Well, the Arizona Fall League Season has come to a close for the teams
that have not made the lone playoff game taking place on Saturday for
the championship. However, we did happen to finish on a high note
after winning our final game Thursday against the Phoenix DesertDogs.

I personally feel like I’ve gotten a lot out of this short season
while continuing my development as a reliever. Even though I
struggled over my final three appearances, I feel that the strides I
made early in the season considerably outweigh my recent struggles.
Numbers don’t always tell the whole story; and there is always room
for improvement as I’ve learned from past mistakes.

The antics around the clubhouse have also picked up in the final week
as the window of opportunity to pull a prank on someone is coming to a
close. Whether it was Lou Palmisano putting eyeblack on the inside of
the Mesa SolarSox batting helmets before the game; or Chris Mason
lighting a piece of tape on fire as it was stuck to the bottom of my
chair, a good time was had by all.

This being my final blog entry, I’d like to thank all those who have
taken the time to follow along over the past six weeks. I hope I was
able to give you a behind the scenes look into minor league baseball.
For now, it’s time to relax for a few weeks before resuming the
offseason training regiment. Thanks again for reading and see you in
the spring of 2009.

The final handful of games in the Arizona Fall League are approaching and for many of us, this marks the end of a long season. For others who have plans to play additional winter ball, it marks the end of one season and the beginning of another.

Regardless of what our record indicates when the season wraps up; I can guarantee that there has been tremendous growth and development among all players from the Javelinas as well as the entire Arizona Fall League.

During the offseason, you spend a great deal of time preparing for the 140 game regular season and whatever additional baseball you may have the opportunity to take part in.

As I look back, I feel a great sense of accomplishment in the fact that I have remained healthy for yet another year; albeit my journey over the course of the season wasn’t exactly how I had it planned out from spring training, I am happy how I remained on course and overcame the obstacles that stood in my way. Ultimately, I feel like I am a better player because of what I’ve been through.

Even though we have struggled as a team for the past couple of weeks, it’s important to focus on the positive things we have done as well as work on areas in which we have been lacking.

Coming out here as a pitcher with little experience as a reliever, I didn’t want to try to do too much and overwhelm myself. Instead, I focused mainly on two or three things which I thought would be influential going into next season.

I am happy to say that I feel like I have met my goals of improving slider command as well as controlling the running game, among other things. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for improvement in the coming months. As we all know from experience, if you sit idle for too long you will be passed by before you know it.

And of course, it’s very important to have fun along the way; which I have tried to let you in on when I’ve had the opportunity. However, no one has gone as far as to put flexall or redhot in someones sliding shorts just yet; but there is still one week to go.

It’s taken a while, but the Javelinas losing streak has come to an end
with a win Thursday in Surprise, Arizona. The past seven days have
definitely been a grind as we have tried to chalk one up in the win
column.

Things just weren’t going our way, but that is just the way it
sometimes goes with baseball. The important thing is to come to the
field everyday and continue to work and get better, while learning
from past mistakes as well.

You never know what the turning point may be or when it may take
place; but the great part about baseball is that you get to come to
the field everyday to play a game and try to turn things around.

A quality start from Jeff Marquez was just what we needed to get off
on the right foot against the Rafters. After we jumped out to an
early lead, he gave us five shutout innings while scattering five hits
along the way to set the tone for the rest of the game.

I came in for the 6th and 7th followed by Doug Fister in the 8th and
Robert Manuel in the 9th to bring our first shutout of the Arizona
Fall League Season to a close.

We played well in all facets of the game; and the turn-a-round has
come just in time as we still have an outside chance to make a run for
the lone playoff spot in our division two weeks from now.

On a lighter note, someone has been putting powdered Kool-Aid in
peoples shoes in the clubhouse. The other day, Ryan Reid’s feet were
stained red after wearing a pair of spikes that were “cherry
flavored”. He is still trying to find the culprit.