Milb Spring Training begins

He did not get into the game today but he had some stories to tell. He got invited to lunch and he said a big league spread is nothing like the peanut butter and jelley sandwiches they eat in the minors. He sat with Ben Zobrist and Johnny Damon for lunch and said both players couldn't have been nicer to him. He said "You know what Dad? - they are just like me!" When he was out on the field, he got a Tampa photographer to take a picture of him and Manny high fiving. Imagine the thrill of being on the same filed as your boyhood hero! Here we have a young man living out every little boy's dream...

Awesome stuff CD! I love the smile on Tylers face. Thanks for sharing this with us.

Ahhhhh, yummy, ML spread!

I take back anything I ever said about Manny that wasn't positive, he's a good guy.

Yup, our kids are just like them, only a bit younger.

Congratulations Tyler, and Dan.




Awesome stuff.Its such a grind, and such an emotional rollercoaster.

I think this is a happy thread, so why am I crying? Just kind of melted when I saw the smile on Tyler's face in these photos. Fantastic!

You keep doing what you do, Tyler. Some day another young man is going to be thrilled to have his photo taken with you.

Julie

quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad:
He did not get into the game today but he had some stories to tell. He sat with Ben Zobrist and Johnny Damon for lunch and said both players couldn't have been nicer to him. He said "You know what Dad? - they are just like me!"

Congrats! Awesome stuff!
I just noticed this...

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From all I know players in the minors have a hard time getting a clear pitcure from an organization exactly where they stand in an organizations plans/thinking...Beyond the bells and whistles, the momentary thrill...This vote of confidence from the orgnaization is priceless...In this case the message is clear: the future's so bright you gotta wear shades...

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quote:

Originally posted by MN-Mom:
I think this is a happy thread, so why am I crying? Just kind of melted when I saw the smile on Tyler's face in these photos. Fantastic!

You keep doing what you do, Tyler. Some day another young man is going to be thrilled to have his photo taken with you.

Julie

Those are awfully nice things to say Julie as well as everyone elses comments.

We'll be in Florida this evening. I posted the schedule earlier in this thread.

Thanks again everyone for their kind wishes

CD,
Livin' the dream, awesome pics...Congrats!

We are all routing for him! Great Smile!

One of the best things about this site is rereading your own posts and reliving moments that happened in your son's baseball journey. Some day you're be able to look back on this time, CD, and remember all of the fun, too. It will always be there, no matter what the future holds, and will always bring a smile to your face. Enjoy!

quote:

Originally posted by TxMom:
One of the best things about this site is rereading your own posts and reliving moments that happened in your son's baseball journey. Some day you're be able to look back on this time, CD, and remember all of the fun, too. It will always be there, no matter what the future holds, and will always bring a smile to your face. Enjoy!

Thanks so much and again thanks to everyone.

We are here resting comfortably in Cocoa Florida at my folks home. We are headed up to Ft. Meyers in the morning for a game against the Twins milb team at 1:00PM. A four hour trip for us in the morning. We'll be staying up at a motel near Pt. Charlotte for the next several days so we are closer to the action.

My son got to hit off of two big leaguers today. He walked off of Jonathon Paplebon and stole second and third off of him. The next pitcher was Daniel Bard and he hit an opposite field double off a curve ball and drove in a run. Apparently, Bard was hitting very high 90's if not 100 mph on the radar gun.

CD,

I agree with everyone above...nice photos, and great smile on your son's face. You can tell he's having an awesome time. Have a blast watching him this week!

quote:

The next pitcher was Daniel Bard and he hit an opposite field double off a curve ball and drove in a run.

Believe me, that gets noticed................

It is great to hear about the progress all are making. While not against Big League guys, son had his second outing against real pitching in MILB camp. 2 innings, no hits, no walks, 3K's, 24 pitches. Unfortunatelly I am on the opposite coast so can't watch

quote:

Originally posted by kjktj:
It is great to hear about the progress all are making. While not against Big League guys, son had his second outing against real pitching in MILB camp. 2 innings, no hits, no walks, 3K's, 24 pitches. Unfortunatelly I am on the opposite coast so can't watch

Good to hear son is doing well. He's in Marlins camp right? Going to be on the back fields for cardinal milb camp this weekend in Jupiter. If you give me some details I will see if I can find him, send you a pic!

quote:

Originally posted by kjktj:
It is great to hear about the progress all are making. While not against Big League guys, son had his second outing against real pitching in MILB camp. 2 innings, no hits, no walks, 3K's, 24 pitches. Unfortunatelly I am on the opposite coast so can't watch

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quote:

Originally posted by ClevelandDad: My son got to hit off of two big leaguers today. He walked off of Jonathon Paplebon and stole second and third off of him. The next pitcher was Daniel Bard and he hit an opposite field double off a curve ball and drove in a run. Apparently, Bard was hitting very high 90's if not 100 mph on the radar gun.

