midday musings. just a couple of 'em.

Hi.

The lastest word on the street is that Chris Woodward will shortly be making way for Alex Gonzalez. Some sources are reporting that the Sox have acquired him, but espn.com still reads that they're "nearing" a deal for him. The dance of the shortstops positively confounds me. I know nothing of Alex Gonzalez, save for that he plays for the Reds and was with the Red Sox in 2006.. nor do I have the time to look him up right now, as I'm on a hastily-dwindling lunch break. I hope his defense is exponentially better than his offense (BA .210, OBP .258). But the word on Twitter is that people like this move, so that's sounding good to me right about now.

Zink is on the bump tonight. Can they come home yet? They've got another 4-game series away in Gwinnett. What's worse is that I have been in the mood for a Spinners game (i didnt really know that i had a Spinners mood until this past week..) but they too are on the road. I'm almost considering checking out the Brockton Rox... hahaha... they're probably gone too anyhow.


LETS GO LESTAH! Lets mess with TX.

Futures At Fenway

Yippie! We won last night. Winning feels good every now and again. But backing things up a bit to this past weekend..

Futures was spectacular.

(almost an incredible picture huh? oh well. next year :) )
I was telling a friend last night that minor league ball is something i like studying and analyzing, but Red Sox baseball is what i get intense about. (he was questioning whether i was becoming more of a minor league fan than major league fan.) The Sea Dogs brought in a win, and Jason Place learned what it's like to jack one onto the Monster.

(taken at New Stars For Young Stars event, January 2009)

He must've felt cool after that. Having come face to face with a lot of Sea Dogs players in the past, I think of them as a very young team with a sort of cocky 19-20 year-old air. I know they're most of them 23-25 but that's how they've come off in my very limited experience. Still, the Sea Dogs will always be my home team and I enjoy each of the rare chances to watch their games that I am afforded these days. Jason Place, for the record, was a friendly, easy-going, smiley guy the one time I met him.
My friend Joe's parents are hosting one of the Bowie players but I dont think I got to see him that day. Someday, my family will DEFINITELY host a minor league ballplayer.

Between games there was a nice little reunion as a wave of Paw Sox players crashed into the Sea Dogs, who were evacuating the dugout. Iggy Suarez got the "I Get Around" award, as he was by far the most frequent hugger in the melee. They all mingled for a good 15 minutes. I stole away from my dugout view seating and headed off towards the bullpen as soon as I spotted number 16 and number 15 trekking, heads down, toward the bullpen in right field. We had been speculating about who would be starting- in advance, Tazawa was scheduled to go, but after his call-up, Gonzalez had the start... neither Kelly nor I knew whether the rumor that Gonzalez had been called up last-minute was true, and therefore the chosen starter for the home team was a mystery until that moment where pitcher and catcher were seen walking side-by-side with purpose toward the outfield.

Charlie Zink! (ok, funny enough, but "#15 and #16 (Pedroia and Zink)" are featured in this pic... though when I used that phrase above, i was referring to #15 Dusty Brown who catches #16Zink's knuckleball)

(taken at Spring Training in Fort Myers 2009)


(taken with my phone, July Paw Sox game at McCoy)

I become more and more enamored with the knuckleball every time I see it in action. What a cool pitch. Why dont more pitchers become adequate at throwing it? ...would be a nice surprise to send to batters a few times each game, keep 'em on their toes. Have I mentioned that here before? .. if I have, sorry for the repeat. Clearly, the sentiment still holds. Cha'lie didnt have his best game.. there was a bit of implosion in the 4th and the 6th before he came out.. but I was satisfied. Paw Sox pitchers are tough to gauge because they lack the support of a team that is going to stand strong behind them. The guys certainly dont hit, and tend to look very minor league-ish in the field at times as well. (Let it be known that they just turned 4 double plays in yesterday's game, however- only one of them being on a ground out!) I hate to sound like I'm down on them- I dont mind paying to watch them play, that's obvious. There have been some really bright spots this season, but there have been large lingering clouds too. Anyhow. Paw Sox lost to the Tides, but not before Sean Danielson was put in the game! Spike went 1-1 with a walk and a run!

