Does anyone have any ideas for a new thread or post? I feel like I’ve almost covered it all. I’ve talked about the offseason, a lot of my teammates, days off, during the day, and just about everything else in between. Am I missing something that maybe you have caught? Let me know.
CJ
I couldn’t end the night on that post. Even I kind of got a sour taste, and I know why… I’m a people pleaser, I want everyone to be happy. I just know that sometimes those things get frustrating, and I’m sure that’s why it’s so hard to get major league autographs.
ON A HAPPIER NOTE: I did want to tell two great stories that happened this week. There is a lady who regularly attends our games who collects autographs as well. She does it the right way so, don’t worry, I’m not going off on that again… but she’s taken many photos of me throughout the season. She does a great job with action photos. A week or so ago she came up to me with a picture of me swinging, an 8×10 I think, and the ball right on my bat. I signed it for her and was so impressed with the picture that I asked her for a copy whenever she had the chance. Sure enough a week or so later she had it, and another one for me to sign… so the process continued as I asked her for another one. This time she gave me two. The second one was a 4 picture spread of one of my swings and it was great. I mean great shots. I ended up giving her a bat for my photos and hope there’s more to come. I keep all these pictures in a folder and take them home for my parents who sometimes will frame them or keep them for stories one day.
Story number two. After the All Star game we took off our jerseys and put them into a bin. They told us they were going to sell them for charity. I was kind of mad about it because I wanted the jersey for myself. It had my name on the back of it and it was a nice looking jersey. I got to keep my BP one, without my name instead. Riley, a cute 9 year old girl, had been to our games before. She had gotten a few autographs and a few pictures with me. She printed out one picture and had me sign it a week or so ago. I wrote on the picture ‘to riley, you go girl!!’ without really thinking about it. It supposedly made her day. She game back today, with another picture of us, asking me to write something again like that. After I did that I looked over and boom…there it was… my All Star jersey. She and her dad had purchased it and they had it. I freaked out! I wanted it, but I couldn’t ask for it. I then autographed it in a nice silver pen and they are going to take it home and have it forever I guess. But I couldn’t help but be so impressed with her and her dad. They constantly thanked me for taking the time to take a picture and sign for them and he reminded me over and over that “You’re Riley’s favorite”. It’s times like these that make it all worth it. It’s these things that stick into your mind way more than any homerun, hit, or double. To see a little fan get so excited over an autograph is so awesome! I asked her dad to print out another copy of the one I signed… I’m going to put it in the folder with the action shots so I can remember how good I felt after that night.
CJ
So my hits have gone from 900 something back to the 200’s… which I anticipated. The hype is wearing off, haha, nah I’m just kidding. I did want to tell a quick story or two of what’s been going on here in Frederick.
We’re in town for 7 games, 3 against Myrtle Beach and 4 against Kinston Indians. On the second night of our homestand I was stopped after the game by a regular I see quite often at the park. I’m not going to disclose his name, to preserve his identity (haha) but we had a great conversation. This guy is here quite often getting autographs. He’s a veteran at this and has experience. He’s a ‘grapher’ as we call him. He has the box of cards of each player, perfectly setup so that he can get his work in.
It’s not a suprise that many people ask for autographs, but once you get into pro-ball you tend to see the same people with the same cards, sometimes multiples of the same card, over and over and over. It’s not the kids with their one ball trying to get every player for their desk at home. At some point you begin to realize and ask yourself ”are these being sold,” and I feel it’s a good question to ask. I have no problem with signing, I love doing it. But after a game, when there are so many people asking for your autograph because we are so easily accessable here at Harry Grove Stadium, and you get the guys who have 5 and 6 of the same card and really determined to get them signed, it’s tough not to get frustrated when you sign one of the 5 and move on when you hear him mutter “what a jerk” under his breath as you’re walking away because you didn’t do all 5.
