Skip to main content

I didn't realize it at the time of it happening, but looking back on the stats/rosters I just realized that I faced florida fan's son in a summer league game tonight. I was pitching and he was hitting (playing shortstop for his team).

Just figured I would give a little shout to florida fan and give some more praise to this great website. It's wonderful to be able to have some sort of connection with so many people around the baseball world (I'm from New York, he's from Florida, we're playing in North Carolina), and a lot of the time this connection is made through High School Baseball Web.
Original Post

Replies sorted oldest to newest

Hey JH, That is a amazing. What a great web site this is! I heard you had a VERY GOOD game! Listened on the web pass last evening and unfortunately for us (Swampdogs) did not hear of too many hits being given up by you guys!

The Marlins are off to a strong start going 3-0.

We will be heading up to watch some games in the next week or so. Keep up the good work!

It is a fun time, I heard you had quite a crowd for your home stand inaugural opener, and the announcer for your team, the one that worked the web pass play by play, did an amazing job. We felt like we were there!

By the way I am originally from New York and have family living in Franklin, just next door to Oneonta.
Last edited by floridafan
floridafan- It was definitely a good game. The crowd was very into it and the place was packed, so it was loud. Being that I play at a small school that was easily the most people I've ever played in front of and it was a lot of fun.

We have been pitching very well as a team and the results in the first 3 games have been good. Hopefully as the bats come around we can continue to throw well and win some ball games (also hoping that they aren't as close as the first 3...I don't know if we can manage to play 56 consecutive close games LOL).

Your son sat back on an 0-2 curveball and stroked it pretty nicely into right field during that 7th inning. Luckily for me and unfortunately for him my right fielder tracked it down and made the play, but my heart stopped for a second upon the initial contact.

Let me know if you are ever coming up when we play the Swampdogs again. I know they are in our division so we will play them quite a bit and it would be cool to speak to you in person.

I live in the NYC metro area so going to school in Oneonta has been somewhat of a different experience for me culturally (as is living for the summer in North Carolina). But the Catskills of upstate NY are beautiful and I really enjoy where I go to school. Hate to admit I've never been to Franklin, but it is very close and I'm sure just as nice as Oneonta is.
Last edited by J H
coach-

Yes, it is the same league as the Wilmington Sharks. We played them at their place on Thursday night. Let me know if/when you are ever coming to a game (home or away). I can leave your name at the gate to have a ticket waiting for you and we can definitely meet up afterwards.


TRHit- It is very cool to be able to start see all the years of hard work starting to come together. To have several thousand fans at every game is a great feeling. We have been stopped walking through downtown Morehead City and been recognized throughout town by many of the local people. Although I must admit that signing your autograph on a baseball is not easy, it is a great feeling to be able to have people look up to you for something so simple as baseball, a sport that has been so gratifying to me and that has now begun to give me the opportunity to share the passion and the successes with others.
Last edited by J H
JH as you know my son is playing with the Outer Banks Daredevils but is still in Chapel Hill practicing. My wife is headed down to Morehead City in the morning and she will be at your game tomorrow night. She is going to give you a shout out. I am looking forward to meeting you this summer and watching you play. Good luck tomorrow night.
Just another tidbit that I figured some here would enjoy.

I was in the dugout about 15 minutes before game time at this past night's game when I hear my name being called by one of my teammates from the other end of the dugout. I walked over and was introduced to a young boy named Josh, who I was told was celebrating his 8th birthday at the park with his family and friends. He came over to inform me that I was his favorite player on the Marlins, because I had the same name as him and because when I went to his school (we went to local elementary schools the other day and spoke to the kids) I answered one of his questions with a funny joke. I was then informed that he was due to throw out the ceremonial first pitch of the night's ballgame, and he requested to the General Manager that I catch the pitch. So when his name came over the PA I jogged out there with him and squatted behind home plate.

Suddenly I had a nervous rush come over me. I was catching this kid in front of thousands of people. It would be so embarassing if I dropped the ball! (I was never this nervous on the mound, but the thought of an 8 year old kid throwing a ball to me 30 feet away and me having to make it look good for him and catch it in front of the cheering crowd was intimidating). Luckily, the kid (who ironically throws lefty just like I do) pumped a strike right to me and I caught it. I handed the ball back to him and signed it personally to him wishing him a happy birthday and sent him back off into the stands with his parents.

I try to shy away from the "sappy" stories and whatnot on this site because I like it to be informational. But this sort of experience will stay with me for a while because I know that kid will probably never forget it. He might forget my name, and he will probably misplace that baseball someday in the future, but he'll never forget the thrill he had throwing a pitch on the field to his favorite player. It really is an amazing feeling to be able to experience that.
Last edited by J H
Great story and it is informational as it shows how great of a game we all love baseball is. This kid will follow you for a long time and he will always remember that moment. Hopefully it will lead him to take up baseball to at least get his college education paid for.

I'll check out your schedule and try to find a date I can head up there. I'm still a little busy with our season right now. We won tonight to advance to the state championship series next weekend. Pretty excited about that to be honest.
J H, I don't have anything to add other than to say you are a great representative for your generation; a young man we can all be proud of and root for. Keep posting, I love the positive and well-communicated vibes! Good luck to you!

(and by the way, about this game in North carolina where you, from New York, faced floridafan's son from florida.....caught my eye sitting here in Seoul, Korea!)
Krak-

Thanks for the kind words. You want to hear another crazy small world situation? I have become very friendly with a teammate of your son's. He and I are the only two Division III permanent players right now on our roster so we sort of had an instant connection. We went to the beach today (his first time in the Atlantic, being from Chicago) and have been hanging out quite a bit. He started for us last night and threw very well.

So now we have New York, Florida, Chicago, San Antonio and Seoul all connected in some way in a little beach town in North Carolina. Gotta love it
JH,
The baseball world is even a bit smaller.
I was just checking the site for your team.
Lo and behold, our son played with the Buddy Bengal, your team's VP. They both played for the Newport Gulls in the NECBL in 2003.
Buddy is one of those guys who loves baseball. If there was a definition for baseball junkie, from what I know of him, Buddy's name and picture would be part of it. Buddy knows DIII players can get the job done so it does not surprise me to see you and Klimesh on the roster.
Buddy is certainly a character. I played for a summer team back in high school that is run by a man named Ian Millman. When Buddy was in high school he played for Ian as well, and they still have a close relationship. Ian was the one who got in contact with Buddy about me and said that he believes I could play at the level that the CPL offers. When Buddy called me back in October offering me a contract, I didn't even think twice.