(taken at McCoy; one of Youk's rehab games, 5.18.09)


(taken at McCoy; one of Youk's rehab games, 5.18.09)

Sean Danielson has this energy about him. Man I wish they'd play that guy. As everyone knows, it's TOUGH to come off the bench and perform as up to par. The first step to him playing more is being taken off the "infinity DL", which happened a short time ago. With guys getting called up rapid-fire these days, I imagine he'll be active for the last month of the season. What a hand he was dealt this season, definitely a shame. He was a great 1st base coach, but he should have been so much more.


[Josh Beckett kicked the tar out of the Tigers tonight... we won 8-2, and Beckett got his 14th win of the season. Bay went 3-3 with 2 walks, 2 doubles, and another homerun (2 runs, 2 rbi). Lowell went deep as well.]
[simultaneously, Adam Mills did not fare so well in his Paw Sox debut: 2 IP, 57 pitches/41 for strikes, 9 hits,5 earned runs, 1 BB, ERA.......... 22.50]

(taken during Spring Training in Fort Myers, Feb 2009)

AH! Michael Bowden did his thing vs the Charlotte Knights, going 5 innings, 88 pitches (59 for strikes) with no runs and only 3 hits given up. Yes, 3 bb, and only 4 k (both numbers lean towards the sub-par for him as he is known as more of a command guy)... but it led the Paw Sox to a victory, and a shutout at that. I cant speak to much more than his line stats as I wasnt watching it play out.

(taken at Spring Training in Fort Myers 2009)

Relieving to have another solid outing from him and I hope he is comfortable and ready once he gets the call... if not in August then certainly in Sept. If he makes it in the bigs, I will be rooting for him like I root for Petey and Bay.
I actually havent been to a Red Sox game since directly before the All Star Break. Yeah, can you believe it? I think I'm saving up for some nice seats once September hits and things start getting crazy, and all the minor leaguers come to Boston. That's going to be spectacular. It's been hard though, especially this series... I've had a pressing urge every day this week to hit the game after work and have been prowling craigslist. In the end though, I've talked myself out of it each and every time. AGH! Completely torn.. would definitely have gone if not for Futures this past weekend, when I got to hang out at Fenway all day of course. Oh well. Good things are coming, and soon.

(Spring Training 2009)

A Great Weekend

well, tonight's game vs Detroit has been eventful so far. we're in the midst of a rain delay right now, but to offer a short recap- Junichi Tazawa made his major league debut as a starter and went 5 innings, 1 earned run. his line actually looks pretty good... 4 hits, 2 bb, 6 k.. he threw 35 pitches in the first inning (actually, this was due to not one but TWO botched double plays, one of which was a complete wreck and the other which was broken up by a runner sliding into... shortstop? it definitely wasnt even close to second base and it kept Petey off-balance). he definitely got better as the game went on, and hey, you cant expect super solid performance can you? it's a big transition for a pitcher from AAA to the majors. what a strange game though. they scored 3 runs in the first inning and left us all with pits in our stomachs, thinking of our anemic-as-of-late offense. tazawa was throwing strikes but wasnt overpowering the tigers. bottom of the first and we did nothing. 2nd inning... bay with the 3-run homerun to tie it up. Jason Bay is a fixture favorite, and by that I mean that I know I'll be rooting for him for the rest of my life. Same with Pedroia, although Petey came first. Red Sox uniform or no, Bay and Petey are such likable characters and they make the game exciting.
Before I move on... there was a detroit batter just barely hit on the hand (well, it was just an out of control pitch delivered by a big-league first-timer... come on) and then an inside pitch to victor martinez in retaliation... and then... Porcello DRILLS Youk in the back. And there was no question, Youk was out of the batters box just like that, charging the mound. Porcello looked a little terrified and i dont blame him for it. No damage done in the end but Youk made it to him (you should have seen him go) and they were both on the ground by the time everyone else got to them.
Mikey Lowell came off the bench and hit 2 homeruns.

