Called Up After Years In The Minors/Garrett Jones

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-garrettjones040810

This is it for MLB,Little League ,High School and College Baseball!

Are you ready for the season? Have you got your gameplan and tickets ? What teams are you following? This is my sample gameplan . You want to spread out your different levels of Fandom . I follow my High School alma Mata so I check out their away games in the town I live in,fortunately they play in the town I work in, against the school I work at, shhhh!!! As for my college its a tough one , unless I play hookey one day and skip down to the Northshore of Boston.

The kids are at three different levels so their will be many minivan shuffles over the next ten to twelve weeks. Their will be lots of double shuffling! We love the Red Sox and we are excited about the Futures at Fenway in July 10,2010 and we also love the Seadogs. The Dogs play Harrisburg on June 28,2010 in Portland . Stephen Strassburg will probably be gone by then to the Majors,but we love the Dogs!

We got three standing room Sox Pax and we will enjoy them .Baseball camp is in July! Throw in the two or three more Seadogs games throughout the summer. Plus we have our local New England College Baseball League Affiliate the Sanford Mainers and we are set for a great season! Follow your teams have fun and stay limber. You never know when you have to throw a batting Practice. Also sign up for your basball camps early its a great time for the kids. I like the Sanford Mainers camp. I will give you a link to the Mainers WWW.SANFORDMAINERS.COM Have fun and score a game or two with the little ones or your friends or other half.

HOW DO YOU SPELL MIDDLE RELIEF

When you think of a middle relief pitcher in Baseball ,no jumping for joy happens, A Pitcher does not start out their career thinking I want to be a middle reliever , a mop up man , or a setup man . What exactly do you have when you get a good middle reliever.You end up with a key ingredient in the chemistry of a team. Often this position gets so overlooked that it really can be the key to a team success or failure.

What pitcher on your favorite mlb team gives you quality innings;selflessly and does so in age old work ethic fashion.
Most people that are casual fans do not think about this at all. If you have a team that is going to win 90-100 baseball games ,that same team is going to lose 60-70 games . Given the fact that some of those wins are going to come from behind ,if the team is good ,say 8 wins a season from behind;then say in the losses the score was like 7-0 in the third that is when the middle reliever shows up; what do these facts mean about the middle reliever.

Its pretty logical that straight up if your dealing with 16-20 games that could make or break your season then if your middle reliever gives you an average of 4 innings per
outing over those 20 outings;and another 50 or 60 innings over the course of the season then a good middle reliever is giving you 130-150 innings in a season . This is equivalent to 15-17 starts per season,if the starting pitcher went 9 innings. Now if you look at a season when the first pitch is thrown you have 162 games and 9 innings per game which equals 1458 innings on average excluding the extra inning games and rain shortened games. If you have 5 starters and they give you an average of 7 innings per start with about 30 starts each , your talking 1050 innings, in reality its probably closer to 6 2/3 innings per start.That takes away 50 innings from your starters. Your setup man may give you 60 innings each ;and your closer 40 innings.If you add it all up the starters are giving you 1000 innings, the setup guys 60 innings each righthander and lefthander. So 1000 plus 60 and 60 and 140 from you middle reliever ; plus 40 from your closer equals 1300 innings of quality pitching on a successful team wth 90-100 wins.

As the math becomes a reality to most managers the bottom line is that you will still be shy 158 innings. Those become the innings of prayer as I call them and the bottom line is that 158 innings is about 17-18 games. Now you know why a middle reliever is important. The middle reliever also preserves the staff ; he gobbles up innings that give no glory, and sometimes the team comes back; and he gets the win! Most of all the middle reliever with a good outing helps the team momentum. Baseball is a game of momentum. The middle reliever preserves opportunity for the team. Look up any championship team and I guarantee you that you will find a great middle reliever.

Love OF The Game

When you grow up playing baseball and looking at baseball cards you start to form your love of the game and your favorite team or players!Now kids and adults are playing MLB games on WII,Play Station or XBOX. Kids nowadays have their ds ,psp,kindle and soon the ipad. Info is everywhere. You can surf the web and pick up info at any time of day on your favorite Team, franchise, or ballplayers.We all follow players on the way up but what happens when the Lights go out and the Party is over. How about if the Party never started ? It does not take away your love for the game.

Baseball is everywhere and I thought you might like to go where  some former stars go every night all summer long . We are going to the Independent leagues. Seven Leagues come to my mind off hand and you can use the baseball search engine on my site to find info for game times if you live in the areas where they play. The first League I keep an eye on is the United League down in Texas. Ita started May 16, 2006`. I just like the names of the teams . Two always come to mind the Amarillo Dillas in Amarillo ,Texas and the Coastal bend Thunder in ,Robston ,Texas.  I may buy a Dillas hat soon ,if I can hide it from the wife. I always just think of an Amadillo getting caught in a west Texas thunderstorm in a Flashflood and floating away. Nothing to do with baseball I know but thats what I think of. The baseball must be good down in Texas because ole Nolan Ryan came from there and he was pretty good I would say!

