First Start/Great People

After the game yesterday, I refrained from writing because I was exhausted and wanted to reflect on the game and my personal performance. I had planned on writing completely about the game, but at the moment, I feel like there is something more important to write about... namely, all the great people I have met because of baseball/all the people who have supported me playing baseball.

If you are reading this right now, I am talking to you, so thank you X a million.

I have long thought that baseball was the greatest invention since reproduction, and this belief continues to be reinforced on a daily basis. Through baseball I have learned so many lessons... mental toughness, how to deal with failure, how to handle adversity, how to manage time, how to work with people of all different back ground and personalities, and the list goes on. Above all, the game of baseball has given me relationships that I will never forget, friendships that will last a lifetime and allowed me to meet people from all walk of life. I have been blessed to have played with outstanding people my entire life. These are not necessarily people I would have befriended had it not been for the common interest of baseball, but that is exactly my point. Baseball has allowed me to meet amazing people, period. And in the words of the Wu-Tang Clan (shout out to Geoff King, a great person I met through baseball) on the Chapelle's show, in terms of making friends, the game has allowed me to "deversify my bonds."(make all different kinds of friends... sorry, at the moment I felt that reference was entirely necessary)

I guess what has made me feel like writing this is the way that I have been received by my teammates here in Belgium. At first, the game allowed me to meet amazing and interesting people in the States, and now it is going international. Everyone here has been so welcoming and friendly, I can't even put it into writing. Whether it has been welcoming me into their home, translating Dutch conversations so I feel like I am part of the discussion, busting my balls for my overt "American-ness", buying me a beer, inviting me to play on their indoor soccer team, taking me out for a wild night, and the list goes on. Not to get overly emotional and sentimental, but starting with my family and girlfriend and going right down the line, the people who have supported me in my baseball playing (teammates especially), I can't thank you enough. You all have helped to make my life better than anyone could ever ask for. I can only hope that other ballplayers feel so lucky.

And now switching gears a bit to our game on Sunday.

Sunday, as many of you know already, I had my first start on the hill for the Merchtem Cats, and my first time pitching since July. Instead of testing the waters, I dove in head first against the defending number one team from Belgium. I got off to a great start, thanks in large part to my defense. We don't have a bullpen, so it was hard to tell how things were going in warm-ups, but I felt great once I got on the mound. I breezed through the first 4 innings, giving up what I remember as 1 hit, while getting a few strike outs and inducing groundball after groundball. After four innings, we were up 2-0 and things were looking good. In the 5th inning, things started to take a turn for the worse. The first batter of the inning popped a single into right center field, and then, if memory serves me correctly, I got behind 2-0 on the next batter. I took my sign, 1 finger for fastball, and despite every inch of my body telling me to go with offspead, I threw a fastball that went for another single. The pioneers are a very good team, having patient ABs and capitalizing on mistakes. In my opinion, the 2-0 pitch is one of a few pitches that I wish I could have back.

The next batter bunted, and I bounced off the mound, getting the force at third comfortably. During the next batters AB, we had a chance to get the runner at 3rd on a double steal attempt, but the ball was dropped. I didn't really think anything of it at the time, our team was playing hard and solid defense behind me. As it would turn out, this error, as it was scored would lead to the runs that I would give up being unearned (I think), but I am getting a bit ahead of myself. Now, with runners on 2nd and 3rd and one out, our infield was drawn in. A diving play by our second baseman saved a second run from scoring as we got the batter at first. The score was now 2-1 us, with 2 outs and a runner at 3rd base. For 4 pitches, I unacceptably lost my focus and walked the hitter. With runners on 1st and 3rd with two outs, I still felt in control. I got ahead of the next hitter, but with 2 strikes on him I made another pitch I wish I could have back. I left a curve up in the zone and the lefty belted it over our centerfielder's head for an easy triple. I stopped the bleeding there, but not before the damage was done and they had a 3-2 lead.

I still felt like I had a lot in the tank, but my pitching debut was done and I was taken out of the game. Overall, although I am disappointed with the end result (a 9-3) loss, I was happy with the process and felt that I pitched pretty well, especially for my first time out. Are there things that could be improved, absolutely, there always are... but personally I thought I threw well. They made the most of my mistakes, and I paid the price. As a team, we also made great strides. Keeping the game in perspective, we displayed a great deal of improvement from the day before, and showed that if we play our best, we can compete with the best. And if we can sustain it for a full game, we showed we could beat the best that Belgium has to offer. There is a lot of work to be done, but if we keep working hard I believe the future is bright for our club if everyone buys into us being an elite Belgian club.

An abbreviated version of my hitting... I went 1 for 3 with a BB and a run. Unfortunately I picked the wrong AB to get my hit, as it was my only AB with no runners on. I had a chance right after their 5th where I came up with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs. After working the count full and fouling off 2 pitches, I grounded out to short on a slider. Even though I put some good wood on it, I was a little early and our chance to regain the lead was spoiled. I look forward to the next time I have that opportunity.

As for right now, I apologize for the spelling and grammar mistakes.. I'm exhausted and off to bed. Thanks for follwing along and THANKS AGAIN FOR SUPPORTING, it definitely doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.