It's getting late now. Friday was the Paw Sox, and what do you know... we won. Futures at Fenway happened all day Saturday... and now I wish that they'd have a minor league game at Fenway every week. My ticketed seat somehow ended up being the one directly behind Kelly O'Connor who is the photographer behind www.sittingstill.net and who I've known online for about half a year. She had some great camera tips (our cameras are similar.. our zoom capabilities are not!!) and it was refreshing to talk casually with another woman who really just knows baseball. I'll have to jot down some highlights tomorrow because I'm fading fast and there are two games to summarize. I'll try to throw some pictures on here too.

Night.

Stupid computers.

...I went to change the song on my coworker's ipod, and when i turned back to my screen my entire entry (maybe 3 or 4 large paragraphs) were no longer there. There was no "undo" option... so in my frustration, I'm going to get up and get outta here. Paw Sox tonight. Just want to say that Adam Mills (Sea Dogs) is the man, pitching 8 strong innings last night for the win. Nice job. Red Sox/Yankees could be a disaster this time around. Who will be up to stay sooner... Bowden or Tazawa? Tazawa's with the big club tonight.

End of the DAY!

[[edit: cool. i should have thought that blogspot would save this for me. this is the post that was assumed dead, re: the one above this one where I state that what i had typed somewhat magically disappeared when i turned away]]

OOh boy, so excited to get outta here and head south to McCoy. Get myself a Pedroia "replica jersey". Do some scoring. Sit out in the beautiful fading evening. Welcome to the weekend! Clearly, I am so stoked to be away from the office for a few days. Today several things went down that, as of yet, have not caused any serious explosions... but we were all bracing for it, and so being tense for 7.5 hours has been stressful enough without any real fall out occuring. We're also moving our office space across town. We're ALSO upgrading our computer system from prehistoric to early 2000's (huge improvement if you think about it). My boss is also moving (from her house to another, which she is customizing and having terrible luck with). There are about 3 other serious big crazy happenings right now without the events of today.

I'M LOVIN BILLY OCEAN.

Another Sea Dogs win last night... Adam Mills!! He's lookin as good as anyone is right about now. 8 strong innings. Not bad. Red Sox/Yankees game was a different story but I'm not

For Once, It's A Little TOO Bright Outside

Ughhh. Kids my age seem to have this desire to participate in activities that have physical backlashes. I'm no different but instead of having hangovers a couple times a week (or.. ever) I run myself ragged into the night driving across state borders. My head is killing me and my eyes are dry to the point where I have been sitting at my desk and closing one eye for a handful of seconds, then switching to the other eye, in a creative attempt to allow myself to still work while alleviating my dry, sore eyes.
I took yesterday off from work to head up to Maine. It's silly that a bobblehead giveaway would be such a long-anticipated event, but I'd be lying if I said that I hadnt been counting on going since.. man, must be since April, whenever they released the promotions schedule for the Portland Sea Dogs. In fact, to give you a wider scope of things, I had a pretty aggressive schedule planned out at the beginning of the season which was going to allow my Bobblehead Alley to increase exponentially in size. So far, with work and traffic after work, I've only managed to collect two of the bobbleheads I had set my eyes upon- a Petey from Lowell and a Bowden from Portland (last night). I've missed 2 Lowries and 2 Mastersons (and a few others which were never part of my plan to begin with). As it stands, Bobblehead Alley consists of a Bowden, a Youk, and 4 Peteys (a 5th still in its box tucked away; all of them are unique, no repeats!)
Anyway, having Wednesday off split my week up very nicely. My dad paid me to run around Cumberland, ME taking pictures of area businesses for a website. I got my bobblehead, and I got my Sea Dogs Biscuit. I even got a win from the guys, 9-0. Will see them again this Saturday at Futures At Fenway.

My birthday was spectacular. Not only did I have a great (short) day at work, but I won 4 passes to a special season ticket holders/players' guests only Patriots practice for tonight (Thursday, 7pm), spent time with some of my favorite people, viewed a close game (to ask for a win would be far too much with the Paw Sox), had my first beer-at-a-ballpark (terrible), and had my name put up on the scoreboard!! Yeah, that was a big surprise.. I didnt know it was coming and all of a sudden my friends (there were 8 of us) are yelling and pointing towards the scoreboard. I had half a cup of beer in me which enabled me to be more excited than the little kid who was having his own birthday party 3 rows in front of us. More than anything, it was just very thoughtful.