I know I’m treading a thin line here, where some people will read this and say “Who does this kid think he is, he should be proud to sign them, he’s just complaining, and so forth”. Please don’t get me wrong, I love to sign, but sometimes, especially after a tough game, you don’t want to sit there and sign 5 of the same card for the same guy you saw last week who had 5 of the same card last week, especially if you suspect him of being a ‘grapher’ or a ’seller’ (someone who sells autographs for cash on the weekends). Does this make any sense? I do have a problem with people who never sign, or avoid it, just because they don’t want to do it. I’ll never refuse to sign autographs, I will limit though if I’m either busy or whatever. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but I think I’ve got a better way to explain it… stick with me…
Most of the time, when I’m getting asked to sign all these cards it’s before the game, where tons of people wait right by our clubhouse door. You can’t even get out of the door before there’s 5 or 8 baseballs in your face. I dont mind signing at all, but sometimes I may be a little late and I have to be out there to warmup, stretch, and get the pitcher ready. I can’t possibly sign for everyone and what everyone has or else I’ll be 10 minutes late. That’s what’s tough. You want to be a good guy and a fan favorite, but it’s almost impossible to get everyone. Then why don’t you just come out earlier? Well, when it starts getting hot outside you begin to get a little more tired. The precious time you have in the clubhouse in the air conditioning really matters. Sometimes I’m not even finished eating my pre-game meal before I have to go out there. We have pitchers meetings daily that sometimes run over depending on the game before. Basically what I’m saying is, sometimes we run behind or late, and for a creature of habit, that’s not good! Not that any of that is an ‘excuse’, I’m just trying to tell you where I’m coming from if you ever encounter me in this ‘mode’.
Back to the guy with the hidden identity… He was waiting outside the clubhouse for about an hour after the game to get my autograph on 5 cards. I did them all because it was just me and him at the park, the game was over, I had nowhere else to be. We started talking and before you know it 20 minutes had gone by. This guy told me his story, of how he trades his cards with friends from the West Coast. I respect that, and I respected him, because the guy is always polite and professional. He knows when I’m busy or when I’m talking to someone. He doesn’t just come up and put his cards and sharpie in my face, interrupting the conversation that I’m currently having. And that’s the way it should be. So I guess I came out of that night not thinking that all ‘graphers’ are sellers, and most of them are good guys. It’s always one bad apple that spoils the bunch right? And it’s like that with everything, not just sports graphing. I don’t know if this is even a good post, because I’m sure there will be people that will get a bad feeling or a sour taste in their mouth for me after this is posted, but I’m just telling you the truth. Again I want to make it clear that I love signing, I’ll never reject anyone. There’s just a way to do it, and a way not to do it. OK, that’s it…promise. Let me know what you think.
CJ
I’ve already written two pieces on Henson and Rowell, so I’ll copy and paste what I wrote earlier about them.
Adams- It’s hard to really comment completely on Ryan because he’s only played for a short time with us due to his injury. What everyone said was ‘This guy can hit’ and sure enough he can. He’s made an immediate impact on our club offensively that has almost completed our lineup. We’ve really got a dangerous lineup here at Frederick. When Tyler Henson is batting 7th, you know something’s up. But Ryan has a great outlook on the game. The times we’ve talked hitting and defense he’s had an open ear with whatever we were talking about. He wants to learn and doesn’t come across at all as ‘knowing it all.’ As a right-hander he hits to the opposite field (right field) better than just about anyone I’ve played with, which is really tough. That’s one of the hardest things for me personally to do. He’s got some serious power for a small guy as well, small in stature, but not small in size. He’s a really strong kid. He’s cut like a Greek God. The only thing that’s holding him back right now in my mind is his defense. He fields the ball well, he’s got good hands. It’s his throwing… that’s it… and sometimes that’s easily fixable and sometimes not, remember Chuck Knoblauck (i know that’s not spelled right). In my opinion it’s easily fixable. He just needs to get on top of the baseball. He throws with a 3/4 arm angle every time therefore making his throws errant wide. It’s not so much high or low but it’s wide. When he sets his feet and gets on top of the ball he’s fine. He’s still young and he’ll figure it out, no doubt. Sometimes it takes a few years to get accustomed to your body and how it’s changing and maybe that’s all he needs because he can sure hit is way to the big leagues.
