Technical Difficulties

Unfortunately it has been a while since I've been able to get on here. I've had some issues with my old Compaq computer, it definitely has had better days. My power cord broke, so I haven't been able to even turn on my computer and I have moved into an apartment where our internet wasn't working for some time. I'm actually using my roomie Jeffy Bercume's computer now. But, I've gotten a new power cord and will be able to start using my computer again.

I have some catching up to do. I was lucky enough to face another big league starting pitching, this time for the Angels. We faced Joel Pineiro over a week ago at the Angels complex. This time there wasn't the build up or anticipation as there was when we faced Ubaldo. The Angels took the field, then we heard that we were facing Pineiro. And he managed to get about 12 outs in the 3 innings that he pitched, including striking out yours truly..in 3 pitches. 12 outs in 3 innings, you may be scratching your head. Well the extended spring games aren't official games, so sometimes teams will end innings before reaching 3 outs because they don't want the pitcher throwing too many pitches (he may be rehabbing and be on a strict pitch out). In Pineiro's case, he was on a strict pitch count each inning and he would stay out there until he reached his limit. I think he recorded 5 outs in 1 inning. He doesn't overpower you, but he throws a ton of strikes and every pitch moves. In 2010 Pineiro was 10-7 with a 3.84 ERA. On another note, Jiminez has returned to the Rockies and had 2 starts since coming off the disabled list.

I've been getting updates from one of my best friends Matt Carbone about my former team, the Raiders of Torrington High School. THS is having a great season, they are now 10-0 and leading the Naugatuck Valley League. My former coach, Gerry Carbone collected his 300th win..congrats coach, I'm hoping for a big end to the season for you guys. I hear the weather is finally warming up some back in the northeast, perfect for baseball season..make the most of it every day.

Facing Ubaldo Jimenez

Two days ago started the same as every other day in extended spring training. Wake up at 6:30, get to the complex, eat breakfast, and do some early work hitting before our stretch. We had a normal morning practice working on baseball and defense followed by batting practice. We were scheduled to play the Rockies at our facility in the afternoon. During lunch there was a rumor circulating throughout our clubhouse..that the Rockies major league ace pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was starting against us. Jimenez started opening day for the Rockies but reported having some problems with his right throwing thumb. He is currently on the 15 day disabled list and is throwing in extended spring training until he will be eligible to return to the big league roster on April 17th. Last year Ubaldo went 19-8 with a 2.88 ERA, came in 3rd in the National League Cy Young voting, and was the national league starter in the the all-star game. Oh, and he also threw a no-hitter against the Braves.

Jimenez delivering a pitch in the 9th inning of his no-hitter

Once we knew Jimenez was starting against us and both my roomie Bercume and I were playing, we decided to bring out Berc's flip cam to video tape our at bats off the all-star. I stepped up to the plate in the second inning with 2 outs and a runner on third. When the video starts it is an 0-1 count as Jimenez buckled my knees with a first pitch slider for a strike before the camera was ready. But, you can watch the rest of the at bat on the video below. Nice camera work by Josh Whitaker getting my swing, then showing Ubaldo.

As you just saw I lined a single into left field on a 4-seam fastball. I had another at bat off Ubaldo, but we didn't get that one on tape, and it wasn't as pretty. I ground out to 3rd base on one of the best pitches I've seen..a 2-seam fastball in the 90s that ran hard towards me. His fastball ranged anywhere from 88-97 mph. There is no doubt that he has great stuff, but we hit some balls hard off of him. 

In the first inning, my teammate, Zhi Fang Pan, hit a home run to right field off Jimenez. Everyone in the dugout was going crazy and deservedly so, he hit a home run off the guy who started in the all-star game last year. It was Pan's first professional home run and he returned to the dugout to say 'UNBELIEVABLE'...Pan speaks very little english and has a translator with him at all times. So I started talking to Pan through his translator and asked if he knew who the pitcher was. To all of our surprise he shook his head, no. We told the translator who the pitcher was, he knew the name Ubaldo right away and even recalled that he was in the Cy Young voting the previous season. At first Pan didn't believe it as his eyes grew big and he said 'no, no' and pointed towards the mound. His translator assured him it was the flame throwing right hander. I just thought it was great that he had no idea who he was facing when he approached the plate, and I had been hearing rumors about Jimenez over an hour before the game. 

