Game 5 & 6 Recap

from http://www.hrosibrno.cz/index.php?mact=News,cntnt01,detail,0&cntnt01articleid=473&cntnt01returnid=53

Playing in Brno for the first time this year (technically "away")  against Technika Brno, we ran into a hot hitting team and were swept in both games of the double-header for the first time this season. Despite the two losses there were some "silver linings."

The first game we used just about everyone on our roster, but unfortunately we faced a dominant American starting pitcher who kept us off-balance with a good mix of fastballs, curveballs, and hard sliders - using both sides of the plate effectively, we did not get a base hit for 5 innings.  When we finally got on the board against a relief pitcher in the 7th inning, they had already scored 17 against us. Although the stats won't show it we received solid individual efforts from Jan Jablonka who hit the ball hard in his first two at bats before getting a base hit in the 6th. Hitting the ball hard every time we come to the plate is all we can ask for. Petr Novotny also pitched well in relief, making his first extra-league appearance. Petr threw strikes but with a few errors behind him and a few pop-ups that went for home runs on the field that sometimes looked more like a softball field during the match, the scorebook won't show that he pitched better than the result.

We lost Game 2 by the score of 16-13, but I was very proud of our guys battling for 3 and 1/2 hours until the final out, overcoming a dominant performance in Game 1, and after being down by the scores of 8-2 and 10-5 at various points in the game, most teams would usually give-up. However, we battled back to tie 11-11 in the 7th before we just ran out of momentum and pitching.  Game 2 saw Martin Jelinek make his first start of the season at 2B and he responded by going 4-4, scoring 4 runs, and also walking twice, reaching base in all 6 of his at bats. Matej Samek, busy all day in leftfield, made a great diving catch with runners on base to end a threat that could have put the game out of reach.  Jan Kuzma and Tomas Janicek added to the Home Run derby for our squad as well. I pitched 4 innings of relief in my first ever Czech Extra-League game, but suffered the loss.

By my count over 10 home runs were hit in the 2 games.  Hitters deserve credit for doing the job but without distances of the fence posted, I'm curious how much further the ballpark was than a regulation softball field.  I look forward to playing again on a field with more realistic baseball dimensions. We can't make excuses about the field, but 17-1 and 16-13 isn't really good baseball or good for the fans.

First home games against Prague Eagles next Saturday, May 4, starting at 13:00 - hope to see all of our fans and families there!

Games 3 and 4 from Ostrava

Ostrava Arrows home field

From www.hrosibrno.cz

After a solid week of good weather and sunny practices in Brno, we traveled to across country to take on the Ostrava Arrows for our 3rd and 4th games of the 2013 season on Saturday April 20th, for a blistering cold affair.

(On a personal note this is the furthest east I've traveled in Europe in 7 years).

The first game was a see-saw battle just like the first game last week against Olomouc and just like in Olomouc we surrendered a late lead with some defensive miscues.  With the score tied in the bottom of the 8th, the Arrows scored on a balk against our young lefty Svata Kraut who was pitching well in relief. This run was costly as it proved to be the difference, as they hung on for a 7-6 win. Vojtech Jelinek was solid in his first start of the season, going 5+ innings before Kraut relieved him by working out of a jam in the 6th. We also received great individual efforts from our 2-4 hitters - Premek Chroust who got on base all day through hits and base on balls, Jan Jablonka hit the ball hard even though some didn't fall in, and Milan Vystrcil drove in a few runs from the cleanup spot.
 

Game 2 proved no match for our bats, as we put up a 7 spot in the 3rd highlighted by a home run from Vystrecil. We received strong pitching from starter Marek Bosansky who threw only 75 pitches in 6 innings, as well as from Jakub Okasa and Jan Hrib, who both pitched for the first time this season, and closed out the 12-3 win in 8 innings for our squad. Chroust and Tomas Janicek also crushed homers and Matej Samek played outstanding defense in LF.

Overall, our defense is improving and our 2-strike hitting was much better after working all week in practice on trying to make productive outs and get key RBI's even if the count is not in our favor. Once again Martin Dvorak caught 17 innings behind the plate and should be praised for stepping up due to our depleted catching depth from injuries and illness.

Next week we'll be in Brno for the first time this year against rival Technika.

Our 8, 9, and 1 hitters getting their swings on.

