A Day in the Majors

Today started off just like every other day of spring training, similar to my daily routine that I talked about in last night's post. I had my breakfast at our facility and did some early work hitting off a tee and front toss. From there, I thought my day would consist of a morning practice, lunch, and a game in the afternoon. I guess that is exactly what I did, but there was a small change in there that I won't soon forget.

It was 10:30 a.m. and I was practicing with my team when the manager called a few of the players aside and told us we were going to the big league game..and leaving in about 15 minutes. So I rushed into the locker room and prepared to leave, trying to make sure I didn't forget anything that I would need. Naturally I quickly texted my family and let them know that I was suiting up for the big league spring training game. Apparently my dad wasn't quite convinced this was the truth as he immediately responded saying 'Are you serious?' which I got a kick out of. My sister had an even better answer, 'I don't really know what that means but it sounds awesome. Congrats!' ha, I can't help but to laugh at that. I should probably thank her for giving me some comic relief in a time when I was pretty anxious. And of course, one of my best friends was only concerned with his best player in the A's organization..Hideki Matsui. He acted like a girl seeing Justin Bieber for the first time when I told him that Matsui was the first guy that I saw when I entered the clubhouse.

Myself and five other minor leaguers arrived at the major league clubhouse around 11. Most of the other guys had been called up in spring training games before, so they knew exactly what to expect and I just followed their lead. I also should note that it is common practice for minor league guys to fill in as reserves in the big league spring games. After I was told I was headed to the big team a bunch of guys told me to 'enjoy the spread' because they have a great lunch out for the guys, that I thoroughly enjoyed. I had my full plate of food and found a seat at a table near guys like Matsui, Coco Crisp, Kurt Suzuki, Mark Ellis, Grant Balfour and the rest of the roster. It was a pretty intimidating experience and I often found myself making sure that I was acting appropriately. As excited as I was, this is the everyday routine for these guys, so they don't want someone going there and acting like an anxious fan. You want to act like you fit in, but at the same time, you don't want to give off the impression that you are better than anyone else, so I did the safe thing and pretty much kept to myself.

I spent most of my time in the clubhouse texting some friends and family, and soon enough I was on the bus driving to Mesa, the spring training home of the Chicago Cubs. Many of the guys drove their own cars to Mesa, but the bus pulled up right behind the right field wall. The wall opened and there was a walkway down into the stadium with fans lined up on both sides of the walkway. I strolled through right field and all the way across the diamond into the third base dugout and up the stairs to our visiting team clubhouse. That walk from the bus to our clubhouse was memorable. My roommate, Jeff Bercume, was walking the whole way with me and we acted like that was something that we do everyday, but it was special to me. However, the average fan might quickly see that we are not everyday players because our numbers were 82 and 84 respectively. Despite our wide receiver numbers, we were still there to play in the game and even sign a few autographs after the game.

Hohokam Stadium

I spent some time hanging out in the clubhouse, listening to some music and cleaning my spikes before heading out to take the field. All of the position players stretched and got their arms and legs loose down the left field line. I had a catch with Bercume, which was a little nerve racking because if I had over thrown him I'm pretty sure I would have drilled an innocent fan..and I don't think that's exactly what the A's are looking for. It was exciting warming up in front of almost 10 thousand fans; Hohokam Stadium is one of the largest spring training facilities with a maximum capacity of over 13 thousand. It was also pretty cool to be a part of the game and to see first person the type of interactions that players have in the dugout, like talking about the pitcher or a play that happened in the last inning. I didn't end up playing in the game, but I definitely enjoyed being there. About halfway through the game Jeff and I were talking about how fortunate we were to have this great opportunity and he asked what percent of little leaguers will ever get this experience. I have no idea what the answer is to that question, but I am very grateful for the experience and hope that there are many more days like this to come. As for now, I just plan to work hard everyday and be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that is given to me.

Spring Training 101

I have safely arrived in Scottsdale, Arizona the home to the Oakland A's spring training facility and baseball complex. I am at the minor league spring training camp and our major league team's facilities are at a different location right down the road. So some of you may have thought that I would be out here practicing with the big leaguers, but I guess that will have to wait a couple of years. There are about 150 minor league players working out, practicing, lifting, etc. everyday trying to earn their spot on a minor league team and work their way through the minor league ranks. I reported to Arizona on March 14th and for the first week we had a similar schedule every day.

