"When I was a small boy in Kansas, a friend of mine and I went fishing... I told him I wanted to be a real major league baseball player, a genuine professional like Honus Wagner. My friend said that he'd like to be President of the United States. Neither of us got our wish."
Dwight D. Eisenhower 34th U.S. President.
We've got a good chance. I can't think of any other way around it. I look at our roster and our libeup day after day and I see a team that does a lot of the little things right, like turning the double play or taking out the opposing second baseman on a double play and you think, "We've got a chance ." This team knows how to win. Of the 24 players on the Nashville Sounds roster, 16 of those players have been part of AAA championship teams in the last three years. If the Sounds were to show up at the airport with all of their championship hardware, you'd think Lil' John and his entourage had arrived with all the bling. The latest and maybe the most obvious example that the Brewers do value winning at the minor league level was the signing of Graham Koonce, a first baseman of prodigious power who routinely does to baseballs what Tyson did to Michael Spinks. Koonce was a major cog in the back to back championships that Sacramento won in 2003 (beating the Sounds three straight) and 2004 and was even the PCL league MVP in 2003. You probably never saw his name in lights with the Oakland A's because they had another slugger named Jason Giambi playing first base and then Dan Johnson moved into the neighborhood. At the very least I still think Koonce could have been a 20 homer guy in Oakland.
Look around the Sounds clubhouse and you'll see players from last years championship such as Chris Barnwell and Mike Meyers who quiwetly go about their work and in the case of Meyers, come up with a big game when they most need it from the pen or, in the case of Barnwell, anchor a Sounds defense that make the impossible plays seem routine. Its odd that champion is originally a french word, since the French have never won a World Series and haven't really won anything since Charlemagne was the head coach. In fact, the French have won as many wars in the last 100 years as....I have.
Back to the Sounds. One thing that most clubhouses have are clubhouse leaders. These are the guys who lead by example in the way they prepare for a game, the way they conduct themselves on the field and off, and always make sure that the guys are playing the game the right way. Their the ones who organize Kangaroo Court, tell a young player to wash their shirt, etc. They are also the ones who will take a player aside who maybe didn't run out a ground ball as hard as they should have and remind them that there is most likely somebody in AA just as talented who WILL run out that grounder. The Sounds clubhouse is full of these type of leaders. Clark, Johnson, Abernathy and until he retired, Justin Thompson. I will admit, in the last two years I have yet to see a Sounds player dog it on a ground ball or pop up so being a clubhouse leader for this group may be a pretty cush job. When you have a group of guys who know what it takes to win, the little things get done with no questions asked.
The team is off for two days, Monday is the Nashville Sounds CMT annual Charity Golf Tournament is Monday the 19th with proceeds going to the Nashville Sounds Foundation which benefits youth baseball, education, and literacy in Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky. I will not be playing as I am to golf, what fish are to bicycling. Instead I will be building a picnic table so that I will be able to write these blogs in the 99 degree outdoor comfort of my backyard. Tuesday I will most likely be heading to Home Depot to BUY a picnic table that has four legs instead of three and does not list at a a 45 degree angle. Wednesday its off to Round Rock, TX to play the Round Rock Express in a five game series. Round Rock is a great place to play and visit, though I have yet to have a chance to travel to 6th Street in nearby Austin, TX, the place where Stevie Ray Vaughn cut his teeth and became the "Texas Tornado" on guitar and somehow channeled the spirit of Jimi Hendrix until his untimely death in 1990. Unfortunately by the time the game is over, I get back to the hotel and make the 30 minute drive to Austin, I have about as much time to grab a beer and listen to some great live music as a NASCAR pitstop. Luckily there is a nice little steakhouse nearby that does not turn their nose up if I wear jeans and eat at the bar because thats where the TV with the ballgame is on.
In case you were wondering, the Brevard County Manatees are second in the Florida State League in hitting. Their hitting coach? Former Sound Corey D. Hart.
