It’s Finally Here

I guess you could say that I’ve done a little traveling since my last post.  I got assigned to AA Montgomery at the end of Spring Training, so after our last day in Florida we headed for Alabama.  We had a nice caravan going for the nine hour trip besides a few miscues by our “leaders”, Cody Cipriano and Nevin Ashley.  They took it upon themselves to find us somewhere to eat on the way up, so two wrong exits and a 30 minute detour later we were back on track.  The wing joint they did find was pretty good, so I didn’t complain too much.

We  had a few days of practices, media stuff, meet the team, etc. when we got to Montgomery, then we finally started the season on April 7th.  After our first five games at home, we hit the road to Tennessee to play five against the Smokies.  So now we are back in “The Gump” ready for another five game home-stand before we hit the road again this weekend.  We did have an off day last week, but other than going to Bible Study and crushing some Japanese Hibachi my day was pretty boring.  As a team, we’ve had our ups and downs so far this year.  Our record is only 3-7, but yesterday we played by far our best game of the season so I think we are about to turn things around.  This is by far the most talented team I’ve ever been on, so I’m just waiting on us to turn the corner.

Coming back from Tennessee was bittersweet.  As a team, we were ready to get out of there.  They won four out of five from us, it was cold, the hotel sucked(which I’ll get into later), and it seemed like we were there forever.  For me personally, it wasn’t so bad of a trip.  My wife came down to visit me, I got to see my parents and my grandfather, and I pitched pretty good, so it’s hard to complain.  I also got to see my dog, so that’s always a good time!  Speaking of my wife, Aubree, she went to the doctor today for a checkup and the baby is doing great.  We find out the sex on May 16th, so we are pretty pumped about that.

So far I’ve had three appearances on the mound, and they have all gone pretty good.  I’m still trying to get used to the whole bullpen thing, but so far I am loving it.  It’s easy to explain the physical differences between starting and relieving, but it’s not so easy to explain the mental differences.  Physically, you have to get ready quicker.  That’s it.  You have to be ready when you’re called on.  I thought that was going to be extremely tough for me, but it turns out it’s not that bad.  You sit down there in the ‘pen, do the occasional stretching, and wait.  The mental difference is almost a little intriguing to me so far.  You go to the field everyday with no idea if, when, or how much you will pitch. Will the score be 0-0 in the 9th? Will it be 15-0 in the 5th?  What batters will I face?  Will I sit there all night and do nothing?  It’s a big difference from starting when you are on a set rotation and you know exactly what your day will consist of.  You know the lineup, you know the score is going to be 0-0, and you have a set routine that you go by before every start.  For me, it’s a huge adrenaline rush coming out of the bullpen(except for blowouts, I’m assuming that can’t be exciting).  You don’t really know how long you’re going to be on the mound, so it’s full speed ahead when you get out there.  No holding back.  As a starter, you know you’re out there for a while so it’s always in the back of your head not to go all out in the first few innings.  I’m looking forward to my new role in the bullpen, so we will see how it goes!

Now, back to the hotel thing.  Don’t get me wrong, the hotel we stayed at in Tennessee(I’ll refrain from name dropping) wasn’t terrible, but it’s just not a good setup.  Minor League Baseball hotel criteria probably differ a little from the average person’s.  Think about it.  A group of 25 guys show up at a hotel, stay for at least four or five nights, and have no cars.  That’s our life on the road.  Needless to say, there are a few main things every team in Minor League Baseball should consider with their team hotels…

1) Close to Restaurants.  There is NOTHING worse than this.  We don’t want to get pizza or chinese delivered every freakin’ day.  We don’t want to walk two miles just to eat Wendy’s.  Just pick a hotel with three or four choices within walking distance.  And not all fast food places either!

2)Close to Gas Stations.  Again, we don’t want to walk two miles to get a snack, gatorade, and we definitely don’t want to walk that far for beer.  There are gas stations everywhere, right?  Wrong.  Just one, that’s all we need.

3)Close to Activities.  Something to do nearby would be nice.  We aren’t picky so we really don’t care what it is.  We have a lot of down time in the mornings, and even more if it rains.  We usually don’t want to lay in bed all day.

4)Semi-nice Hotel.  We are in the minor leagues.  We aren’t spoiled with the places we stay, but at least have a clean hotel that doesn’t smell like smoke and has a television that works.

That’s not too much to ask, is it? Most teams actually do a pretty good job at this stuff, but there are a few that leave us thinking, “How did they pick this place?”  Gotta love Minor League Baseball.

Okay, I’m going to grab some lunch and head to the field.  Hope everyone has a great week!