Tonight, Patriots. Tomorrow, Pawtucket for the Pedroia Replica Jersey promotion (yessss!)... then Saturday is Futures, right by the home team's on-deck circle, a few rows back from the field.

Time to work.

The Grave That I'm Digging Is For Me, Of Course..

Explaining how my friday/trade deadline day went would only serve to paint me in an over-dramatic light. (Most of the time if i'm acting over-dramatic it's for comedic value, but once in a while something gets me genuinely riled up.) I was exceedingly anxious, and that's where I'll leave it.

When you like pretty much everyone on your team, no trade is going to leave you feeling 100% without regret or emotion. Add to that an extreme awareness of and interest in the general scope of players in Lowell, Portland, and Pawtucket, and while everyone around Boston is feeling like we've gotten by unscathed with a trade, I've got definite pangs of sorrow. Victor Martinez is a great acquisition for the Red Sox, but Justin Masterson, well, you wont find a human being who has a better heart. All of my interactions with him have been on the superficial level because we're not pals. Still, he has a way of turning even the superficial into the personal- anyone can tell this just by watching his interviews and seeing how he interacts with the people questioning him. He and Meryl (his wife) are not only agreeable, cordial, joyful people, but great role models and great examples of Christianity in action. In an "exit interview" shortly after learning that he'd been traded, Justin was noticeably disappointed but in describing his outlook on the future he said that his ultimate goal is to impact people's lives positively, and that the move to Cleveland will present him with a new venue in which, a new crowd with which to do so. He's a cool cat.
Nick Hagadone... had heard great things, but it was too early to get overly attached. Thankfully, I can easily find solace there in the fact that so much happens developmentally between Single-A (where he had been) and the bigs that his projected greatness could still only be just that- a far off projection.
Bryan Price... same thing, but I hardly knew of him.
The fact is, we made out like bandits acquiring VMart for the guys we sent to Cleveland. Could have been so much worse. I'm really not complaining but giving due homage to Justin. He's blessed in the way that he'll be loved wherever he goes.