The experience thus far has been great. I have been getting a lot of PM's from various people about my summer ball experience so I think every once in a while I will check in when there is time and give a little bit of details as to how these sorts of things work. I think that could be beneficial to many parents/players who could potentially find themselves on teams like this in the future.
As I said previously, I will be checking in here every once in a while to chronicle my summer experience. This past week and a half has been very busy so I haven't been able to get on too much...we've had a lot of games nearly everyday, and have been partially celebrating the drafting of our friends (my college teammate was the first DIII player taken nationwide, in the 4th round to the Braves).

My entire summer experience had been a positive one thus far, until a disappointing event last night. We had a game in Columbia, SC and were told that it was military night at the park. 4,600 Army soldiers from nearby Fort Jackson showed up to watch the game. Playing in front of them was truly an extraordinary experience. They were loud, funny and passionate. The presentations and special events were touching, as many Medal of Honor recipients were being honored on the field to a standing ovation from the thousands of troops in the stands. It was an awesome event all-around.

The euphoric atmosphere quickly turned sour towards the end of the night. In the Coastal Plain League, doubleheaders are two 7-inning games (since Columbia is 6 hours away from Morehead City, we try to double up on weekend games to limit travel requirements). In the second game of the day, we were losing 9-3 in the top of the 7th inning and things were looking fairly grim. Our leadoff hitter took an 0-1 fastball for a ball. Immediately, the coach for the Columbia Blowfish came storming out of the dugout to argue the call. We couldn't hear what was being said (the troops were loud) but the umpire ejected him. He began to continue arguing, turning his hat around to wear it backwards and kicking dirt all over home plate. This is when we realized that the spectacle was staged. The coach screamed with the umpire for another minute or so, and then proceeded to step back and run to the mound. He turned and gave a fake salute to the troops. He then picked up the rosin bag behind the mound and tossed it towards his dugout, where the Columbia players were standing. When the rosin bag hit the ground, the players fell down and pretended to be hit by the rosin bag, as if it were a grenade.

We were furious as a team. We understood the importance of making it an enjoyable night for the troops in attendance, and understood that was the intention of the Columbia coach. But the situation that occured we felt made a mockery of our team, disgraced the game of baseball and frankly, disgraced the U.S. Army. Our coach expressed his disdain for the situation with the other coach after the game, but did not get an apology, just a smirk and a "have a safe ride home". After eating our post game meal, we boarded the bus and took the 6 hour ride back home with a sour taste in our mouths and our blood boiling from a classless act.
Last edited by J H
I don't know who the current coach of the Columbia team is but he ought to be fired. With soldiers actually and currently being killed in Afghanistan and Iraq via real grenades, that was highly disrespectful. Imagine if a family member were there last night who had a son or daughter killed that way. How would they feel? Very dumb, insensitive, and disrespectful.
Checking in once more...

The first half of the Coastal Plain League season ended on Monday, with my team, the Morehead City Marlins, finishing in 2nd place in the South Division behind the Florence RedWolves. For those who aren't familiar with the process...The CPL plays a 56 game schedule throughout the entire summer and is split into two 28 game halves. The winner of the first half gets an automatic berth into the Pettit Cup, which is the playoffs. So while we fell short in the first half, the records carry over and hopefully we can keep up and stay sharp enough to make a run for the second half title.

Our overall record finished up at 15 and 13 for the first half. The last time I posted was after our military night debacle in Columbia, which was a few weeks ago. Since then, we have gotten into a bit of a set routine. We have had 2 "Military Monday" nights in which we honor veterans and wear camouflage jerseys (Coach May- one of my teammates played for the Dirtbags and got so excited when we were told we were wearing camo's) on those nights. We also have had one night for Breast Cancer Awareness in which we wore pink jerseys that were auctioned off after the game, with all proceeds going to charity.

I would say the average attendance at our games is somewhere in between 1000 and 2000 (sometimes a lot more, sometimes a bit less) and from my perspective the games are extremely competitive. A teammate who goes to East Carolina (a perennial regional contender) says that our team matches up very well to their level of play (Conference USA), so for those who don't have a gauge of the quality of play if that helps at all there you go.

The difference between the play in the CPL and the play I have grown accustomed to at the DIII level (regionals included) are unparalleled. The players are bigger, faster, stronger. The game is played at a much quicker pace. As a pitcher, the things I've noticed is that the hitters do a much better job driving the ball to the opposite field here with authority. Anyone can hit a get-me-over fastball, but the separation is extended here in the other offerings that the hitters hit. At the same time if a hitter has a discernable weakness, it is exploited here very quickly and more extensively than at the DIII level. There are a handful of players that I've faced/played with in college that could more than easily compete here, but there are also many that can't.

The only negative I have found about the CPL is the traveling. If you or your son cannot handle spending hours everyday on a cramped bus, then do not play in this league. Road trips range from 2 to 7 hours, and there are several a week. We've left at 9 am and returned at 5 am, just to fall asleep and wake up then next day to catch a bus at 12 and travel another 4 1/2 hours. The travel does wear on you, and days off are hard to come by and gratefully taken (we spend our days off at the beach, good thing Morehead City is on the ocean). While I honestly despise the travel and dread every bus trip we take, I have learned to appreciate the trips. We are well aware of the fact that minor league life largely consists of bus rides that are further in distance, longer in time and more extensive in frequency, and to be able to experience a similar kind of living style while in college is greatly beneficial for those of us who look to play at the next level. I also appreciate the bus trips because it gives me time to spend with the new friends I've made throughout the summer. Having a group of 27 college baseball players together everyday for an entire summer will create lasting relationships off the field in the future. We pass time playing cards (Pitch, Texas Hold 'Em are popular) and riddle games (Hat Game, Snaps, City Game, Green Glass Doors are a few popular ones for those who are familiar).


