Baseball, baseball, baseball

It has been ages since I have written about baseball, which is partly due to lack of time/computer, frustration from how the season has gone, and the fact that since June, there really haven't been that many games.

It has been a frustrating season on the diamond to say the least. We are 5-25 or something like that and have suffered many losses that easily should have been wins. Through the ups and downs, I have been able to keep a perspective that I don't think many could do and an optimism that I wish was more contagious. I still go into every game thinking that we are going to win and still get fired up by bush league acts and bullshit calls, of which there have been many. I also recognize that baseball here simply cannot be like baseball in the United States for obvious reasons.For starters, working full time and playing baseball full time while having a family is simply not possible. However, when running our practices or youth practices I have still tried to instill a sense of the right way to play the game and prepare yourself for success. I hope that some of this has stuck, especially with the younger guys.

Personally, I think I have been able to learn more things from the failures of the season than I have from our successes. As someone who aspires to coach in the future, seeing what hurts a team and what not to do can be as helpful as seeing a great program. I should say flat out that I love the Cats Organization and wish that the season had taken a different direction, but with several games left, we still have the opportunity to finish strong.

Anyways, enough blathering about it... here is a run down of the last two months or so of baseball.

I experienced some problems with my liscence which caused me to miss two games at the end of June against the Hoboken Pioneers, a team I had been looking forward to facing since the first time we played them early in the season. These were Aaron's first games with the team.

Aaron had a bit of bad luck and tore his hamstring in his 5th game since being here. It really hurt to lose him as a player and he came back to pitch a gem against the Angles, but rushed back too soon wanting to help the team. He ended up making the injury worse and is now out for the season. Aaron was a huge asset to the team, both on the field and off. He had some of the worst luck while pitching, and even though someone who didn't know the game might think that his performances were nothing special, had he received good support behind him, we definitely would have won a few more games and competed with the leagues best. It was also a shame that we never got to pitch the way we had in college, with me starting and him closing the games out. I think that would have been a powerful combination but will have to wait until next time we play together. After he got hurt, he led us to two wins as a coach.

I had a few very disappointing weekends on a personal level at the beginning of the second round, but have since got back in the swing of things. I feel like I have played well and consistently all season and at the moment I lead the team in all major batting and pitching categories. When Kleine is there, him, myself and Bram provide a nice start to our lineup. Last weekend of games I was 4 for 7 at the plate and also threw 10 innings giving up 0ER and getting the extra inning win against Mortsel.

The Balachelijk (ridiculous): I'm not one to criticize umpiring and I think that way to often bqd umpiring is used as an excuse, but I have never experienced anything quite like this. Whether they are trying to or not, the umpires here influence the outcomes of the game. They are not invisible, as a good umpire should be. I am sure they are great people and mean well and this should in no way be considered a personal attack... I hate umpiring and appreciate that there are peole willing to do it.... BUT, 1)you do not have to come set for 2 full seconds to avoid a balk 2)If you only have 1 eye, you should not be allowed to umpire competitive games 3)a ball at the top of the knees anywhere over the plate is a strike and lastly, believe it or not, it is possible that a curve ball is a strike even if the batter doesn't swing at it.

Looking forward: We have upwards of 5 important games coming up and can finish strong.

After this season is over, I have agreed to a deal with a team in Australia and will be moving to Perth with Rachel for the Summer (Oct-April). I will be playing for the Balcatta Bears in the provincial league of WA, and am looking forward to the opportunity to compete for a championship. That said, I am not looking beyond this coming weekends games with Namen.

I think that about brings things up to speed, hopefully I didn't forget anything. Hopefully have 4 wins coming up and will have a higher batting avg that kleine for the season, winning a crate! Until next time, Go Cats!