First Professional Start

Believe it or not I slept pretty well last night, maybe a few tosses and turns there but otherwise I would call it a pretty good night's sleep.  I woke up in the morning took a shower and just killed some time doing various things before I had to head to the field.  The van picked me up at about noon and I arrived at the field.  On the day you start you are instructed to do a whole lot of nothing, and keep it low key just to rest up and get ready for your game.  That is exactly what I did, I hung out in the club house in my street clothes and watched TV, played some cards, and bounced around on the internet.  At around 2 or so I got some lunch, took a little walk through town down main street and then moseyed my way back to the field while I heard the crack of wood on the field as our team took batting practice.  More cards were played and TV watched until around 5:30 when I jumped in the shower to rinse off and wake my body up out of relaxation mode.  I got dressed and started warming up my arm, our trainer Shawn got his hands on me and started throwing around my arm getting it loose and I walked out of there feeling like Gumby.  I threw on my uniform and grabbed the ball our pitching coach Cy had given me and took to the field.  I warmed up down the left field line as fans hung over the bullpen fence watching every throw I made, little kids asking the catcher how fast the pitches were and how to throw them.  My warm up was the usual, I'd say I felt a little out of sync after all it has been a little over a month since I threw in a game.  Anyway I finished my pitches in the bullpen and head back down to the dugout where I waited for player introductions, heard my name and ran to the mound.  As the anthems played it was a pretty surreal feeling knowing that this was my first professional start but at the same time nerves weren't setting in like I expected, this just felt like good old fun summer baseball, what a relief.  I threw my first pitch and it was off to the races.  I sat the opposing team down in order in the first, then gave up a 2 out hit in the 2nd eventually getting out the next better.  Between innings I head back into the club house so that our strength coach could stretch out my legs and hips. The 3rd inning started a little interesting, I plunked the first batter on an inside fastball in the knee cap.  The next batter stepped in and I had him 0-2 (0 balls, 2 strikes) and I threw another inside fastball this time smoking the hitter right in the head.  Hmm...a little wild to say the least, however, the next batter bunted it right back to me and I got the guy at third, and 2 ground balls later I escaped with only 1 run scoring.  We had a 2-1 lead going into the 4th, after a lead off single I retired their team in order and then came back out for the 5th.  The lead off man got on after an error that sent him to second base because the throw went out of play.  The next 2 guys grounded out scoring the run and then the 4th batter flew out leaving us tied at 2 a piece.  The crowd at the field rally feels like they are on top of you.  The stadium is built like a amphitheater with an awning that extends out to the edge of the field funneling the noise out toward the players.  The boos rain down on bad calls and the cheers ring out after good plays.  The fans are into it the whole time and are not afraid to let anyone on the field know what they are thinking.  The is a group of people down the left field line in the bleachers that wear out the third baseman, constantly trying to get in his head which they have succeeded in doing seeing as the third baseman made 3 errors in the first game.
After the 5th inning I came out of the game.  In professional ball, they keep you on a strict pitch count considering orders come from above.  My line read after I was finished, 5 innings pitched, 3 hits, 1 earned run, 1 strike out.  A successful outing to say the least. As soon as I am done I put on my turf shoes and wait for the next pitcher to take the mound, as soon as he does, it is right back into the training room where the head trainer starts to work on arm recovery called P and F.  I know what you are thinking, what is P and F? The answer is...no clue, but it is a shoulder workout that leaves you feeling good.  They then take you through an ab workout and I go do a rice bucket workout to build the forearms. I grabbed a bite to eat from the clubhouse manager Glen and head back out to the field.  The Canadians scratched across a run in the bottom of the 8th on a play at the plate and our closer came in and shut it down.  We took to the locker room, I showered up and head out to meet fans waiting for autographs.  Little kids smiling and waiting with whatever they could find to get signed.  I finished signing and head home after a successful night.  What a first night to pitch! Getting the first one out of the way is always the hardest, now its time to go out and keep on keeping on.  Talk to you all later.

-Ben