Hello again folks, it has been a while and time to get back on the blog to update where I stand and what life is bringing.
After a long off-season of running, lifting, and throwing along with spending time with family and friends, it came time to head south again and play ball. I drove the Red Renegade (my red Honda civic) from Coatesville, PA to Dunedin, FL making pit stops in Morehead City, NC to see the Mclaughlin family (my former host family from college summer ball) and in Spring Hill, FL to see Grambo (my grandmother). 1100 miles later I pulled into the Baymont Inn to find BMWs, Jaguars, Escalades, Camaros, and a cup waiting for me...well not me but my urine, proving I had not taken up steroids while separated from baseball. Day 1 was physicals, as I'm sure some readers may remember from last year, the first day is centered around making sure no damaged goods are entering the complex. All went well and I had my uniform waiting for me in my locker. It is good to see so many guys that you haven't seen in months. Kind of like those first couple days when you get back from summer vacation and you have catching up to do. Yes whether it was in Spanish or English, I was doing some talking.
The days start early, waking up at 630 Monday-Saturday (Sunday is our day off, ipso facto Saturday is the night to let down our hair) and being at the field between 7 and 715. Usually I have to get a lift in, which those of you who know me will find rather odd considering I made various declarations of static stretch days in the Temple weight room while in school. However, a new leaf has been turned over and now that it is my job to stay in shape I find it much easier to motivate myself. As I'm sure you can remember, we have our chef cook us breakfast every morning which then follows with some casual conversation in the clubhouse before stretch. Every morning we stretch, condition, and throw. After throwing we do our fundamental for the day (fielding practice, bunt plays, pick-offs, etc.) and then head over to shag BP (batting practice). You gotta love BP in the minors. There is more grab-assing in the outfield than in a dive strip bar. People telling stories, jokes, would you rathers, and when a ball comes in the vicinity, you figure out a way to pick it up with out missing a punch line.
After BP we head into the lunch room where food is waiting for lunch before the games in the afternoon. Every day we play a game against one of the teams that have spring training down here in Florida. We usually make it make to the hotel at about 4 o'clock and have some time to relax before dinner is served and sleep is to be had. My first game was against none other than the Phillies...yes the team I grew up loving and watching. I'm sure you are thinking "that had to awkward" and my response is well yes and no. Do I feel bad getting out their hitters? Hell no. But is it odd to be looking across at the other dug out and seeing phillies uniforms? Absolutely. My first outing went well as they are building me up inning by inning. I went 1 inning with 2 strikeouts (k's) and 0 hits. Not bad for my return to competition.
After a few days of throwing and working on some things, it came time to throw again, and that time was today. I got my first start of the spring, just scheduled to go 2 innings this time against none other than the Yankees. Yes the Yankees. The most unlikeable team in any sport in north America. The team that has more bandwagon jumpers than every other team combined. The team that if Ghandi pitched against, would hit a guy on purpose. Where Navy blue pinstripes are a declaration of war, and what do to me what the color red does to a bull. Even the water, that they hose down the fields with at their complex comes from the marshes and smells like a 5-year old hard-boiled egg that just came from a New York City bum's pocket. Yes it is those scoundrels, those Yankees...now you get how I feel about them? Anyway, when my day was done it read 2 innings, 1 hit, 0 runs, 5 ks. Not bad I'd say. As we left the Yankees complex, I stuck up my hands with 2 birds from whence we came and a shit-eating grin that would make George Steinbrenner want to slap me.
My arm has felt great since I have been down here, and I know that if I am healthy and continue to feel good, success will continue to come. The reality is that despite the fact the days are fairly long and rather repetitive, I thank the good Lord everyday for giving me another day to play, not to mention for not making me a Yankee. Going to keep working hard and give it my best shot everyday I am given to play. Until next time, keep looking up.
-Ben
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Monday, September 19, 2011
We are the Champions...Hello Home
We travelled to Boise, Idaho for a 5 game series with the Boise Hawks, the Chicago Cubs team in our league. We knew we had some magic to work when it came to the playoff race but the worst part about it was that 2 other teams in our division controlled our fate. We needed the Everett Aquasox (no I do not know what an Aquasock is but they are the Mariners) to lose 3 out of five and the Eugene Emeralds (Padres) to win 4 out of 5 to close the season. Let's just say Boise beat us like we stole something and we lost 4 out of 5, the game I threw was ugly, I got smoked all over the yard and our team had all but packed it in to head home. Our last game against Boise was at 11 in the morning the same day as Boise State's opening football game for the college season...needless to say, the city of Boise had bigger fish to fry than us. We had learned the night before that it would come down to the last game of the season for Everett and Eugene...with an Everett loss in their game we are in or with a Eugene win we were in. As we are driving home their games started and we all watched on our phones. We stopped in the town of Yakima, Washington for Dinner as the Everett game was going into the 9th inning and they were losing...ready to decide our fate. We waited on the bus as Bryan Longpre, one of our pitchers listened on his phone, Everett had the bases loaded with 0 outs down 2. Spokane removed their closer who had been lights out all year until tonight and brought in a guy that we had already lit up like christmas tree earlier in the season, dropping our confidence through the floor. His first batter he strikes out and the bus goes wild, 1 out bases loaded. Next batter STRIKE 3, the bus goes nuts again, 2 outs bases still loaded. Third batter steps in 0-2 count...BALL...the count goes to 1-2 and the bus goes so silent you could hear a mouse fart. Here comes the 1-2 pitch, strike 3 looking!! Game over, the Canadians are going to the playoffs. The bus erupts and we start rioting...our pitching coach takes his shirt off, our announcer takes his shirt off and starts swinging it. I know I know, not my first reaction either but the bus loved it and began chanting. We arrived home at 5 in the morning but I still couldn't sleep. We had our first playoff game in 2 days and we were ready to go.
