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Pitchers and catchers are to report to their major league camps in a few weeks, but most of us amateur ballplayers don’t have nearly the time, resources or work ethic to train like professionals do. Going to the ABI with Kyle the other week really drove that point home. The ABI training was in a very professional manner, with a very professional price… both in time and money. Understanding this is easy; it takes absolutes of time, effort and resolve to change yourself into a MLB prospect. The whole thing made me want to be 21 and fresh off the bus to Seattle… but I’m neither. So my focus during the visit was to soak up as many drills and as much culture as I could during those few hours. It has definitely affected the way Kyle and I work out, and now that I’ve received my official release from the Red Sox (by my request) I have tryouts to train for.

I really like some of the pitching philosophies we heard about at ABI, though I think it’s disappointing that the ‘philosopher’ himself, Dr. Mike Marshall, carries such a negative stigma. But hey, I’ve been a black sheep myself my whole life and never doubted the validity of my thought and ideas, so we have some common ground. Aside from being completely single minded, compulsive and utterly confident, I think ‘Doc’ has some good things to add to the game. What Dr. Marshall has failed to embrace is that baseball is about results and relationships. This former Cy Young winner seems to be solely focused on the former with little regard to the latter. Some folks are scientists, others are diplomats. Very rarely are they both.

So unless an earth shattering blog-for-training agreement is reached between myself and ABI, I won’t be training there. I will however be using some of the tech I learned there in my preparation for this season. Don’t get me wrong I would love to train there, but the specific time of the workouts is impossible for me to accommodate without giving up my career. The cost was also too high monetarily for myself, but if the goal was a pro baseball contract it could seem reasonable. So I’ve had to come up with an adaptive solution, an extension of the realizations that I’ve been coming to on how to prepare for my season.

From throwing a curveball to learning how to run a successful business I’ve always been the kind of person who needs to be able visually see something in order to retain it. Therefore my low-tech approach to training is based on of some calendars printed off of my Imac. I’ve developed a little system of notation that becomes bigger as I progress through the months before tryouts and become more active. An ‘X’ through the date marks a day on which I stretched out really well, it’s the baseline for all workouts. An ‘O’ around it means nothing was done at all that day. Workout sets are usually denoted with two letters and a number, indicating the exercise and the intensity. For example, ‘BP1′ means ‘bullpen 1′ or 25-30 pitches to location after a thorough warm-up. December 2007 was a very light month for me workout wise, I was going to physical therapy for shoulder tendinitis and working a freakishly busy retail job 50 hours a week (with split weekends). I stretched only 9 of 31 days, and only averaged 1.5 workouts per week. Pretty tame.

Tame, yes… but a baseline nonetheless. This month has been much better, I’ll post it after we’re into February. Writing this all down has definitely provided feedback on how hard I actually work, and it has given me a incremental way to better myself.

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What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.  I couldn’t have been more pleased to hear that yesterday’s  Nandemoya game was a late one.   My job doesn’t let go of me until 12:30PM on Saturdays, so I invariably miss all of the 9AM starts.  A 2PM start gave me just enough time to get home, dressed, organized and there.

My start was in right field and batting 9th, a perfect match with the way the Red Sox intermittently  played me.  Though this time it was simply because I was new to the team and had to prove myself.  The teams attitude alone made me infinitely more comfortable.

We were relaxed, and it showed by the type of baseball we played.  I was tested in the first inning, and I really made it look more of a spectacle than it needed.  I took a big step back when I saw the fly ball come off his bat, the dive at the end was just to make up for the error on the first step.  Nevertheless, I held on, and it seemed to give us a lift.  After that, my teammates made all of the other outs and it was a good show.  It’s quite special when an amateur team makes zero errors in a game.

My line at the plate:  1 for 1 (1B), 1RBI, 2 BB, and a run scored

It is difficult to say what I enjoyed most, the baseball or the constant ‘man Japanese’ being thrown around the diamond.  English speaking players have a distinct catalog of cheers and such, the Japanese most certainly do as well.  I don’t know the Japanese set of phrases yet, but I could pick out a few general encouragements based on my formal and polite Japanese.  I’m sure that Spanish speaking culture has the same thing, though I bet there are many subdivisions of baseball jargon in Spanish, based on the non-homogeneous nature of Spanish speaking players.  Conversely, it was evident how culturally similar the Japanese guys were in their reactions to events during the game.  For example, the entire bench exclaimed “Oshii!” (Japanese for ‘close call’) when a dribbler hugged the line and went foul.  They all said the exact same word.

