Wednesday, April 25, 2007

am i almost caught up yet???

i've been having issues with the blog page because someone or somehow the language was changed to dutch so i've been trying to figure out how to edit and post the past few days while being to lazy to figure out how to change the language - so sorry DAYLE PRINSTEIN.

let's get caught up on the 2nd start on sunday april 24.

all week people were giving me crap about the fuzziness growing on my face...apparently i haven't reached puberty yet and when you throw a no-hitter, at least i'm told, it's custom to not change anything and that includes shaving so things grew or what little i have grew for about 2 weeks and maybe that's why i can't get a date yet?

nevertheless, i wasn't able to continue my no-hit streak i went 8 innings, 3 walks, a hit batter, 6 strikeouts ( i think - i actually still haven't seen the box score, so it might be 5 or it might be 7), 2 Runs, 2 Earned Runs, and 1 hit. Yeah, so in my first 13 innings of the season i've given up only a hit - it was in the third innings, as mr. stan would have predicted in 11th grade english class while reading crime and punishment all bad things come from 3's. i walked the first two batters and after a base hit to left-center i proceeded to drill the next batter in the back with the first pitch and then gave up a fielder's choice that pushed a across the 2nd run, but we easily won the game 10-2 with great defense and great production once again from our hitters. dennis ribbens who replaced dennis de quint at shorstop in the 2nd inning due to an injury by DQ, made a play where he ranged behind 2nd base on a hard hit ball up the middle and from the grass threw out the runner at first...one of the most incredible plays i've ever witnessed in a game i pitched.

i have to say whether it was the weather or the pressure or my practice during the week but despite the one rough inning (which, hey it's baseball those things happen) i felt pretty zoned in, i couldn't even hear ilse (who took some amazing pictures that maybe once i figure out how to get this page back to english i can figure out how to post) yelling my name... i strained my back in the 5th inning and got really tight and ended up going into the 8th and came 1 strike away from striking out the side. the first half of the game, sammy called on point - we just went after them with 2 seam fastballs on the hands but mostly stayed outside with the four seam that was moving a ton - i would start it down the middle and it would move to the corner for a strike or i would start it on the corner and it would move out of the zone for a ball and they would flair it to right or weak grounder to the right side pretty much all day. the change-up finally got going but after the 5th inning we went exclusively with the slider and fastball so sammy really did a great job of making them guess and not seeing all 3 of my pitches in one at bat, in fact, i can't recall one batter that i threw all the pitches too. because of dennis' injury the DH was lifted so i hit for myself - the bad news is i went o-3. the good news is i stayed back and the pitches and tried to let my hands do the work. liner back to the pitcher, hard groundout to 2nd that moved a runner over and a flyball to right but i felt like i got some good wood on the ball and everyday i feel more comfortable with my swing and stance.

we have now started the season 4-0 and are tied with the greys for first, it's real early though so we'll see what happens. but the boys are playing great ball behind me, and we're getting great pitching from everyone.

after the game joena, clio, nick and i tried to get some mexican but had to settle for italian, after we headed out to a cuban dance club playing salsa and merengue music - i felt right at home in adams morgan - washington dc style.

to sum up monday - wednesday =>
lots of running in hoboken. it's been beautiful out in the 20s all day and ive been doing my 45 min circuit through the town to nil's house and back to erwin's.
lots of lifting. finally figured out how to get to the gym by myself so i dont have to depend on dennis, although alain came through clutch when he dropped me off after practice on tues and when erwin picked me up tuesday night because i was waiting for the bus for about 40 min at 11 pm.
lots of going to numerous stores, including the same store 3 seperate times (confusion over when it was open) with joena, joena's mom, and joena with her mom all 3 days before i finally got an adaptor and now can charge my labtop so i can watch dvds that i brought, that won't play on erwin's system and got a headset so i can talk to important people i.e. DAYLE PRINSTEIN over skype. www.skype.com for free.
lots of coaching. frank, the juniors coach, is out all week so i've been running their practices and surprisingly have been able to teach and coach without too many lost in translation problems. we strictly did hitting practice and had a good time on monday. today (wednesday) we got after some defense drills i taught them courtesy of George Washington University Baseball and instituted and practiced various bunt plays and coverages, how to take proper angles to fly balls, and some base running techniques instead of just making them run for the heck of it. i think they all respected where i came from so they listened very well and tried hard in what i was teaching them. i was also able to joke with them and be on their level even as to go as far as to run with them, throw with them, and stretch with them which helps them accept me more because i'm participating in what they're doing and not asking them to do anything i wouldn't (what i hate about american coaches)...unfortunately i'm supposed to coach their game on sunday but because i'm pitching, i find it too difficult to focus all my attention on their game for a few hours before we play ours....and they have no one to coach them so tomorrow i'm going to have to figure out that situation. hmmmm.

i just got back from my 2nd whirlwind at driving stick, from erwin's to the city about 8 minutes i was doing great going from 1st to 3rd but at the red light i stalled out 3 times in a row because i was not good going from clutch and break to 1st, before i finally got it right and made a left turn before stalling out again and then having joena jump out in the middle of the street and switch with me. i have to say i was quite surprised when her and clio showed up to pick me up this evening and they immediately jumped out of the front seat and basically forced me to drive.
i was more nervous than when i pitch, no joke - true story.
so i think i'm finally caught up, although i'm still not sure how the milk can stay fresh outside of the fridge. on gan nam (it's belgianeese for nice to meet you - i'm trying hard to learn at least one phrase and word a day) although i didnt spell it right that's how it sounds.

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