The Eugene Emeralds rolled into town and beat us convincingly our first game, somewhat taking the wind out of our sails. We knew we had our work cut out for us going to their place needing to win both games, but no task was too big. Game 2 started and we rolled right from the beginning, smacking Eugene for 10 runs en route to an easy win pushing the series to a decisive game 3. It was a barn burner from the start and it came down to the last batter again. With 1 out in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and Eugene down one, our closer Drew Permison got a called strike 3 that resulted in his victim being ejected from the game. While calling the umpire names (that I cannot repeat on here, 1 for their vulgarity and 2 because well... he strung together some words that frankly I didn't even know the meaning of nor believe could be in the same room as each other let alone same sentence.....yet, they seemed to flowed so eloquently from his pissed off tongue) he was told to take an early shower and disappeared into the dugout. The next batter stepped in and with 1 strike swung at a fastball rolling a ground ball to our shortstop who threw it to second for the final out finishing the game and sending us to the Championship. We head back to the hotel, and from there to the city of Eugene's bars and celebrated our victory before the next day making the 7 hour trip to Tri-City, Washington (the Rockies team) for game 1 of the championship. On the ride I was informed that I would be moved to the bullpen for the championship series, a decision I wasn't happy with but was out of my hands, either way, I was ready for my role and would help however needed. Game one in Tri-City went smoothly, we got the win and took it 7 more hours north to Vancouver with 2 chances to win the series. Game 2 saw another sell out at Nat Bailey Stadium, the Groundskeepers once again performed the full dance to Party-rock, and Chef Wasabi managed another win in the Sushi race. Down 4-2 in the ninth, they brought me in the game to hold it there. I came in and felt good, my first time in this situation, pitching one inning out of the bullpen, a chance to blow it all out. I did just that, sitting 90-93 mph with my fastball and striking out the side. We came up in the bottom of the ninth and loaded the bases with 1 out and down 2 runs. Our leadoff man John Berti stepped to the plate and hit a ball up the middle that the shortstop just barely got to and flipped to second for the force out which then was relayed to first in an attempt for the double play. Berti flew through first base 2 steps past the bag before the ball got there, giving us all a sigh of relief until the first base umpire ruled that he was out...the ball had beat him to the bag, the worst blown call I have ever seen and in the biggest game of the season. Game over, Canadians lose, 3rd and final game tomorrow, sorry about it. I went to bed that night sleeping very little but ready to go again the next day. I woke up and arrived at the field ready to go. Game three started and Tri-city took the lead 1-0 in the 4th inning. Our starter Jesse Hernandez was lights out through 6 innings, striking out 9, leaving with a 3-1 lead after we scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th. In the 7th inning we erupted for 6 more runs to all but put the game out of reach. We brought our closer in for the 9th inning and he slammed the door...here is the scene
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150345297242628&set=t.896885176&type=3 ). We stormed the field and dog piled in the middle of it to the roars of the crowd. We were presented our trophy and then ran underneath the stadium to the clubhouse where everything was covered in plastic wrap and dozens of bottles of champagne were waiting on ice. Needless to say, a party ensued, here is that scene....
( http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150345285862628&set=t.896885176&type=3&theater ).
We kept it going for a half hour and had food brought to us. We waited in line as the owners gave us our form to fill out and sized us for our Championship rings we will be receiving this off-season; we then packed our bags and left the field one last time. That night we went downtown to our go-to bar/club called Joe's Apartment where they had champagne waiting for us again. We partied all night saying goodbyes to each other and woke up the next day, Monday morning, to say goodbye to Canada and head home. My flight was at 2 PM out there and I arrived in Philadelphia at 11:59 PM out here after a short layover in Chicago to my parents waiting for me in the airport. It felt so good to be home but just as cool to be a champion. It was a hell of a way to spend and end a summer. My first year of professional baseball under my belt, a summer that made all the work and practicing through the years feel worth while, and memories I will never forget.
That finishes up this blog everybody, thanks for reading and see you in Spring Training. Keep looking up.
-Ben
The Eugene Emeralds rolled into town and beat us convincingly our first game, somewhat taking the wind out of our sails. We knew we had our work cut out for us going to their place needing to win both games, but no task was too big. Game 2 started and we rolled right from the beginning, smacking Eugene for 10 runs en route to an easy win pushing the series to a decisive game 3. It was a barn burner from the start and it came down to the last batter again. With 1 out in the bottom of the ninth, bases loaded and Eugene down one, our closer Drew Permison got a called strike 3 that resulted in his victim being ejected from the game. While calling the umpire names (that I cannot repeat on here, 1 for their vulgarity and 2 because well... he strung together some words that frankly I didn't even know the meaning of nor believe could be in the same room as each other let alone same sentence.....yet, they seemed to flowed so eloquently from his pissed off tongue) he was told to take an early shower and disappeared into the dugout. The next batter stepped in and with 1 strike swung at a fastball rolling a ground ball to our shortstop who threw it to second for the final out finishing the game and sending us to the Championship. We head back to the hotel, and from there to the city of Eugene's bars and celebrated our victory before the next day making the 7 hour trip to Tri-City, Washington (the Rockies team) for game 1 of the championship. On the ride I was informed that I would be moved to the bullpen for the championship series, a decision I wasn't happy with but was out of my hands, either way, I was ready for my role and would help however needed. Game one in Tri-City went smoothly, we got the win and took it 7 more hours north to Vancouver with 2 chances to win the series. Game 2 saw another sell out at Nat Bailey Stadium, the Groundskeepers once again performed the full dance to Party-rock, and Chef Wasabi managed another win in the Sushi race. Down 4-2 in the ninth, they brought me in the game to hold it there. I came in and felt good, my first time in this situation, pitching one inning out of the bullpen, a chance to blow it all out. I did just that, sitting 90-93 mph with my fastball and striking out the side. We came up in the bottom of the ninth and loaded the bases with 1 out and down 2 runs. Our leadoff man John Berti stepped to the plate and hit a ball up the middle that the shortstop just barely got to and flipped to second for the force out which then was relayed to first in an attempt for the double play. Berti flew through first base 2 steps past the bag before the ball got there, giving us all a sigh of relief until the first base umpire ruled that he was out...the ball had beat him to the bag, the worst blown call I have ever seen and in the biggest game of the season. Game over, Canadians lose, 3rd and final game tomorrow, sorry about it. I went to bed that night sleeping very little but ready to go again the next day. I woke up and arrived at the field ready to go. Game three started and Tri-city took the lead 1-0 in the 4th inning. Our starter Jesse Hernandez was lights out through 6 innings, striking out 9, leaving with a 3-1 lead after we scored 2 in the bottom of the 6th. In the 7th inning we erupted for 6 more runs to all but put the game out of reach. We brought our closer in for the 9th inning and he slammed the door...here is the scene
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150345297242628&set=t.896885176&type=3 ). We stormed the field and dog piled in the middle of it to the roars of the crowd. We were presented our trophy and then ran underneath the stadium to the clubhouse where everything was covered in plastic wrap and dozens of bottles of champagne were waiting on ice. Needless to say, a party ensued, here is that scene....