The coaching staff thus far has been great. I have worked hard with the pitching coach (former DI pitcher and a member of the 2004 Greek Olympic team) on mechanical aspects of pitching, as well as many conditioning aspects. The head coach, Jay Bergman, has a career coaching record of 1,300 wins at the DI level and is truly one of a kind. In a short amount of time he and I have delevoped a great relationship. While his past has been surrounded with controversy, his passion for the game and caring for his players is unparalleled from what I can tell and is greatly appreciated by his team. Here is a quote from Coach Bergman in the locker room after one loss that we had:

"I've coached this game for 42 years. If I quit tomorrow, the game would move on. Nothing would change in the game. But if I quit tomorrow, I couldn't go on. I'm 71 years old and I need this game now more than ever. I couldn't go on without this game. You need to decide if you need this game. If you do, then you need to play like it. If you don't, then hand in your uniform now and go home, because the game doesn't need you."

Next Monday we have a game against the U.S. Military All-Star Team, also called Heroes of the Diamond, which should be a fabulous experience. Other than that, the second half of the season will be much of the same kind of grind the first half was. Its a grind that goes by way too quickly, and sometimes is taken for granted. I've posted all this info because I know there are a select few people here that would love to know the inside knowledge about a league like this, and I'd be glad to help anyone who has any questions pertaining to anything I know. And if you aren't interested, thanks for letting me post this as a log for myself to look back on and remember some of the things I forget from this summer.
Last edited by J H
J H,
this is terrific. It is terrific to read and is so well written. If you have not read "Bullpen Gospels," I would strongly recommend it for that next 7 hour bus ride...the one before the game, not coming back. Wink
You have a wonderful ability to provide words that vividly capture the people and the experience.
Sharing your appreciation of Coach Bergman and what baseball means to him, and most importantly, what he expects from his players, even in the Summer, should be helpful and provide guidance for all those players/parents who have a Summer experience in their future.
I especially appreciated your thoughts on the challenges and reality of being a DIII player on a top Summer Wood Bat league team.
I doubt I am speaking alone when I say we look forward to your posts and experiences as your Summer progresses.
Congrats on a very solid first half. You are making those of us from the DIII level stand tall.
Great Post JH! You guys probably have the longest road trips of any team in the CPL being way out there on the coast. I would wish your team well tonight, but the Swampdogs need a win! Wink

My guy has the laundry gig again and is rarely back in his bed before 3AM then at the field at 1PM the next day. 2 off days since the season began. Pretty gueling but he would not trade it for anything... almost anything, I mean!
Last edited by floridafan
JH,

Your post are awesome.Your ability to write and communicate your experiences are really exceptional.Sounds like your having a great experience.Hope your team continues to do well.I also think your assessment of D3 to D1 with exceptions, (as there always are) can be helpful for parents who are not sure of where their own players fit in.Look forward to your posts.
Last edited by fanofgame
FF- Tonight's game was a pretty wet one. Luckily for us our offense put together some timely hits and broke it open in the mid-innings and we were able to pull it out. We've gotten a pretty good one-two punch in the bullpen with a submarine RHP as a setup guy and a mid-90's closer who was drafted by the Twins and is in negotiations, so hopefully they can remain healthy and steady and we can ride them out late innings.

Lucky for us on another note, our owner has the interns on laundry duty...so we just put the uni's in a bin after the game and they're hanging on the dugout railing numerically the next day when we arrive at the park. I feel bad for your son that he's on laundry duty.

Might I add for those who are reading, Floridafan's son is the 3rd baseman for the Fayettevile Swampdogs and hits in the middle of their order. We keep pretty extensive hitting spray charts and pattern charts on opponents (Fayetteville is a division opponent, meaning that tonight was our 7th game against them and we still have 5 more to go). FF's son is easily the most difficult hitter in the Swampdogs lineup to figure out. A lot of guys show tendencies in their approaches and these can be exploited by looking through the charts and then executing accordingly on the mound. But FF's son doesn't really have a pattern. He's been very successful against us in all counts, against all pitches and in all locations. When a player can prove to be consistent like that, he is often the toughest out to get because he has no true weakness.

infielddad- I'm headed to the library tomorrow to do some P.R work for the team and read books to local kids, so I'll make sure to try and look around and see if they have Bullpen Gospels. I first heard about it during my conference tournament, but between that, finals, regionals and now the CPL, I haven't had much time to do anything else aside from get my life in order.

I'll check back in periodically whenever there's a few hours that I get a layover. I'll share a little more in depth information about what kind of preparation goes on off the field, the comraderies formed, and some interestingly humurous things that have gone on
Last edited by J H
Thanks, J H. This indeed is great. Keep up the great work on and off the field. It would be interesting to know what you think of each of the towns where you play. I lived in Fayetteville for a couple of years 30 years ago, although it seems like yesterday. It would have been great to have one of these summer teams in town way back then.
jemaz- To be perfectly honest I don't really know much about the towns. In the CPL we don't do overnights, so I haven't experienced any sort of "on the town" type situations. Meals are given to us post-game at the stadium, so I haven't had any experience with local restaurants either. Each stadium/field brings it's own unique differences to the game and I could provide a pretty detailed analysis of the places that I've played at if anyone would like.
J H,

You have an amazing ability to paint a picture and bring us into your story. I have to be honest, I didn't read your first "Summer ball" posts. I thought they looked rather long (too much work for me Wink), but that was my mistake! You have a gift, if your baseball career comes to an end, you should sincerely look into becoming a writer. I believe you could probably write about anything and do an exceptional job, but as of right now...keep your summer baseball experiences coming...Thanks!
J H,

What an enjoyable thread you have created here. Stumbled upon it while eating lunch. I look forward to checking back from time to time.

I can bring NH into the equation for Morehead City, NC. I've only been to NC once in my life as a teenager going to visit an old high school friend of my fathers. Where did he live but in Morehead City, NC!! The beaches were nice that I remember and if I'm not mistaken out on some barrier islands there are or were anyways (28 yrs ago) wild horses running free on them. I think we took a small boat out to see them. I do remember that everyone was nice down there where ever you went and that they loved their Dr Pepper..but drank it warm..YUCK!! I think they also hold an annual "Bald man's convention" there in Morehead City too.