Locker Room Talk

I remember walking into our minor league clubhouse in Phoenix, AZ last June just days after last year's MLB draft, it was an intimidating experience. I arrived last June at the end of extended spring training, which ironically is where I am now. There were about 50-70 players in the clubhouse, most of whom knew their way around and the daily schedule. I was one of the new guys and didn't even know where to go to get my equipment or meal money. Actually one of my fellow rookie teammates didn't even know that he was supposed to pick up meal money until the following week, when he was able to collect his money that had been piling up. With time everyone starts to find their way around and become familiar with the clubhouse rules, some of which are written, but far most are unwritten rules..locker room code.

Obviously the biggest rule of the clubhouse is to not go into anybody else's locker. You should never be looking through someone else's locker, that is definitely against locker room code. We have some other pretty obvious rules like there is no eating and no cleats in the clubhouse. For the most part, they just ask us to take care of the space that we have and treat everyone and everything with respect. There's also another unwritten rule, to take a shower after you finish your practice, workout, or game. This isn't something that's strictly enforced but some guys in the organization would say that we have a leader of the shower police, Jose Crisotomo. Jose is quite the character and a friend of mine that is always good for a laugh. He has been known to call out fellow teammates that he thinks haven't showered telling them to 'Take a shower hippie!' or 'Take a shower everyday'.

My roommate, Jeff Bercume, who I've talked about a lot in my posts interviewed Crisotomo about his showering habits. I actually stole this video from his blog, http://108stitchez.com/?p=765. Jose is from the Dominican Republic, but speaks English pretty well, and we always try to help the other out as I'm learning some Spanish. I don't think you will ever catch this baseball player being a 'hippie'..enjoy.

And wishing Bradley Shaban a happy 20th birthday..Bradley is a sophomore infielder at JMU, currently hitting .336 with 4 HR and is 7-7 on stolen bases..showing off the speed, smell ya Shaban!

Have a Purpose

Some of you may remember my post from the beginning of spring training describing a guest speaker who came in and spoke about having a purpose in life, baseball, and everything that you do. For me, baseball is a great way to learn life lessons because, just like in life, there are so many things that you can't control. However, there are some things you can control, like the effort and attitude you have and these are the important things to focus on. And it's impossible to get anywhere in baseball or life without a goal or purpose. This may seem like a simple and obvious statement but I've come to realize that when you're on the same routine everyday (i.e. spring training) it is easy to complete some drills without having a central focus. For example, every morning I hit off the tee to warm up and get my swing feeling right. It's easy to mentally check-out during this time and just get my body loose. But a new coach has given me a new focus while I'm hitting off the tee, and it's something that I think is useful for players of all ages. On a side note, I would advise young kids to hit off a tee as much as possible, the more swings you can take the better. You might even be able to set up a net in your basement so that you can swing all year round.

Our new coach working with hitting and infielders had an 18-year career in the major leagues, Tony Phillips. Tony played over 2,000 major league games and amassed over 2,000 hits throughout his long career. Tony was listed at 5'9'' and 155 lbs, which gives hope to the smaller players out there, like myself. He is a vibrant character and is always energetic about his work, he loves working with minor leaguers.

The piece of knowledge that Tony dropped on me and that I want to pass along was to focus on the head. What he meant by that was, like everyone else I would hit the ball off the tee and then track its flight down the length of the batting cage. Tony encourages guys to keep their head on the contact point and not follow the ball. He says that this will help you 'stay on the ball' and your head won't pull off the baseball. So, instead of just missing that pitch during the game, you drive it into the gap. I now have a new focus or purpose when I'm hitting off the tee..to make solid contact and keep my head on the contact point. We practice this same concept during side and front flips, and batting practice and hope this it carries over into the game.

But, this new found purpose during my tee drills has also carried over to how I'm approaching defensive work and other parts of the game. Every time that you field ground balls during practice you should have a focus on what you are doing. For me, I focus on getting a wide base and keeping my head down and seeing the ball into my glove. You're not really changing what you're doing physically, but mentally this will help to correct any flaws that you're most likely to make.

On another note, we start our extended spring training games tomorrow. I'm excited to get some more at bats in a real game setting. I know that Torrington High School started their season last week and are 2-0. It's an exciting time of the year with the start of baseball season and getting to see baseball highlights on Sportscenter. And of course, my favorite show, Baseball Tonight. Good luck to everybody starting their seasons!