I had to smile.  I can only hope to play more Yakyu.

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Courtesy of my friend Carlos Gomez over at Bullpen Mechanics (check the blogroll), here’s Clay Buchholz throwing a fastball and a changeup:

You will notice that he doesn’t change his delivery whatsoever when throwing both pitches. This is what we’re looking for. Look harder, though, and see how late the changeup (78-79 mph) arrives compared to his fastball (90-93 mph).

That’s just wrong.

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My Red Sox were ousted by my Red Sox, only seven players showed to the last game. It was a combination of injuries and disinterest. Even though I’m not happy with the way the season went, I can’t say that I couldn’t see it coming.

In other news with me, I went to my doctor again to see what’s the matter with my shoulder. It had only gotten marginally better with the rest and anti-inflammatories prescribed by my doctor. He sent me to physical therapy for rotator cuff tendonitis. The therapy has gone really well, I can already feel the difference.  They have me doing exercises to strengthen the backside of my shoulder.   My next appointment is tomorrow at 8:30AM, if I get cleared for swimming, I’m off to 24 Hour Fitness to get a membership.

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This year I really have enjoyed my batting average being reset now that playoffs have arrived. We lost today, a lot to a little less, and I had a really good game. I was totally relaxed at the dish today, and I got on base in three out of five plate apps. Two walks, two K’s and a solid base hit the other way… overall I’m pretty satisfied. My team is getting a little better about sportsmanship, but they still talk to the blue way too much in my opinion.

My shoulder woes have forced me to correct my throwing form, and tonight I really put it together. I cut down a runner at the plate, and my GM told me after the game that it was our first assist as a team at home plate this year. Kinda stunned me. It was nice to make a good defensive contribution; our catcher, Koosman, made me look pretty good.

Since it’s double elimination, we have at least one more game. I may not be able to make it due to work, but we’ll see what I can do. We only have 9 guys due to injuries, so hopefully my boss (a huge M’s fan) will have a sympathetic ear. I definitely want the AB’s.

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Well, what can I say?  My first at bat against Kyle was pretty poor, neither of us was particularly lighting it up that day, and he struck me out on a pitch I shouldn’t have swung at.  Ahh, baseball.  At least I had some better discipline the second time and drew a walk.  So I’m 0 for 1 with a K and a BB…  small sample size.  It was great to be playing baseball again after a month off, regardless.

All in all this last weekend was good to me.  Played three games and din’t get a hit, but I didn’t reinjure my shoulder and that was my main goal.  Playoffs are next and I want to be there.

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After making about 10 errors at third base in the first inning which led to 8 runs, I ended up going 0-for-3 for the day with a walk and a HBP. I’m pressing too much at the plate, in the field, and I’m not 100% on the mound. I’ll be going to Cleveland for a wedding and some sorely needed time off for 13 days starting on Monday, which I think will help me a lot.

I digress. I came on to pitch in the sixth and allowed three runs over three innings, walked four, and struck out one. If you guessed that Jacob is the lone strikeout, you would be right! In fact, I threw him a 1-2 curveball that got him swinging.

The PSSBL Mariners is suffering from attrition - people aren’t showing up, the arms on the team are getting worn down (mine included), and the morale is low because of a few other reasons. It’ll be good to get away from organized baseball for two weeks. I’ve been training hard all year and the first 75% of the year was excellent - I saw major strides in hitting, fielding, and pitching. However, over 100 AB’s, 40 IP’s, and countless pitching/hitting lessons later in just a few months, I’m too burnt out on baseball to compete at 100%.

See you in a few weeks, readership.

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So after 10 days of complete rest, my shoulder is starting to feel better.  I really strained something, but after throwing long toss with Kyle the other day, it responded very well.  It’s weak, but not too painful.  I’ve started doing light tube work daily again, and it has been very helpful.

On to the surprise.

So I got an email from the team that’s playing against Kyle’s Mariners on Saturday night.  Seems like they need players, and sore shoulder or not, I can’t pass up an opportunity to smash Kyle’s weak-ass curveball!  If he doesn’t get me with his awesome change, of course.  The team that I’ll be playing for is the Saints (same uni’s as the Northern League team in St. Paul) and one of my teammates from the Sox catches for them.  I can’t wait, I haven’t played ball in almost a month.

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Remember the phenom J.J. Hardy, on pace to hit 92 home runs and 310 RBI?

Here’s his 2007 stat-line: .280/.339/.498

“Small sample size,” indeed. Reality’s a bitch, but an 800+ OPS is still pretty damn good.

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