Hey everybody, So, I was supposed to pitch again on April 15th. and I definitely can’t wait to get back on the mound and put yesterday’s outing behind me. That’s going to have to be postponed one extra day. Why? Not because of my outing so sub-par it would give even Tiger Woods a run for his money. Not because they are bringing up a new pitcher from extended spring training. No. 28-year old Cliff Lee. You may know him from a little team known as the Cleveland Indians. You may also know he is rehabbing on his way back into the Tribe rotation from an abdominal strain. He’ll be taking over that game, pushing me back an extra day. No big deal. It gives me an extra day of rest. An extra day to regroup, relieve, and respond. So, if you live near eastlake and want to check out a few innings of Cliff Lee, come to the ballpark and check it out.

Okay, I’m not sure of the exact quote but I can’t stop thinking about Curt Schilling’s comments on his April 2nd outing vs. the Kansas City Royals in which he only threw 4 innings and was taken out of the game. It went something like, “I go out there trying to get at least 7 innings out of every start, and when I only go 5, that’s frustrating. Only going 4; that ***** something else.” He went on to state that, “As a starting pitcher, you can make your team look a lot worse than it really is sometimes and that day was today.”
2 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs, 3 BB, 1 K, 1 balk, 1 fielding error, and 1 HR. Stat of the night: 1 loss

I totally agree with you Curt Schilling.
But, if 4 ***** something else, then 2 probably isn?t fit for a public website.

Tonight was the definition of not having your stuff. The irony, though, (and of course, there has to be irony somewhere) is that warming up, in the bullpen pregame, I was dead on. Hitting spots, making the adjustments, doing the right things to prepare for a game. Tonight, I had a serious case of Inside The Lines syndrome. That means that pregame I do everything right and then once I get out there everything goes wrong.

The first inning wasn’t all that bad. I threw too many pitches and fell behind in the count frequently, but I did not allow myself to issue a walk and they beat me by manufacturing a run (thanks to a balk advancing the runner to 2nd base). It just wasn’t there in the second inning. Couldn’t find the strike zone and more importantly, could not make the adjustments. That’s the key to pitching.

Obviously, it’s not the start I was hoping for. ****, I was kind of looking to never have an outing like this. I’ve got my work cut out for me the rest of the season to put it behind me and start over in 5 games. I’ve got 5 games to reconfigure myself and make the changes that need to be made. Tomorrow morning it begins with a 10 am lift. Let me tell you, I’m through with that stuff. It’s all business now. **** if that is going to happen again. I may not throw perfect games every time out, but I do expect to be able to give 7 strong innings every time out there. I deserved that loss tonight. They may not have deserved a win, as I handed it to them, but they got one. This is part of the job though, you get the wins and you get the losses. And you usually get them because you earned them. Not going to do much sleeping tonight, but instead I will review the night and figure out what I can do to make sure it never happens again.

-Mike

I’m back! Finally. It felt like I’ve been gone forever, but it’s only been 5 days. What a 5 days it’s been. I’m back now to begin my new series, which will follow our road trips. Every single one of them. Let you know how it goes series-by-series.
April 4: We leave for Charleston, West Virginia. Of course, I’m last on the bus, so I’m the only person who didn’t get a seat to himself (other than the person I sat with). No, don’t think I was lazy getting on. I had extra work to do. First, I had to pitch 4 innings of a simulated game INSIDE (thankfully) to a toy batter (like in Major League). I capitalize “inside” because it was freezing cold. Literally. It was about 30 degrees. Brrr. Well, after that I had to ride the stationary bike for 25 minutes, then ice my arm down. By the time I was done, we had 5 minutes left. Well, we got on the road and about 3 hours in, we passed good old Exit 1 on I-77. That’s Marietta, Ohio. My stomping grounds for 3 years in college.

April 5: First game of the year. No thanks. 35-40 degrees. This was as bad as it could get in our opinion. Boy were we wrong. Anyway, we ended up losing 4-3.

