Blog #11: Summer in Minnesota

For about the first two weeks after my meltdown, I just laid in bed all day feeling really depressed. Then I went to a family reunion in Dodge City, Kansas to see my extended family on my mom’s side that I hadn’t seen for a long time. This trip helped me get out of my head and I found peace again while I was there. It was something about being in a small town where all the people are nice and the slow pace that got me to a better place. I had come to the conclusion that I wanted to play for my summer team from last year, except I didn’t want to pitch. It was almost as if I needed to play, to catch my fix. However, I just wanted to have fun and play different positions and hit. About four weeks after playing again and well on my way to finding my love for the game once again, I received a call from a high school friend who was playing in the Northwoods league in Alexandria, Minnesota. He told me that their team was plagued with injuries and needed pitchers desperately. I took a few days to decide if this was something that I was really going to commit to. It was one thing playing in a run of the mill league and doing whatever I wanted to on the field, but to go back to competing in a the second best wood bat summer ball league was a whole different story. I knew that if I was going to make it that it would be on the bump, so I decided that this was going to be my test run to see if I still really wanted it. I was going for the experience and not having to live at home for the rest of the summer, but more importantly to have fun.

As soon as I stepped off the plane, something about Minnesota felt a lot different than California. Besides all of the mosquitoes, it was a beautiful environment to be in. I was living in a town with about 10,000 people in the city limits and about 30,000 more in the immediate surroundings. The best part about my summer was the host family I was staying with. I stayed with my buddy and the family he had been staying with, and boy did I luck out. The long dirt driveway leading to the house was like driving through a thick forest. After passing a massive shed and the guest house, you finally arrive at what looks like a giant log cabin. The rolling hills of lush green grass leads down to the lake, where rests in the water a boat and two Sea Doos. This house must have been over 7000 sq. ft and had one of the most interesting and original interiors of any house I’ve ever seen. My room had a queen size bed with my own private balcony overlooking the lake. It was like I had landed in heaven. My friend and I also got to use their 1979 Chevy truck, which was a stick. I had never learned how to drive a stick before and when I learned on this truck, I would be able to on any car. First gear didn’t even work so we had to start it out of 2^nd and sometimes it would be an adventure.

I instantly bonded with the guys on the team, which made the experience that much better. I arrived right before the first half ended and we were just an average team up until that point. It was very easy to get to know everyone really quickly because we would spend at least 6 hours a day together. It would be the first time that I would play everyday and go on long road trips, the furthest being in Thunder Bay, Canada, which was a twelve-hour bus ride. My role would be out of the bullpen and since I had not really thrown in over a month, it took almost two weeks to get strong enough to be confident. Once I had the arm strength, I had found it once again. I went out with some adrenaline, pitching for the first time in front of crowds that exceeded 1000, and didn’t care about the results. I put it all out on the line and it paid off. My first 8 appearances out of the pen were pretty much lights outs. I may have given up a few runs in the beginning, but overall I was very happy with my performances. I became one of the set- up men and we started clicking as a team. We had such good team chemistry that we started rolling. We finished in 1^st in our conference for the second half and earned a berth in the playoffs. Unfortunately, I had to go home to start school and missed the playoffs. I’ll get to the whole school thing in a second. There was one game at home in which I would not do so well. I gave up two homers in an inning with guys on base, but this didn’t shatter my confidence. Our field was very unorthodox because there was a lake behind center field. Because of the lake, it was only 340 to center, and at the deepest 385 in left center. Both the homers were pop flies that on any other normal field in the country would be outs. I just brushed them off and told myself that they were just lucky! The reason I bring this up is because I would later learn at Fullerton that this is the mindset that is needed even if a guy hits a 500 ft homer. I didn’t know it at the time that thinking those guys were just lucky was exactly it. As a pitcher, it is important to have the mindset that you are dominating; and if someone does get a hit or even a homer, they are simply the luckiest sob on planet earth. Gimme a new ball ump. Get the next chump in there. This guy isn’t going to be so lucky. This kind of mentality almost assures being able to stop a potential threat. Rallies are nothing more than positive energy being passed along from batter to batter who are feeding off the negative energy from the pitcher. “Mistake” pitches, pitches thrown with lack of confidence, start getting crushed and before you know it, your pitcher who was rolling for the first 3 or 4 innings is now about to blow the game by giving up a 5 spot. It all started with that key double off the wall which took a huge blow to the pitchers confidence. These big innings can and must be stopped now! That no out double should at worst end with minimal damage and getting your team back in the dugout to get back the run you just gave up. But big innings can crush your team, mentally taking you out of the rest of the ball game.

Stay tuned until Thursday to find out how I actually got to Fullerton. Don’t be afraid to speak your mind and leave a comment. Your input is important to the success of this blog.