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.

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.

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.

We have been playing somewhat streaky as of late; we’ll
win a handful of games and subsequently lose a couple. However, we
are all taking it in stride because we know any day could be a turning
point in the season. Judging by the way things are panning out, it
looks to be a tight race for the lone playoff spot.

I’ve had some ups and downs of my own as well. This past Saturday I
gave up 5 runs (1ER) while only pitching 1/3 of an inning. Falling
behind in the count early never works in a pitcher’s favor. It leads
to walks and allows hitters to expect a certain pitch in a given
situation.

On the flip side, during my next appearance I put up 2 scoreless
frames. It’s always easier said than done, but pitching to contact
rather than trying to paint the corner makes for a lot less work for
yourself in the long run. Besides keeping your pitch count down, it
also forces hitters to swing at your pitch because they know you have
been throwing strikes and they might not get another good pitch that
they think they can handle during the context of the at-bat.

The highlight of my most recent appearance was facing Sean Doolittle. Not only is he a good hitter, but he is also a fellow Shawnee High School graduate in New Jresey, where we attended high school. After falling behind in the count 3-0, I battled back to bring the count full. After fouling off a pitch or two, Sean hit a soft fly ball to shallow left field which I thought was going to drop in for a hit; but Desmond Jennings came out of nowhere to make a nice sliding catch for the second out of the inning.

That was the first time that we have faced each other, which is a surprise considering we play each other so frequently. Hopefully there will be some more opportunities in the future.

That about wraps this week up. No one was left sleeping on the bus; but setting up a broken folding chair that collapses easily is always good for a laugh in the bullpen no matter what day it is.

This past week has been nothing short of amazing as we have had three
games in which we have scored 10 or more runs with 20 or more hits.
Our offensive production has been out of this world, paced by Rays
firstbasemen Rhyne Hughes.

With the surplus of runs, pitching can be a little less stressful.
Just knowing in the back of your mind that your team is capable of
putting up a large number in any inning makes you a little more
comfortable. Everyone has been contributing in a variety of ways,
whether it is coming in to start an inning or being called upon in a
situational circumstance.

On my end, I feel like I have finally been able to get into a daily
routine. Being slightly OCD (obsessive compulsive) it’s an important
aspect of me being comfortable in my surroundings.

Whether it is making sure my bed is made in the morning, to equally
spacing out the hangers in my locker. It all plays a part in
establishing a rhythm that works for me.

The biggest adjustment for me with the Fall League was getting used to
the change in scheduling. As most of you know, the majority of the
games here are in the afternoon rather than in the evening like during
the regular season, so it is much more like a 9 to 5 job rather than
the awkward hours that we usually have to work with.

To be honest, it is a breath of fresh air for me after a long season.
It gives me a chance to go to bed at a normal time and not sleep into
the afternoon the following day. Conveniently, we can also catch all
the playoff games at night. I must say, I am more up to date with the
upcoming election as well; as I have had the chance to watch all but
one of the Presidential Debates.

The season truly seems to be flying by, and I’m sure that the next
month will be much of the same. Thanks for joining me this week, see
you next time.

I almost forgot. After Wednesday’s road trip to Phoenix, Omar Aguilar
fell asleep in the back of the bus with his headphones on during the
45-minute ride home. Rather than wake him up, we elected to allow him
to continue his “siesta” after we exited. The bus driver didn’t take
notice until they were a mile or two down the road. Needless to say,
we all gave him a hard time when he got dropped off at the clubhouse
ten minutes later.

While still hoping to avoid that last minute writer’s block, I stood
in the outfield one evening as we took BP, hoping something would pop
into my head. Suddenly, a ball sailed over the left field fence, and
it finally came to me.

It was a rare evening game, so batting practice that day was in the
late afternoon, with a stiff breeze blowing 20 to 25 mph toward
center. As I stood there waiting for a ball to come my way to help
ease the monotony of BP that was beginning to set in, I couldn’t help
but gasp as balls were getting hit out of the park left and right.

Granted the wind was gusting that day and the ball travels well in the
Arizona air; but I couldn’t help but stand there in amazement as balls
were hit over the center field wall which is listed at 410 and is also
50 feet high.

It was probably the most I’ve ever enjoyed batting practice all year
(except when pitchers get to swing occasionally, which is rare) and I
had the hitters to thank.

It is widely known that there is immense talent in the AFL; however,
during the context of a game you can’t always see the power that can
be put on display during a BP session. This holds true for alot of
games that you may attend.

So getting back to my point. I believe, from a fan’s perspective,
this gives all the more reason to show up early for a game. It gives
you a chance to see raw power that may or may not present itself
during a game. Or on the other hand, it will allow you to see the
precision (and/or velocity) at which a pitcher executes his bullpen.
If nothing else, you will definetely gain a greater appreciation for
the hours of work and preparation that are put in everyday before a
game takes place that most people who show up right before the first
pitch take for granted.

Moving onto this past week with the Peoria Javelinas. I guess it is
safe to say it’s been a roller coaster ride so far. After opening the
season with three straight wins, we then preceded to lose four in a
row before winning our last two on Wednesday and Thursday to settle at
5-4 as we get ready to head to Scottsdale tomorrow for our first game
with the Scorpions.

After our third win last week, we also got a team mascot. Humberto
Sanchez got a guinea pig to keep in the bullpen during games. The
idea behind it was that a javelina (which was our first choice, but
they are wild and pretty mean) is similar to a wild boar which is
similar to a pig; so you can see how we thought it was an applicable
mascot. However, after subsequently losing the next four games, he
had to be returned to Petsmart.

On my end, after starting off with two solid appearances, I stumbled a
bit in my third outing making a mistake on a pitch inside with the
game on the line in the 9th. To put it simply, that is a mistake I
have learned from and will not make again. It’s one thing to be told
not to go inside with a pitch with the game on the line, unless you go up or to move
feet, but until you make the mistake yourself and have to suffer the
consequences, it doesn’t really set in.

That about wraps it up for this week. Sorry to those of you who may
have questions that I have not been able to get to, my computer access
is limited. See you next week.