Good luck with the rest of your season!!!
JH:

Haven't been on the site for a while because I've been watching a lot of college baseball recently, but I will tell you that I came across the thread and really enjoyed your summer entries. As a former CPL dad, many of your assessments are spot on. (Yes, the Columbia coach is both classless and a clown.) But you really hit the mark with your travel entry. The road trips are killer, especially if you play in a city on the fringe of the league. Six to seven-hour bus trips every two to three days can really sap a player, especially in the Carolina heat. You have to love baseball to keep plugging. Even minor leaguers get a few days in the hotel after a long road trip. The CPL guys come right back and do it again the next day. What's really fun is when the bus breaks down. Smile

Keep up the good work with your posts. They're a real eye-opener for kids who haven't played summer ball yet and give a nice flavor of what it's like. Best of luck to you the rest of the summer and next season back at school.
Hey everyone...checking in from sunny and beautiful Myrtle Beach, SC. It's the All Star break in the CPL and I decided to take the few days and drive down the coast to visit a family friend who recently moved down here and enjoy the area for a few days.

The Morehead City Marlins are currently in 1st place in the southern division for the 2nd half of the season. We sent 4 players to the All Star game (2 pitchers and 2 position players), and have won 10 of our last 13 games. As I said previously, we fell into a bit of a routine with games, and other than the game against the Heroes of the Diamond on July 5th, that routine has been pretty much followed to the tee.

This post will be focused a bit less on what is occuring on the diamond and more about the experience outside the stadium. First thing's first: I'd like to thank CaBB. CaBB sent me a PM last week and asked if I would like her to send me a copy of Bullpen Gospels, which her son (a player in the Northwoods League), had just finished reading. I excitedly accepted, and a few days later received the book in the mail. In a 3 day span our team made 2 long road trips...one to Columbia, SC and one to Forest City, NC. I read the book cover to cover on each of those trips. It was a fabulous read, and really painted a great picture of minor league life and the happenings surrounding the game. It was both funny, dramatic and climactically emotional, and was very enjoyable not only to pass the time through the rather bland highways of the Carolinas, but also very informational. So CaBB, thank you very much for the book and I am definitely going to pass it along to some friends.

The players in the CPL view the league in different ways. Some view at as their opportunity to shine against top competition, and put immense pressure on themselves to do so. Some view it as an an extension of college ball and follow similar sorts of routines and habits that they did while they were on campus. Some view it as a stepping stone to the pros and seem to be here just to pass time until they're eligible to move on. And some treat it as summer ball, and come to throw the ball around a little bit and go to the beach and meet a lot of local girls. Our team has been fairly successful in finding a happy medium to fare positively on the field, while enjoying ourselves off.

There are many reasons as to why a baseball player does not perform well on the field. Most of the time, it can just be chalked up to "a bad day"...a combination of a little stiffness, a little lack of focus, and a lot of bad luck. But some days there are other reasons as to why people have bad days. I had a few outings this summer that I was roughed up pretty good, and my stats reflected as so. At first I said to myself "I just had a bad day". But after getting past the emotions and sitting back and thinking about the happenings, some thoughts hit me. Two particular outings, specifically, stuck out in my mind. One poor performance was probably a direct result of the night before, when I went out and partied with the team. I was wreckless with my body and stayed up way too late. Feeling tired, sore and frankly a bit hungover, I took the mound and disappointed my coaching staff, my team and myself. Three days later I decided it would be intelligent to take part in a baseball tradition with my teammates and throw a lip in (dip...or chewing tobacco for those who don't know) in the first inning. Some are used to this practice, but I'm not. I sparingly do it (afraid of addiction and not too fond of the taste to be honest) and quickly became dizzy and felt sick. By the 4th inning I felt better, but my body was drained. Come the 7th when I was called upon to pitch, I performed poorly.

Are partying and tobacco direct reasons why I did not perform well on those particular days? Maybe, maybe not. But they are certainly possible reasons as to why this would happen. These two experiences taught me a little bit about myself and what I can handle. Some guys can party every night and have no lasting effect on the field. Some guys can eat fast food and not exercise and still rake during the game. But I am not one of those people, and I learned this the hard way. For high school players or parents that happen to stumble upon my post(s), please understand that it is part of life. Experimenting and enjoying yourself is part of the age that my peers and I are at. But one has to be smart with what they do and prioritize accordingly. I made the mistake of taking my body for granted and suffered consequences (luckily a bad outing won't ruin my career) accordingly. The irony of these last two paragraphs are very apparent to me, being that I'm a 20 year old college kid who is lecturing about taking care of one's body. But from experience, it does matter.


A few weeks ago I went to the local library to read books to children. When the kids came into the room, the librarian introduced me as an "almost famous" baseball player. I rolled my eyes and gave a warm smile, but it is sometimes very tough to come to grips with the fact that this is true. While it is evident through my past posts that the life I am experiencing through this summer team is fabulous and I love it, the reality of the situation is that I am among a group of several thousand that are just trying to prove myself to the world in order to fulfill a dream. While that dream is a pipeline for most, the yearning for it has driven us to the point that we are at. The CPL, as well as many other leagues, provides a wonderful situation for the select college players that have the opportunity to live it. But the drive that pushes us is to continue to play and continue to move on to the next level. And sometimes it is frustrating to sit back and think about it all. I've been playing baseball since I was 5 years old and I believe it is safe to say that I have more successful experiences on the field than I have had negative experiences on the field. And through all that time, I've put in countless hours of sweat, soreness, smiles and tears. A lot of my life is dedicated towards baseball, the passion that I have for the game and the desire to be successful in playing it. College ball and the CPL are awesome, but yet there is still so far to go, so much do to, and so much to learn. I am 20 years old and find myself questioning the necessity of what I'm doing, questioning the importance of everything. Knowing that despite where I am right now, the chances are still so very slim. The doubt instilled in my head grows on me to the point where I've had sleepless nights saying that continuing to play is pointless and I should just give up right now and move on with my life.

I have always been an introspective person, and I think that's part of where the skills I have acquired in writing come into play. I've found it easy to portray my emotions into words and formulate them so that other people can get a better understanding of how I feel. These negative thoughts I've had are not rare, trust me. Any competitive baseball player that tells you that he's never thought about quitting the game is lying to you. The defeats of the game and the stress it causes wears you out to the point of lack of desire many times. But as Dirk Hayhurst said several times in the book the Bullpen Gospels, for some reason baseball players shake off those thoughts and set foot on that field once again the next day. I can't really explain what forces me to put the negatives aside and push myself back to the park the next day, but I can tell you this: I never regret it. Once you are back out there, it feels like home once again. Once I'm back out there, I start to wonder how I ever could have even considered quitting this game. I call myself stupid and happily smile.

