Our afternoon game was also very close and very exciting. They had a fireballer on the mound to start the game, so we struggled. When I came up for the first time, I got knocked down by a pitch. It was right at me, and I feel to the ground to avoid it. Bad luck for me, it hit my bat anyway. I hung in there fouling off a few pitches and taking a few balls. I struck out though, stranding Shaun after his RBI double.
Going into the top of the last inning, I was up first with our team ahead 5-3. The first pitch was inside, just under my chin. I joked with the catcher, asking if they didn’t like me. The next pitch was low and away. A 2-0 count is a hitter’s count. He needs to throw a strike and will often give you a pitch that ends up easy to hit. It wasn’t. Our grazed my belt. The umpire asked if it hit me. I told him it grazed me and he asked if I wanted to take it. I hesitated.
In our morning game, we’d had the same umpire. His strike zone was very big. Gigantic even. Shaun got called out on a pitch up at eye level. Every close play was an out. Nonetheless, I liked this umpire. He appreciated that I only use a wood bat and he’d chat with me.
I knew that if I didn’t take first base on this “hit by pitch”, I might not get on base. I knew that the count would be 3-0 if I stayed at bat. He’d have to throw me a strike.
I looked at the umpire and said “I paid to hit”. I wanted a chance to hit the ball, so I stepped back into the box. The next pitch was low and away again, so I took my walk.
Ed Confino was hitting behind me and he’s been gracious enough to let first pitches go by so that I could steal. Before my at bat, he’d said to me, “I might swing at the first pitch.” I told him, “I might run anyway, let’s not worry about it.” I took off and he hit the ball. They did get him at first, but had no chance at the double play.
I was dancing off second, thinking about stealing. I didn’t think the odds were good. He wad throwing hard and the catcher was good. I just got s good secondary lead and was able to advance when a ball scooted past the catcher.
On the next pitch, it was a grounder to third. He scooped the ball and we stared at each other. As soon as he threw to first, broke for home.
Earlier in the game, I’d seen someone tumble as a means of sliding, and commented on how odd the slides had been all week.
The throw was coming in hot. The catcher was in the right spot. I knew that I should drop to the ground and slide. I didn’t. I stretched with my last step as something like a slide. I’m told it was “poetic” and that I should give classes – for comedy’s sake!
I was safe!
We didn’t manage another run, so lead 6-3 headed into the bottom of the final inning.
JT was pitching, throwing hard and throwing some curve balls to catch them off balance. The first batter managed to hit one of those curve balls. So he was on first with his team down 3 runs. He wasn’t going to steal when needing 3 runs and wasn’t fleet of foot anyway.
Steve Liddle, who runs the camp and will be back coaching in the majors again with the Tigers, often says that he sees things in Ponce he’s never seen in baseball. This was one of them.
On the third strike, Russ Ryan fired to first. The runner was way off, having taken a big secondary lead. Turning to go back, he fell down. Strikeout, throw out.
JT got the next batter out and we notched our fourth victory, 6-3.
I’m now 6 for 9, with a double, a walk, one hit-by-pitch, multiple steals with some runs and RBIs. I’ll have to find the exact numbers….
I spent a few eventful innings at short and third, but the ball was eating me up. Fortunately, I still made a few throws to get guys out. That included throwing the last batter out on a falling, but full effort, throw. Fortunately, Rick Powers is really tall.
I managed to go 2 for 3, but drove on a couple of runs. My first hit didn’t go 14 feet, but it was in the right spot, driving in a run and not drawing a throw. I had a solid drive up the middle for my second hit. When we were tied after 6, we started a “shootout” inning. In the shootout, you come to the plate with 2 strikes. This particular umpire’s strike zone was gigantic, so I punched a grounder to first that drove in a run on a pitch high and outside.
We won by a run to make us the only undefeated team.
Our afternoon game stated very competitively, with us edging to a 3-2 lead that we extended to 4-2. Our pitching and defense got very solid after that and our hitting didn’t stop. So we ended up cruising to a 13-2 win.
My first at bat, I just failed to back away from the plate and took a soft pitch to my back leg. (Update on the following Monday: still bruised.)
Our coach, Rick Knapp, had rearranged our lineup from alphabetical to on be a little more strategic. So, I was hitting 4th. I’m sure it wasn’t that I had shown power, as all three guys hitting on front of me hit the ball just as hard, but I’ll take it. The lineup rolls continually after this game, so the leadoff hitter won’t be leading off the game after this.
Craig Tasens led off with a hit, and stole second easily. Jonathan Taylor singled to send Craig to third. When JT stole second they threw to second but Craig was caught flat-footed and didn’t advance. A passed ball while Shaun Quill was batting bright him on anyway. Shaun singled to plate JT. I was watching the first pitch to give Shaun a chance to steal, but it just kept coming further inside and hit me. I missed seeing Shaun break for third, so we didn’t double steal. I did go on the next pitch, though. When Shaun scored on Ed Confino’s single, we’d made our limit of three for the inning.