Morning Routine

I set my alarm and wake up between 5:45 and 7 am and leave for the clubhouse shortly after. Breakfast is provided at the clubhouse, so I eat my breakfast before attending our morning meetings that will start between around 8:30 or 9 am. Most days before the meetings I will get some extra work defensively or hitting in the batting cages. The morning meetings have covered a wide variety of topics, from finances to motivational speakers. The first morning of spring training we had a trio of guys from Radical Reality talk and demonstrate the power of self-esteem and determination. The ultimate message they passed on was to set a goal or purpose and to surround yourself with people of like purpose. The head of Radical Reality, Donnie Moore, said that you can't get anywhere in life unless you have a purpose. Along with motivational speaking, the Radical Reality team also demonstrates some pretty incredible feats of strength. These three guys broke full soda cans with their bare hands, tore through huge phonebooks, folded a frying pan into a burrito, broke a wooden bat over their leg, and ran through a wooden 2x4..It was quite a performance You can find out more about this team at Radical Reality website.

Morning Practices
Following any morning meetings we take the fields and stretch led by one of the many strength coaches. I have running conditioning every other day with all of the hitters. The next day the pitchers have conditioning, and vice versa. Following the stretching, conditioning, we go through a throwing program to loosen our arms. Our organization preaches good base running and we practice it everyday, usually with base running stations going over the protocol at each base.

Batting Practice
Following any base running that we have, we may also have stations of bunting, defense, and hitting, but almost everyday we hit batting practice. If the average person were to watch batting practice it would seem like chaos, but it is actually a very structured event. The hitters are divided into three groups of players that will rotate between hitting, defense, and base running. A quick note on batting practice: it is common practice around baseball for hitters to work on hitting the ball to the opposite field during the first round. Practicing on driving the ball to the opposite field is something that I would advise all younger players to do. Base running during batting practice works on some of the topics we talked about during base running stations. For example, one day we might be working on 2nd base with 0 outs and reading balls that are hit. The final group is defense, as an infielder I will take ground balls and also receive throws at 2nd base from the other infield positions. Usually when batting practice has concluded everyone will head inside for lunch that is served in the clubhouse.

Afternoon workouts/games
Following lunch everyone will return outside and get ready for an intersquad or real game against another team. Many people watch big league spring training games, a lot are shown on tv, but there are also minor league spring training games. There are AAA, AA, advanced A, and low A spring training games. Today we played the Giants in our first spring training game; we had been playing intersquad games last week. On most days the game will be the last thing that I have to do, but we lift twice a week, and today was one of my lifting days.

I am usually finished with everything at the facility between 3-6 pm, and I have the rest of the night to get dinner and hang out in the hotel where most of the players are staying. Most of my time in the hotel has been watching the college basketball tournament, which is my favorite sporting event to watch. While I definitely appreciate this down time to relax each night, most of my time is spent watching tv with my roommate. My roommate and I have an ongoing joke about who is the "boss" of the room, but I clearly am the Alpha dog of this domain. Neither myself, nor my roommate, Jeff Bercume, have a car here so our choices for dinner are limited. There is one restaurant within close walking distance of our hotel; needless to say I pretty much know Ruby Tuesday's whole menu. (I would recommend the smokehouse burger and the parmesan chicken pasta) Some of the other guys drove their cars here, so we can tag along to try another dinner location. It will be a really big treat when my parents come visit later this week..I doubt we will be dining at the Ruby Tuesday's.

I usually get to bed around 10 or 11 and try to get enough sleep to wake up and perform at a high level the next day. And that is right on cue, as it is time for me to get to bed and follow this routine tomorrow. On a side note the weather has been awesome, reaching the 90s in temperature. I know Connecticut is expecting some more snow tomorrow, hopefully not too much and everyone there will be able to get their baseball seasons underway soon. Good luck in the upcoming season.