I've been playing since I was 5 years old and hope to be involved in the game for as long as I can in whatever way I can. The experience I've had this summer might be a pressure-packed stage, or a stepping stone, or a party. Whatever it is, I've learned to appreciate every minute of it...positives and negatives...because it's a piece of the entire puzzle. Puzzles are tough to put together but they sure can be a lot of fun sometimes, and baseball is one of the toughest, grinding, and most rewarding puzzles one has to put together in life.
Last edited by J H
JH

another masterpiece of a post!

Keep hanging in there! Your heart will tell your head when it is time to look elsewhere. I think you are definetely slated for good things in your future no matter what you decide

. Let me know if you run low on books as I have a few that you may be interested in reading while you are on that next long bus ride.

Good luck the rest of the way!
quote:
Originally posted by J H:
Hey everyone...checking in from sunny and beautiful Myrtle Beach, SC. It's the All Star break in the CPL and I decided to take the few days and drive down the coast to visit a family friend who recently moved down here and enjoy the area for a few days.

The Morehead City Marlins are currently in 1st place in the southern division for the 2nd half of the season. We sent 4 players to the All Star game (2 pitchers and 2 position players), and have won 10 of our last 13 games. As I said previously, we fell into a bit of a routine with games, and other than the game against the Heroes of the Diamond on July 5th, that routine has been pretty much followed to the tee.

This post will be focused a bit less on what is occuring on the diamond and more about the experience outside the stadium. First thing's first: I'd like to thank CaBB. CaBB sent me a PM last week and asked if I would like her to send me a copy of Bullpen Gospels, which her son (a player in the Northwoods League), had just finished reading. I excitedly accepted, and a few days later received the book in the mail. In a 3 day span our team made 2 long road trips...one to Columbia, SC and one to Forest City, NC. I read the book cover to cover on each of those trips. It was a fabulous read, and really painted a great picture of minor league life and the happenings surrounding the game. It was both funny, dramatic and climactically emotional, and was very enjoyable not only to pass the time through the rather bland highways of the Carolinas, but also very informational. So CaBB, thank you very much for the book and I am definitely going to pass it along to some friends.

The players in the CPL view the league in different ways. Some view at as their opportunity to shine against top competition, and put immense pressure on themselves to do so. Some view it as an an extension of college ball and follow similar sorts of routines and habits that they did while they were on campus. Some view it as a stepping stone to the pros and seem to be here just to pass time until they're eligible to move on. And some treat it as summer ball, and come to throw the ball around a little bit and go to the beach and meet a lot of local girls. Our team has been fairly successful in finding a happy medium to fare positively on the field, while enjoying ourselves off.

There are many reasons as to why a baseball player does not perform well on the field. Most of the time, it can just be chalked up to "a bad day"...a combination of a little stiffness, a little lack of focus, and a lot of bad luck. But some days there are other reasons as to why people have bad days. I had a few outings this summer that I was roughed up pretty good, and my stats reflected as so. At first I said to myself "I just had a bad day". But after getting past the emotions and sitting back and thinking about the happenings, some thoughts hit me. Two particular outings, specifically, stuck out in my mind. One poor performance was probably a direct result of the night before, when I went out and partied with the team. I was wreckless with my body and stayed up way too late. Feeling tired, sore and frankly a bit hungover, I took the mound and disappointed my coaching staff, my team and myself. Three days later I decided it would be intelligent to take part in a baseball tradition with my teammates and throw a lip in (dip...or chewing tobacco for those who don't know) in the first inning. Some are used to this practice, but I'm not. I sparingly do it (afraid of addiction and not too fond of the taste to be honest) and quickly became dizzy and felt sick. By the 4th inning I felt better, but my body was drained. Come the 7th when I was called upon to pitch, I performed poorly.

Are partying and tobacco direct reasons why I did not perform well on those particular days? Maybe, maybe not. But they are certainly possible reasons as to why this would happen. These two experiences taught me a little bit about myself and what I can handle. Some guys can party every night and have no lasting effect on the field. Some guys can eat fast food and not exercise and still rake during the game. But I am not one of those people, and I learned this the hard way. For high school players or parents that happen to stumble upon my post(s), please understand that it is part of life. Experimenting and enjoying yourself is part of the age that my peers and I are at. But one has to be smart with what they do and prioritize accordingly. I made the mistake of taking my body for granted and suffered consequences (luckily a bad outing won't ruin my career) accordingly. The irony of these last two paragraphs are very apparent to me, being that I'm a 20 year old college kid who is lecturing about taking care of one's body. But from experience, it does matter.


A few weeks ago I went to the local library to read books to children. When the kids came into the room, the librarian introduced me as an "almost famous" baseball player. I rolled my eyes and gave a warm smile, but it is sometimes very tough to come to grips with the fact that this is true. While it is evident through my past posts that the life I am experiencing through this summer team is fabulous and I love it, the reality of the situation is that I am among a group of several thousand that are just trying to prove myself to the world in order to fulfill a dream. While that dream is a pipeline for most, the yearning for it has driven us to the point that we are at. The CPL, as well as many other leagues, provides a wonderful situation for the select college players that have the opportunity to live it. But the drive that pushes us is to continue to play and continue to move on to the next level. And sometimes it is frustrating to sit back and think about it all. I've been playing baseball since I was 5 years old and I believe it is safe to say that I have more successful experiences on the field than I have had negative experiences on the field. And through all that time, I've put in countless hours of sweat, soreness, smiles and tears. A lot of my life is dedicated towards baseball, the passion that I have for the game and the desire to be successful in playing it. College ball and the CPL are awesome, but yet there is still so far to go, so much do to, and so much to learn. I am 20 years old and find myself questioning the necessity of what I'm doing, questioning the importance of everything. Knowing that despite where I am right now, the chances are still so very slim. The doubt instilled in my head grows on me to the point where I've had sleepless nights saying that continuing to play is pointless and I should just give up right now and move on with my life.

I have always been an introspective person, and I think that's part of where the skills I have acquired in writing come into play. I've found it easy to portray my emotions into words and formulate them so that other people can get a better understanding of how I feel. These negative thoughts I've had are not rare, trust me. Any competitive baseball player that tells you that he's never thought about quitting the game is lying to you. The defeats of the game and the stress it causes wears you out to the point of lack of desire many times. But as Dirk Hayhurst said several times in the book the Bullpen Gospels, for some reason baseball players shake off those thoughts and set foot on that field once again the next day. I can't really explain what forces me to put the negatives aside and push myself back to the park the next day, but I can tell you this: I never regret it. Once you are back out there, it feels like home once again. Once I'm back out there, I start to wonder how I ever could have even considered quitting this game. I call myself stupid and happily smile.