We turned to Richard Toikka for the third inning. It’s not often that you send out a 73-year-old pitcher, but Richard posted his first shutout inning of the week. After our morning game, Rick was talking to all of us, working on some tips for JT about pitching. Balance is such a key in pitching and Rick was focusing on the alignment of a pitcher’s hips in that balance and movement. It also applies in batting, so this lesson would be repeated in various ways throughout the week. As I mentioned last year, you actually can teach an old dog new tricks. The progress of specific players from how they played before lunch on this firsy day and how they played by the end of the week is truly due to great instruction.
My next at bat came with runners on 2nd and 3rd. My fly ball landed inches inside the left field line and stopped. That pushed in the third run that inning.
In the fourth, Russ Ryan began showing the power that would make him so critical to our success during the week. His double drove in two runs and he scored to give us another max inning.
Chandler Fox led off the 5th with a strikeout on which the ball skipped past the catcher, allowing him to reach first safely. He scored to tack on another run. My final at bat came when we were already up by a lot. As such, no need to take a pitch to let Shaun steal. I hit a solid line drive to shallow center that made the play at second close.
So, 3-5 on the day, with a double, 2 RBI and a run scored. I did overthrow first (Chandler Fox is tall, but not THAT tall!), but dutifully covered second to get the next out.
We’re 2-0 with wins of 5-4 and 13-2. I know at least one other team is 2-0, but I like our chances!
First pitch that I saw from JR, I smacked to left center. When I saw the left fielder turn his back to chase it, I knew I had my goal of getting an extra base hit.
It’s great to be playing baseball. We’ve got a very good team. We beat JRs guys 5-4 in the bottom of the 6th. I contributed on both offense and defense.
One inning in right with a good catch and a good backup on a throw to first. Then multiple innings at third with a few plays. So, reasonable defense.
Had a double, scored a run and drove another in. On that double, I had to stay on a line drive just out of the shortstop’s reach. Then on the next hitter, I went to steal after 4 pitches and Shaun Quill hit a grounder behind me. I headed right home in case they had a double play. They only got the lead runner.
We were using a default lineup – just having everyone hit in alphabetical order while our coach, Rick Knapp, figured everything out.
Rick’s a lifetime baseball man, having served as a pitching coach for the Tigers and coordinated minor league pitching for the Twins, Royals and Dodgers. His last job was as the coordinator/consultant for MLB International, which had him trotting the globe to develop pitching worldwide. There’s a great interview with Rick about that job on Krush Performance. The entire coaching staff for the week is made up guys like Rick. Major league experience in managing, coaching and playing, while still loving the game enough to spare a week for a bunch of Old Men Playing Baseball.
In the third, our alphabetical lineup produced again. Jonathan “JT” Taylor led off the inning with a double and was driven in by Ed Confino after a walk to Bill Arnold. Al Ferlo, who struggled in the batting cage, drove in a run by hitting the ball hard. It may have been scored an error, but that run was important. My own hard-hit ball drove in the third run on an error.
So, we got to the 4th all tied up. JT came in to pitch and kept them off the board for the final two innings. A couple of hard hit balls and some good base running allowed Shaun Quill to score with Craig Tasens picking up the game-winning RBI.
In the middle of North Carolina, we’re bound for Fort Meyers. I’m more ready for Spring Training than I was last year, so my attitude is excellent.
Through Melissa’s diligent efforts, we’re three weeks into Weight Watchers and I’m down 10 pounds. Last year, I was 215 at the start of camp. This year, I’m 207 (hoping to drop 2 more by Monday), so I may be a step faster. At the least, my legs won’t be carrying so much and I might not have lead in my legs on Thursday.
Chandler Fox and I have be at the cage three times in the last few weeks. It’s made a big difference again.
Since we’re going to have 10 or 11 on a team, I expect to have to pitch a few innings again. A big part of our sessions has been throwing in the pitching lane. I’m a lot better than last year. There is apparently some curve on my curveball and my fastball is far more accurate.
At the beginning of the month, I cold hardly make contact in the fast (85mph) cage. On Tuesday, I was hitting with authority. Line drives were exploding off my bat. Since no one down there throws 85, I’ll have plenty of time to adjust. I’d love some extra base hits.
After a season that I mostly missed due to two separate injuries, I’m getting myself ready for Ponce de Leon spring training. While the posted registration date is the 15th of December, Jr will likely be accepting more players for the next month or so, as long as it’s not a flood. If you haven’t signed up already, follow the link and sign up! New players pay only $995, while returning players pay $1,195. I noted some ‘fantasy camp’ comparisons last year, with prices four to five times as much, so this is a bargain. I personally don’t enjoy going to the gym without a goal in mind, so focusing my efforts year-round on playing baseball gets me out the door and exercising.
This year’s regular season was cut short in the second game when I managed to break my collarbone in two places. I was playing left field and there was a shallow hit ball, so I raced in to catch it. I slid down to get under it, but must have hit the ground shoulder first. It should go without saying that I caught the ball (mostly with my belly rather than my glove!) and tossed it to the cutoff man before standing up and noticing something wasn’t right. There was a slight protrusion in my left chest where no such entity existed on the right. Our shortstop, Dr Mark Tanenbaum, is a cardiologist, so I walked to him and he checked the same way I did, agreeeing, “That ain’t right.” (He may have been less colloquial.) Though unable to raise my arm, I walked off the field and drove myself to the hospital.
