Sun, February 07, 2010
You may recall my last post when I wrote about how I ended up attending Murray State University, tried out and made the baseball team. While there, I was part of a most remarkable experience. It all began with one of my teammate’s box score: 3 At Bats 0 Hits 0 Runs 0 RBI and it ended with “Stay tuned … for the rest of the story” and “Paul Harvey … Good Day.”
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Sat, January 30, 2010
As many of you probably heard, J.D. Salinger, the author of the “Catcher in the Rye” died a few days ago. That was my favorite book, especially the part where he wrote about the person who could really whistle. He writes about how every person has at least one thing that they do very well even though it may not be known to others, even something as minute as whistling. At least, that is my take on what I read, but the point is that every person is worth respecting because they have something of worth about them. You may never know it but you may find out that they went on to achieve, like maybe, becoming a major league baseball player.
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Sun, January 24, 2010
Of course, we all know of great rivalries in sports. Yankees vs. Red Sox, Michigan vs. Ohio State, and Celtics vs. Lakers all come to mind when I think about great rivalries. I had the opportunity to be part of one of those in my playing days and it all came to a violent, crazy head one night.
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Sat, January 16, 2010
Last post I mentioned that I hoped that the good memories of my professional playing career never end so I could keep writing about the happy times. Then of course, I couldn’t think of another good memory that I haven’t already written about. I hope that is only a case of temporary amnesia. Below is one of those nightmarish episodes in my career.
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Mon, January 04, 2010
Sun, December 27, 2009
Sun, December 20, 2009
As baseball people know, April fools day lands near the end of spring training each year. The end of spring training is a very nervous time for most players. Obviously, this is when major league teams have to cut down to the twenty five man roster for the beginning of the regular season. Players, who are on the bubble, walk around the clubhouse hoping not to hear their name called.
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Sun, December 13, 2009
So many of my “crazy,” memorable baseball experiences happened when I played for the Los Angeles Dodgers. This is kind of ironic because I was only with the big league Dodger team for a short while. I guess it makes sense though, because after all, it is Hollywood. The following story is quite famous, told and written about many times before. However, having been there at the time, I will give my version.
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Sat, December 05, 2009
Sun, November 29, 2009
Sat, November 21, 2009
Whenever I have a baseball coach’s clinic, I begin with a trivia question, “Who caught the last ball that Carl Yastrzemski ever hit in a major league game?” Not one person has ever answered correctly; until I gave them the hint, “The answer is so obvious, like it is right in front of you.” Every once in a while the “average Joe”(Jack Perconte) gets touched by “greatness” (Carl Yastrzemski).
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Sat, November 14, 2009
Sat, November 07, 2009
Sat, October 31, 2009
Fri, October 23, 2009
Sun, October 18, 2009
Sat, October 10, 2009
Sun, October 04, 2009
After reading Seamheads leader Mike Lynch’s article about Ed “Irish” Conwell, it reminded me of a question I often receive about players who make it to the major leagues.
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Sat, September 26, 2009
Sat, September 19, 2009
I have had this debate with friends before. It all started with a question from a friend about how important mental toughness is in an athlete and if it could be taught. I set out to find what I thought was the key to mental toughness for athletes. Before coming to my conclusion I would like you to take this short quiz. If you answer all of the above you would be close to being correct but that is not going to be one of your options.
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Sat, September 12, 2009
Sat, September 05, 2009
Sat, August 29, 2009
Many sports enthusiasts complain that baseball is boring and too slow. I certainly do not agree with them nor do I argue or try to convince them otherwise. I am thinking to myself though, “If only they knew what good baseball people know, they would not think it boring or slow.” There are so many little things that go into every pitch and every play that make the game so fascinating, intriguing and exciting.
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Mon, August 24, 2009
Sun, August 16, 2009
Sat, August 08, 2009
Sun, August 02, 2009
Sun, July 19, 2009
Continuing with “head shaking managerial moves” from my previous post and later in the same game – my team was involved in a tense ball game with the score tied in the 10th inning.
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Sat, July 11, 2009
Sun, July 05, 2009
Sun, June 28, 2009
Sun, June 21, 2009
Most major league ball players have a story or two about bench clearing brawls when they were involved. All of them that I recall were pretty sedate where there was a lot of yelling and finger pointing, but no real blows were thrown. My most memorable brawl happened in the minor leagues and did not even involve the opposing team. However, it did end with someone being carted off in an ambulance. Here is how it went down.
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Sat, June 13, 2009
There is a big difference from major league baseball and minor league ball, besides the obvious of the caliber of players. To state the obvious, everything is better at the big league level including the hotels, ballparks, meal money, clubhouses, travel arrangements and “equipment.” It is this latter ingredient that caused my most embarrassing moment in the major leagues. Here is what happened.
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Sun, June 07, 2009
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