Henson- This guy could really do some damage. He’s made the move to right field with extreme ease. He looks like a complete natural out there and already has two assists. His reads off the bat are right on and like I said, he looks like a pure natural. With the bat though he strikes out a lot. He’s still a young hitter and like Rowell he’s got some to learn. It’s hard for me to realize too that he’s young. I thought he was a college guy and then was later corrected earlier in the year. He’s a good learner and Denny Walling is working hard to keep his bat steady. When he’s on he’s on, and hits with power to all fields. In my opinion, this guy could really get on the maps with a good year. He’s definitely a sleeper.
Rowell- Billy is a hard guy to figure out but being around him every day I’ve finally figured him out. It’s hard to believe he’s only 20 years old. His swing is almost perfect and he’s got an explosive and accurate arm in the outfield. He’s getting better and better everyday in the outfield and it just takes experience. I can attest that it’s not as easy as it looks. It takes time and work to get the correct routes that major leaguers make look so easy. He will figure it out with his swing and the outfield and he’ll be a great player. He’s still really young for the league and I think it’s unfair to completely write him off just yet, as so many have. As he grows with age, he’ll grow with maturity and knowledge of the game and hopefully passion of the game. I think it’s there and I don’t doubt his desire to play. He’s a good guy to be around in the clubhouse even though he doesn’t say much. He’s one of those guys that if you don’t know him or haven’t spent a lot of time around him he could be taken the wrong way as a guy who doesn’t care and is just happy to be there. He’ll be fine.
Hope that helps-
CJ
Alice In Knoxville, We were close.
Rush in Cincy… Not so close!
Me playing Rockband in the off-season.
Me and my little cousin, and yes, that’s an O’s hat and orange crocks.
Did I mention I enjoy hunting too?
This is the band, Cold Steal, at one of our concerts
Me and Trent with Eric Singer, best drummer ever!
Cold Steal’s first ever show, on top of the dugout at our college baseball field. Sweet!
My Favorite drumming pic.
Colorado last winter, I’m in there somewhere…
I was asked by a fan what I do in the off-season when I ‘have to’ take some time off from baseball. Here’s my response…
Like I’ve said before, you can probably find me at any sporting event that’s going on in Nashville. I enjoy hockey and try to play every Monday and Thursday at a rink around town that offers Open Hockey for anyone who wants to come from 11-1. It’s no contact and typically consists of guys in their mid 20’s and above who are trying to get a workout in while playing hockey. It’s great. People sometimes don’t realize the workout hockey is on your legs. After I get done playing for two hours I am absolutely spent, more than catching a 4 hour baseball game. It’s fun to put the pads on and skate for a few hours twice a week.
Being in Nashville everyone knows about how music dominates the scene. There are tons and tons of concerts offered daily. I always love going to concerts and I really do enjoy music. I was asked too by this fan what types of music I listen to and it’s really everything. I like to hit the ’scan’ button whenever I’m in the car and just stop it on songs that I like. These songs could be just about anything, country, rap, alternative, but most of all I love 80’s rock. Story time… Two years ago a former roommate of mine Trent Bailey and I were on an Alice Cooper high. We traveled to Knoxville, Huntsville, DuQoin, St. Louis, and one show in Nashville following his live tour. Call us crazy, but we had so much fun. About the second show we got in with the band and got to know them. For our last two shows we got VIP passes. I didn’t get to meet Alice but we did get on stage in Knoxville for ‘elected’ one of his last songs. WOW! Talk about adrenaline rush!
Back to 80’s rock. I currently come out to The Outfield “Lose your love tonight.” I’m a huge fan of those style bands including the Police, Rush, Alice Cooper, Bon Jovi, Kiss, Heaven and Hell (which Billy Rowell comes out to). I give all the credit to my friend Trent Bailey who really introduced me to all these great bands. As we speak, Billy Rowell has my iPod and is downloading all my songs onto his iPod because he likes them too. We can go on and on about music because there’s something about that age where it was a perfect blend of sound and lyrics. It’s not too hard, but just hard enough to get you motivated while at the same time you can HEAR THE WORDS! I hate listening to music that I can’t hear the words. Any stuff like that is not me.