The initial prognosis from the x-ray was that there was one break and the separation was only about 3mm. When the separation is greater than 20mm, they do surgery, so I was not expected to need that. Two weeks later, Dr Cary Schwartzbach had a look at a new x-ray, which clearly showed a small piece from in between the two parts of my collarbone and that small piece was dangling below the separation of the two. So, surgery was scheduled. The surgery went off without a hitch and I can highly recommend him. (He did also stay at a Holiday Inn Express the night before… well, he joked that he had!)
The physical therapy went well and, if the insurance had been willing to pay, I’d have gladly kept going to work out twice a week indefinitely. However, I’d reached the recovery goals and any further gains would have to be at my own expense. So, I started hitting the batting cage. I managed to do that for a few weeks and got back onto the field for our fall scrimmages at Yorktown High School.
Then, a minor injury and stubbornness combined to take me off the field after two weeks again. I’ve had some minor issues with plantar fasciitis, and my heel was hurting while I ran. It made me change the way I was running, but I forced myself to run and to run in an approximation of ‘normal’ rather than favoring it. So, I went from an irritation to having a challenge walking off the field three hours later. The double that I legged out won’t get me into the Hall of Fame (not even a notional Ponce de Leon Hall), but it felt good for a little while. Unfortunately, that meant I lost a month on the field. I understand Ryan Zimmerman’s problem when he had it so much better!
The good news is that I’ve been back in the cage, seemingly none the worse for wear. I even had a business meeting at the batting cage. Some sales people take their clients golfing. David Franco, who’s our IBM contact and who’s playing baseball again due to my urgings, met me at the batting cage. We threw for a little while to warm up in the pitching lane at The Strike Zone. Then, I went back in the 85 mph lane to flail a little before I got my groove on. I’m hoping David’s on the field down in Florida for Ponce de Leon spring training and the good news is… no one there pitches 85 mph. We both did a few rounds in the 55 mph cage and, for this early, looked passable.
I need to do some running – getting to the point of 5k every day for a week – in order to be ready. I’d used a fitbit in some games a few years ago and one nine-inning game with me in the outfield and a few hits requires about 5 miles of running and walking. Last year, my legs were like lead by the end of the week. I’d like to avoid that this year. I think my hitting and my arm strength will be far better, but having the legs will be critical.
Remember, if you’re thinking about whether to sign up for spring training, DO IT! It’s the best investment in your health and best way to enjoy exercising. Softball was never exercise, but baseball most certainly is.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. If that’s what’s holding someone back from playing baseball, I think they’re a fool.
Back in the late 1970s, I was a reasonably good rec league baseball player at 12 years old. The next season, I was eligible to play in “F Major” rather than “F Minor” (the rec league). I chose not to try out for F Major because I preferred being a big fish in a small pond. So, I got to be among the very best players in F Minor, hitting over .500 and usually stealing both second and third when I got on. I hit just one double. Unfortunately, I now realize that not only did I have no idea what I was doing, none of my coaches did either. Don’t get me wrong, the dads who coached put a lot of effort into it. The wealth of knowledge instantly available today on hitting, pitching and all aspects of the game simply dwarfs what a guy could learn from a book borrowed from the library and read after a long day at work.
I’d likely have learned considerably more with the coaches in the higher league, and against better competition. So, sometimes I wish that I’d tried out and then done the same in high school. Instead, my 8th grade school on the school team didn’t know me and put me down at the end of the bench, ending my fledgling baseball career early.
Because of the lack of any real instruction, I’ve always been something of a blank canvas when it comes to hitting. In my softball career, I found Dusty Baker’s book You Can Teach Hitting and it took me from a pathetic hitter to reasonably good. It made such an impression on my teammates that I had to loan the book out and recommend it to others. When I started playing baseball again, I tried a few books, but they were too broad and only corrected a few flaws in my swing. Then, I figured out that if my wife could hire a personal trainer, I could hire a hitting coach. Baseball is, especially in contrast to softball, pretty good exercise. It’s even better if you do it a couple of days a week.
So, I hired Luke Skinner and Coach Luke revolutionized my hitting stroke.
The first day of games in spring training, I was a little nervous. Not like I was when I started Ponce, but I made sure my goals for the week were modest. I wanted to make sure I was better than a .250 hitter and contributed. I wanted to learn things. I’m like a sponge for coaches. I absorb it all. Sometimes, it sticks and I play really well as a result.
The day started out with my first venture into a ‘real’ locker room. I had my own locker, with my name on it, just like in the big leagues. Some guys could say, “Oh, I haven’t had one since college” or “Ours in high school were almost as nice”, but I had no experience with it. The smile on my face when I saw the locker, however humble, with my name on it, was huge. Sure, I paid my $1000 for it, but it felt as good as if I’d signed a minor league contract.
Changing into my uniform, I went out and stretched with the group. In my first season in Ponce, I was always surprised at the end of games when I’d shake hands with the other team and realize they were all older than me. Spring training was reassuring this way as well, allowing me to stretch out in the midst of men who averaged about 62 years old. When Steve Liddle gathered us ‘round to discuss the schedule and put us in the right frame of mind for a week of baseball, I was giddy. We ran as a group to the centerfield fence and drifted back into lines for group stretching. Jogging along in the group, you could scrape away 30 or 40 years and imagine it was the real thing.