End of Spring Training..Not so Fast

Spring training went by pretty quickly, it was only 3 weeks for myself and the other position guys. Pitchers and catchers reported about a week earlier than most position players. The spring training routine stayed pretty much the same as I posted a couple of weeks ago. We played about 12 spring games, where I would usually split time with other infielders, as they are trying to get everyone ready for the season. I played with the low A and high A teams and got to suit up for 2 big league games.

However, the spring came to end with the rosters posted to all minor league levels and some names designated for extended spring training. My name was under the extended spring training roster. Most people have never even heard of this, I had no idea what it was until I was drafted and it was explained to me. Everyone who doesn't make a full season roster and some guys who are injured will be in extended spring training. Its name pretty much describes it, a couple more months similar to spring training. My schedule is very similar to my spring training days. We practice in the morning: stretching, throwing, base running, defense, batting practice, and finish with an intersquad game in the afternoon. Starting Monday we will play other team's extended spring training rosters. Similar to how I'm in extended with the A's there are guys who are in extended with every other organization and these are the guys that I will be playing against in the weeks to come.

A good way to think of the minor leagues is like a ladder. There are many rungs on a ladder, similar to how there are many different minor league levels. Some of you may know that I played in Vancouver last summer, the short season affiliate of the A's. All short season teams are the bottom rung, mostly guys who were just drafted. Moving up the ladder are all of the full season rosters, they start now, in early April, whereas short season starts in June. There are 4 full season teams above short season and they go up the ladder in this order: low A, high A, AA, and AAA. Each of these teams have a 25 man roster and carry 5 or 6 infielders usually.

So where does extended fit into this ladder? Well most guys go to extended because they are headed back to short season for a second time, that would be the boat that I am in. There are other guys who are in extended only because they aren't fully healthy and once they get back to full strength they will be placed on one of the other rosters. In my case, I'm here to continue to practice and improve every day. But, it is the nature of baseball for opportunities to arise from injuries, poor play, etc. So, I could fill in for an injured player this week or I could stay in Arizona until June. And of course, minor leaguers can be released at any time.

There is yet another twist, only to complicate things further. The A's short season team moved from Vancouver to Burlington, VT. So, I could be playing close to home with the Vermont Lake Monsters, in the New York-Penn(sylvania) league. No matter where I end up, I'm glad that I still have the opportunity to play baseball everyday.

Meeting the Man of Steel: Rickey Henderson

Rickey Henderson is Major League Baseball's career leader in stolen bases and runs scored with 1,406 stolen bases and 2,295 runs scored in his 25 year career. Per every 162 games (1 full season) he averaged 74 successful stolen bases and was successful in over 80% of the steal attempts in his career. Rickey was inducted in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2009. He is currently a coach with the Oakland A's organization and teaches younger players what he knows best, baserunning. I had the pleasure of meeting the 'man of steel' during spring training.

Rickey talking to players

One day during spring training myself and about 20 other minor leaguers had a half hour baserunning talk and demonstration with Rickey. The main focuses of his talk was about what he does best, stealing bases. After hearing Rickey talk about baserunning and stealing bases, it is very clear that he was able to accomplish all that he did because of his mindset. Rickey joked he used to stand in front of the mirror and practice dusting off his jersey to make sure he looked good doing it after he stole a base. He talked about getting a big lead, but most importantly being comfortable with your lead. Rickey was never going to surprise anyone when he stole, everyone in the stadium knew he was going, it was only a matter of when. Which brings me to another point that he made, picking the right time to steal the base. Rickey said he was ready to steal on every pitch, he was looking for tendencies, trying to get a great jump off the pitcher and give the catcher no chance to throw him out. He even said that he wasn't the fastest guy in the league, but that he was very quick and could reach top speed within only a couple of steps. After seeing him running effortlessly I still think he could steal 30 bases in a season.

Rickey talking to the group while I'm listening (#8)

The best part about meeting Rickey is that he is so down to Earth. I have seen him several times since then and listened in a conversation he had with my roommate, Jeff Bercume, about getting jumps when stealing bases. He still clowns around and laughs with minor league guys during practices. He is quite a character, but he is a very nice guy and I have heard that he is very active in the community of Oakland, where he grew up. It was also pretty cool because my parents were in town when I had the chance to meet Rickey so my mom was able to get some good pictures.

Rickey talking and demonstrating how to round first