I've been playing since I was 5 years old and hope to be involved in the game for as long as I can in whatever way I can. The experience I've had this summer might be a pressure-packed stage, or a stepping stone, or a party. Whatever it is, I've learned to appreciate every minute of it...positives and negatives...because it's a piece of the entire puzzle. Puzzles are tough to put together but they sure can be a lot of fun sometimes, and baseball is one of the toughest, grinding, and most rewarding puzzles one has to put together in life.

One of the most enjoyable posts I have ever read on the hsbaseballweb. Josh - you have a wonderful, wonderful gift - even if you do disagree with me sometimes Big Grin

Seriously, I think with your attitude and honesty with yourself, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I believe you can have a future in baseball - beyond college It's all about what you are willing to let your mind believe. Thoughts become things.
quote:
Seriously, I think with your attitude and honesty with yourself, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I believe you can have a future in baseball - beyond college good It's all about what you are willing to let your mind believe. Thoughts become things.



You have a talent for writing son.You should write more, keep all of it in a journal, and write a book someday.Your posts are honest, entertaining,interesting, and just awesome.Honest, great stuff. Best of luck.
Josh, you are amazing and wise beyond your years. It's especially helpful for parents to read your thoughts because quite often our sons don't share their deep thoughts with us enough.

I agree with Fan that this would make the start of an interesting book. Hopefully you are keeping a journal of all your experiences. Have fun and work hard for the rest of the summer.

Keep the stories coming!
where are you playing at in NC? im going out there for vacation next weekend and maybe i could catch a game. i will be staying in Erwin from the 1st thru the 7th i believe. id love to see some good ball! im from central Illinois so we dont have much good baseball around! also id like to ask you for some advice if you wouldnt mind: i pitch every now and then and i have some wicked breaking balls and dont throw very hard but i have good movement. i thrown a 12-6 curve and a slider. should i keep them both and mix them in with my circle change and cutter? or stick with just one? since i mite be playing against 16 yr olds next year i could really use your help(:
I haven't been around the HSBBW as much I used to be but boy am I glad I stumbled upon this tread...

JH your posts have really painted a wonderful picture reflecting the highs and lows of a baseball player trying to figure things out. As much as I enjoy reading Dirks " non prospect diary " and “Bullpen Gospels”, I have to say I'd put you right up there with him in your ability to share the baseball experience on paper.

I look forward to reading more about your journey... you might think about submitting some of your work to a publication like Baseball America… I know I’d read it.
I've been getting a bunch of PMs from members who asked if I would be posting anymore in this thread, so I decided it'd be best if I did so. This will be the last post I will put up here, simply being that the summer season has come to a close. Thanks to all that have read it and appreciated what I've said, it's helped me to write everything because now I can look back and relive some of things that slip my mind from the summer.

We ended up with a 35-22 overall record, winning the Coastal Plain League Southern Division title. Unfortunately, we were upset in the playoffs by the Edenton Steamers, who went on to the championship round of the CPL before bowing out to the Forest City Owls.

Our season finished up on Friday, August 6th. The game in which we got eliminated was an away game, and our bus arrived back in the stadium parking lot around 1 AM. To our surprise, there was a collection of about 40 people standing in the parking lot, with signs and confetti and noise-makers. They all cheered when we got off the bus and we took pictures with them, signed a few more autographs and thanked them once more. It was sort of surprising to see this crowd there. We'd known that the town was behind the team, being that attendance was good and there was good coverage in the area. But the reception in the parking lot put things into perspective. There was a collection of little kids who leaned against their parents in tears because the season was over. There were adults who painted their faces with Marlins colors and pleaded with the underclassmen to return the following summer. We saw that the team was more than an event that they could enjoy and a league that we could just play in to get better. The populous of the town really connected with the team, and put their hearts and souls into cheering us on.

I became close with a young man this summer named Aaron. Aaron was 19 years old, recently a high school graduate. He suffers from severe cerebral palsy, causing him to be wheelchair ridden. He frequented our games in the early part of the summer, placing himself near the dugout in the stands and very much in view of the team. He quickly began to strike up conversation with us, and we kindly obliged. Most of the guys simply felt bad because he was disabled, but quickly grew a bit detached from Aaron because frankly, he made some obnoxious comments. He was trying to fit in with our sense of humor (baseball dugout jokes are typically very vulgar), and was at first taken the wrong way. I got sick of the kid in the wheelchair making fun of me initially, and sort of placed myself accordingly so that I didn't have to speak to him much.

Over time he sort of grew on me though. He was obnoxious, but he was funny. And he could take a joke in return. I started speaking to him more, and some of us developed a friendly relationship with him. One day, he asked me if I could drive him home after the game. I asked him why and he said that he didn't want to wake his mom up. I grudgingly obliged and drove him home. The next day, I pitched very well and we snapped a losing streak and being that I am a baseball player- and superstitious- it was a no brainer...I had to drive Aaron home again. And lo and behold, we won the next game as well.

And so it began...I would pick him up from his house everyday and get to the park for batting practice. He would hang out in the dugout, messing around with the team. Sometimes we would have a catch with him on the side. The team owner quickly gave him a job at the park as a ticket collector and an usher, and he would sit in his usual location next to the dugout and intently watch every game. After all the fans cleared out and we ate our post-game meals, I would help him out of his chair and into my car and drive him back to his house.

One day, Aaron decided that he wanted to shag fly balls with the team. He went up to our head coach and asked for permission, and our coach said "if Josh is out there with you to make sure you don't get hurt, sure." So he wheeled himself out to left centerfield and shagged with me during BP. Every ball that was hit in our direction would be given to Aaron to toss in towards the bucket. About halfway through the session, he turned to me and said "the greatest day of my life was the day I got to meet the Tampa Bay Rays after their game. But this is the second greatest day of my life. I'll never forget this man."

Aaron called me in tears after we lost and told me he was going to really miss everyone. I told him don't worry, the team will be back next year. He said he didn't want next year, he wanted the same group of guys and he didn't want anything to change. I reassured him that change was part of the beauty of the game of baseball.