( http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150345285862628&set=t.896885176&type=3&theater ).
We kept it going for a half hour and had food brought to us. We waited in line as the owners gave us our form to fill out and sized us for our Championship rings we will be receiving this off-season; we then packed our bags and left the field one last time. That night we went downtown to our go-to bar/club called Joe's Apartment where they had champagne waiting for us again. We partied all night saying goodbyes to each other and woke up the next day, Monday morning, to say goodbye to Canada and head home. My flight was at 2 PM out there and I arrived in Philadelphia at 11:59 PM out here after a short layover in Chicago to my parents waiting for me in the airport. It felt so good to be home but just as cool to be a champion. It was a hell of a way to spend and end a summer. My first year of professional baseball under my belt, a summer that made all the work and practicing through the years feel worth while, and memories I will never forget.
That finishes up this blog everybody, thanks for reading and see you in Spring Training. Keep looking up.
-Ben
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Season winding down...in the playoff race
A couple weeks have gone by since I last posted anything on here but it is with good reason as I have been busy non stop during this time. My family and Kelsey came out to visit last week, and we had a great time together. We had some good dinners, some good partying and they got to see some great games in unbelievable weather while out here. 75-80 and sunny without a cloud in the sky is hard to beat. I pitched that Wednesday of the week they were here, had a solid outing going 4 innings only giving up a run before I was taken out because of a strict pitch count. Every game since 2 weeks ago has been a sell out up here and it feels like it...the crowd is so loud to the point where the opposing team's pitcher has to step off the mound just to concentrate. We had been on a skid until last week when all of a sudden we had turned it around. From being 8 games out to all of a sudden in the lead to get the last playoff spot from our division, the turn around has been fierce. The last game of the series while my family was here, we were down 4 going into the 9th and the chances of winning were looking bleak. However, somehow we managed to tie the game and send it into extra innings only to have our right fielder Nick Baligod come up with the bases loaded and send one over the right field fence for a walk off grand slam. I have never been in a stadium and heard it erupt like that. That started the road to this come back and now we sit on another 4 game win streak and in the drivers seat...for the most part. While my family was here, Zach, Kelsey and myself all got to go down town after the big wins and celebrate with the team. They got to see how the city treats us when we play well, walking past the lines and right into the clubs and bars and people giving you high fives that work the doors telling you good game. We had some great nights and the team had a great time making Kelsey and Zach feel right at home. We road tripped to Salem, Oregon for a 3 game series 7 hours away...a brutal place mixing the desert of the northwest with whatever kind of landscape Oregon has to offer elsewhere and basically creating a state-sized porta-potty that happens to host Nike's headquarters and has no sales tax. Yakima, Washington is to be included in that large porta-potty as well. The only place to eat there is Denny's as well as apparently the only place to go out is Denny's considering they have a full bar inside. One can ironically only have so many grand slams so I went with microwave burritos from Wal-mart. Following the conclusion of the series we head out and got back to Vancouver at around 5 in the morning. I talked to a few people at Temple from the baseball team on the trip. (Shout out to the guys at Temple, hope you all do the fall justice in all aspects.)
Anyway, that brings me to our current 5 game series with Tri-city (the Colorado Rockies). We won the first 3 games and I came out to pitch the 4th game this evening. I went 5 innings allowing 1 hit and one run, solid outing I'd say. It was our last night game in Vancouver at least for the regular season, so of course fireworks and everything were all present at the field. In the sushi race Chef Wasabi ended his 36 game losing streak, distracting Mrs. BC roll and Mr. Kappa Maki and streaking across the finish line. The grounds crew while dragging the field in their usual manner performed a dance, this time the full Party Rock Anthem dance and the crowd gave them a standing ovation, by far the most impressive of the summer and they have a lot of good ones (if you'd like to see the video, Garret Maines posted it on my facebook). It was a solid way to bring the night games to a close at the stadium and the fans were extremely appreciative. Tomorrow is our final home game and it is a nooner, which implies that it starts at noon but for some reason actually begins at 1...I know I know, Canadians...just make the game at noon and call canadian bacon "ham" because we all know what it is. Sometimes the things that make the most sense baffle those in the truth north. Bringing me to another point as I go off on a quick tangent...a case of 24 Pabst Blue Ribbon costs 25$ here...someone please vote that person out of office that decided to make the tax that high. Urine shouldn't cost 25$ even if it does have the blue ribbon on it. Anyway, tomorrow should be a good night after the game, I believe we have a team bbq after and them I'm sure the team will head out in the city to celebrate. We head to Boise, Idaho on Monday, a short 12-14 hour bus ride depending on who is telling you and finish the regular season there. If we make playoffs, we come back to the 'couve and get ready to play...if not we fly home out of Boise and I start my off season. Either way, I have at least one more game to pitch this year, hopefully more if we make playoffs. Oh, yea, if I don't post before, Temple Football please wax Nova opening night. Keep looking up.