On an unstoppable roll!

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All I can say again is WOW! Sounds like you guys are having fun!

Great stuff!! Wow!

CD,

Wow! Bryce who? Just kidding but he is not only making memories of a lifetime this spring but getting noticed no doubt also!

Thanks everyone again for the continued good thoughts and wishes. It takes a village of good wishes indeed and we'll take as many as we can get

The weather down here has been spectacular. I can see however why my son does not have much gas in the tank after his day ends in the afternoon. A full day out in that sunshine and it would take it out of you as we were tired after merely sitting in it.

It is a true baseball factory down here with fields and games and bullpens all over the place. A little dangerous as there as foul balls flying all over and from all different angles

We'll be in Sarasota today for a game with the Orioles at 1:00PM.

quote:

We'll be in Sarasota today for a game with the Orioles at 1:00PM.

Wish I had a nickel for every Spring Training game I've watched in that neck of the woods since my boyhood days. But, I haven't had the excitement (yet, I hope) to watch my own son. Congrats CD, how very neat and all the best to your son and his dream!

Sounds like a great get away CD! Nothing beats watching our kids play ball, although I cannot begin to imagine the excitement at the level you are now enjoying the game at.

Today has been another postcard day in Florida, great for baseball. Sure hope you throughly enjoyed todays game.

Wish I could have made it to one of the games and met you and your family. Perhaps next time!

quote:

We'll be in Sarasota today for a game with the Orioles at 1:00PM.

If you miss the Sarasota exit and find yourself in Bradenton, stop by Pirate City and say hello to my young'in will you.

Hope you're having a great trip!

How is your guy doing down there Jerseydad?

yes jersey dad,what position does your young one play?

mine has gone across the street a couple of times and david robertson came down and threw to him the other day.he is playing with the trenton thunder right now but you never know,"got no control over that."there's alot of intense competition for the catcher's spot in the yankee's organization and i think everyone is pressing to prove themselves.i know he's having a goodtime with his roommates.

Thanks for asking floridafan, Jerseyson is having a good Spring Training camp so far. Rabe62, my guy is a RH starting pitcher and he was in Low-A ball last year. He’s not sure where he will be this year and I assume he won’t know until the last week of ST. As mentioned in an earlier post they usually have the players working out with a team a level up from where they are going to play, if this holds true I would suspect he will be in Hi-A but who knows?

JS pitched in the AA game yesterday and called last night to tell me that he had a good day. He must have really felt good about things because he never calls… (texting rules as his preferred mode of communication). As happy as I am that he is pitching well, I was even happier to hear that his body feels good and he seems ready to start the season (fingers crossed). JS missed a significant part of last season due to a nagging injury so it was good to hear that he was feeling good. I have come to believe that the biggest hurdle the milb guys face in their quest to make it to the show is not so much the lack of talent to be successful; it’s their ability to stay healthy.

Professional ball has really opened my eyes to the reality that baseball is a business first… game second. I have been a lifelong baseball fan however before having someone in the “biz” I pretty much thought of Spring Training as a place that the MLB guys went to get game ready, a few prospects got a chance to prove they were ready to move up to the big club and most of all, it signified that the baseball season was just around the corner.

Now I can see that for many players, Spring Training is a 2 month long tryout, showcase and job interview all wrapped into one. As intense as that may sound, it goes on pretty much 24/7. The bottom line is that these guys are all fighting for a roster spot…period. No matter where you are in the food chain, you are still trying to get to the next level and that usually means jumping over some of your buddies to get there. These guys literally eat, sleep and live together, not to mention they work together so it is an interesting dynamic to see some of my son’s best friends competing for the same roster spots. While I am sure there is some jealousy, I have yet to hear Jerseyson mention someone getting a promotion without him being genuinely happy for them (my daughter calls them friendemies).

Professional baseball seems to be a strange, yet wonderful career to pursue. As hard and uncertain that their jobs may be, I bet very few ever regret taking a chance to grab the brass ring.

Here’s to a safe, healthy and productive season for all our boys.

Great post jerseydad and a very good and accurate summary!

Nice post!, jerseydad

very accurate description of baseball factory business jerseydad.our boy is taking his tools of ignorance across the street again tomorrow,maybe he'll play but maybe he won't.one thing for sure is he will have a blast,couple a days ago when he went across, david wells sat in the bullpen with them and chatted it up for the whole game.so whatever happens i know he's having his dreams come true every day out there in florida.by my way of thinking, this whole baseball business may get ugly sometimes,but the life experience is priceles.

i second those sentiments jerseydad safe healthy productivity for all of ours.

quote:

Originally posted by jerseydad:
Here’s to a safe, healthy and productive season for all our boys.

Ditto... And, nice post jerseydad

Great post jerseydad...