One of many Joe Facenda hits
In our first game, I was perfect, slapping out 3 hits, though it was a losing effort. I added on a couple in the afternoon game to finish the day 5 for 6. Joe Facenda hit the ball just as hard, but right at people, so he carried a golden sombrero for the day, 0 for 6. Joe’s tenacious and completely agreed when we asserted that the hits would start falling the next day. Other than that first day, Joe was dependable, banging out hits and driving in runs. All it took was patience.
Line drive by Chandler Fox
As we got to the middle of the week, Chandler Fox noticed that both he and I were way ahead of the ball. He was having some challenges with a temptation for high pitches. The strike zone was pretty big all week, and he told me they were calling those as strikes on him. So, he struggled for a few days. Jeff worked with him in the cage and we talked about patience. Sure enough, by the end of the week, Chandler was waiting, waiting, waiting and the hits started dropping. If we’d had another week, he’d have been in a groove.
One of the really cool things we did in the cage during soft toss was that Jeff would hold two balls and toss them both at once. He’d call out “low” or “high” and you had to hit that ball. It’s a great drill that I felt really got me to focus on the ball. You’ve got the distraction of the second ball, so it forces you to mentally block that out and to keep your head down. In a season, there are probably a hundred such learning opportunities, but all we had was a week. I think it has made a difference for me anyway.
So, I met with Coach Luke at one of the local baseball fields, in the cage. We did some soft toss and he examined my swing and worked on it. By random chance, I set up a little wider and wasn’t stepping before I swung. Turns out this really worked well for me – he commented on how it steadied my stance and how much he liked it. I didn’t have the heart to tell him it was like too many other things about my swing – random and subject to change. Because he liked it, and then because it has really worked for me, it’s permanent.
One of the things he had me do to enhance my bat speed was to tuck my shoulder and hip back, making me twist more when I swung. That may not have been what he was really trying to get me to do, but turning my hip and shoulder has cranked my bat speed up 100%. I don’t remember if our playoff game for Ponce last summer was a few days after that session or a few weeks, but when we did a little soft toss in the batting cage before the game, I could see the difference. It wasn’t just that I was smashing the ball, but the way Bill Murray and some of the other guys reacted to my swing. It was disbelief. I may be an old dog, but I sure can learn new tricks.
Our 2017 season started this past Sunday and I hoped the lessons from last year and the habits from spring training stuck with me.
In my first at-bat, bases were loaded with two outs. He missed the strike zone with his first two pitches, so standing there at 2-0, I knew he had to groove one. It was a good pitch and I hit it hard down the third base line. Unfortunately, the third baseman was holding the runner on and perfectly positioned to scoop it up and end the inning.
In my next at bat, I was facing a “junk ball” left-handed pitcher. Nothing hard, but a mix of curveballs and change-ups. He’d mentioned earlier in the day that he threw 3 complete games in three days down at spring training. Nothing strenuous, except his move to first. Jerry let us know that he was always in or near the strike zone, so we shouldn’t give up on something that looked like it wouldn’t be a strike. I resolved to simply go up swinging. Last time I’d done that against a curveball pitcher, I looked ridiculous, swinging at three pitches I had no chance of hitting. But, sure enough, he was in the strike zone. The first pitch came inside and I fouled it toward my back foot. The second one was probably a curve that just didn’t curve. It ended up in the middle of the plate and I made solid contact, driving it toward the gap in left centerfield. The centerfielder got his glove up, stopping it from bouncing to the fence despite not catching it. It steamed around first and was prudently called back.
Now, I’d seen his move to first and it’s a good one. He did get called for a balk during the game, though there was much discussion about whether it should have been called. I was coaching third at the time as Casey led off first. I watched him wind up and swore that Casey absolutely picked the right time to move, since we all thought he was throwing home. He wasn’t and tossed to first. The umpire called it a balk, so Casey was awarded second.
Lefties are tough to steal on because they’re looking right at you and some of them very good moves. Since he doesn’t throw many fastballs, I took off on that first pitch, sliding safely into second. I scored on single two batters later.
Talking to one of the former Team M players on Wednesday night, I was talking about the lack of coaching I’d had as a kid. He told me that when he coached his son’s team, he was in about the same boat, but that he thought, “you can’t teach hitting, either you have it or you don’t”. I countering with the change in my swing and how Coach Luke made such a difference. When I’ve played on co-ed softball teams down on the Mall, I’ve always coached the less experienced players. I know it make a difference. It’s why my teams are always better at the end of the season than the beginning. Most people have no idea how to hit a ball and with just a couple of simple changes, you can turn them from spinning tops into actual hitters. Even skilled hitters can use help. More than one serious pull hitters has been able to change things up just by learning about closing their stance to punch the ball to the right side.
