and I started to question what I was doing playing baseball when the only person that I wanted to be around at that point was Drew.
The turning point for me was when my family came out to see me. I was really able to forget about everything else that was going on and just play the game and be a good host to them. Things were starting to turn around and my play on the field was showing it. But once they left I was right back to where I was before they got there. Up to that point we had just decided to move the wedding back, but now she had decided that she wasn’t ready to get married at all. This was the lowest point of the year for me. I spent hours after our games talking to our manager, Edwin Rodriguez, about my situation. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to talk to. I could tell him anything, and he made me feel like what I was telling him was just as important to him as it was to me. He gave me some great advice but he told me one thing that will stick with me for as long as I play baseball. He told me to use baseball as a way to get away from everything, a place where I could go back to being a kid where nothing else mattered but what I was doing at that point. He told me that when I got to the field and I began to undress out of my street clothes I should try and treat every article of clothing like a personal problem that I had. So when I was completely out of my street clothes and into my uniform there was nothing except for baseball that was in my mind. I’ll never forget the conversations that we had outside of the locker room in Hagerstown, Maryland. I tried to forget about everything and for the next four games I think I went a combined 12-16. It was the best that I had ever felt on the field despite how everything away from the field was an absolute mess.
During the summer in Greensboro I lived with a group of Latino guys. There were two guys that I roomed with that were there for most of the summer and I became the closest with, they were Osvaldo Martinez from Puerto Rico and Emilio Ontiveros from Venezuela. It was a great experience living with these guys. I really picked up on how much they loved playing baseball and how they didn’t take anything for granted. Not a lot of people in their situations get the opportunities that they got and they knew it and took advantage of everything that they were given. I also picked up on a lot of Spanish which is something that I had always deemed necessary to play pro ball. They were a great group of guys to live with and they welcomed me with open arms. There were times during the year that I felt like I was Latin. I tried to be as accepting of their cultures as I could and they without a doubt did the same with me.
The season was coming to a close and we had about 3 weeks left when I felt that I really turned it on. We began getting all these talks from coaches and people in the organization about how hard the last part of the year is because you get so drained mentally and physically and you begin to see the end of the year and that’s all you care about, getting to the end. After hearing all these different built in excuses I decided that this was my time to perform. I figured that if everyone else was “getting tired” then it was time for me to lean back on the work that I did in the off season for this exact time. I took a different approach to the end of the year. Some people look at it as the season is coming to a close and they try to rush to that point but I kind of thought of it as a time where I’m not going to be able to play in another game for at least 6 months so I better make the most out of this last month. I didn’t want to be sitting at home beating myself up because I shut it down too early. I ended up having a really good August and I left Greensboro on a good note going into the off season. I ended up getting along great with all my teammates and I felt like I really earned their respect. I had a great time in Greensboro, but hopefully I won’t be going back there anytime soon!
September came and I was back in Liberty living at home with my family. I gradually worked my way back into working out but I was really bored most of the time and I wasn’t making any money. This obviously was an easy decision for me, I got a job. I began waiting tables at Rancho Grande Cantina, my favorite Mexican restaurant in the entire world. My personal life was once again struggling and working at Rancho was the perfect remedy. When I worked all I thought about was having fun, working hard, and making everyone else’s experience a little more enjoyable. Everyone at Rancho is such a joy to work with which made it even better whenever I went into work. For me it didn’t matter if I had a night where I only made $20, it was more money than I had going into the night, I was productive with my time, and I almost always would have a great time.
A couple more months went by and Drew and I decided that we were completely done. It was a very tough thing for me to handle. Everything reminded me of her and I couldn’t think of life without her. I was at a pretty tough point in my life. I started having some headaches because of anxiety but everyone tried their best to make me feel better. I found out a lot about who genuinely cared for me and to my surprise it was a lot more people than I ever could have imagined. All I could do was try and keep my mind off of what could have been and begin to focus on my career and the long journey that I had ahead of me.
The end of the year was quickly approaching and I tried not wasting any of the remaining time. I began to branch out a little more and began to meet a lot of new people and re kindled some old friendships. For New Year’s Eve I found myself in New York with Gary. It was an unbelievable and by far the most memorable New Year’s that I’ve experienced. The eventful start of a year has to mean something right? That’s what I’m banking on anyways. I almost feel as if going into 2009 I am a new man with new found goals and a new outlook on life. I didn’t really come up with a New Year’s resolution but I’ve just decided that I’m going to take full advantage of all of the opportunities that I encounter. Now that I look back at that sentence I guess that kind of is a New Year’s resolution, but to me a resolution is too cliché, so I’ll call it a dedication.
2008 was a great learning year and a great developmental year for me in many ways. I had some of the best moments of my life and also some of the worst. I re-dedicated myself to the game I love and discovered what it truly feels like to play like a kid again. I grew as a man and found out quite a bit about relationships. But everything that happened to me was a blessing and I took it all as a learning experience. I’m a big believer in the saying “everything happens for a reason” and this past year I really had to lean back on my faith in that.