I got a small dose of Soul Fest this year... went up on Friday night and stayed through this morning. This year was the worst in every way, hands down. I wasnt there for the entire time (it started on Wednesday, ended Saturday night) but my experience (or sense, where i lacked actual first-hand experience), was that a lot of things had changed organizationally and musically for the worse. Oh well- ever since the demise of Five Iron Frenzy and the evacuation of Relient K, it has never been the same for me. Still, I attend so I can catch up with the singer/songwriters I only see once or twice annually. The Sanctus Real show was stellar, as were the few sets I caught that involved my friend Brant and my longtime (holy smokes, 8 or 9 years now!) acquaintance Justin. Beyond that, it was slim pickin's. Inside Out Soul Fest (before it was shortened to Soul Fest) was the single most influential, impactful, important event on my calendar year after year while I was in high school and college. I became who I am in large part thanks to IOSF, so I'm certainly not just trying to be critical. I've been going for 9 years and I've seen many versions of the event as things have changed a little bit, or in some cases a-lotta-bit. They're going to have to backtrack next year. Sometime when I'm in the writing mood and I've got time, I'll post about the IOSF of old. I wish I wasnt far from God right now. I think back to my "youth", and even just so far back as 6 months ago, and wonder why it is that we are so prone to walk away. How do we get far off the path we were on, and once we realize where we've strayed, how do we find it again? I dont converse with God regularly, but otherwise my behavior isnt/actions arent wild or dangerous or altered. I've never been interested in being wild. I dont find drinking/drugs/promiscuity freeing, and in fact it seems the opposite to me because, talk about chains, talk about being bound, those are all examples of easy ways to tie yourself up and into a serious mess. Jason Upton, a worship leader at the fest, said something to the effect of, Dont mistake man's approval for God's. It was very striking for me to hear that. I wear a ring on my left hand that used to remind me constantly that I am free from the expectations of those around me. It used to work very effectively as a symbol of the freedom that Jesus Christ has offered to me- the freedom to choose how I live my life (by the way, Christians are free to drink/swear/etc, it's just that a lot of us dont find excessive use of any of those things to be productive.. I enjoy me a good beer and I definitely let some of my strong thoughts fly when Michael Bowden is getting hit hard, for example :) ) with the condition that my choices lead me towards Him. (Hint- God is Love. if the main goal and commandment is to Love God with all your heart/soul/strength/mind, this to me means loving and pursuing what He's interested in, which is -in its most basic form- loving people. For God so loved the world... )
These days, I absolutely covet the approval, the alignment of my actions/plans with those of the people around me. That has led to so much confusion over what and who I should spend my time on, what I should become knowledgeable about, and let me tell you- I could have guessed it had I seen it coming, but the people around me (coworkers, friends outside the church) unspokenly agree that the things God cares about are not the things I need to be concerned with. I have not conformed entirely to life without God (what is life without God? what does that even mean? God is or He isnt, and He certainly is, of that I am sure forever, no matter what turns my life takes). Still, the things I was passionate about- involvement at the Vineyard, involvement with Not For Sale or Love146, a desire to see the end of homelessness in my city... eh. That's a memory. What I know for sure is that I need to get back to that place because THAT is who i am, and that is who i want to be. I know too many people who are content (and even more than that- who dont fathom any different life) to live solely for themselves. That idea has never once been an option in my mind, no matter how selfishly I have lived for the past 3 or so months- I cant imagine the world without compassion and unprecedented, undeserved love. At the crux of Christianity is the Truth that God has created and therefore knows the heart of each person (regardless of whether you know Him too), and that He passionately desires each heart to receive the uncalled-for, empowering, father-like, bold, unstoppable, and fearless Love that He's offering. A beautiful aspect of that Love is that it drives us to love others. What does all of that mean? you might wonder. God is offering us love? What about money, success, etc? ...those things might seem more useful when you lack them (or rather when you feel like you lack them- it's all relative, remember... any of us in the USA are wealthy beyond imagining by the standards of those in third-world countries). I would argue that those things dont make or break how fulfilled you are (happiness is usually the word to use here, but happiness is fleeting, volatile, and really irrelevant- if you have all of the nice clothes you desire but there are 10's or 100's of slaves who have manufactured/sewed/whatever'd your clothes, good job. you're happy. and you're also adding to the human bondage/trafficking market). I cant even say that I dont shop at certain places that are known to exploit workers... for all that I care about the issue, I am not close to being free from feeding the fire, so to speak. Dont let anyone tell you that churches are hypocrite-free. We're all hypocrites, and in particular, any Christian who thinks that going to church and even following as best they can the teachings of Jesus sets them above/apart from others has another thing coming. This kind of elitism is one of the stereotypical tendencies among pockets of Christianity that makes me smack my forehead. The Bible makes it painfully clear that we're not perfect no matter if we call ourselves Christians or not, so I'm not sure where the idea that church is for people who have it all together came from.

Human interaction, creating and nurturing relationships, now that's what's going to bring Heaven to Earth. At 1am, this all looks far too simplified. It's tough to write about faith because there are so many questions surrounding it and so many tangents to run off on. Also... I'm simply not the best "explainer" and I certainly dont profess to have all of the answers. I simply have my own experience, along with the experiences of those with whom I'm close and the need I see in the world for the gifts of fantastic Love and Mercy that we've been offered, to work off of.

Hmm. I feel like so many people out there are ready to verbally pound anyone who simply talks about this stuff and I'm a little weary of feeling uncomfortable/even on eggshells talking about this major part of who I am. I'm not good at talking about it, that's the thing- so I'd welcome open dialogue with anyone who wants to talk about faith, religion (something i often find myself steering clear of- but has it been meaningful to you?), spirituality... the only rule is that there's no maliciousness involved in the conversation. Honesty/personal good or bad experiences, on the other hand, will not only be accepted but encouraged, and will be handled without any offense taken.

Well, what can I say? I officially turn 24 at 1:07am or thereabouts, i believe. August 3rd. It's a great day for a birthday :) PawSox tonight (it's officially the 3rd even though it's not yet day) with some good friends... no work for me on Wednesday as I hike up I-95 for Bowden Bobblehead night at the SeaDogs... Futures at Fenway on Saturday... and a few things in between all of that! Good night.