During the Wednesday afternoon game in spring training, when we were having a giant inning, I closed my stance so much that I almost had my back to the pitcher. He was tossing slow and soft, so with the closed stance and a delayed swing, I was able to punch the ball easily to right. It may just have been padding my batting average, but I did end the week with a 13 for 24 count, adding 3 walks to the card for a .542 batting average and an 1.134 OPS. (No extra base hits because my one potential extra base hit came with the final run on third base – the ball rolled to the fence in left field, but who knows whether I’d have made it past second?)
The final time I came to bat on Sunday, carrying a 1 for 3 day, I was hoping for pitches to hit. After flailing at a ball that was a good foot outside, I heard the umpire say, quietly, “That’s a strike.” I looked at him, and he said, “You swung at it.” Ah, yes, fool that I am, I did. I thought he was telling me it would have been a strike anyway, but he wasn’t. The second pitch bounced next to the inside corner of the plate, so I was able to maintain a modicum of plate discipline. Then, one right down the pipe brought out my loud grunt and a solid swing. It was a bold sound. The left fielder, unbeknownst to me, backed up. That one I’d hit into the gap made him cautious. Not seeing that, but knowing I’d hit it too high, I was dissatisfied. Nonetheless, the ball dropped in front of him (off his glove after he ran in) and I was safe. I bolted on the first pitch again, but didn’t draw a throw. When I later scored on a ground out, I almost got thrown at out the plate for not running all out. Safe by a couple of steps, but foolish on my part to make a play possible.
So, I started the season 2 for 4, with two stolen bases and a pair of runs. Spring training and the coaching of the last year seems to be paying off. Team M won handily after some early back-and-forth. The final score was 15-6.
Fred’s game report:
Nicely done last Sunday – especially once we woke up after the 6th inning… We scored 10 in the 7th and 8th (due to time constraints, we only played 8) – and held them scoreless after the 5th. With 2 down in the 7th and one on, they threw away an easy grounder to second – and we took advantage and batted around and put up 6. Nicely done.
Aside from the first inning when they matched the 3 we put up, our defense was pretty sound – including a SportsCenter highlight of Jerry snaring a hot grounder then firing to second (from his knees, I believe) and then on to first for a double play. Very nicely done. And, of course, overall defensively, kudos go to Tom for handling the plate duties well all 9 – much obliged!
At the plate, we hit a solid .350 with Andrew going 3:3 including a double, 3 runs and 2 BB; Jerry 2:3 , 3 runs and a HBP; Dave 2:4 and 2 runs; Tom 2:5 and 2 runs; Mark 1:2, a run and 2 BB; Casey 1:3, 2 runs and 2 BB; Ed 1:4; Bill 1:4 (a double), a run and a BB; and I was 1:4 and a run.
Hard line drives popped off 78-year-old Dave Wheeler’s bat every day
“You don’t steal bases at 78.”
Dave Wheeler didn’t wink at me then, but by the end of the week, he would. The first game with a new team is always a chance to get to know each other. I love coaching first base when I play because you get to talk to every batter. I talk to them while they’re batting, when they reach first (safely or not, as a post-mortem) and while they’re on base. I go through the whole litany of the situation: outs, runners ahead of them, what they should do on a line drive or popup, and (since baseball allows stealing) any tips on what the pitcher and catcher are doing to prevent a steal. I do this for everyone. It doesn’t matter if it’s the first time you’ve ever been on base or if you’ve been doing it longer than I’ve been alive. So, I kidded Dave Wheeler that he should steal on the first pitch. He didn’t know I was kidding. That would come.
I love baseball. It requires thought and action. Simple changes in how you do something can result in huge performance differences or no difference at all. It’s a slow game, except when it’s not. There’s complexity and simplicity. Importantly, as we now know, you can play when you’re old, just as you could when you were young.
When I played softball with the Humble Flies, one of my teammates, Pat Race, would always clap his hands and shout encouragement to the rest of the team. I joined in. I found, over the years, we seemed to play better as a team when Pat and I did this. If nothing else, I enjoyed it a lot more. Pat moved on, but I kept doing it. I don’t know how much of it came from encouraging my Boy Scouts over the years and how much was due to those games with Pat.
When I play softball with the company team down on the Mall, I am relentlessly positive, always pointing out when my teammates do something right, even if they might not see it in the results. A line drive caught by the shortstop from a player who usually grounds out to the pitcher is huge! Someone who makes a good stop, but not the throw, on a really difficult play deserves praise. As anyone who plays on that team, or who played on our MSU alumni team back in the day knows, I don’t just do this for my teammates. If someone on the other team excels, I let them know. I do it right away.
In Ponce de Leon league play, an umpire told everyone how much he liked me because, even when I struck out, I was happy. It was a darn good pitch and I let the pitcher know it right away. He smiled and I smiled as I shook my head walking back to the dugout.
Fred bangs out another hit!
Our Ponce de Leon manager, Fred Jaffke, said to me while we were down at spring training, “Dave, if I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a hundred times. Don’t tell them they did a good job DURING the game. Do it after.” I have a terrible memory. I tell them when it happens both because it just comes right out and because I’m not sure I’ll remember it after the game.