-Ben
Anyway, that brings me to our current 5 game series with Tri-city (the Colorado Rockies). We won the first 3 games and I came out to pitch the 4th game this evening. I went 5 innings allowing 1 hit and one run, solid outing I'd say. It was our last night game in Vancouver at least for the regular season, so of course fireworks and everything were all present at the field. In the sushi race Chef Wasabi ended his 36 game losing streak, distracting Mrs. BC roll and Mr. Kappa Maki and streaking across the finish line. The grounds crew while dragging the field in their usual manner performed a dance, this time the full Party Rock Anthem dance and the crowd gave them a standing ovation, by far the most impressive of the summer and they have a lot of good ones (if you'd like to see the video, Garret Maines posted it on my facebook). It was a solid way to bring the night games to a close at the stadium and the fans were extremely appreciative. Tomorrow is our final home game and it is a nooner, which implies that it starts at noon but for some reason actually begins at 1...I know I know, Canadians...just make the game at noon and call canadian bacon "ham" because we all know what it is. Sometimes the things that make the most sense baffle those in the truth north. Bringing me to another point as I go off on a quick tangent...a case of 24 Pabst Blue Ribbon costs 25$ here...someone please vote that person out of office that decided to make the tax that high. Urine shouldn't cost 25$ even if it does have the blue ribbon on it. Anyway, tomorrow should be a good night after the game, I believe we have a team bbq after and them I'm sure the team will head out in the city to celebrate. We head to Boise, Idaho on Monday, a short 12-14 hour bus ride depending on who is telling you and finish the regular season there. If we make playoffs, we come back to the 'couve and get ready to play...if not we fly home out of Boise and I start my off season. Either way, I have at least one more game to pitch this year, hopefully more if we make playoffs. Oh, yea, if I don't post before, Temple Football please wax Nova opening night. Keep looking up.
-Ben
Saturday, August 13, 2011
Off the DL and on a plane back to Vancouver
Rehabbing my shoulder was a long and monotonous process. Everyday the same exercises, the trainers bearing down on you making sure nothing is sore or hurting, and everything that you do is watched and controlled. 95 degrees and 100% humidity everyday gets old, and the way that the Gulf Coast League is, makes you want to work that much harder to get healthy as soon as possible. Everyday the up at 6:30 and rehabbing, throwing, lifting, conditioning, usually doing extra of each just to try to speed up the entire process of getting healthy, until about 3 gets tiring. I began to throw and it felt good for the first week so I got to pitch off a mound to a catcher. I did that 2 times and then my third day I was told that I was going to throw to hitters. That went very well, my pitches were fast and moving a lot. The pitching coordinator was there to watch and told me after that I would either throw another simulated game like the one I just had or throw in a game, which to me meant that I would throw a game down in Florida...in other words he would get back to me. Meanwhile, my 3 roommates were all doing fine, the cultural differences are pretty interesting. I watched a lot of the spanish channel, and for some reason when not watching the spanish channel those guys all love watching Nickelodeon, literally I watched 3-4 episodes of Spongebob everyday.
While I was down there, the Blue Jays came down to play the Tampa Bay Rays, a bunch of us got our free tickets and went to the game at Tropicana Field. The field is weird, the dome is an interesting place to watch a baseball game, nonetheless it was a good stadium to check off the list of places to see. My night life was limited the second half of my stay in Florida, the early mornings and long days kinda get to you and you just want to relax on your day off on Sunday.
2 days went by and at about 6 o'clock on Friday night right after dinner I got a call from the manager of the GCL team telling me to pack my bags, I was going to Vancouver the next day. Without a second to waste, I said thank you and got off the phone before I could hear anything else telling me otherwise. The next day I showed up to the field and had a plane ticket waiting for me and left for the airport for my 3 o'clock flight. I had a brief layover in Dallas, and got to Vancouver at 8 west coast time. My host family picked me up at the airport and took me right to the field so that I could catch the end of the team's game that was already going on. It was great to be able to see all the guys again, I walked in to a bunch of hugs and high fives, welcome backs and just a lot of catching up with everyone about the month that I had been away. I walked into a stadium of a sellout crowd of over 5,000 and really just took it in realizing what I had been missing and how good it felt to be back in the clubhouse with my team...healthy. I was informed that I would be pitching the next day so after the game I went back to my house, unpacked and got a good nights sleep anticipating my return to action in uniform, in Everett, Washington. I threw 1.2 innings because I am on a pitch count and they don't want to rush me back right away, but I felt good, my arm felt good and that was the most important thing for my first outing. We then finished our series in Everett and left for Yakima, Washington where we are currently for a 5 game series. The drive through the country out here is unreal. Mountains, forests, its beautiful and then out of nowhere it all stops and you are in a desert, that desert being Yakima, Washington, really the armpit of the state. I pitched again last night in the 3rd game of the series, this time going 2.1 innings, feeling great, the best I had felt in months. I was sharp with my pitches and located well, just caught a stroke of bad luck along with the rest of the team. A couple of hits in the infield that you couldn't have rolled out into the field any better with your hand and a ball that took a bad hop off the wall, resulted in a couple runs but hey I felt good and next time out I'm sure they will go my way. We are in the middle of a rough patch right now, losing our last 6 for the first time ever, but with every skid a win streak usually follows so when it does, the rest of this league will have 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, and won't know what hit them. I don't pitch again until next Wednesday but the cool thing is that my family and Kelsey will be in town in Vancouver to watch it, something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I will be great to see them. They actually fly out today and get in late tonight so I won't see them until tomorrow but it's all good. Pretty much life is great right now, no complaints and really just doing what I've always wanted to do. Going to keep bringing the heat and living it up. Keep looking up.