This quote is one that my dad sent me. I usually like to come up with my own but this one was so good that I felt that I had to share it with everyone that reads this:
“Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable.”
I can remember all the way back when 2008 rolled in. I was laying in bed watching a movie with Drew, she was asleep so I woke her up for a second, gave her a kiss, wished her happy new year and she was back to sleep (this New Year's will be explained later). So it started off pretty uneventful but I was a very happy person.About 20 days into January I got called down early to Spring Training so the Marlins could make sure that my shoulder was fully healed. The call came earlier than expected and the flight down to Florida seemed to come even sooner. It was tough because I knew that I wouldn't have a chance to see a lot of the people that I loved so much for at least a couple months. But then again I was getting to go down to Florida in the middle of the winter to train with some big leaguers and get ready for a season where I got to play a game that I love.
Once I got down to Florida it was finally nice to settle into a place where I knew I would be for at least a couple months. I had the opportunity to get some individual attention with some of the various instructors in the organization. I worked out and hit with a few major leaguers and really took everything in as a learning experience. After about a month and a half of “winter workouts” it was finally time for minor league spring training to begin.
I think that spring training started on the 5th of March. I was once again rooming with Jordan and we picked up our friendship right where it had left off. The first couple weeks went by pretty fast and I felt like my preparation was showing itself. We were having a blast; my mom, sister, Madi, Drew, and Jordan’s fiancé Sam were all down visiting. A couple days into the visit I was hit with a wake up call. Jordan, my best friend in the organization, was released after having a great couple outings. I was shocked at how he could have been released, it made me believe that they already had it in their minds that they were going to release him no matter what he did. But I had to move on and I had already decided that while everyone was down there I was going to make my commitment for a certain someone official.
When my mom made the trip down she brought an engagement ring that I had prepared for Drew. I was ready to make the leap and take our relationship to the next level. I had decided that I didn’t want to spend my life with anyone else and I wanted to make sure she knew that. I had pondered ideas about how I was going to ask her for a couple months, but there wasn’t ever one that I really thought would work out the way that I had wanted it to. So what I did was had my mom give me the ring and my idea was to just keep it in my pocket and whenever I felt that the time was right I was not only going to surprise her but I was also going to surprise myself.
Drew and I were over at my family’s hotel room and we decided that we wanted to show my mom our favorite, most laid back bar in Jupiter. It just so happened to be right across the street along “Love St.” We walked to the end of the pier at Square Grooper and as my mom was taking a picture of us I got down on a knee and asked the woman of my dreams to marry me. She said yes and we shared the biggest hug ever and as we walked back to the hotel I could’ve sworn that we were the two happiest people on the face of the Earth. I was ready for where our relationship was going and excited for what the future had in store for us.
Spring training came to an end a couple weeks later and it was off to Greensboro, North Carolina where I was assigned to play for the low a Greensboro Grasshoppers. I knew that would be a very different experience for me. I went into the season not knowing anyone on the team real well and I also went into the season being one of the older guys on the team. I was going to have to do some growing up, this was the year that I needed to stay healthy and take care of my business on the field to show the Marlins that they had made the right choice with drafting me. Greensboro was an unbelievable city with a great fan base and a ridiculous stadium. I stayed to myself for the most part during the first month, staying quiet and trying to let my play on the field do my talking. I tried to set an example for the younger guys, I felt as if after being around for a couple years and being around some older guys myself, I had an understanding of what it took to be successful.
I quickly gravitated towards some of the older guys on the team and in particular, Bryan Petersen. We seemed to have a lot of the same interests and he held high regard for a lot of the same things that I valued most in my life. Together we began to discover the mental side of the game. Since my junior year at Mizzou I had always thought that it was important but I never had realized how much work it takes to be a mentally tough person. Re-discovering the mental side of the game combined with the work that I put in the off season really helped me to succeed during the summer.
The first half of the season seemed to be over in the blink of an eye. I had a so-so first half, hitting around .265, but I felt as if I was learning a lot of new things and most importantly I wasn’t ruffling any feathers. The second half started with a conversation that I never saw coming.
A couple days after the start of the second half we were playing a series in Lexington, Kentucky when I got a call from Drew. She told me that things just weren’t the same to her anymore and that she wanted to move the wedding date back. I was absolutely crushed; I didn’t know what to do or where to go. From the time that we had been engaged until this conversation we had only seen each other for a total of four days. The next few days were especially hard for me. Everyone on the team could tell that there was something wrong with me and there were only a handful of guys that I felt comfortable enough to share my thoughts with. Everyone, including our roaming hitter instructor John Malee, seemed to tell me that I just had to let it run its course and that everything would work itself out in the long run. At this point it was hard for me to not take my personal life with me onto the field and it really showed in my play. I felt like I was just going through the motions and I started to question what I was doing playing baseball when the only person that I wanted to be around at that point was Drew.