So, at the end of the week banquet, they give out Kangaroo Court fines. Typically, in baseball, you get fined by your teammates in the Kangaroo Court for not showing enough effort or making a boneheaded play. Any money collected in fines goes to charity. In our spring training, there are always more interesting things to assess fines for than just that. One guy was fined for calling for his “two-strike bat” during an at-bat. He’d gone up with one bat and, once he got a second strike, he called over to the bench to get his other bat. Another guy got fined for attempting to call “time out” while running the bases (more on that later!)
Jeff Smith and I
Each team’s manager announces a few Kangaroo Court infractions at the banquet. Our manager was current Minnesota Twins first base coach, Jeff Smith. Smitty was a catcher in the Twins system, with his route to the majors blocked by A.J. Pierzynski. He’s managed 11 seasons in the minors and is now in his first season in the majors, as a coach. We all just called him Jeff, and he’s the nicest, most positive guy on the field. Smiles and encouraging words abound, so we fit in well together. However, at the banquet, I got called out for a Kangaroo Court fine for… being too nice!
With the dawning of the new year, baseball season will soon be upon us. While major league pitchers and catchers don’t report for 30 days, the old men who play baseball will report in a mere 14 days. Yes, that’s right, spring training for Ponce de Leon is just two weeks away.
I’m very excited because it means I get to play baseball every day for a week, but I’d bet you’re thinking, “that’s got to be expensive!” After all, the Twins fantasy camp is $4,395 (7-14 January) and the Red Sox fantasy camp is $5,199 (15-22 January). Both of those are held in Fort Myers, but our spring training is a fraction of the cost. First-timers like me pay just $995, while it’s just another $150 for returning players – $1,145. Since I’m mainly interested in playing baseball, not necessarily spending time with former Red Sox or Twins players or attending team-planned social events, I think this is a better fit. There are number of things I’ve done to prepare for this….
An even better bat
In preparation, I contacted my friends at Phoenix Bats to get a couple of new bats for the trip. Just over a year ago, I had them take the standard F110 bat that I’d used in 2015 (and written about…) and create a slightly different design. As I noted when I wrote about that bat, I’d had some issues when taking extended batting practice. My hands have become seriously dry over the past few years (despite everything I try!) and this resulted in some blood blisters and painful pinching of my lower palm.
So, in the fall of 2015, I ordered a few ‘extra bats’ that they had on clearance, to try out different designs. One just flared down at the handle rather than having a knob. While the particular bat wasn’t quite what I wanted, I loved that handle. So, Phoenix Bats created a new design for me (PH2M 34) which has that flare rather than a knob. It’s also a half-inch longer and a half-ounce heavier than my F110 (34 instead of 33.5 inches, both with -2.5 drop weight). As much as the original F110 helped, my custom designed bat seemed to help even more. A few more hits and a little better distance.
At our spring training, Wednesday is “Wood Bat Day”, when everyone is going to use wood bats. Well, for me, every day will be wood bat day because I really do hit better with a wood bat. The folks at Phoenix Bats agree with me that wood bats are better.
Conditioning
In preparation for spring training, I was reminded that I need to do some running and throwing. Nothing would be worse than pulling a muscle or being in agony for the entire week by not preparing myself.
Fortunately, we got a new puppy this summer, and Hudson loves to run. Hudson is, like his predecessor, Henry, is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Henry was not much of a runner. As he got older, Henry would never run more than about 20 yards and I could run faster than he could. Hudson runs like a cheetah, his long body fully extending on every stride. Running a quarter mile at full speed doesn’t put him out of breath, though I can tell he’s being kind to me and not running quite full speed. Nonetheless, it’s been pretty good preparation. My endurance has gone way up and I’m hoping it’s helped with my top speed. This fall, my weight had ballooned to about 223 pounds and I was thrown out stealing by ten steps once. I’m back down to my playing weight of 212 pounds and hoping I can get under 210 before we get to Florida.
I do need to get out the ball to start throwing, though, and hope to get two trips to the batting cage (at The Strike Zone) before we head down. I’ve had some training sessions with a local coach, but not sure I’ll be able to coordinate any time with him.
Learning the schedule
Ponce de Leon has players reporting on Sunday, with an opening dinner to get our team assignments and learn the details of the week. I’ve both been told that it’s required (by the staff) and that some players just drop in for their team assignments. I’m all in for getting to know folks right away – and get a chance to know the coaches. From what I understand, the coaches have a variety of experiences playing and coaching at various levels of the professional system. Hopefully, I’ll have a chance to research and write about some of them in this process. Fred Jaffke tells me they have many interesting stories, usually passed on during the late afternoon post-game relaxation (out in left field with one of the coolers).
Monday morning, I’ll check in around 8am and have the first chance to sit at my very own locker! Terry Park was the spring training home at various times to the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, Kansas City Royals, and Minnesota Twins (though Twins minor leaguers only). The last major league use was by the Royals in 1987, with the one-year visit by Twins minor leaguers in 1990 being the last professional use. I was not even a high-school baseball player, so having a locker that was fit for a pro (even if it was almost 30 years ago) could be a real step up. I’ll surely post a photo.
Mornings will start with stretching, which is a must for old men. I got on that bandwagon early. I had a stretching routine even back when I was in middle school. With the number of daily aches and pains one has after they turn 40, everyone should approach it with enthusiasm. To keep my knees and ankles in order, I’ve been using braces for decades. There aren’t any specific problems with those joints, but I know my recovery time increases significantly if I don’t wear them.