April 6: Game 2, sort of. We started the day by getting to the field only to realize it was snowing sideways! Now, we have about 11 Latin American players on our team. Each one of them had never seen snow in their entire lives. It was a treat to watch them go crazy over just a little bit of snow. Albeit, it was snowing pretty hard. Now, I swear, you’ll never see these guys this crazy and taking this many pictures. It was great. They were like 10 year olds; throwing snowballs, picking up all of the snow, taking the pictures. Well, the game starts and Steven Wright, my roommate is pitching pretty well, except for one mistake pitch that led to a “seed” home run that bounced off the Pepsi sign in deep left-center. Here, in the bottom of the 3rd. He pitches the ball. Pop fly to left-center. Nobody moves. We can’t see the ball! That’s how hard it was snowing! The game was called and we all went home. Frozen.

April 7: Finish the first game and play the second game. Here’s my day though: Lift at 10 am, bus to the field at 1 pm, throw a bullpen after team stretch, get ready to chart in the stands. Now, I don’t mind charting. I get to eat food and watch the game with not much to do. But I was wearing 6 layers as well as sweatpants under my jeans. I was cold. Still! We won the first game in a late comeback, but lost the second.

So, we are 1-2 headed into a 4-game series at Greensboro, NC. Hopefully, we can put on the burners and leave here 5-2. I’ll be back in a day or two for a blog on what goes on during rain/snow delays, with pictures as well. So, check in.

Florida Gators…National Champs 2007…They were just too good
Fausto Carmona pitched for us today against Akron in an exhibition game created pretty much just for him, so he could stay on schedule to pitch in the 5th game of the Indians’ schedule. He basically dominated, allowing only one hit in (I think) 7 innings. That one hit was a solo home run, but otherwise he was dominant. Hopefully that keeps up for the Indians this year.

Tomorrow is my last warmup for the regular season. I’ll be throwing a 4-inning simulation in the bullpen to get the necessary work and progressively prepare my body to pitch for 5 innings on April 10th. For now, I’m going to watch part II of the National Championships as Tennessee (wo)manhandles Rutgers.

-Mike

P.S.- I gave you an inside look at my spring training locker a few posts ago. well, here is an actual look at my Lake County locker. Everything’s there, plus a bunch of pitching or baseball-related books.

Well, today is the men’s NCAA National Championship game. Boy, I can’t wait. I know this site is for baseball blogs, but today I have something to say. Joakim Noah may be my favorite college athlete of all time. It used to be a tie between Allen Iverson (former Georgetown basketball guard) and Roscoe Parrish (former UMiami kick returner/wide receiver). Forget them. It’s been so long since we’ve seen a trash-talker in college sports. Kellen Winslow is the only one that comes to mind.
If you haven’t been watching ESPN, you just wouldn’t know. Here’s the laydown. Ohio State guard called Florida’s 2007 squad, “…good…” and the media decided to let Joakim Noah know about it. Noah has never been one to shy away from words and the look on his face was one for future ESPN Who’s #1’s. If only this had happenned before ESPN went crazy and started doing countdown’s like every sport went on strike. Anyway, Joakim Noah went on to say:

“Oh my god! He said that? Noooooo. I really don’t know what to say”

Haha, all I can say is finally some controversy in college sports Cannot wait to see the most intense athlete in college basketball take it out on the Buckeyes.

Well, today was moving day. Although most of my stuff is still on its way with the moving truck, I’ve got clothes and baseball gear to last the three days until then. So far, barring a pretty tumultuous moving day, it’s going well. They have put us up at the Radisson just across the street from our ballpark. It’s a beautiful park. I am anxious to get in the locker room tomorrow and start settling in, even though we leave for a 7-game road trip on Wednesday.
Anyway, I’ll be updating you guys on my outings, but besides that, whatever comes to mind I’ll share it with you all. From clubhouse experiences in the South Atlantic League to my weekly top 10; I hope you stay interesting and we can stay in touch.