But music does play a big part of my offseason. I am in a band called Cold Steal (in the bottom right hand corner of this website, there’s a link to our band’s very new website with a few demo songs…check it out) and we’ve been together for about 3 years. There are four of us, 2 guys that I played college baseball with, and Trent… the master. The three of us ballplayers haven’t had any musical training and we’re just going off the hip, where as Trent is naturally talented combined with years of training. He is the best guitarest I’ve ever heard. He can hear a song once, and play it right back at you in 5 minutes. Incredible! We’ve been lucky enough to play a few small shows in front of small crowds and it was a total blast. It’s a different kind of adrenaline rush that you get on stage, even if there’s only 50 people in the crowd. Making music is something that I really enjoy doing… and oh yea, I guess I could tell ya’ll what I play… I play the drums! I’ve been heavily influenced by Neil Peart of Rush and Eric Singer of Kiss and Alice Cooper. I just tried to immitate what they were doing and sure enough if you do what they do it comes out the same sound! Pretty easy eh? No not really, because they’re great at what they do.
So, there you have it! There IS more to me than just baseball! haha! Hope this was a good read and let me know what you all think! PS- I have huge crushes on Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift… big shocker!
This seems to be the question most of you are interested in, so I decided to create a thread of its own.
Going into spring training I wasn’t quite sure what my plan was. I had played the majority of the games at catcher in Aberdeen but on my off days I played a little first base and a few games in the outfield. I felt comfortable at first base, and not so much in the outfield, I mean I caught the balls that were at me, but I still felt as though my reads in the gaps were lacking. As I had my meeting with Mr. Stockstill he assured me that I was a catcher, and only a catcher now. There were question marks still at the beginning of Instructional League but I guess I performed well enough there to seal the deal. All I know now is that I’m a catcher. Could that change? I don’t know, I’m just a player, not the developmental guy. I do know that I can play anywhere on the infield right now and feel 100% comfortable because that’s where I played for pretty much my entire career. So, YES I can play other positions and wouldn’t be ignorant to the possibility if they came to me with that as an option. Like I’ve said before, anything it takes to get to the big leagues I’ll do. It’s completely out of my hands at this point.
I enjoy catching and feel that I’m improving daily on the stuff that I need to work on. And I enjoy the infield just as much, if not more, because those positions don’t take the toll on my body as catching does. So many people don’t see all the foul balls or blocked pitches that we wear either in the arm, throat, fingers and wherever you wanna guess that don’t hurt as much during the game, but after and the next day are really pains in the butt. And not to mention the legs… when I go to bat in innings 6-9, I often feel as if my shin guards are still on. My legs are not completely gone, but they’re tired… and I think that’s with every catcher, not just the skinny ones. So if I could be fresh for an entire game and possibly 1 or 2 more at-bats, who knows what that could do for me offensively. I guess we’ll never know…UNLESS they move me.. haha! Isn’t this fun! I love dreaming like this!
Do I feel like I’m blocked by Matt? No not at all. Matt’s in the big leagues, I’m in Advanced A ball in Frederick. All I’m trying to do is catch him in the big leagues. Once I catch him, hopefully if it’s meant to be, then we’ll decide if I’m being blocked or not. But it’s a moot point as long as I’m still in the minors. That’s how I look at it, and that’s the only way I can look at it. I can only control myself right now. Big Leagues, Big Leagues, Big Leagues is all I’m thinking about right now. Not who’s in front of me or behind me. So we’ll take it day by day until otherwise told so.
Hopefully that clears a lot of the speculation up.. and if there’s something I missed please tell me and I’ll try and elaborate a little more. Thanks again to everyone visiting and leaving comments as I typically have about 20-30 hits a day with a comment here or there, but today, thanks to the Baltimore Sun article I have close to 600 hits and over 20 posts. Wow! Not in my wildest dreams did I expect something like this.
