Well it's time for another installment and happily the days keep ticking off the calendar and towards the end of spring training.  After a disaster of an outing about a week ago I've bounced back with a good bullpen session and a couple productive outings since.  As usually seems to happen during spring training I have been absolutely incapable of striking anyone out, but hopefully it will straighten itself out during the season like it usually does.  With about a week left, it has reached the point where everyone is starting to round into full form for the regular season and begins getting itchy to get out in front of real crowds, in real stadiums, playing real regular season games.  Spring training is essential in allowing players to prepare for a season by seeing live game action and getting back into a routine of sorts.  Spring training is also essential to the front office and on-field staff as they decide what the composition of the organization is going to be for this year, but this process of deciding which players will be coming and going causes a constant tension that underlies everyday of spring training.  Everyday is full of players talking about where guys are going to be playing, how that affects where they are going to be playing, who is going to get cut, how much it sucks that a friend is going to be playing somewhere else, etc, etc.  It is rather exhausting and there is always a sense of relief when rosters get decided, spring training breaks up and everyone heads out to their respective teams.  It will also be nice to show up to the ballpark everyday at 1 pm instead of 7 am, even though it will mean trading the sunshine of Arizona for the slightly cooler clime of Ohio.

Well, I think I'll call that good for now, but I'll make sure to log on and keep you posted a few more times as we break camp and get settled in to start the season.  I would also like to wish the best of luck to everyone in and around Fargo dealing with the flooding on the Red River.  Stay dry and stay safe.

Hello again and welcome back for another installment.  Games have been going for a little while now and I've thrown in three games so far.  I haven't pitched up to what I would consider to be midseason standards (a sentiment shared by many other players I'm sure) but I've felt good, stayed on track to be ready for the season and managed to avoid pitching on the road so far so I can't really complain.  On the flip side I got some unfortunate news the other day when I found out that my roommate had gotten released by the Indians.  I've played with him on a couple different teams and also lived with him during the season last year so I was pretty disappointed to hear the news, but I wish him all the best and I'm sure he'll land on his feet somewhere.

Well, having dispensed with the obligatory baseball side of things, I am going to wander off the path a bit.  I was sitting in my hotel room watching the hilarious stand up of Jim Gaffigan, the second palest person on earth (I'm looking at you Matt Meyer), and one of his jokes was about how much he hates it when people say "the book is so much better than the movie."  Now, I usually take some sly satisfaction out of deflating people by telling them how much better the book is, but I got to thinking and realized that there are some pretty notable movies that are significantly better than the crappy books they are based on.  So to the chagrin of English teachers everywhere, here are a few books that you would be better served to pass on and just watch the movie.

I Am Legend by Richard Matheson (1954)

There have actually been three movies based on this book: The Last Man on Earth (1964), Omega Man (1971), and I am Legend (2007).  Having seen all three incarnations the only one I would recommend is the most recent with Will Smith as Neville, and I absolutely would not recommend the book.  The plot of the novel is fairly mundane and ends somewhat abruptly after nothing of interest really happens, so save yourself the headache and just head to Blockbuster.

V for Vendetta by Alan Moore & David Lloyd (1982)

Ok, so this is technically a graphic novel, but don't hold that against me.  The original comic isn't overtly bad, but the movie is a lot more focused (not to mention interesting) and the characters really jump off the screen in the movie whereas in the comic they never really command your attention.

The Dexter Novels by Jeff Lindsay

This is a series of four novels released since 2004 that follows the "exploits" of serial killer and police forensics expert Dexter Morgan as he weeds out the worst elements of society and have been adapted into the Showtime series Dexter.  What makes the TV show great is the degree to which Dexter's psyche is on display at all times, but this is also what makes the books such an uninteresting read.  Simply put nothing substantive happens for most of all four books so I wouldn't recommend picking these up.

Well, hopefully I haven't bored you too much, but it was a random thought I had and it seemed as interesting as anything else I had to write about after a fairly uneventful week.  That's about all I have for now, but I'll be back with another update soon.