-Ben
While I was down there, the Blue Jays came down to play the Tampa Bay Rays, a bunch of us got our free tickets and went to the game at Tropicana Field. The field is weird, the dome is an interesting place to watch a baseball game, nonetheless it was a good stadium to check off the list of places to see. My night life was limited the second half of my stay in Florida, the early mornings and long days kinda get to you and you just want to relax on your day off on Sunday.
2 days went by and at about 6 o'clock on Friday night right after dinner I got a call from the manager of the GCL team telling me to pack my bags, I was going to Vancouver the next day. Without a second to waste, I said thank you and got off the phone before I could hear anything else telling me otherwise. The next day I showed up to the field and had a plane ticket waiting for me and left for the airport for my 3 o'clock flight. I had a brief layover in Dallas, and got to Vancouver at 8 west coast time. My host family picked me up at the airport and took me right to the field so that I could catch the end of the team's game that was already going on. It was great to be able to see all the guys again, I walked in to a bunch of hugs and high fives, welcome backs and just a lot of catching up with everyone about the month that I had been away. I walked into a stadium of a sellout crowd of over 5,000 and really just took it in realizing what I had been missing and how good it felt to be back in the clubhouse with my team...healthy. I was informed that I would be pitching the next day so after the game I went back to my house, unpacked and got a good nights sleep anticipating my return to action in uniform, in Everett, Washington. I threw 1.2 innings because I am on a pitch count and they don't want to rush me back right away, but I felt good, my arm felt good and that was the most important thing for my first outing. We then finished our series in Everett and left for Yakima, Washington where we are currently for a 5 game series. The drive through the country out here is unreal. Mountains, forests, its beautiful and then out of nowhere it all stops and you are in a desert, that desert being Yakima, Washington, really the armpit of the state. I pitched again last night in the 3rd game of the series, this time going 2.1 innings, feeling great, the best I had felt in months. I was sharp with my pitches and located well, just caught a stroke of bad luck along with the rest of the team. A couple of hits in the infield that you couldn't have rolled out into the field any better with your hand and a ball that took a bad hop off the wall, resulted in a couple runs but hey I felt good and next time out I'm sure they will go my way. We are in the middle of a rough patch right now, losing our last 6 for the first time ever, but with every skid a win streak usually follows so when it does, the rest of this league will have 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag, and won't know what hit them. I don't pitch again until next Wednesday but the cool thing is that my family and Kelsey will be in town in Vancouver to watch it, something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. I will be great to see them. They actually fly out today and get in late tonight so I won't see them until tomorrow but it's all good. Pretty much life is great right now, no complaints and really just doing what I've always wanted to do. Going to keep bringing the heat and living it up. Keep looking up.
-Ben
Friday, July 22, 2011
Every day is a step closer
So I have been in Tampa for 2 1/2 weeks and it hasn't been as glorious as Vancouver. Everyday is up at 6:30 and at the field ready to start rehab at 7. We get 3 good meals a day from the chefs still but its just not the same. No fans at these games and the weather is hotter than hell. But hey, if that hot weather is the worst thing, life aint that bad. Rehab is coming along alright, I'm throwing now on the rehab program, I go back to 90 ft soon and then keep moving quicker from there. We have off every Sunday and games every other day, I just go and watch them. It is weird watching the games, because every team wears the same jerseys that all the big league teams wear at spring training. When we play the Phillies, I have to catch myself rooting for them and realizing, wait a sec we are playing them. I still root for the Big League team of course, but I have to root for the Blue Jays everywhere else, after all they do pay the bills. I live with a couple Spanish guys, my spanish is getting better everyday, I really am getting pretty good at it. The Dominican guys look to me for help with their english because they have class twice a week at the Complex, but it just benefits my Spanish. My arm feels pretty good, it hurt early in the week when throwing but with the help of a good old English breakfast consisting of eggs and advil, it gets the job done. I'm hoping I am back to Vancouver by August 13th, that would be perfect because that is when my family and Kelsey are supposed to visit.
This week a got packages from my parents and Kelsey. It was great to see that because it reminds me of home. They are the best. My parents sent some books and other things, and Kelsey sent me a box full of my favorite snacks and candies along with a brand new pair of Oakleys that I can wear at the complex and during the games. Its great stuff for sure.
My most recent adventure was last week in Tampa. Saturday night we (and by we I mean myself, and 3 dominican buddies) went to a place called Round Up, a country bar in Tampa where the dress code is some sort of jean bottom (and even top sometimes) and cowboy boots for most. Well none of us own much other than sneakers or flip flops so we made due. We arrived and well I can't say we stuck out like sore thumbs...no no...we stuck out like a fart in church. Nonetheless, after a few drinks everyone is always friends and we had a good time. We took to the dance floor in an attempt to line dance and square dance...epic failure, it didnt stop us from having a good time (especially the dominican guys), but if I were to describe the scene I would say it closely resembled the bar scene from the movie Cool Runnings where the Jamaican bobsled team heads to the bar in Canada. If you havent seen it, you should, I'm sure it is probably on Youtube. Anyway, we had a great time, one thing about the Dominican culture or really any of the Caribbean cultures is that happiness is never ending, and fun is always to be had, naturally, it is easy to have it rub off on you. It is especially easy for some of the guys to have fun when they have $2.8 million hanging out in the bank. Now I'm not saying everyone does but a few have that kind of chunk of change, even more incredible is some of these kids are 17 or so. The guys I was with are all 21 or older, but money isnt generally a thing...must be nice, but kudos to them, they are all great dudes and you would never know it by the way they live life.