Opening Weekend in Olomouc

Our team @ Olomouc during the Rain-Delay

 My new number and Uniforms for this year

 Sunset after the double-header split in Olomouc Czech Republic

 From www.hrosibrno.cz

Game 1 & 2 Recaps:
We opened the weekend against Olomouc and I couldn't have been prouder of our team. We had only 3 outdoor practices under our belts and just one short intra-squad game before having to play real games against an actual opponent. Overall, we got great starting pitching from Svata Kraut and Marek Bosansky who combined to throw 11 shut-out innings in the 2 games on Saturday. Vojtech Jelinek also pitched well, despite unusual circumstances - when he had to wait over an hour between innings during a rain delay in Game 1. I think our pitching was a big question mark going in to the season and those 3 pitchers really answered the call.  Usually when you start a baseball season, the offense is the last thing to come around but our guys did a fantastic job hitting the ball - out-hitting Olomouc in both games.  If we continue that type of production we are going to be successful this season. Individually, Jan Jablonka and Premek Chroust did a great job getting on base and setting the table as our 1-2 hitters in the line-up. Tomas Janicek and Jan Kuzma also had some big hits in Game 2 that really put the game out of reach. Our defense faltered in Game 1 but played a much cleaner Game 2, and once we get some more practices I think we will be able to improve a lot and correct some early season miscues. Finally, hats off to Martin Dvorak who behind the plate for every inning of both games, stepping up due to injuries and illness that made our other catchers unavailable for the games. Looking forward to this weekend's games in Ostrava and hopefully starting the year with a 3-1 record.

Our Game 1 starter, young lefty pitcher Svata Kraut

First Month in Czech Republic

I've been searching for the write phrasing to get this post started and I realized when I sat down to write, as different of an experience as living in a new country usually is - when you're playing baseball for a job in Europe, so many things are strangely familiar. I've lived in Belgium, Israel, Australia, Netherlands, Germany, and Hungary before setting up shop in Brno Czech Repubic this year and one consistent is that baseball players love to stop at McDonalds or KFC whenever they are on the road... I arrived on March 15th in the early afternoon, and two of my teammates picked me up from the Prague airport, and as soon as I mentioned that I was hungry - it was "let's take you to McDonalds to make you feel at home." Of course I only have eaten McD's on road trips in Europe and Australia with baseball players. Standard.

So many of the new experiences I've written about on this blog in past years, I begin to experience every year, regardless of the country. There is a language barrier, I am always struggling to translate menus and ask waitresses at restaurants whether the food contains dairy or lactose - and the first phrase I end up learning is "No Cheese Please" - "Bez syr prossim"

This year has presented two unique challenges. The first has been trying to practice baseball while it snowed, rained, with freezing temperatures and unplayable fields for the first 3 weeks here. In 7 years in Europe, I have never experienced weather this bad to begin a season. Our opening series was cancelled and we were finally able to go outside a mere three days before our season opener in Olomouc. As Head Coach, I had to somehow figure out who was what and how good everyone was in the organization before I could put a team together on a field. In the States, pro baseball has a month and a half of spring training to figure this out - we had 2 practices and no warm-up games.
The other challenge is for the first time in my career, I have to balance playing responsibilities while also overseeing and managing everything. It's hard to focus on my own training and practices when I'm also running a practice for 25 guys and needing to observe how good they are, where they need better instruction and get a system in place that everyone understands despite the vastly different baseball uprbringings and constant language barrier. In a game, I have to warm-up to pitch while making sure everything is going right AND making sure my pitchers don't lose confidence in their own abilities if I replace them with myself (especially when I know I can do the job). The easy thing to do is just put myself in the game where I see fit, but that doesn't necessarily accomplish the goal of getting our guys better and understanding our strengths and weaknesses of our team. So I've relegated myself to the bench for the first few weeks to all of this out. In years past, I would probably be ranting and raving that the coach hasn't used me in situations that I would definitely excel and help our team, but in this instance - I can't be upset with the coach, because the coach is me!

Meanwhile, for maybe the first time in my international baseball career I have been completely satisfied with my living quarters, my salary, and having the confidence of my boss to do what I need to in order to get maximum return on my baseball knowledge and strategies. Finally, at 29 years of age I've come to homeostasis for the first time in my career. Comfortable with my team, comfortable with my role, and having the authority and mandate to do what I see fit on the baseball field. So many times I've thought about hanging up my spikes and settling down in the States finally, but I'm glad I haven't had fortitude to follow through on my innate threats, as I would have never known what it would have been like to be totally happy with a baseball situation. I've had countless run-ins and issues with coaches, their decisions, and my roles on various teams dating back to my youth - but now I'm in control of my own baseball playing destiny, and as challenging as that is to balance everything, the feeling is the best I've ever had.

I've fallen into a day to day pattern of a Czech lifestyle - delicious coffee just down the block from where I live, researching and writing reports on the best European prospects for my scouting job with the Orioles, planning and executing practices and games to the best of my baseball abilities, and the confidence in my own abilities to play where I see fit. Once again, I'm in a far away strange land, with no prior friendships or anyone that I knew personally, even just a month ago, but maybe that's what I find so comforting in my life at this point - the non-comforting unfamiliarity and new experiences of this baseball vagabond lifestyle.