We’re to get some fielding and batting practice with the coaches, so I think this ought to make a big difference in my abilities. Back when I was a kid, I had already been shunted to the end of the bench in the 8th grade. I don’t know if Mr. Paul, our coach, was good at instruction, but I don’t remember getting a lot of attention. I know that my other coaches before that were mostly just someone’s Dad. I don’t remember any of them knowing much about the game. So, I’ve bought a lot of books and watched a lot of videos over the years. I finally hired a hitting coach last year, and the difference in my bat speed was incredible. I expect getting some other perspectives can only help.
We’re playing two six-inning games a day, so there should be plenty of plate appearances and plenty of opportunities in the field.
When we finish around 4:30pm, I expect we’ll all be more than ready to pop open a few cold ones in the post-game bull session.
Am I ready?
At 51, I think I’ll still be on the younger side of the team, but it might just put me in the middle. Is my conditioning going to be enough? I sure hope so. The two new bats should arrive before we head south and I’ll pick up a few more backup uniform pieces, so that equipment shouldn’t be a problem. Having gotten over facing live pitching again a few years ago, I think I’m mentally ready. While Terry Park does have a grandstand, I don’t know if there will be anyone in the stands, so don’t expect any ‘pressure’ from playing in front of a crowd.
Any way I look at it, though, it’s exciting. 9 games on good fields, with real coaching, and all the trappings of being at spring training. Who wouldn’t love it?
Anyone who ever watched me play softball would have to wonder how I managed to get two home runs in my Humble Flies career. They’d know it wasn’t due to some hidden power that burst occasionally. I can’t remember either of them, but assume they must have involved right fielders falling down or breaking a leg as my ball skipped past them. I could occasionally hit the ball to the right-center gap or along the right field line in a such a way that I could make a double or triple out of good placement, but I never had any power,
As one of the youngest guys playing Ponce de Leon baseball, I really want to take advantage of my speed while I have it. My softball experience tells me that 20 years of playing will erode my speed in comparison to my peers. So, having occasionally hit the ball hard using my off-the-shelf Louisville Slugger, I thought I might try a different bat for better power.
Since that visit to Cooperstown didn’t finish with me carrying new lumber, I had to look elsewhere for a better bat. Phoenix Bats has a broad variety of bat designs to meet every preference. There are 20 distinct designs and you can make many customizations to those. I’ve been a contact hitter most of my life, but I always wanted to be a gap hitter. Wouldn’t you know it, Phoenix makes a bat for just those kind of hitters. The F110 is billed as the Contact-to-Gap hitter’s bat.
The F110 comes in a variety of lengths and typically has a -2.5 drop weight, which means 2.5 ounces less than the length in inches. My first bat was -3 drop weight, giving me a 31-ounce bat that was 34 inches long. Since my softball playing days were marked by punches to right field and my stance always had me deep in the box, I wanted to stick with a 34 inch bat. Of course, when I played softball, 34 inch bats could weight just about anything you wanted. I typically used a 28 ounce bat, to keep some bat speed while also having some pop. As noted above, my experience was that there was no pop at all. So, I kept the length, added weight and played last year with a 31-ounce, 34-inch bat. Feeling that my timing was suited to 31 ounces, I decided that I’d keep the weight and adjust the length. So, my F110 is 31 ounces and 33.5 inches. You can vary the length and the drop weight on your bat.
Another thing that distinguished the F110 from other bat is the handle diameter. Measuring 31/32nds of an inch, it’s more suited to bigger hands and more capable against the inside pitch. Hopefully, the durability cited holds true, since I’d like to use this bat for a long time. With that thicker handle, one expects it will be less prone to breakage. I like the feel of the thicker handle, but am wondering about the knob….
Of late, in reading about hitting, I probably understood for the first time that my grip was simply wrong. I never meant to, but somewhere along the way, I started gripping my bat with something akin to a death grip. That is, of course, the exact opposite of what you’re supposed to do. As Crash Davis tells Nuke Laloosh about the baseball when pitching, you should handle it like an egg. Tensing your arm and hand muscles to squeeze the bat is counter-productive. Holding the bat gently is key. Adam LaRoche is so good at this – and embraces the trend of ‘no-knob’ bats – that his bat can come right out of his hands on the follow through. My first time in the batting cage this year, I developed a blister on hand about a quarter of the way up the palm. I’m having some issues with excessive dryness and chapping on my left hand and little blood blisters formed right along the line of chapped skin. I had felt my skin ‘bunching’ with each batting practice swing and the heel pressed against the knob. It healed up after a few days, though. The F110 has a medium flared knob, while LaRoche’s bats have none.
So, I wonder about the knob.
The barrel of the F110 is 2.5 inches. My softball bats probably were never close to that broad. When you get into the power hitting bats from Phoenix Bats, you can select ones that are even broader, but 2.5 is a pretty good starting size. Those power hitter’s bats have to be even heavier than mine. Any increase is size, though it come with an attendant increase in weight, is also going to give you a bigger sweet spot. The bigger the sweet spot, the more forgiving your contact can be, and the more power you can impart with perfect contact.