Hello again out there in cyberspace.  I have finally gotten semi-consistent access to the internet so I figured I'd take advantage of the opportunity to post an update on how Groundhog Day... err... spring training is going.  This is the point during spring training at which the rubber really begins to meet the road, with the start of inter-squad games yesterday and the official start of minor league games on Wednesday.  As players we all welcome the transition from batting practice and bullpens everyday to live game action because it allows us to do what we not only do best but are the most comfortable doing, namely getting out on the field and competing.  It offers the possibility to showcase our skills for the coaching staff and front office, each of us making our case to earn a spot on the roster we have set our sights on all offseason or, in the case of some players, to earn a spot on a roster period.  Yes, we are all happy to have started games but with the start of games come updated rosters that highlight one of the somber realities of the spring training process--too many guys for not enough jobs.  As professionals we all understand the nature of the business and that the staff has to make decisions in what they determine to be the best interest of the organization, but it is hard to watch guys that you came into the organization with and gone through the grind, injuries, and celebrations with year after year get shown the door or to have your own dream of playing major league baseball come to an end.  Working, living and traveling with the same group of guys during a season and over the course of multiple seasons obviously means that most of us are not only teammates but good friends, so the enthusiasm of the start of games is tempered somewhat by the impending prospect of parting ways (at least professionally) with some great guys.

On a happier note, since it now seems that I may actually be able to get on the internet on something resembling a regular basis I will hopefully be posting more updates on a slightly more frequent basis.  Also, I'll try to get into a bit more off-field stuff in the next couple entries so be on the lookout for that and happy Camp Fire Boys & Girls Founders Day (and to those of you into more obscure holidays, happy St. Patrick's Day).

Sorry for the delay in posting my follow-up but when you have 200 guys trying to use one hotel internet network, access to said internet network tends to be pretty sporadic.  And by sporadic I mean absolutely nonexistent.  Anyway, spring training has been going on for about a week now, all the position players are in town and things are in full swing at our snazzy new facility in Goodyear, AZ.  It has been a very welcome change playing at a state of the art spring training facility rather than one where four of the fields are below the level of the adjacent lake with another directly next to a sewage treatment plant.  It is also awesome that for the first time ever I will get to spend at least part of my time here watching my boys from THE North Dakota State University playing in the big dance baby! (Man do I hate Dick Vitale).  But I guess that is neither here nor there though.

At this point in the spring the all of the pitchers, myself included, have thrown two bullpens and starting tomorrow pitchers will throw live batting practice to hitters as an intermediate step between bullpens and the games that will follow shortly thereafter.  To be honest with you the two live batting practice sessions are by far my two least favorite times on the mound all season.  While it is an excellent chance to throw pitches in a non-game situation, see how hitters react to them and get back to having the feel of a batter in the box after an offseason of bullpens, I never feel better about myself as a pitcher after throwing live batting practice.  I think it is probably because there is something very dejecting about working hard and putting in long hours all offseason then stepping up on the mound and having every single hitter spit on my best breaking ball and absolutely hammer the guts out of my best fastball.  To be fair the hitters are told what is coming on every pitch which obviously affects both the results and the evaluation of such, but that doesn't really change the semi- soul crushing feeling of making good pitch after good pitch and seeing hitters have either no reaction to them or a "wow the ball really does fly here in Arizona" reaction.  Oh well, the good news is that after two live batting practice sessions we transition to games where the adrenaline gets pumping a little bit and I feel a bit more at home than in the bullpen or behind an L-screen.

On a more positive note spring training provides ample down time for copious amounts of reading, watching the many movies from the last year that I somehow managed not to see, and writing rambling blog entries about spring training so check back for regular updates.  Also, there have already been a few questions and I encourage you to keep them coming and I'll answer them periodically as they come in.  Happy reading.

Well, it is spring again and for those of us who play minor league baseball for a "living" that means reunions with teammates, physicals, bloodwork and endless hours of standing around shagging batting practice.  It really doesn't get much better... until the second the season starts.

To most people the prospect of a physical examination is a minor hassle that takes an hour or two out of your day once a year, but spring training physicals are a whole different beast.  While we certainly do the standard medical physical that everyone does, we also have to go through stations for upper and lower extremity measurements, concussion testing, functional movement testing, blood work, urine test, strength testing on both shoulders for the pitchers, etc, etc.  Throw in the fact that there are probably 100 guys trying to get through each station and it gets to be an all-day fun-fest for all involved.  Mercifully I did the actual physicals in Cleveland in January (where all the doctors examining my posture and functional movement thought I was left-handed and I have no idea what to make of that) so all I have to do tomorrow is the blood work, drug test and our conditioning test.  I also got the best news I've probably ever gotten during spring training today when I found out that our conditioning test will be a series of gassers rather than the "Warrior Run," a brutal half-mile shuttle run that had been our conditioning assessment since time untold.

Check back in a couple days for a rundown of the first few hectic days of spring training and our new facility.  So long for now.