After an absolutely miserable drive back home to New York (Washington DC traffic is no fun), I finally settled back into my own bed. Since February, I had previously spent a total of 12 hours at home. After my college team lost in regionals I had just enough time to get home, get laundry done, eat a meal and go to sleep before getting on the road and going to North Carolina. The relief of being home, seeing the family, and being able to relax for some time has been absolutely fabulous.

This year has been quite the roller coaster for me personally. In February in a span of two weeks I had two seizures in my dorm room at school. I had never had any neurological problems previously, and the random events were unexplainable. I saw a specialist and basically said to him "give me whatever you can so I can get back on the mound." He told me I couldn't drive a car for 90 days, I couldn't drink any alcohol and prescribed medicine called Keppra in pill form, which I have to take twice a day everyday. Since February 15th, I have never missed a pill, and have had no ill-effects since. 2 weeks later I was on the diamond again, and considered it a blessing. My college team finished in 3rd place in our regional- the first regional appearance in school history. I led the conference in ERA for the second year in a row, which pleased me because allowing the least amount of runs means my team has the best chance to win the game. My summer team won our division and I continued to have success on the mound.

I will be heading back to school this Friday, and next Wednesday is the first day of classes. Saturday the 28th is our first day of fall practice...my first day as an upperclassman on the field in college.

Thanks to everyone who read all these posts over the last few months once again, because it allows me to look back and remember things from my experience. I encourage anyone who has experiences that could help others to share them, because I learned a lot about the game myself just from reading on this site alone.
Last edited by J H
Josh I have never met you but I feel like I really know you. That is a credit to your writing, your ability to put your feelings in writing and taking me to a place I can actually see what you are talking about. You are very talented Josh. As I was reading that I could see that kid in the wheel chair and I could see him shagging balls with you.

I wish you all the best this coming season. I have enjoyed your posts and looked forward to the next addition this summer. Your the type of young man that makes this game so special. Your the type of young man that makes this country what it is and what is should be. Good luck Josh.
One is never taller than when he bends over to help another human being.

I pray that next years team has the same compassion and understanding for this young man. JH your grace and dignity will be returned to you in this life and in the hereafter. God bless you and good luck. Remain true to yourself and you will always be a success.
Josh- thank you so much for sharing this summer with all of us on the hsbbweb. We all obviously love baseball and it's been heartwarming to read your stories. Your love of the sport comes out in your writing. You are an amazing person and writer and I think your future holds great things.

Thanks for sharing with us all. Please check in through the year. Good luck to you and your team this season.

Thank you!
Josh - that last season ending post was terrible! it really was just not that good! -
Big Grin

Aww- just kidding! I wanted to see if you were awake yet from your long season!

Let me know when and if Oneonta plays on LI (perhaps at Baseball Heaven) and this dad of another NY college pitcher will try and come out to root you on- perhaps against that other SUNY team that has an evil dragon! Wink

Best wishes- I will be keeping tabs on you and the team!
Last edited by K Complex
I'd once again like to thank everyone who has read/followed/posted here on this thread. I started it back in May as merely a cool little tidbit and since then it has been viewed by thousands of people and been made a Golden Thread. I appreciate all the support and it made me very happy to know that my writing was not only thought of as mature and correct, but that it was positively touching and helping people that shared similar passions for the game as I do.

Before I start getting into this post I'd just like to throw in something really quick for those who had previously followed along in the thread. The young man Aaron who I befriended throughout the summer will no longer be returning to his spot as an usher for the Morehead City Marlins. He called me about a week ago to inform me that he'd be moving in and living with his father next summer in Raleigh and working as a clubhouse attendant for the Durham Bulls, the Triple-A affiliate for the Rays. He also informed me that he would be attempting to start taking classes in January at a local community college in hopes of working towards an associates degree in management, and is interested in moving on to some sort of front office position with a team in the future. I just wanted to share this information with everyone here because I felt so proud of Aaron when he told me this. With everything that we'd been through during the summer and all the talks we had, he began realizing that he is able to make strides in his life to do the things he loves, despite his specific incapability to do certain things due to his disability.


I spoke to Coach Bergman a few weeks ago and requested another contract for next summer. Unfortunately, he informed me that there was no room on the pitching staff for him to offer me anything more than a temporary contract. He said that there was a lot of high profile players that they were bringing in and the roster was pretty tight and full. At first I was pretty upset...I argued with him that I deserved a spot solely based on my good performance last year, and it wasn't fair that he would take higher profile players over me just because I go to a D-III school. He told me that he was extremely sorry and wished there was something he could do, but "you know how it works."

A few days later I called him back and apologized for speaking to him the way I did and told him I felt like Crash Davis in Bull Durham when he added that last part of the conversation in. He laughed and said that if anything comes up I'll be the first person to call, but they'd only be returning 3 players from last summer's roster. I told him I understand and I am not upset, just disappointed because I loved the experience. We parted on good terms, and I told him I'd keep in touch.

I have no hard feelings towards the Marlins organization. I'm very thankful for the opportunities they gave me and the fabulous experience they provided last summer for me. In fact, I began thinking it could be a blessing in disguise...that I'd have the opportunity to have a different experience.

I began e-mailing other summer teams for the 2011 summer (my last summer of collegiate summer eligibility, barring injury). I scattered e-mails throughout leagues...the Cape, Northwoods, NECBL, Alaska. I got various levels of responses ranging from "No thanks" to a temporary contract offer. But I wanted security, I wanted a full-time contract with a team so that I could play for them for a full summer. I got frustrated with the process and started flipping through HSBBWeb for some advice. I figured since everyone has been so great here in the past that perhaps I could find a pot of gold for myself.

Lo and behold, I was right. I came across a post by hokieone saying that he had just become the GM of a new team in the Valley League, the Strasburg Express. I sent an inquiring PM to hokieone explaining my situation and requesting more information about the team and whatnot. Within 24 hours of my initial PM, the Director of Player Personnel for the Express mailed a full contract to my college coach's office for me to sign.

So next summer I will be playing for hokieone's Strasburg Express of the Valley League. hokieone has been very hasty in the signing process, and it has been greatly appreciated on my front. My initial skepticism about joining the team (there's always a sense of insecurity when trying new things) was quickly washed away when I received an e-mail from the Northern Virginia Daily. hokieone recommended to the NV Daily, the local newspaper for the Shenandoah Valley, that I provide a blog type publication for the newspaper throughout the summer, documenting the team's progress from a player's perspective. While this hasn't been finalized, I have spoken with the people from the newspaper and articles will probably begin to be published sometime in the spring, before I report to start playing.