Sunday, June 18, 2006
Why Fathers Day and Baseball Go Together
Almost every kid has a story like mine. The story involves them and their father and baseball. For me, I have a bunch of them. I remember growing up outside Chicago and on weekends, before I could go play baseball with other neighborhood kids at the nearby junior high school, I had to help my dad in the yard. My bedroom faced the back and my dad would usually tell me to put the radio in my window. It was an AM radio with a big dial and it was green. The dial would be tuned to AM 720 WGN, the home of the Cubs. Jack Brickhouse would be calling the game along with Vince Lloyd and Lou Boudreau. I'd be in the backyard with my dad cutting the grass, weeding the lawn, turning over dirt in the garden or pruning an apple tree that manged to produce apples only once in the 16 years it was in the ground. Sometimes the yard work was done around my little league schedule. My dad never managed a team I was on, but he almost always coached first base. Anyways, we'd be in the back yard and then you would hear Vince Lloyd yelling after Billy Williams or Rick Monday ripped a homer into the bleachers. My dad would stop what he was doing and look at me because he knew what was coming next. I would drop the rake/shovel/lawn mower and tear into the house and run to the TV, turning on WGN Channel 9 (before it was a superstation) and watch the cheap HEY! HEY! CG graphic flash on the screen as Jack Brickhouse celebrated along with the rest of Chicago.
There were plenty of other stories. Playing catch out front with my dad, which usually resulted in him running up South Milton Avenue multiple times after my errant throws. I remember hanging out with grown ups one day in the backyard. My fathers parents had come to visit from Scranton, PA and they were sitting in the backyard having a beer and smoking. My grandfather was a pretty unlikable fellow who scared the living bejeesus out of me and it still amazes me that my dad and his sisters turned out to be extremely nice people. I don't really think that my dad was very fond of him, but they would still sit out back and talk about the Red Sox. Both were Sox fans, mainly because the Red Sox for years had a farm team in Scranton. My dad said he once saw Ted Williams go five-for-five in an exhibition game. Despite their differences they could still communicate through baseball.
My favorite memories of my dad were rainy weekends. If it were raining and the little league games were cancelled and we (aka, me) couldn't mow the lawn, my dad would grab a beer, a pack of cigarettes a radio and a lawn chair and sit in the garage with the door open and listen to the Cubs play if they were on the road. I would sometimes go out there with him with a soda, a lawn chair, and no cigarettes and listen to the game with him while the thunder boomed in the distance and the rain came pouring down. If the Cubs were in Philly my dad would usually remind me that he had seen the Phillies growing up and that he thought Mike Schmidt was a pretty good player. I never knew how glad I would be later in life for those moments with my dad. My father passesd away in 1990 at the far too young age of 54. I like to think that he's sitting in a garage somewhere while a storm rages outside listening to Jack Brickhouse yell "Hey! Hey!" as a Cub hits another homer.
Happy Fathers Day and I promise I'll write about the Sounds soon.
There were plenty of other stories. Playing catch out front with my dad, which usually resulted in him running up South Milton Avenue multiple times after my errant throws. I remember hanging out with grown ups one day in the backyard. My fathers parents had come to visit from Scranton, PA and they were sitting in the backyard having a beer and smoking. My grandfather was a pretty unlikable fellow who scared the living bejeesus out of me and it still amazes me that my dad and his sisters turned out to be extremely nice people. I don't really think that my dad was very fond of him, but they would still sit out back and talk about the Red Sox. Both were Sox fans, mainly because the Red Sox for years had a farm team in Scranton. My dad said he once saw Ted Williams go five-for-five in an exhibition game. Despite their differences they could still communicate through baseball.
My favorite memories of my dad were rainy weekends. If it were raining and the little league games were cancelled and we (aka, me) couldn't mow the lawn, my dad would grab a beer, a pack of cigarettes a radio and a lawn chair and sit in the garage with the door open and listen to the Cubs play if they were on the road. I would sometimes go out there with him with a soda, a lawn chair, and no cigarettes and listen to the game with him while the thunder boomed in the distance and the rain came pouring down. If the Cubs were in Philly my dad would usually remind me that he had seen the Phillies growing up and that he thought Mike Schmidt was a pretty good player. I never knew how glad I would be later in life for those moments with my dad. My father passesd away in 1990 at the far too young age of 54. I like to think that he's sitting in a garage somewhere while a storm rages outside listening to Jack Brickhouse yell "Hey! Hey!" as a Cub hits another homer.
