WEEK TWO --
February 27th, 2010
So, it's Week 2 and the position players have arrived — and probably the most anticipated arrival has been Hideki Matsui. Not only does he bring his popularity and presence, but he also brings with him paparazzi that constantly follow him around.
Growing up I have always been a fan of Asian baseball players such as Hideki, Hee Sop Choi, Shin Soo Choo and Chan Ho Park, so to see Hideki walking around was pretty cool. He has this aura and presence to him that is unique. If you ever saw him on the streets, you would instantly know that it was him. In Japan he is like the Babe Ruth to the U.S. So, for me to get to meet him in person was really cool.
This is my fourth spring training now and this is the first time I have actually seen rain in Arizona — and there's been a lot of it. The first two weeks' schedules have been changed due to the weather, but all in all the workload and effort has been great.
During bullpens one day, I happened to catch Sean O'Sullivan and Trevor Bell on the same day and I was thinking to myself how funny it was that the three of us are all here in the same organization together. We've played with and against each other all the time since we were 12 years old.
We've also started live pitching, where the pitchers face the hitters in a series of five pitches. Over the past years, the first day of live hitting is usually my least favorite day, as I haven't seen live pitching since the Arizona Fall League. But this year, walking into the batters box, it felt more comfortable than it has in past years.
This last Sunday, I was going to go grab some food for me and my roommate, Mounty (Ryan Mount), at Chick-Fil-A and as i got there, I had completely forgot that it was Sunday. Chick-Fil-A closes every Sunday. I wasn't too happy because I was really craving some sweet tea that me and my teammate Coby Smith would crush all last season in Arkansas. LOL. Driving back to my place, I laughed at how every time spring training and baseball season rolls along, I forget the days of the week, as they all seem to be the same
This week I've been also catching up on the Olympics. This is probably the most Olympic coverage I have watched my entire life. I usually tried to watch whatever was on, but my favorite events to watch were definitely the snowboarding half pipe event, short track speed skating, curling — yes, I said curling, LOL — hockey and both men's and women's figure skating. I think the short track speed skating was the best to watch, because as you were watching the event, you were just waiting for something disastrous to happen going into the final laps, and the hockey gold medal game was just an awesome game in general.
So far, two weeks down and going into the third week games will be starting up, so it will definitely be exciting to get the games going. Hopefully, the weather gets better and there will be more sunshine.
Hank
Read Hank's WEEK ONE Journal here
Growing up I have always been a fan of Asian baseball players such as Hideki, Hee Sop Choi, Shin Soo Choo and Chan Ho Park, so to see Hideki walking around was pretty cool. He has this aura and presence to him that is unique. If you ever saw him on the streets, you would instantly know that it was him. In Japan he is like the Babe Ruth to the U.S. So, for me to get to meet him in person was really cool.
This is my fourth spring training now and this is the first time I have actually seen rain in Arizona — and there's been a lot of it. The first two weeks' schedules have been changed due to the weather, but all in all the workload and effort has been great.
During bullpens one day, I happened to catch Sean O'Sullivan and Trevor Bell on the same day and I was thinking to myself how funny it was that the three of us are all here in the same organization together. We've played with and against each other all the time since we were 12 years old.
We've also started live pitching, where the pitchers face the hitters in a series of five pitches. Over the past years, the first day of live hitting is usually my least favorite day, as I haven't seen live pitching since the Arizona Fall League. But this year, walking into the batters box, it felt more comfortable than it has in past years.
This last Sunday, I was going to go grab some food for me and my roommate, Mounty (Ryan Mount), at Chick-Fil-A and as i got there, I had completely forgot that it was Sunday. Chick-Fil-A closes every Sunday. I wasn't too happy because I was really craving some sweet tea that me and my teammate Coby Smith would crush all last season in Arkansas. LOL. Driving back to my place, I laughed at how every time spring training and baseball season rolls along, I forget the days of the week, as they all seem to be the same
This week I've been also catching up on the Olympics. This is probably the most Olympic coverage I have watched my entire life. I usually tried to watch whatever was on, but my favorite events to watch were definitely the snowboarding half pipe event, short track speed skating, curling — yes, I said curling, LOL — hockey and both men's and women's figure skating. I think the short track speed skating was the best to watch, because as you were watching the event, you were just waiting for something disastrous to happen going into the final laps, and the hockey gold medal game was just an awesome game in general.
So far, two weeks down and going into the third week games will be starting up, so it will definitely be exciting to get the games going. Hopefully, the weather gets better and there will be more sunshine.
Hank
Read Hank's WEEK ONE Journal here
Hank, I enjoyed your journal this week and will be following your progress. Get your work in and we'll see you at the big A soon!
ReplyDeleteVito
Love the Command and Conger tag. After baseball, you're a lock for marketing, Hank.
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