 The next league I watch is the Northern League founded in 1993. This league has stadiums that seat 4000 to 8000 people and again some pretty colorful names. The league is populated by teams like the Joliet Jackhammers from Joliet, Illinois . All I can think off is the Blues Brothers playing baseball and causing mayhem in the process.  The league also sports teams like the Winnipeg Golden Eyes in Winnipeg ,Manitoba. You have to love baseball to roadtrip on a bus from Joliet ,Illinois to Winnipeg,Manitoba . Do not ever tell a baseball player that  he has not paid his dues because even if you are a superstar you started some where and rode some buses in the process.In the Can Am League you will fiind the Belleville Basher( Brian Daubach) managing a team this year Yes the daubberr ,Brian Daubach the former Red Sox will manage the new Pittsfield, Massachusetts team the Pittsfield Colonials.They will compete against teams from Canada as well, like the Quebec Capitales,where Eric Gagne was plying his trade last year.

In the American Association you have teams like the St Paul Saints, Wichita Wingnuts ,Grand Prairie AirHogs and the Pensacola Pelicans. Major League Umpire Lance Barrett started in The American Association.Former Saint Paul Alum Kevin Millar is trying to make the Chicago Cubs this year. Kevin is baseball famous for keeping it all fun and crazy in the clubhouse ,check out the 2010 Pensacola Pelicans video  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEYenCQZzJ8&feature=player_embedded  this could be a future Millar. Hunter Davis could be a future star. These players are playing to get there but what is wrong with a little fun on the way?


In the Atlantic League this year they have TOSHHISA NISHI former japanese Star with the Lancaster Barnstormers and the Newark Bears proclaim the signing of former Yankee prospect Fernando Seguignol.
The Bears have some great Alumni including Hall of Famer Rickey Henderson after the superstar years. Rickey Loves Baseball so much he would not retire! The Bears can also claim Jared Weaver and Ruben Sierra as Alumni. My favorite is the coach of the Somerset Patriots Sparky Lyle.
I stiil have not gotten over Danny Cater for Sparky Lyle ,or Larry Anderson for Jeff Bagwell ,and I think David Murphy for  Eric Gagne may rank up there eventually.The Frontier League will bring you the Big News that Dmitri Young has signed on to be a VP and Sr. Advisor for Baseball Operations for the Oakland County Cruisers in Waterford ,Michigan. This league also has teams like the Washington Wild Things in Washington,Pa.and another favorite of mine the River City Rascals in O'Fallon ,Mo.
These team names are great and the baseball is great too.The final League I check in on is The Golden Baseball League. The Motto of this League is "WE LOVE BASEBALL".This league is only a few years old but they have some great names associated with it Darrell Evans,Tim Johnson,Garry Templeton and Phil Nevin. The league has internet podcasts,and claims a couple of Alums in the majors Chris Jakubaustas a  former Fullerton Flyer and Scott Richmond former Edmonton Crackercat. You have to love a league that claims Bret Boone as one of your managers . Boone comes from baseball pedigree his dad Bob Boone played in the majors from 1972-1990 and his grandfather Ray Boone played in the majors from 1948-1960. His brother Aaron is the first MLB player to come back from OPEN Heart Surgery. Bret had a great career in the Majors and  has picked a great place to start his new career Victoria,BC isn't a bad locale. It is on my bucket list to visit , before I finish my journey.
Have Fun visiting these Independant Leagues and Teams and remember that if you want to take that Baseball journey across America someday include some of these teams in your stops. Remember to root,root,root for the home team!

Hitting and Pitching

If you are new to baseball and want to get great insights into how to teach the Little Leauger players how to hit and pitch,you might want to pick up the following books on Pitching. NOLAN RYAN'S PITCHERS BIBLE by NOLAN RYAN and Tom House. Tom House was a pretty good pitcher in his day and couple him with the Strikeout King and you will learn a thing or two. Amazon should have it available.The book is invaluable for a young mind and if you are teaching 13-17 year olds it teaches discipline ,mental and physical and training skills. It is a great tool to help you coach and encourage or if you want to learn the rigors of what a Pitcher actually has to go through.Page 167 will give you statistical analysis of RYAN's career from 1980-1988 while with the Houston Astros,it is jaw dropping what that man could do with a baseball!!! . Baseball is a game of stats and one stat just floored me was that Ryan threw harder at the end of games than at the beginning during that time period. He is a Living Legend and well earned !!!

The second book every baseball fan should read in their lifetime is The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams and John Underwood . The cover says it all The classic guide to "the single  most difficult thing to do in sport'. Again Amazon should have it and MLB batting champs such as Wade Boggs have endorsed it.Ted Williams in my opinion was probably the best hitter, to ever play the game given that he fought in two wars and was the last player to hit.400 that is amazing. He entererd the Hall of Fame in 1966 and passed in 2002. You might also want to google Rod Carew ,Tony Gwynn and Charlie Lau.Remember to have fun and another great book to help you do that is THE ULTIMATE BASEBALL ROADTRIP. A FAN'S GUIDE TO Major League Stadiums by Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell published in 2004 ,so the current ballparks built in the  last 6 years will not be in their Yankees,Mets Twins and Nationals to think of a few.It does have great insight and will help you plan family outings,i.e. its great background material.Check out the link I provided and go to youtube and look up some of baseball stars of today and the past. Remember to stretch before and after you throw batting practice.