So right now i’m sitting in the hotel room watching opening day of Major League Baseball (Cardinals vs. Mets) and cheering on …… nobody. Frankly, i just hope to see a perfect game or a no-hitter or some kind of great pitching performance every time I watch a game. I’ll let you all get back to your days. Talk to you soon!
-Mike

In today’s generation of technology, the idea of charting with pencil and paper typically draws an, “Ugh,” from the duty-bound pitcher. Luckily, at least in the Indians organization, computers are the new thing. It seems complicated at first, but it works pretty simple. One of the charting pitchers each game will be assigned the “Comchart” and sits behind home plate to do so. This is a laptop computer with a program on it to chart the game pitch-by-pitch. After each pitch, the charter is obligated to mark down what happened. Here’s the “quick and easy” process between pitches. Keep in mind; the average time between pitches is usually about 15 seconds:
1. Pitch location
2. Pitch type
3. Pitch speed
4. Hit In Play/Swing and Miss/Strike Looking/Ball
IF IT IS PUT IN PLAY THE LIST GOES ON….
5. Where the ball landed
6. Hard/Medium/Soft hit ball
7. Line Drive/Fly Ball/Ground Ball
IF AN OUT IS MADE….
8. Who made the out(s)
9. Repeat steps 1-8 each pitch

PHEW! Sounds like a lot of stuff doesn’t it? Well, it goes by pretty quickly once you get the hang of it. And we definitely get the hang of it. You see, on a baseball card it would list me as a right-handed pitcher, but pitchers like myself (The starting pitchers, that is) know it is more like right-handed charter. I’ve mentioned it before. In a 5-man rotation, there are 4 days in between starts. What do we do? We chart! Each day is different. Either you are on the hitting chart, pitching chart, velocity, or Comchart. I will briefly let you know how each works.

Hitting Chart: This monitors the location of the pitches thrown TO our hitters FROM the opposing pitcher. It can actually help our manager discover trends of opposing pitchers, but it is typically used to determine what type of pitches our own hitters are swinging at, and hopefully hitting.

Pitching Chart: This monitors the pitch type, velocity, and location for each pitch thrown by our pitchers. It also allows us to keep a tally on the total pitches thrown to each batter, each inning, and overall in the game. After each game, the unlucky pitcher on this chart has to add up all of the following and mark them down: 1-1 strikes, 1st-pitch strikes, curveballs thrown/#of strikes, fastballs thrown/# of strikes, changeups thrown/#of strikes, and any others, total pitches, total strikes, hits allowed, walks allowed, runs allowed, strikeouts, innings pitched.

Velocity Chart: Pretty simple. The person on this chart holds the radar gun in one hand and writes down the speed of each pitch. The only thing is it needs to be marked if it is from the windup or the stretch.

And you know about the Comchart, the 21st century’s way of combining all the other charts into one easy, computerized stat machine.

Leave any comments you like and I will respond ASAP. Thanks for reading.

-Mike

Hey, Every week I will be doing a Top 10. This week’s topic is baseball movies. Of course, people will disagree with some of my opinions, but that’s just what they are; opinions. I’m sure mlb.com would appreciate me saying views expressed may not be the same views of the writers of mlb.com. Anyway, on with the Top 10.

Honorable Mention: Angels In The Outfield, Eight Men Out, Bang The Drum Slowly, The Natural, Mr. Baseball)
Best Of The Rest: The Rookie
10. Little Big League (Griffey and Randy Johnson make this movie!)
9. Rookie Of The Year (I grew up TRYING to trip on a baseball and break my arm so I could throw gas)
8. The Scout (Nebraska! Nebraska! Nebraska!)
7. 61* (Billy Crystal’s HBO masterpiece)
6. Field Of Dreams (do i even have to say it? okay, i will. “If you build it…”)
5. Major League 2 (Rube, Tanaka, and the crew…c’mon now)
4. Cobb (few have seen this movie, but everybody should…includes a Roger Clemens cameo)
3. Bull Durham (can’t forget Nuke LaLoosh getting called to the big leagues from single-A haha)
2. For Love Of The Game (as a pitcher, it was tough to put this at #2)
1. Major League (in my opinion, the greatest sports movie of all time)