Quick Update

So it has been a while since I have been on here as I have been busy preparing for my first spring training. I trained at JMU for about 6 weeks with the baseball team and a few other fellow minor leaguers before coming back to Torrington where I am now. It was a huge help being in Virginia, I was able to practice on a field, which obviously wouldn't be possible in Connecticut with our huge snowfall this winter. And the coaching staff allowed the few minor leaguers to work in with the team and get all the work that we needed. The JMU baseball team is off to a 11-2 start and ranked 27th nationally in the Collegiate Baseball poll.

On Monday I will be flying out to Scottsdale, AZ where the A's spring training is held. I know that I have put in my work and that I'm fully prepared for the upcoming season so I'm ready to get to some warmer weather and start playing the game I love everyday. As always I just feel blessed that I have this great opportunity ahead of me, so I will be sure to make the most of everyday and keep you all updated on anything new that I learn and about my spring training experience..I hope everyone in CT has a dry basement and lets hope for some warm weather soon. Some of of you may be scratching your heads but many basements are flooding from an unusual amount of rain fall this week.

Interview with JMU Coach Jason Middleton

Jason Middleton has been an assistant coach for the JMU baseball program since 2008. His responsibilities at JMU include being the outfield coach, first base coach, and assists in recruiting. Before coming to the JMU baseball program, Jason was a coach at Redlands Community College in Oklahoma, Kansas City Kansas Community College, and the University of North Alabama. He is a native of Blue Springs, Mo. and played collegiately for Longview Community College.

I had a chance to sit down with Jason to discuss baseball and what he looks for when he is recruiting. People often ask me about suggestions for getting recruited and I'm not positive what to tell them because recruiting is not an exact science. I covered this topic along with a few others in this interview that is the first of many interviews to come while I am training at JMU. Hope you enjoy it!

On a side note, as I mentioned in the interview JMU started their 2011 season against Bucknell. I missed the first inning, so you would assume that I didn't miss too much. However when I got to the field the Dukes led 15-0. They had hit 6 home runs during the inning including going back-to-back-back on 2 separate occasions. JMU went on to win 37-7 and set school records for runs, hits, RBIs, extra-base hits, and total bases. The Dukes went back-to-back-to-back again later in the game. Jake Lowery and David Herbek both started off the season in good fashion hitting 3 homers each. JMU plays Bucknell 3 more times this weekend. You can also see a few highlights from JMU's opening game on ESPNews.

Cross Training

I have ventured out into some cross training this offseason. I think it is really important to take advantage of the benefits of different types of workouts. Since I have relocated back to Virginia, I have been primarily working out with two other rising minor leaguers from JMU. Kevin Munson is a right-handed relief pitcher who was drafted in the 4th round in last June's draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He played in South Bend, Indiana last summer in the Midwest League at the low-A level where he had a great season. There is a link to Munson's minor league stat page here: Kevin Munson Minor League Stats. Matt Browning, who was my roommate for four years at JMU, was drafted by the Seattle Mariners in last year's draft. He spent time playing in the Arizona rookie league and excelled in the short-season Appalachian League, where he hit a remarkable .330 in 34 games. You can find Browning's minor league stats here: Matt Browning's Minor League Stats. I'm hoping to interview both of those guys about their baseball experiences and post the videos on this blog, so that is something cool to look forward to.

One main focus that I have this offseason outside of the usual weight training, conditioning, batting and fielding practice is to improve my flexibility. This summer I focused on stretching my hamstrings, hips, and glutes which really helped my body recover on a day-to-day basis, especially my lower back. This offseason I really wanted to continue the gains that I made, so I recently started doing yoga with my two training partners. I have to say, there was a time when I would have laughed at trying yoga, but all three of us really enjoy it. We follow along with the P90X Yoga X video that runs 90 minutes long. It is a true full body workout that has my legs and shoulders burning throughout. It helps loosen the muscles and also builds muscular endurance, but leaves the body feeling refreshed. I plan on continuing to do these yoga workouts at least twice a week and possibly during the season as well. I would definitely recommend yoga to anyone, especially athletes.