Thank you to hokieone for believing in my pitching abilities and for providing the opportunity to experience playing in the Valley League next summer. It feels very good to be wanted for a team, and the ease of the entire process has been great. And thank you once again to everyone that has been following my documentation of my experiences. I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing my stories with all of you and am truly grateful for the wealth of responses that have come from it. If everything goes smoothly with the newspaper, I will soon be able to add "published author" to my resume, and I give much of that credit to those here who have taken their time to read what I have to say.

Thanks again, and starting in June of 2011, Go Express!
Last edited by J H
That is simply awesome JH. I am so happy that everything worked out for you. And lets give a shout out to one of our own who stepped up and took care of one of our own. Thats the way the baseball world works. Good people taking care of good people. I have no doubt you will do very well and help them win games. And hokieone knows that.

hokieone, from one baseball guy to another great call!
JH,
I think you already know this, but for DIII kids, so long as they believe in themselves and give 110%, it really does take one person to believe in them and give them a chance to prove their ability.
Hokieone stepped up in a very big way to provide that opportunity and to say "I believe in you."
Having read what you post, I have a feeling that next year about this time, we won't only be reading what you have written, even though it is clear we all love your writing.
Nope, I think next year about this time we are also going to be reading and enjoying what others are writing about you...as a baseball player, pitcher, competitor, and teammate.
Sometimes motivation comes as much from those who believe and provide a chance as it does from those who don't support a player and provide them the opportunity to compete.
I am reading you have a reason every day from now until June to do that little extra, and I am betting you do.
We're delighted to have Josh coming to Strasburg. While it's a nice story and we're thrilled to have him play for us, and I love his writing ability, over his last 17 innings last spring, he gave up 11 hits, 1 run, walked 1, and had 15 K's. And he is left-handed. And had a 2.50 ERA in the Coastal Plains League, after posting ERA's of 1.77 and 1.64 his first two years of college.

I'd be the dumbest guy in baseball if we didn't sign him!
Despite the fact that it is no longer summer (I am reminded of this everyday by the tundra that I seem to live in being in New York), I want to post an update on this thread since it has been a while.

First off, I haven't been posting as much on the site recently. My participation on this site during the offseason largely involves reading...whether the purpose is to learn techniques that others are doing, events that are taking place, or just fun little conversations back and forth through the cyber friendships I've formed here. Part of the offseason, I must admit, has been spent not even opening High School Baseball Web. I am truly one of the most baseball-passionate people I know, but even I need a break sometimes. My fall season was rather uneventful, being diagnosed with tendonitis of the UCL (the Tommy John ligament for those who aren't familiar with the medical term). I spent a lot of time running in the outfield and logging radar gun readings during intrasquad scrimmages- not exactly the most exciting jobs for a college junior to be doing- but some form of participation nonetheless. I found myself a new girlfriend during the fall as well, which isn't a subject I think I'll get into too much here (PMs are welcome I suppose), but that was a process in and of itself that took some time. The remaining time I took was geared towards rehab work on the elbow (I am fine now), weight room work and schoolwork (I posted the highest GPA I have ever received in college during this past semester).

As mentioned previously, I'll be playing for hokieone's Strasburg Express team out of the Valley League this coming summer. I am already really looking forward to the experience. There are a few familiar names on the roster and from the Facebook updates I receive from the team page, it seems as if the town is really embracing the existence of the organization. I'm sure my NoVa report date will creep up on me quicker than expected, and I look forward to it. I'll also be blogging a bit for the Northern Virginia Daily during the summer, and will probably think of some scheme to throw in a shout out to HSBBWeb at some point during that experience as well.

My writing here throughout 2010 and the reactions that followed have allowed me to be more confident with my abilities to write. I am currently majoring in Business Economics and minoring in Sports Management, but I have recently been exchanging e-mails with my academic advisor at school to see if it would be possible to pick up another minor in Business Communications. I am still not too certain as to what I'd like to do upon graduation and upon discontinuing playing the game, but the encouragement I have received from the members of this website have led me to believe that a different field of interest might have opened up for me in the future, and tacking on a minor in communications can only enhance the possibility of having well-rounded opportunities.

That's about it to report from this front. Once again thank you to all that have followed along in this thread. I'd love to hear some stories from other members about what you and/or your family members have going on in your lives, and I'm sure many other members would as well. Please feel free to post on this thread also, as it seems to have become somewhat of a J H preaching to the world type thread, which is obviously the last intention I'd have in this situation.

Happy holidays to all
Last edited by J H
Josh,

I'll see you in late May-ish, but I can tell you with 100% accuracy that communication skills are just huge, whether you have a degree that says so or not. My beloved older son has a wonderful job 2 years out of college, making more than I could have ever possibly imagined him making so soon, not because of his glittering 2.2 GPA,but rather because he has the gift of gab, and he is comfortable talking with anyone, anywhere.

If you talk half as well as you write, no worries. Smile
Last edited by hokieone
Josh, as always anything you post I love to read. You have a real gift that I hope you will continue to use as you get older. Don't know what it is with you college juniors but my son also got his highest GPA as you did. Must be maturity! What ever it is it's great and can only enhance your worth after you graduate.

Happy holidays to you and your family. Keep us posted as your season goes along. Hope it's a great one for you and your team.

CaBB
I know its a bit taboo to resurrect a 2-year-old thread that's pretty much dead. However, I couldn't resist in this case.

For those who don't remember (I presume most don't), please backtrack on this thread to a post I made on page 3, on August 17, 2010. In that post, I discuss a young man named Aaron, a wheelchair ridden local resident of Morehead City, NC who has battled cerebral palsy his entire life. I have kept in touch with a few people from Morehead City, but I haven't heard from Aaron in a while. A few minutes ago I was spanning my Facebook newsfeed and saw a video that Aaron shared with a former teammate of mine from the Marlins, now pitching in the Reds organization. I clicked on the link and watched the video...and couldn't help but share it here with those of you who were kind enough to follow along with me in this thread as I participated in my first summer ball experience two years ago.

http://www.wcti12.com/news/Aar.../8irtit/-/index.html

Enjoy.

Add Reply

×
×
×
×
Link copied to your clipboard.
×