Hey everyone, Well it is a couple weeks overdue, but I finally got back on the mound after being sidelined for an inflamed wrist. I could hardly throw a baseball for a couple days because of a ganglion cyst in my throwing arm’s wrist, but I’m good now. It felt like forever before they let me get back to pitching. Anyway, I was scheduled for 1 inning of relief in an intersquad game. I threw pretty well (1 ip, 0 run, 0 hit, 0 bb, 1 k, on 9 pitches). Of course, that is only 1 inning, but it’s a good start.

Just keeping you guys updated on how its goin here. Sorry it’s been a few days since my last post. I’ll be posting more later tonight.

-Mike

Ever wondered what goes on in there? How it looks? What do they do with all that laundry? How do we pass the time? What’s the food like? Well, I’m about to give you the inside scoop. If you’re not prepared for descriptions way below your expectations, I recommend you leave now. This is not the Major League clubhouse, which I haven’t seen yet, so I couldn’t give you a quick rundown. Welcome to the Minors. The grind. I’ll get into the bus rides another time. For now, let’s dive into the fascinating world of the minor league clubhouse.
1. Lockers
What you find in most is about the same as what you’ll find in mine…I got my shoes, which include the Nike cleats, Nike turfs/running shoes, street shoes (usually the old Oakley sandals I wear all the time), and the all-too-necessary shower sandals. That’s on the top rack. Hanging on the wire that scales through all of the lockers in my row you’ll find my jersey, pants, and a plethora of UnderArmour gear for the cold or the hot. Beneath this, the 2007 Marietta College media guide (some easy reading when I’m bored) and the binder for my bullpen notes and classroom pamphlets. Enough of a visual for you? Moving on…

2. Laundry
So much of this. Leave it to the clubbies to deal with. It truly is amazing how quickly they get it done. After the day is over, we put our uniforms and other clothes in specific “piles.” I swear I could leave the room for 5 minutes and my stuff will be cleaned and back in my locker. Magic. Magic I tell you!

3. Food
Now we hit the tricky part. No, we don’t get fed steak and lobster and mashed potatoes and such. Rather, our afternoon meal is typically dry chicken, peanut butter & jelly sandwich and the salad bar. I’m used to it by now. Plus, I try not to complain, since it IS free. Along with breakfast, which consists of fruit, plain oatmeal, plain grits, and pancakes. I’ll never forget last year at Mahoning Valley when Jason Michaels worked out with the team one day. He bought everybody on the team a full meal from Applebee’s. What a treat that was. I hope I see more major leaguers this season.

4. Passing the Time
Here’s my favorite part. A quick rundown of the things we do in there in between the morning workouts, the rain delays, and other waits.
-13 (a.k.a.-“Splooge”): 2-4 player game. Best when played with 4. Each player gets 13 cards. The cards are dealt one at a time to each player until the cards are gone. 2’s are the highest card. And the suits go, from low to high, Spade/Club/Diamond/Heart. The key is to get rid of all of your cards first. The person with the 3 of spades leads the game and may throw any hand from a single card to a pair and on. It’s a confusing game to describe with words on here, but it’s fun and definitely addicting. You’ll hear the words, “I always lose,” from my mouth frequently, but it’s fun nonetheless. – -Other than the frequent card games, you’ll see a number of players fiddling with their iPods, reading a book, or playing their Playstation Portable (PSP). But everybody has something to do. If you’re bored there’s usually an argument about something going on somewhere, be it sports, politics, or everyday things.

I hope I’ve been able to help you reach into the clubhouse and check out what it’s like inside. These were just a handful of the things you’ll find inside. If you want to know more, just go ahead and comment on this blog and I’ll respond with another one.

-Mike