Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Staying Motivated

This has been a long season. Not in the amount of games that we have played but just the length of time. I got here on March 22 and have only pitched in 9 games since then. That is a lot of off time in almost five months. Which has been good and bad. I have been able to grow my relation with God and spend time with him. I have also watched plenty of movies. So if you need any recommendation just ask. So it has been different not playing that many games this season. Only 9 starts isn't much at all for 5 months of baseball. In college I would have 23 appearances in three months. Baseball has always been called a grind. I think there are different kinds of grinds. Here this is so much off time. You might lose focus of what keeps you motivated and keeps you moving forward. I have a few factors that keep me motivated. My biggest motivation is bringing God glory through baseball. He has blessed me with these abilities and opportunities. If it wasn't for him I wouldn't be here. He gives me my confidence every time I  toe the rubber. Another thing that motivates me is proving every person wrong that has ever doubted me. I will never forget this coach I had for a all-star team. His name was Tony Black and he didn't play me at all. I remember just sitting in the dugout wondering why I wasn't playing. On the way I remember crying about it and my Dad telling me don't let this upset you. You have to channel this to make yourself a better player and that's what I did. You will always have people that doubt you. You just have to surround yourself with positive people that will always be there for you. Setting goals is a must. That is one thing my Mom has taught me and always made me do. If you don't have goals in your life, you will just be going through the motions. God didn't put us on earth to just go through the motions. We were all made in his imagine and made to bring glory to him through different things. He may have blessed you with the ability to paint or play an instrument. Whatever God has blessed you with don't waste it. You never know how much longer you have here on earth so live your life to the fullest and play ever game like its your last. There will come a day when you won't be lacing up your cleats anymore and you'll have to look back over your past. You'll have to ask yourself did you give it everything you had, could you have done more? One of my favorite quotes is "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard". I firmly believe a athlete and pass another athlete by out working them. I have seen players quit playing because they got passed by other players and weren't willing to put in the effort to stay at the top. That when you can see who really wants it and who is just going through the motions. I challenge everyone to push yourself a little more today. From doing one more rep or making a few extra phone calls. No whatever what you do, do it to the best of your ability.

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.