Life is good though, no complaints, I'm living my dream and love every second of it. I'm working hard and am going to keep doing it so I can get back on the field ASAP. Keep looking up.
-Ben
This week a got packages from my parents and Kelsey. It was great to see that because it reminds me of home. They are the best. My parents sent some books and other things, and Kelsey sent me a box full of my favorite snacks and candies along with a brand new pair of Oakleys that I can wear at the complex and during the games. Its great stuff for sure.
My most recent adventure was last week in Tampa. Saturday night we (and by we I mean myself, and 3 dominican buddies) went to a place called Round Up, a country bar in Tampa where the dress code is some sort of jean bottom (and even top sometimes) and cowboy boots for most. Well none of us own much other than sneakers or flip flops so we made due. We arrived and well I can't say we stuck out like sore thumbs...no no...we stuck out like a fart in church. Nonetheless, after a few drinks everyone is always friends and we had a good time. We took to the dance floor in an attempt to line dance and square dance...epic failure, it didnt stop us from having a good time (especially the dominican guys), but if I were to describe the scene I would say it closely resembled the bar scene from the movie Cool Runnings where the Jamaican bobsled team heads to the bar in Canada. If you havent seen it, you should, I'm sure it is probably on Youtube. Anyway, we had a great time, one thing about the Dominican culture or really any of the Caribbean cultures is that happiness is never ending, and fun is always to be had, naturally, it is easy to have it rub off on you. It is especially easy for some of the guys to have fun when they have $2.8 million hanging out in the bank. Now I'm not saying everyone does but a few have that kind of chunk of change, even more incredible is some of these kids are 17 or so. The guys I was with are all 21 or older, but money isnt generally a thing...must be nice, but kudos to them, they are all great dudes and you would never know it by the way they live life.
Life is good though, no complaints, I'm living my dream and love every second of it. I'm working hard and am going to keep doing it so I can get back on the field ASAP. Keep looking up.
-Ben
Saturday, July 9, 2011
On the DL...back to Tampa
I know it has been a while since I have updated this but I have been pretty busy, not to say I have had a lot going on, just had bigger fish to fry. Since my last post, the Canadians have struggled mightily and I have left Vancouver to go to Tampa Bay to meet with doctors about my shoulder. Like I discussed in my last post, my shoulder was really sore and they were having trouble finding my post, the fear being that I could have a blocked artery to my shoulder. Before I left to come to Tampa Bay the Canadians hit a 4 game losing streak, our first real road block this season, we had been motoring through the league and ran into the other top team in league, Eugene, and they spanked us. Not much else had been going on in Vancouver, we went downtown a couple times as a team and had a good time and celebrated Canada Day, basically the 4th of July for Canada.
I flew out on Monday at 10 am in Vancouver and landed in Tampa at 1030 pm with a brief layover in Dallas. I went to the baggage claim and waited for my bags only to be disappointed to find out that they had been left in Dallas, wonderful start to my stay in Florida. I got the shuttle to my hotel and went to my room at 1230 getting ready to wake up at 530 to go to the complex. However, I couldn't fall asleep because of the jet lag factor and moving 3 hours ahead, I fell asleep at 3 and woke up to my phone ringing at 515 letting me know that my bags had arrived at the hotel, what a relief. I went to the complex early tuesday after i got my bags at the hotel and just did some stuff in the training room and hung out consulting the trainers about my shoulder. That night I met a couple guys from the Lansing, Michigan team that are down here rehabbing too, Matt Fields and Daniel Webb. We went to wing night, had few drinks and came back to the hotel and hung out by the pool over a couple of beers, solid first night in Florida. My appointment with the vascular specialist was set for friday so everyday until then I would just workout and do some light shoulder rehab stuff. I'm currently living in the hotel that I originally came too after the draft and my roommate is from the Dominican Republic his name is Misaul Diaz. He speaks english about the same that I can speak spanish so i talk to him in spanish and he talks to me in english, we are both getting better every day. Friday came yesterday and I had my appointment with the specialist. I went to USF for the appointment and they ran all kinds of tests on my arm and shoulder checking my blood flow and pulse. At the end, the doctor came back with the results and everything was clear, thank goodness, I did not want surgery on my shoulder for something like that. Since that box was checked, now we had to get to the bottom of this shoulder problem. Jeff, one of the trainers for us, called ahead to the head orthopedic doctor for the jays and we drove over there. I walked into the office, went to the front of the line and he saw me right away, pretty sweet. I got xrays and he came in to see me. He is considered to be one of the best in the business so its comforting to hear that. He started moving me around, was pretty confident that it was almost like a really bad case of tendinitis in my AC joint (shoulder joint where your collar bone meets you arm bone) and prescribed me a heavy duty anti-inflammatory and gave me a rehab program that should go pretty quick. I was happy to hear it and started my meds today as well as the rehab program. I'm hoping to be in Vancouver by the end of the month, that would be ideal. Other than that, that is all on the home front, going to keep looking up. I will post how things are going soon. Until then.