There is one other recommendation that I have to younger athletes and that is to warm up properly before you start practices or workouts. Here at JMU, our trio of workout partners have been cross training and warming up on the basketball court with some intense games of HORSE. Some of these trick shots are shown in the videos below. Enjoy!

Impact Freshman: JB

The Friends of Jaclyn Foundation is a non-profit, charitable organization that helps children with brain tumors. The foundation matches young children with a nearby college or high school sports team in order to pick up the spirit of the child and their family. The team essentially adopts the young child and he/she becomes part of the team; they are present at team picnics, practices, games, etc. as often as possible. This is clearly beneficial to both parties, the family receives 30 (or more) new friends, who are there to pick up their spirits and give them something to look forward to, while the team gets to meet special young people who are courageous beyond their years.

The Start
Jaclyn Murphy was ten years old when she developed a malignant brain tumor. Jaclyn's parents reached out to the Northwestern University women's lacrosse team because Jaclyn was a huge lacrosse fan. When the Northwestern team heard of her condition they immediately sent back autographed media guides and other souvenirs. This very easily could have been the end of the story, but it was only the beginning. Jaclyn went on to meet the team and was eventually "adopted" by the team. They were in constant communication, whether it was email, talking on the phone, text messages, or seeing each other in person whenever Jaclyn could make it to a game. This relationship has only grown in the years to follow, as Jaclyn is as much a part of the team as any of their star players. Both parties were greatly effected, Northwestern women's lacrosse, who had not previously won a national championship, went on to win the national title five consecutive years from 2005-2009. They were the national runners-up in 2010. More importantly, Jaclyn has friends to lift up her spirits and help her in her ongoing fight. After her diagnosis Jaclyn underwent surgery, radiation, and chemo. She made progress through the treatment and started heading in the right direction...Fast forward about five years and I heard that Jaclyn had a clean MRI at the end of 2010 and is cancer free. But she is scheduled for another in March because of the possibilities of the re-growth of a tumor.

Justin Brown
I was fortunate enough to be a part of the 2010 JMU baseball team that adopted 7-year old Justin Brown of Haymarket, Virginia through the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation. In February 2005, then 2-year old Justin was diagnosed with a Craniopharyngioma brain tumor. He underwent surgery shortly after and had the lemon-sized tumor removed. The tumor left him legally blind in his right eye along with other medical complications. Justin would have two more surgeries about a year later to remove a re-growth of the tumor; Craniopharyngioma tumors have a high rate of recurrences. Justin also underwent six weeks of radiation treatments in order to help his condition...Fast forward to present day and Justin is in remission. This guy is clearly a fighter and is an inspiration to all who are lucky enough to meet him.

Justin and his brother Josh taking
part in a pregame prayer

Justin and his family first met the team at our annual end of fall cookout. He and his brother Josh had a catch, threw around a football, and played basketball with all of the players on the team. In February 2010 the Browns visited JMU for a practice that Justin and Josh participated in. Later that day, Justin was formally introduced as the newest member of the JMU baseball team at an annual preseason baseball barbecue. He signed his letter of intent like any other recruit would, received his own customized jersey (as seen in the photo), and received his own locker with his name plate. Justin threw out the first pitch at two games during the season, one of them on Justin Brown Day, where all children were admitted free of charge and had the opportunity to run the bases on the field after the game. JB and his family were also able to attend many other games during the season. On those days, Justin and Josh would be out on the field doing their pregame warm-up, stretching, and running with the rest of the team. In 2010, the JMU baseball team was the regular season champions in the CAA. JB will continue to be a part of the JMU baseball family in the years to come, as I was lucky enough to see the Browns at the preseason barbecue about a week ago. Justin was called up in front of a crowd of 75 people and given a standing ovation as head coach McFarland shared a little bit about JB's story.

