Monday, August 5, 2013

We Made Playoffs

This past weekend we played the A's at home. I was really looking forward to this weekend since my sister and her husband were coming.They got in on Friday morning, so I headed up to Vienna and spent the day with them. It felt good to see them again since it has been about 4 months since I last saw them.
On Saturday it was hot, it was in the upper 90's for our games. So we knew that it was going to be a long day. But not as long as it actually was. I arrived at the field at 10:40 and we didn't leave till 6:37. We won game one 11-4. It was a long game to start off the day. We didn't start game two till 4:30. I felt really good warming up since we had a week break between games. The same umpire was behind the dish for both games. By the second game the strike zone was all over the place, for both teams. I pitched 7 innings and had to come out because of my pitch count. We didn't play the best defense that game. There weren't many earned runs for either team. The final score ended up being 19-12. Which is really high for the import game. It just wasnt a good day of baseball. But the important thing is we got the wins. With the Cubs losing both their games Sunday we clinched a playoff spot now we just got figure out what place we will be in. 
The day after the game Nicki, Clay, Stephanie and I hung out in Vienna for the day. We went to a few places they haven't been yet but mostly just hung out together. There is a film festival right now and there is every kind of food there. But mostly the atmosphere is what you go there for. I was really happy I got to see Nicki and Clay. I was starting to miss home a little bit and they were just what I needed to pick me up.  
We only got three games left before playoffs start. This year it is best of seven not best of five like it was last year. It will be interesting end of the season to see where everyone ends up. I can't  wait for playoffs to start. There is just something different about games when you know it's win or go home. You get to see what kind of guys you got. The kind that step up in big games or crumble under the pressure. It's easy to play when no one is really at the game and doesn't really matter if you win or lose. One of the best games I have ever pitched was in front of the biggest crowd I have ever played in front of. It was the summer after college, I was down in Macon playing in the Peach State League. It was the Forth of July and there were fireworks after the game. My Dad, Nicki and Clay were there to see me play. There were about four thousand people there that night. I threw 7 1/3 innings and only gave up one hit and one run. It was an awesome atmosphere to be pitching in. You have to learn how to channel your nerves. I learned a long time ago from my pitching coach that you should never be nervous. If you put in the work and you you are prepared, you should never be nervous. Yes butterflies will always be there, but you are suppose to have those. This goes for everything in life, if you did everything you could to get ready there is no reason to be nervous. I don't think there will be four thousand people at a playoff game but that shouldn't matter. It's still the same game, you should always play your hardest and leave it all out there. You never know how many games you got left. I thank God every time I get to lace up my cleats and put on a jersey. Always remember to thank God for all he has blessed you with. Hope everyone has a blessed day. 

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