-Ben
I flew out on Monday at 10 am in Vancouver and landed in Tampa at 1030 pm with a brief layover in Dallas. I went to the baggage claim and waited for my bags only to be disappointed to find out that they had been left in Dallas, wonderful start to my stay in Florida. I got the shuttle to my hotel and went to my room at 1230 getting ready to wake up at 530 to go to the complex. However, I couldn't fall asleep because of the jet lag factor and moving 3 hours ahead, I fell asleep at 3 and woke up to my phone ringing at 515 letting me know that my bags had arrived at the hotel, what a relief. I went to the complex early tuesday after i got my bags at the hotel and just did some stuff in the training room and hung out consulting the trainers about my shoulder. That night I met a couple guys from the Lansing, Michigan team that are down here rehabbing too, Matt Fields and Daniel Webb. We went to wing night, had few drinks and came back to the hotel and hung out by the pool over a couple of beers, solid first night in Florida. My appointment with the vascular specialist was set for friday so everyday until then I would just workout and do some light shoulder rehab stuff. I'm currently living in the hotel that I originally came too after the draft and my roommate is from the Dominican Republic his name is Misaul Diaz. He speaks english about the same that I can speak spanish so i talk to him in spanish and he talks to me in english, we are both getting better every day. Friday came yesterday and I had my appointment with the specialist. I went to USF for the appointment and they ran all kinds of tests on my arm and shoulder checking my blood flow and pulse. At the end, the doctor came back with the results and everything was clear, thank goodness, I did not want surgery on my shoulder for something like that. Since that box was checked, now we had to get to the bottom of this shoulder problem. Jeff, one of the trainers for us, called ahead to the head orthopedic doctor for the jays and we drove over there. I walked into the office, went to the front of the line and he saw me right away, pretty sweet. I got xrays and he came in to see me. He is considered to be one of the best in the business so its comforting to hear that. He started moving me around, was pretty confident that it was almost like a really bad case of tendinitis in my AC joint (shoulder joint where your collar bone meets you arm bone) and prescribed me a heavy duty anti-inflammatory and gave me a rehab program that should go pretty quick. I was happy to hear it and started my meds today as well as the rehab program. I'm hoping to be in Vancouver by the end of the month, that would be ideal. Other than that, that is all on the home front, going to keep looking up. I will post how things are going soon. Until then.
-Ben
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
First Road Trip
I know it has been a while since I have posted but we have been on the road and time is short. This morning we returned from a 6-game road trip that took us to Everett, Washington just outside of Seattle and then to Salem, Oregon about an hour from Portland. We left last Wednesday morning and we start every road trip with everyone throwing in a dollar to a pot and along with that dollar everyone gives a form of ID. The coach pulls the first ID out and that person is removed from the pot. The last name in the hat gets the money. It's a cool way to start every trip, and especially this time because I won the pot, a whopping total of $34 dollars, thats right, what's happening? Anyway, going across the border is a much bigger deal than is necessary with having to get all of our stuff we carried on the bus checked and then we boarded again and took off. Our hotel was nice, good rooms and good breakfast, just nothing to eat around it resulting in everyone attending Dennys every night which becomes quite gross after one sitting, let alone 5 in 3 days. We lost our first game, and then won the next 2 days, resulting in a nice win for the series. The day of the last game we had some time before we had to go to the field so we went to an outlet mall where I indulged and bought 2 necessary polo shirts and a pair of jeans to wear to and from the field.
The next morning we left for Salem and I got some sleep on the bus before we got to the field and got ready to pitch. I felt alright, body was a little tired but I was ready to go. I went through my usual warm up before the game, listened to the national anthem and toed the rubber. My first inning resulted in 2 runs, not a great start, but I did some damage control. My velocity was way down, I was throwing 85-86 mph and that is way off of my normal 88-92. Something hasn't been right since I have been out here. I'm not sure if it has been the amount of throwing or what, but my shoulder has been sore, and really achy, making it hard to throw unless I pop some pain killers before heading out. I came out in the 2nd inning disappointed but the head skipper could sense something wasn't clicking so he came to get me and I went into the locker room with the trainer. I started doing my exercises for my shoulder and stretching and all, then the trainer began to take my blood pressure because we were talking about where I have been sore. He began to notice that he couldnt feel my pulse when my arm is lifted at the angle I throw. This struck him as unusual especially considering my shoulder had been sore but I finished my stuff and went back to the hotel after the game. The next day I woke up and went to the field and during stretching the pitching coach told me they were going to shut me down from throwing until I saw a doctor to be safe. A good move to be preventative so today I saw that doctor during our game at home. He wasn't really worried but he said the same thing as the trainer regarding my pulse and my shoulder soreness and it appears I will probably get some tests run either in Vancouver or down in Florida and talk to a specialist with the Blue Jays. They all said, whatever it is, they will figure it out and get me back to myself on the field, something always good to hear and have confidence in.
Anyway, back to the game on Sunday. There was not a whole lot to eat around our hotel again other than who would have guessed? Dennys. A little further of a walk was Panda Express, a little chinese food joint that the latin guys love because of the rice and chicken as a main course. Anyway, our first basemen, Balbino Fuenmayor, ate that right before a game, probably not the best move considering it is fast food, and the combination of fast food and chinese food is something that should be banned in the United States. After the 3rd inning Balbino comes running off the field with the team as we got ready to hit. The Canadians go 3 up 3 down and head back out to the field...Balbino is no where to be found. Our pitcher finished warming up and is looking around wondering where our first baseman is along with the rest of the stadium and no one can locate him. Finally someone runs into the locker room where grunts and groans are coming from the bathroom. We send in one of our catchers, Luis Hurtado a Venezuelan guy but speaks very good english and aides with the language barrier, to find out what is going on. The relay comes out on the walkie talkie to the dugout to the strength coach...he is pooping. The head skipper (coach) responds with "ok well tell him to get out here, we dont have a first baseman". The walkie talkie responds, "he can't". Skipper, "is he done?"... response, "No he can't yet, it keeps coming". The dugout and coaches all start laughing as our head skipper points to our other first baseman, goes out to tell the umpire the situation who in turn starts laughing and play resumes after a 5 minutes wait. An inning later Balbino returns cursing in Spanish everything related to Panda Express, I think he even dropped a couple lines about Panda Express's mother. So we ask him, Balbi, what were you doing? Before Balbino could even respond, one of the other latin guys in the dugout in choppy english says "He take big number two! HAHAHA" and we all followed his lead and laughed until tears were coming. This was a scene I hadn't seen since little league, and never thought I would see in pro ball. It was absolute comedy. We lost that game, but everyone was a winner, except Balbino.
