I'll be pitching today
1:05pm game time. If you're in the Fort Myers (Florida) area, stop by and give your name at the will call gate and tell them my name and LJ, I'll have some tickets there. If you want to hang around after the game I'll find you and we can get together for a bit if you'd like.
You can also see or hear the game via http://www.mlb.com -- they have mlb.tv now which is really cool, and also audio/radio.
St. Patrick's Day is a big day for Boston (lots of people of Irish descent there, you know) and the Sox usually wear green caps on this day. Today, we are wearing Green Jerseys. I think we should wear green socks, too. We're playing the Indians, and I hope to get in at least 3 or 4 innings of good work. Of course I throw and workout in the off season, but it's not the same as a game situation.
I bet (oops, I better not use that word!) guess that a lot of you feel about your jobs like I do about mine: even after all these years, I'm amazed and grateful that I get paid (and paid well) to do something I absolutely love. Sure, it's a lot of hard work, but at the same time it's play, because it's work that I love. I love the physical act of pitching, and the other workouts needed to keep my body in top form, but I also love all the charting and scouting, trying to get in a batter's head, show him a pitch he's not expecting, give him one right on the corner, blow one right down the pipe past him. I will miss the greater amount of strategy required in the National League (where pitchers also have to bat), but I won't miss batting much (my career batting average is .097; I wish I could have gotten it above .100 before leaving the NL, but no biggie), and I'll enjoy the challenge of having another good hitter (the designated hitter, who bats instead of the pitcher in the American League, for those of you who aren't baseball fans yet ;) to pitch to.
You want to know about my personal life? Let's get to that on a day I'm not pitching, shall we?
You can also see or hear the game via http://www.mlb.com -- they have mlb.tv now which is really cool, and also audio/radio.
St. Patrick's Day is a big day for Boston (lots of people of Irish descent there, you know) and the Sox usually wear green caps on this day. Today, we are wearing Green Jerseys. I think we should wear green socks, too. We're playing the Indians, and I hope to get in at least 3 or 4 innings of good work. Of course I throw and workout in the off season, but it's not the same as a game situation.
I bet (oops, I better not use that word!) guess that a lot of you feel about your jobs like I do about mine: even after all these years, I'm amazed and grateful that I get paid (and paid well) to do something I absolutely love. Sure, it's a lot of hard work, but at the same time it's play, because it's work that I love. I love the physical act of pitching, and the other workouts needed to keep my body in top form, but I also love all the charting and scouting, trying to get in a batter's head, show him a pitch he's not expecting, give him one right on the corner, blow one right down the pipe past him. I will miss the greater amount of strategy required in the National League (where pitchers also have to bat), but I won't miss batting much (my career batting average is .097; I wish I could have gotten it above .100 before leaving the NL, but no biggie), and I'll enjoy the challenge of having another good hitter (the designated hitter, who bats instead of the pitcher in the American League, for those of you who aren't baseball fans yet ;) to pitch to.
You want to know about my personal life? Let's get to that on a day I'm not pitching, shall we?