Playing catch with Justin, Josh before a game

Justin is a tough kid, how can he not be after everything he has been through. He has undergone more in his short life than most people will in their entire lives. It is clear to all those around him that Justin loves to be around the team; he loves to run around and play baseball like any other child. He is always smiling and most importantly, he loves life. I can only hope to have half of the strength and courage that JB has. His story and my experiences with him, I cherish and will never forget. The biggest lesson that I have learned from Justin is to enjoy life everyday and to be thankful for all the blessings that I have. The team has benefited tremendously from meeting this special person because no matter how difficult things seem to be with baseball, we think about Justin and remember how fortunate we are. As I mentioned earlier Justin is in remission, but the possibility of re-growth is always there, so your thoughts and prayers are always appreciated. Special thanks to David (Spider Monkey) Warner, the JMU baseball team manager because he was crucial in getting our team involved with the Friends of Jaclyn Foundation.

Justin high-fiving after a win

Quotes from other JMU baseball players:

Jake Lowery: “Justin has shown us that we can get through anything. Getting through a tough workout is nothing compared to him fighting for his life. We are so fortunate to have the presence of Justin in our lives.”


Trevor Knight: "Justin has been a great inspiration to us and great motivation for us to take advantage of the opportunities that we have as Division I athletes."


Evan Scott: “Justin has provided us with inspiration by showing us how to never give up even when faced with great adversity.  We all admire his courage.”


McKinnon Langston: “Justin’s experiences and victories in his life have been an eye-opener for me.  We often take the things we have and can do for granted.  Justin has made me appreciate life’s journeys and he has helped me to be more thankful.”


David Warner: “Justin is a superhero.  He is incredibly brave and it is an absolute honor to have him as a part of the JMU baseball family.”

Great video about Justin and the JMU baseball program.

Swing Like a Big Leaguer

There are many, many theories about the proper swing mechanics. The reason for this is because a baseball swing is a very complex, unique motion. It really is unlike any other movement involved in sports. You can watch a major league game on television and everyone's swing will look different because they know what works for them. That's why every coach, player, instructor, etc. has their own philosophy on the mechanics of the swing. As a simple way to look at the baseball swing the sequence should be load, stride and swing. The load and stride need to be comfortable for each hitter. Some people feel comfortable with a big leg kick, while others prefer a simple small stride forward. Either way, the load and stride should act as timing devices that allow you to generate power. But, my focus is on what happens after the load and stride, the actual swing. Some people focus on "staying inside the ball" or "squish the bug" or "hit the ball deep," but within the last year I've realized that most great hitters do one thing in common.

Great hitters start there swing with their back knee driving forward. The focus is that the back knee drive should be the first thing to fire after your load and stride. When your back knee starts the swing it puts the rest of your body in a great position to deliver the bat to the ball. One big problem that people have when they try this is that their front shoulder will fly open which will decrease power, plate coverage, and consistency. As we look at this video of A-Rod posted below you will see his big leg kick followed by his back knee driving forward, but his shoulders stay on the ball. You will see when he makes contact his back knee is fully engaged and driven forward which allows him to maximize his power.

Now I want to look at a different type of hitter, Joe Mauer, who hits to all fields for average and can hit the ball out of the park. As we see in this video of Mauer's swing, his back leg starts the swing and when this happens his hands slide forward into the slot position. This allows him to deliver the bat to the ball with ease, staying inside the ball and getting great extension. Mauer gets his bat on path with the ball so early in his swing and that is why he can hit the ball deep and drive the ball to all fields.

Albert Pujols is probably the best hitter in baseball (Mauer and Rodriguez are also in consideration). His set-up is much different than Rodriguez and Jeter's, as Pujols has a very wide stance, but we will see that he generates his power from his strong base. We see Pujols has a compact load and stride. As you could have guessed, the first thing to fire is his back knee. You will see Pujols' bat angle change as he starts his swing. As he starts his load and stride his bat is angled at that catcher, but when his back knee starts his swing, his hands stay back, but his bat angle changes and starts to get on the proper swing plane. He even drives his backside so well that his back foot slides forward ever so slightly. Again his back knee is fully driven forward on contact.

Now, some people will do this in their swing and not realize, which is great. Some people's back knee doesn't drive forward and start the swing like it should, but you can change that. In the video below I am hitting off a tee working on driving my back knee. As you see I load and stride, fire my back knee forward while keeping my hands back. This puts my body into the correct position and will hopefully train my body to do this when I take a full swing. This is a good drill to do off a tee or with side/front toss.