March 25 2007

Our first outdoor practice! It was the Indians' best turnout for a practice in a decade, give or take 10 years. Just two guys weren't there. If this keeps up all season, the players who make the long drives to practices will actually be rewarded. It is just the first outdoor practice so we may well be getting ahead of ourselves, but still, we have hope, and hope is good, unless you're hoping you stub your toe, then not so much..

We had infielders taking grounders and outfielders taking flies and occasional grounders and it was grand. It was sunny, but due to the recent rain the field was very soggy. We stayed off the Whalley Field to avoid longterm damage, and trekked to a nearby available area. Brad was late, he "stepped into a marsh puddle and it took 20 minutes to get out of it".

After roughly 40 minutes of flies and grounders we made our way to the cages and took some hacks. There is much enthusiasm watching the newbies in the cage, as they appear able to make contact - quality contact - with great frequency. Our new additions are sure to help us get our playoff legs up and over that final hurdle.

Talk of our first game, versus the Delta Tigers, had some players displaying some trepidation. You see, there are rumors afoot that the Tigers have been practicing indoors three times a week for a couple of months now. But, the game on April 15th is not going to be played in a gymnasium. It's not being played in a gym is it? No, we didn't think so. So with our outdoor practice today, and upcoming outdoor practices on Wednesday the 28th and Saturday the 31st, we feel we have the edge. Some of us feel that way anyway...

March 21 2007

Spring has officially sprung and Spring Training is proceeding at a slow pace. A few batting cage sessions here and there, with the annual start-of-Spring-Training proclamation given by Enrique that he won't be pitching this season. Alright Enrique, so you're good to go in the first game? Or the second game?

We've able to swing the bat at pitched balls a few times, but the weather has been uncooperative when it comes to field time. As of now we have yet to need to don our cleats - which is probably the most poetic sentence we have ever written. But that could change this Sunday! The don our cleats part; it's highly unlikely we'll ever write a more poetic sentence. The weather channel predicts mostly sunshine for this Sunday, which would be very nice for our scheduled not-so-long-ass 10am-11:59am practice. For everyone who has been eagerly awaiting our return after the off-season, a special treat: this practice is an open practice, free to anyone and everyone who wishes to view this practice! (note: tickets required, with a service fee of $2.50, a little something we learned from les 'nucks.)

There are a few changes this season, including a new rule governing the placement of a batters' feet during an at-bat: at least one foot must stay in the box at all times. Getting the signs from the third-base coach? Keep one foot in. Failure to follow this rule will result in a strike. For it's one, two, three times-both-feet-out-of-the-box you're out, at the ollllld balllllll gaaaaame!

Spring Training 2007

As soon as we realized that a whole new baseball season lay just ahead, we thought about our ultimate goal, which is going one step further than last season and winning the championship. And then one thing entered our minds and wouldn't leave:

Ain't nothing gonna break my stride
Nobody's gonna slow me down

Imagine, if you will, the entire Indians roster dancing around the clubhouse in our skivvies, chanting the above line (now adopted as a mantra) while beating our chests in a rhythmic beat, and you will have some idea of what is definitely not happening.

Instead we're meeting at night in the bloody cold and trying not to lose appendages to frostbite while hitting BP in a batting cage that isn't fully lit. Afterwards, we decide to postpone future practices until there is no longer snow on the ground. The postponement ends Sunday at 7:30pm.

It should be noted that while our first, and so far only, team BP session was on February 26th, we had actually wanted to start earlier. But we were unable to do so due to squatting hookers that had been living in the cages during the off-season. Whalley had to clean all of the garbage and syringes out of the cages and have them inspected before we could use them. There's a Bonds joke in there somewhere.

Our first game is Sunday April 15th. Mark your calendars.