My son finally got into his first big league spring training game today against the Pirates in Bradenton. Got in in the 6th inning to play shortstop. Got one at bat and stuck out unfortunately but any big league opportunity is a good one

He's had some personal dealings with the big league club these past few days and they were to say the least - eventful...

I am a little out of gas but I'll try and type it as accurately as possible... hope all you baseball junkies enjoy and pass along this advice... don't be like him

When we got to the minor league game yesterday in Sarasota against the Orioles my son frantically waved me over to the dugout where he pointed to the back of his jersey. Rather than his customary name on the back - it said "Whammy" and it was #99. He said he would explain after the game but I was perplexed to say the very least

Flash back to the evening before, before finishing the story... You know how I have been posting the pictures of Manny and other spring training tidbits here and there at the hsbaseball web? I've gotten most of that stuff from my son's facebook page. Well... apparently someone from the big league club got wind of it and they decided to teach him a lesson. It started with the locker room being plastered with all of his facebook postings like his pictures of Manny and his comments about playing with big leaguers. Said there must have been 50 of his postings all over the locker room. He tore all that stuff down but the best was yet to come...

Yesterday... he was called up to practice with the big league club. They put him in a chair in the middle of the field and he said it felt like the whole team circled the chair. They shined his shoes, wiped his brow, and made him put on his special shirt named "Whammy" About this time, my son was pretty sure the message was that big leaguers don't post about their experiences with other big leaguers. He said it was all in fun however. They forced him to wear the Whammy shirt at his minor league game yesterday when we saw him for our final time of the spring.

After the little chair ceremony, he took infield and batting practice with the big leaguers. Manny approached him and asked him what size shoes he wore and he told him 11 and 1/2. When he got back to his locker, he had a brand new pair of Nike spikes waiting for him from Manny Ramirez. Seems like the two have bonded Hopefully, no one from the Rays will see my posting here at a "high school" baseball site

As he was about to leave practice yesterday, the Director of Minor League Operations Mitch Lukevics told him that the team had personally requested his presence at today's game. They of course made him wear the Whammy shirt when he made his first appearance on the big league field. My parents were listening to the Tampa broadacast on radio as we were flying home and the announcer told the whole story of Whammy as I have told it here and they died laughing. When my son was introduced by the PA announcer, he was introduced as Whammy. I guess all the fans were chanting Whammy, Whammy...

Lesson learned... memories that will indeed last a lifetime...

I read that to my son and wife. We all loved that story. lol.

What memories that will last a life time.

Great story CD...thanks for sharing!

Here is some local media coverage of the story I told above... it looks as though my son may have turned the proverbial "negative" into a "positive"

http://www2.tbo.com/content/20...-minors/sports-rays/

quote:

By ROGER MOONEY | The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 26, 2011

Updated: 03/26/2011 06:44 pm

PORT CHARLOTTE ....

Honored guest

Minor-league INF Tyler Bortnick was the center of attention during the morning stretch. Bortnick sat in a chair in the middle of the group as coach Tom Foley read Bortnick's recent posting on his Facebook page where he bragged about getting a hit off Boston RHP Jonathon Papelbon last week during a minor-league game.

DH Manny Ramirez asked him to autograph a baseball on the sweet spot and Olmedo brought him a bottle of water and shined his spikes.

"It demonstrates the power of the social media," Maddon said. "He utilizes his notoriety on Facebook to get invited to big-league camp. I actually admire his tenacity."

Bortnick impressed the Rays by taking it with good humor. As a result, he remained with the team for the rest of the day, wearing a jersey with the name "Whamyyy" on the back.

"He did handle it well, that's why he's still here," Maddon said before the game. "Had he not handled that moment so well, we would have just sent him back to the other side."

Maddon is curious to see Bortnick's next Facebook page post.

"The ball's back in his court," Maddon said. "We'll see how he works the social component afterward."

http://www.tampabay.com/sports...day-prank-of/1160025

quote:

By Marc Topkin, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Sunday, March 27, 2011

Prank of the day

After minor-league INF Tyler Bortnick got a little too cocky in his Facebook comments about getting a hit off Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon in a minor-league game, he got hazed by the big-leaguers. The Rays summoned him to the outfield for the morning stretch, put him in a jersey with his screen nickname WHAMMYYY on the back and had Manny Ramirez ask him to sign a ball and Ray Olmedo shine his shoes and bring him water. "It was all in good fun," manager Joe Maddon said. "And he did a great job with how he reacted to the whole thing." Bortnick handled it so well, Maddon invited him to stay with the Rays for the game.

CD, that story is way funny...OMG, he must have died at first with the lockerroom...good for him thou, what a memorable day!

I guess it goes to show you " You never know who is watching, or reading your facebook"LOL

The unspoken rule for call ups is the unspoken rule... don't speak unless spoken to

Glad your son handled the razzing like a champ