Category Archives: College Baseball

Let’s All Be Deadpan Pitchers

Posted on July 28, 2011 | 3 Comments

The Dictionary.com Word of the Day for July 28 is deadpan. Deadpan, an adjective, is defined as “displaying no emotional or personal involvement.” That was my, and can be your, vocabulary lesson for the day. Now, on to baseball.

With all else equal, it is my humble opinion that a deadpan pitcher will always be better than a pitcher who displays emotion. To see what I mean, put yourself in the shoes of a hitter as he steps to the plate. There is one out, and the previous batter just laced  a single to right field. You are feeling comfortable as you walk toward the plate, realizing that a hit from you could start a rally. This is a big moment in the game, and you are feeling good. Then you glance up at the pitcher.

(I’ll present two scenarios, and you decide which one will lead you to feeling even more confident than you already feel) Scenario 1: the pitcher snaps the ball back from the shortstop, cusses into his glove, trudges to the mound as if he were just dumped by his girlfriend, and steps onto the rubber. Scenario 2: the pitcher calmly catches the ball from the shortstop, walks confidently back to the mound, steps onto the rubber, and throws a deadpan stare your way as if he wanted to give up that single in order to force you into a ground ball, inning ending double play. Under which scenario would you expect to feel more confident and comfortable as a hitter? (Feel free to answer in the comments section)

Classic Deadpan Pitcher

To give a bit more color I will provide an anecdote that was relayed to me by the Mariners Minor League pitching coordinator–I’ll call him Stater, which may or may not be a real nickname. So, Stater had seen a video of Braves legend, Tom Glavine. The video was edited so that a viewer simultaneously watched two of Glavine’s games, side by side. The camera was fixed on Glavine, meaning the viewer had hardly an idea as to how the hitters were hitting the ball. Apparently, Glavine dominated in one of the games; he was crushed in the other. Nonetheless, Stater described that from watching Glavine alone, the viewer had no idea which game was Tom’s good one and which was his bad. The reason? Aside from a few unfriendly glances at an umpire, Glavine reacted very little in response to what happened on the field. Glavine is a deadpan pitcher.

You may disagree, but it’s my opinion that if Tom Glavine does something on a mound, then it is probably a good idea. Let’s all be deadpan pitchers.

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Posted in College Baseball, Professional Baseball

The Beginning of a Marathon

Posted on May 1, 2011 | 1 Comment

The energy and freshness with which Spring Training began gradually turned to a lull. As we progressed toward the last day of camp, the day’s main source of anticipation revolved around the clubhouse bulletin board. Each morning, I sauntered nervously toward the board and sheepishly looked up, hoping that my name remained on the AA roster. Alongside many of my peers, I held my breath for 6 days. Then, finally, before boarding the plane to Nashville, I exhaled a long release of relief. I was really doing it—happy and excited, I broke camp with the Jackson Generals.

It is truly a joy, once again, to be geographically close to my family. Adding exhilaration, this is my first season pitching in AA, the organic chemistry of baseball; to baseballers, it’s clear that this is the level that separates the boys of summer from the men who drive Range Rovers. Our season started 3 days after our initial trip into Jackson, and the energy was building every hour.

Following a bus trip into Pearl, Mississippi, we prepared to face my hometown team’s AA squad, the Mississippi Braves. The rush, the blood pulsing through my veins, quickened when I laid eyes on the Tomahawk laden scoreboard. When Stephen Penney was called into the game as our first reliever, I opened my eyes wide and was agog with an anxious eagerness. The electricity I felt as I saw Penney jog onto the battlefield is comparable to my feeling when I watched Michael Schwimer trek to the mound to face Georgia Tech during my first ACC series as a Cavalier. In each instance, I sat in the bullpen, my heart racing, my gaze fixed upon an unforgettably wonderful yet terrifying scene, thinking, “Wow, he’s really about to do this,” followed by, “Yikes, I may be next.”

Amidst the rush of our first series, I was eventually summoned to pitch. Regrettably, I did not pitch well. As a disgrace to the way the game should be played, I walked two batters, including one walk that brought in a run. With the start of the season still moving at a frenzied pace, I got a chance in series two to bounce back. With a 1-2-3 inning I jumped back on the horse, and it felt great. The rush continues, and I look up—we’re 21 games in.

At some moment between day one and today, I realized that I have been here before, contextually, anyway. I know this race; I ran it last year. The rhythm of the days, the routine of the workouts, the daily baseball tossing: this territory looks familiar. And as I pause to breathe, I realize, once again, that I have entered myself into a Minor League Marathon. The mile marker reads “2.” My work has just begun.

My pause ending, my breathing slowed, it is time for me to put my head back down and work through the 26th mile.

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Posted in College Baseball, Life on the Road, Minor League Moments, Professional Baseball

Working on a Dream, Awaiting a Season

Posted on March 6, 2011 | 9 Comments

The 2010 season ended on September 9th, the day we, the High Desert Mavericks, were ousted from the California League Playoffs. The offseason ends today, March 6th, report date for Minor League pitchers and catchers.

The in-season job of a professional baseball player is similar in many ways to that of a typical American career; the offseason job, similar in just about zero ways to that of a typical profession. With hundreds of employees, the Seattle Mariners Baseball Club is a large company. If I worked for a different large company–Boeing let’s call it–I would likely be in the office 5 days a week. For the Mariners I stay away from my “office” from September until March. For Boeing my boss would sit down the hall from me and check in a few times a day on my progress. For the Mariners? My boss hangs out in Arizona while I train on the East Coast for 5 months. As far as I know, these coaches (or bosses) may only exist for half the year and spend the rest with Batman and the tooth fairy. Whether that’s true or not, our coaches do hand us an almost uncomfortable amount of independence for the offseason. We are given two instructions: show up to Spring Training ready to go, and don’t do anything stupid (i.e. don’t get arrested, and don’t live off of French fries and strawberry soda).

However strange my existence as an in or offseason Minor League baseball player, none of it can take away from the best part of being a professional baseball player: I am given an opportunity to work towards that truly American dream of one day delivering a pitch from the center of a sold out Major League stadium.

From the day I stepped into the former Fulton County Stadium I was hooked. The seductive sensations of the stadium stole forever my heart and mind. The aromas of hot dogs and salty peanuts, the unmistakable crack of a wooden bat, and the greenest grass on Earth: add to that the super heroes playing on the field, and it’s clear I never had a chance.

Now, I am blessed with an opportunity to every day work towards becoming a part of that enchanting American magic that we know as baseball. In 2009 I was fortunate to live through a dream when a group of Cavaliers played in Omaha’s Rosenblatt Stadium. As no surprise, I am now eager and excited to put my head down and work for all I’m worth to live through another one.

 

I appreciate anyone who, throughout my journey, takes the time to browse through this blog and my musings. On this site I will be keeping folks updated with an inside look into a Minor League life. Along the way, I’ll be posting general thoughts from my perspective on America’s greatest sport. Please feel free to comment or e-mail me with any question that you have or have ever had regarding professional baseball, college baseball, youth baseball, the recruiting process, long bus trips, or the like.

Again, thank you.

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Posted in College Baseball, Life on the Road, Minor League Moments, Professional Baseball