We won the game last night and got on the bus around 10:30. We watched a few movies and I passed out. We were due into Vancouver at about 5am so I got some good sleep on the bus. At about 4:30 I wake up to a BOOM, CRACK. Our bus driver, the jackass that he is, decided to go down a back alley a quarter of a mile away from the field instead of using the main road and smoked someone's garage and crushed one of the side windows to the bus shattering it all over the inside of our ride. His quote being, "If I trash truck can make it through here, my bus can"....Wrong there hombre, you could not. We got off the bus, took stuff to the clubhouse and then head home, I walked through my door at 5am, what a long ride. Our game tonight went well resulting in another win for the Canadians 7-4. I will figure out what the plan is for the whole shoulder issue probably tomorrow and update this later with the status, but everything should be good. Until next time.
-Ben
The next morning we left for Salem and I got some sleep on the bus before we got to the field and got ready to pitch. I felt alright, body was a little tired but I was ready to go. I went through my usual warm up before the game, listened to the national anthem and toed the rubber. My first inning resulted in 2 runs, not a great start, but I did some damage control. My velocity was way down, I was throwing 85-86 mph and that is way off of my normal 88-92. Something hasn't been right since I have been out here. I'm not sure if it has been the amount of throwing or what, but my shoulder has been sore, and really achy, making it hard to throw unless I pop some pain killers before heading out. I came out in the 2nd inning disappointed but the head skipper could sense something wasn't clicking so he came to get me and I went into the locker room with the trainer. I started doing my exercises for my shoulder and stretching and all, then the trainer began to take my blood pressure because we were talking about where I have been sore. He began to notice that he couldnt feel my pulse when my arm is lifted at the angle I throw. This struck him as unusual especially considering my shoulder had been sore but I finished my stuff and went back to the hotel after the game. The next day I woke up and went to the field and during stretching the pitching coach told me they were going to shut me down from throwing until I saw a doctor to be safe. A good move to be preventative so today I saw that doctor during our game at home. He wasn't really worried but he said the same thing as the trainer regarding my pulse and my shoulder soreness and it appears I will probably get some tests run either in Vancouver or down in Florida and talk to a specialist with the Blue Jays. They all said, whatever it is, they will figure it out and get me back to myself on the field, something always good to hear and have confidence in.
Anyway, back to the game on Sunday. There was not a whole lot to eat around our hotel again other than who would have guessed? Dennys. A little further of a walk was Panda Express, a little chinese food joint that the latin guys love because of the rice and chicken as a main course. Anyway, our first basemen, Balbino Fuenmayor, ate that right before a game, probably not the best move considering it is fast food, and the combination of fast food and chinese food is something that should be banned in the United States. After the 3rd inning Balbino comes running off the field with the team as we got ready to hit. The Canadians go 3 up 3 down and head back out to the field...Balbino is no where to be found. Our pitcher finished warming up and is looking around wondering where our first baseman is along with the rest of the stadium and no one can locate him. Finally someone runs into the locker room where grunts and groans are coming from the bathroom. We send in one of our catchers, Luis Hurtado a Venezuelan guy but speaks very good english and aides with the language barrier, to find out what is going on. The relay comes out on the walkie talkie to the dugout to the strength coach...he is pooping. The head skipper (coach) responds with "ok well tell him to get out here, we dont have a first baseman". The walkie talkie responds, "he can't". Skipper, "is he done?"... response, "No he can't yet, it keeps coming". The dugout and coaches all start laughing as our head skipper points to our other first baseman, goes out to tell the umpire the situation who in turn starts laughing and play resumes after a 5 minutes wait. An inning later Balbino returns cursing in Spanish everything related to Panda Express, I think he even dropped a couple lines about Panda Express's mother. So we ask him, Balbi, what were you doing? Before Balbino could even respond, one of the other latin guys in the dugout in choppy english says "He take big number two! HAHAHA" and we all followed his lead and laughed until tears were coming. This was a scene I hadn't seen since little league, and never thought I would see in pro ball. It was absolute comedy. We lost that game, but everyone was a winner, except Balbino.
We won the game last night and got on the bus around 10:30. We watched a few movies and I passed out. We were due into Vancouver at about 5am so I got some good sleep on the bus. At about 4:30 I wake up to a BOOM, CRACK. Our bus driver, the jackass that he is, decided to go down a back alley a quarter of a mile away from the field instead of using the main road and smoked someone's garage and crushed one of the side windows to the bus shattering it all over the inside of our ride. His quote being, "If I trash truck can make it through here, my bus can"....Wrong there hombre, you could not. We got off the bus, took stuff to the clubhouse and then head home, I walked through my door at 5am, what a long ride. Our game tonight went well resulting in another win for the Canadians 7-4. I will figure out what the plan is for the whole shoulder issue probably tomorrow and update this later with the status, but everything should be good. Until next time.
-Ben
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