They also offer your choice of three types of wood: Rock Maple, Yellow Birch and Northern White Ash. Maple is the strongest, with Ash having the most flexibility. Maple will give you the most pop and the best protection inside. Ash has a bigger sweet spot and is more forgiving off the end of the bat. Birch is somewhere in the middle, giving better action on mishits all over, but not as much pop anywhere. I chose Maple, since I was tortured inside last year and want some pop.
Now, you have to wondering, how did all this play out in the game?
In my first at-bat, the pitcher had been wild, with pitches sailing over heads and going wide. So, I stood like a stone wall and watched the first pitch. Best pitch he’d thrown in a long time. He threw the next over my head, then followed with one I thought missed the inside corner. So, with two strikes, I flailed wildly at strike three, a little high near the top of the strike zone. I could have been holding a broomstick for all the difference it made.
Of note, Andrew Cline has been showing his prowess with the glove. In the fall, he played in the outfield with me a lot. He is far faster than I am, so his Willie Mays act won accolades and made everyone look forward to the spring. Fred chose Andrew to start in center for the first two games. He’s been batting atop the lineup, but not seeing pitches he can hit. With our team, you can pretty much play any position after the first inning. People flow in and out, with no one sitting the bench two consecutive innings.
So, he took third one inning and a line drive destined for left field shot in between him and the line about knee height. He dove to snag it and threw the shocked runner from second out – while Andrew was nearly on his back. That would have been our ‘web gem’, except he took shortstop later in the game.
The bases were loaded and our lead had dwindled to two runs. The ball was popped into shallow left field. It was one of those perfect Texas Leaguers – moreso because in Ponce, there are nearly no quick fielders – but Andrew didn’t know he wasn’t supposed to have a play on the ball. Racing back, he caught the ball over his shoulder – more Willie Mays than he’d ever needed in the fall – recording the third out and saving two runs.
The rookie has more than proven his worth.
Last year, as I noted, I was nervous at bat for half the season. Chris Valtin, who helped me get onto the team, said to me, “It’s all in the mental approach. Get your head in the right place and everything else flows from there.” Since that advice was mirrored in The Louisville Slugger® Complete Book of Hitting Faults and Fixes : How to Detect and Correct the 50 Most Common Mistakes at the Plate, you know it’s true. I started going to the plate thinking I was going to get a hit. They started coming. In the fall, my confidence was far higher and the pitching was spot-on – faster, but more accurate. So, I regularly collected a pair of hits each week.
Nonetheless, I wanted a ‘professional’ bat. Is it better for me because of the facets laid out above about handle size, weight, length, sweet spot and knob? Or is it better because I think it’s better? Or does it make no difference at all?
Men were on first and second when I came up. Having been burned by watching when I love being an aggressive hitter, I went up to swing. When that pitch came off the sweet spot on my F110 (visible on the cherry finish I had them put on the barrel), I didn’t feel it in the slightest. When you hit the ball just right, it’s like… nothing. The ball sailed into the GAP between the left fielder and center fielder. I rounded first crisply, having seen the left fielder’s back and downstretched glove fail to stop the ball. I cruised into second, having hit my first ball to the warning track since about 1997 (once, in softball batting practice).
Was it the bat? Was it the mental approach? Was it the grip? Was it just one of those lucky things?
Could have been anything, but I’m going to keep using the bat, stick that approach and remind myself to use the grip, the stance, and everything. I’m just glad to help the team and, hopefully, everything will work out.
My totals for the day: 1 for 2, with a HBP and one RBI.
Final score: 11-9 victory, after a wide early lead
I managed to go 2 for 3, but drove on a couple of runs. My first hit didn’t go 14 feet, but it was in the right spot, driving in a run and not drawing a throw. I had a solid drive up the middle for my second hit. When we were tied after 6, we started a “shootout” inning. In the shootout, you come to the plate with 2 strikes. This particular umpire’s strike zone was gigantic, so I punched a grounder to first that drove in a run on a pitch high and outside.
Craig Tasens led off with a hit, and stole second easily. Jonathan Taylor singled to send Craig to third. When JT stole second they threw to second but Craig was caught flat-footed and didn’t advance. A passed ball while Shaun Quill was batting bright him on anyway. Shaun singled to plate JT. I was watching the first pitch to give Shaun a chance to steal, but it just kept coming further inside and hit me. I missed seeing Shaun break for third, so we didn’t double steal. I did go on the next pitch, though. When Shaun scored on Ed Confino’s single, we’d made our limit of three for the inning.
In the third, our alphabetical lineup produced again. Jonathan “JT” Taylor led off the inning with a double and was driven in by Ed Confino after a walk to Bill Arnold. Al Ferlo, who struggled in the batting cage, drove in a run by hitting the ball hard. It may have been scored an error, but that run was important. My own hard-hit ball drove in the third run on an error.
, you know it’s true. I started going to the plate thinking I was going to get a hit. They started coming. In the fall, my confidence was far higher and the pitching was spot-on – faster, but more accurate. So, I regularly collected a pair of hits each week.
Old Men Playing Baseball 