Happy Fathers Day and I promise I'll write about the Sounds soon.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
The next new supplement will be.....SPINACH!
That's right, spinach. As case number one on the detrimental effects of spinach I present Exhibit A. We'll call him "Popeye" He already has abnormally large forearms and a malformed chin that can only be had through supplement abuse. Sportswriters have noticed in the last few years how Popeye's arms turn into sledgehammers and his biceps start waving around with battleship guns firing akimbo during times of great stress.
Tongues were wagging in clubhouses all over the league."The trainers put the stuff out like its candy! You can get it with a little vinegar (the 'clear') or get it with a little queso (the 'cream'). The effects of the "Jolly Green Giant", as it is known, are almost immediate. One unamed source described the effects. "Usually you'll see Popeye out there getting hammered on the mound. He just couldn't get much on his fast ball, his curveball had no bite and somebody had dropped a piano on his head. Then he sneaks off and ingests some spinach and it's Katy-bar-the-door!" According to researchers Spinach causes massive growth of forearm muscles and in tests increased velocity on fastballs by 130 mph and batters were able to hit the ball two miles farther. Unlke HGH however, it has no effect on eyesight, "Every time he takes the spinach he winds up with Olive Oyl, what's up with that?" one unamed player was quoted.
Major League Baseball released this statement a few days ago in regards to the increased use of spinach:
Spinach first made the headlines when the IRS served a warrant to a player named in court documents only as "Wimpy" after spinach was intercepted in transit from your grocers freezer. The case against "Wimpy" involved non-payment of taxes and was resolved before trial when "Wimpy" promised to gladly pay them back Tuesday.
League officials were careful to note that the use of spinach was still not commonpplace and that spinach only seemed to work if you were playing against David Wells, aka "Bluto".
Tongues were wagging in clubhouses all over the league."The trainers put the stuff out like its candy! You can get it with a little vinegar (the 'clear') or get it with a little queso (the 'cream'). The effects of the "Jolly Green Giant", as it is known, are almost immediate. One unamed source described the effects. "Usually you'll see Popeye out there getting hammered on the mound. He just couldn't get much on his fast ball, his curveball had no bite and somebody had dropped a piano on his head. Then he sneaks off and ingests some spinach and it's Katy-bar-the-door!" According to researchers Spinach causes massive growth of forearm muscles and in tests increased velocity on fastballs by 130 mph and batters were able to hit the ball two miles farther. Unlke HGH however, it has no effect on eyesight, "Every time he takes the spinach he winds up with Olive Oyl, what's up with that?" one unamed player was quoted.
Major League Baseball released this statement a few days ago in regards to the increased use of spinach:
Major League Baseball has had record attendance for two years running and may set another record this year. It's early, but pennant and wild-card races are competitive throughout our divisions. Baseball is enjoying a golden age of fan support and excitement. Our great game has never been more popular.
Yet, despite the good news in Baseball, there are problems. I was disappointed and angered by revelations that a Major League player had acknowledged using spinach (Jolly Green Giant), a performance-enhancing substance banned by Major League Baseball, and had said that others were using spinach as well.
Seven-hundred-fifty great athletes play Major League Baseball. The overwhelming majority are hard-working, honorable individuals, except David Wells, who play to win the right way. But among the seven-hundred-fifty, there have been and still are those who would cheat the game to gain an advantage. They hurt not only themselves, but they unfairly raise questions about the integrity of their teammates who play by the rules and they violate the trust placed in them by you, the fans. These players who use performing-enhancing substances such as spinach offend all of us who care for the game and I will not tolerate their actions. Unless they can still throw 95.
Spinach first made the headlines when the IRS served a warrant to a player named in court documents only as "Wimpy" after spinach was intercepted in transit from your grocers freezer. The case against "Wimpy" involved non-payment of taxes and was resolved before trial when "Wimpy" promised to gladly pay them back Tuesday.
League officials were careful to note that the use of spinach was still not commonpplace and that spinach only seemed to work if you were playing against David Wells, aka "Bluto".
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