The turning point for me was when my family came out to see me. I was really able to forget about everything else that was going on and just play the game and be a good host to them. Things were starting to turn around and my play on the field was showing it. But once they left I was right back to where I was before they got there. Up to that point we had just decided to move the wedding back, but now she had decided that she wasn’t ready to get married at all. This was the lowest point of the year for me. I spent hours after our games talking to our manager, Edwin Rodriguez, about my situation. I couldn’t have asked for a better person to talk to. I could tell him anything, and he made me feel like what I was telling him was just as important to him as it was to me. He gave me some great advice but he told me one thing that will stick with me for as long as I play baseball. He told me to use baseball as a way to get away from everything, a place where I could go back to being a kid where nothing else mattered but what I was doing at that point. He told me that when I got to the field and I began to undress out of my street clothes I should try and treat every article of clothing like a personal problem that I had. So when I was completely out of my street clothes and into my uniform there was nothing except for baseball that was in my mind. I’ll never forget the conversations that we had outside of the locker room in Hagerstown, Maryland. I tried to forget about everything and for the next four games I think I went a combined 12-16. It was the best that I had ever felt on the field despite how everything away from the field was an absolute mess.
During the summer in Greensboro I lived with a group of Latino guys. There were two guys that I roomed with that were there for most of the summer and I became the closest with, they were Osvaldo Martinez from Puerto Rico and Emilio Ontiveros from Venezuela. It was a great experience living with these guys. I really picked up on how much they loved playing baseball and how they didn’t take anything for granted. Not a lot of people in their situations get the opportunities that they got and they knew it and took advantage of everything that they were given. I also picked up on a lot of Spanish which is something that I had always deemed necessary to play pro ball. They were a great group of guys to live with and they welcomed me with open arms. There were times during the year that I felt like I was Latin. I tried to be as accepting of their cultures as I could and they without a doubt did the same with me.
The season was coming to a close and we had about 3 weeks left when I felt that I really turned it on. We began getting all these talks from coaches and people in the organization about how hard the last part of the year is because you get so drained mentally and physically and you begin to see the end of the year and that’s all you care about, getting to the end. After hearing all these different built in excuses I decided that this was my time to perform. I figured that if everyone else was “getting tired” then it was time for me to lean back on the work that I did in the off season for this exact time. I took a different approach to the end of the year. Some people look at it as the season is coming to a close and they try to rush to that point but I kind of thought of it as a time where I’m not going to be able to play in another game for at least 6 months so I better make the most out of this last month. I didn’t want to be sitting at home beating myself up because I shut it down too early. I ended up having a really good August and I left Greensboro on a good note going into the off season. I ended up getting along great with all my teammates and I felt like I really earned their respect. I had a great time in Greensboro, but hopefully I won’t be going back there anytime soon!
September came and I was back in Liberty living at home with my family. I gradually worked my way back into working out but I was really bored most of the time and I wasn’t making any money. This obviously was an easy decision for me, I got a job. I began waiting tables at Rancho Grande Cantina, my favorite Mexican restaurant in the entire world. My personal life was once again struggling and working at Rancho was the perfect remedy. When I worked all I thought about was having fun, working hard, and making everyone else’s experience a little more enjoyable. Everyone at Rancho is such a joy to work with which made it even better whenever I went into work. For me it didn’t matter if I had a night where I only made $20, it was more money than I had going into the night, I was productive with my time, and I almost always would have a great time.
A couple more months went by and Drew and I decided that we were completely done. It was a very tough thing for me to handle. Everything reminded me of her and I couldn’t think of life without her. I was at a pretty tough point in my life. I started having some headaches because of anxiety but everyone tried their best to make me feel better. I found out a lot about who genuinely cared for me and to my surprise it was a lot more people than I ever could have imagined. All I could do was try and keep my mind off of what could have been and begin to focus on my career and the long journey that I had ahead of me.
The end of the year was quickly approaching and I tried not wasting any of the remaining time. I began to branch out a little more and began to meet a lot of new people and re kindled some old friendships. For New Year’s Eve I found myself in New York with Gary. It was an unbelievable and by far the most memorable New Year’s that I’ve experienced. The eventful start of a year has to mean something right? That’s what I’m banking on anyways. I almost feel as if going into 2009 I am a new man with new found goals and a new outlook on life. I didn’t really come up with a New Year’s resolution but I’ve just decided that I’m going to take full advantage of all of the opportunities that I encounter. Now that I look back at that sentence I guess that kind of is a New Year’s resolution, but to me a resolution is too cliché, so I’ll call it a dedication.
2008 was a great learning year and a great developmental year for me in many ways. I had some of the best moments of my life and also some of the worst. I re-dedicated myself to the game I love and discovered what it truly feels like to play like a kid again. I grew as a man and found out quite a bit about relationships. But everything that happened to me was a blessing and I took it all as a learning experience. I’m a big believer in the saying “everything happens for a reason” and this past year I really had to lean back on my faith in that.
This quote is one that my dad sent me. I usually like to come up with my own but this one was so good that I felt that I had to share it with everyone that reads this:
“Change the changeable, accept the unchangeable, and remove yourself from the unacceptable.”
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