Life is great.
CJ
Now that I’ve spent some serious time on this little website blog… I’ve finally figured out how to respond to your messages. So I guess now I would like to open it up to anyone who has questions or thoughts that I could comment on. I’m not exactly sure the turnout but I thought I’d open it up, because I enjoy doing it. So if there are any fans that have any questions you can throw them out here and I can respond now. So we’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks and go from there.
CJ
Well we have another day off, and I don’t know what to do. I started getting excited about the thought of getting to visit Camden Yards again, but they’re out of town. So I thought about the Ironbirds… again on the road. What about the Nationals… they’re in Colorado. At this point I’m desperate… Bowie? Nope, they’re in Altoona. So I’m stuck, once again, in the clubhouse all day watching TV waiting until 7pm when the Braves take on the Cubs. I snuck out to the batting cage a few times during the day to kind of work on a few things with my swing. I’ve hit a mini-slump where I feel like I’m missing pitches that I should be hitting and getting into pitcher’s counts when they’re throwing their dirtiest stuff and striking me out. So I feel good going into tomorrow’s 3 game set at Kinston. I’m not guaranteeing 3 hits a night or anything but I will hopefuflly feel better.
I just received another post from a fan about an article I did three days ago in Potomac. I got the link and read it, with a smile on my face. What they’re saying is true. The funniest part is our conversation lasted for about 30 minutes. All that talking for a few paragraphs, not that I’m disappointed, I’m just sure I gave him more than enough material to work with. And at the same time I can’t help but feel so encouraged by so many people who comment about the articles and my own articles with support and optimism. It’s hard to put into words what every day is like working for such a dream, a goal, knowing that hopefully in a few short years or moments that you may experience what you’ve been dreaming about since you can remember. It’s still sort of crazy to watch these games on tv, as I am right now, and know that possibly, quite possibly, I could be there playing in front of those fans, thousands of them. Possibly wearing my jersey, or wearing the shirt of the Orioles cheering you on. To play in those cities with so much history would be priceless.
Well enough of the dreaming, lets talk a little bit about my teammates. I wanna break down some of the guys who I play with on a daily basis that maybe a lot of you either read or hear stuff about but I want to give my account and my opinions on all these players. In no particular order…
Brian Matusz- What a great guy, worth every penny that the O’s spent on him in last year’s draft. Uses all four pitches to really attack hitters. An absolute pleasure to catch and hang out with. One of the most genuine guys I’ve met in pro-ball. We think alike. He’s gonna be a special guy for the O’s in the very near future. He won’t be in the minors long, as his work ethic and abilities will force him to be in the big leagues soon.
Zach Britton- One of the hardest guy’s I’ve ever had to catch because he’s got such tremendous movement… movement at 91-92 mph. He can pitch at 93-94 but throws better at 91. Changeup as of late has been amazing. Slider is really coming around and he’s getting great success against lefties with that pitch. He’s still young, but a great teammate. Another quality guy that I love spending time with. His walks will go down as he finds the slot with his fastball. I’m not worried one bit about the walks, and neither should you.
Pedro Florimon- Though his bat has not been there the past few weeks, he’s still a great prospect in my mind. I love having him at SS as almost anything hit to him is a sure out. He is very smooth there and almost too smooth at times. His approach to the game is very relaxed and consistent. If he can clean up a little bit of the defense, and continue to produce at the plate I could see him in Baltimore very soon. He’s a great guy to be around in the clubhouse, even though he doesn’t speak very much English.
Brandon Waring- POWER… pretty much explains it all. This guy’s total power is amazing. It’s not even fun hitting in the same group as him. He also has an explosive arm which many people don’t know about because he’d been at first. Now that he’s seeing more and more time at third he’s convincing me he’s a legit third baseman. He makes diving plays consistently and makes all the routine plays. If he can cut down on the strikeouts he’s got a first class ticket to the big leagues. He’s one of my favorites to talk hitting with. We believe the same principles and he’s a great teammate, great teammate.
Those are just a few of many of my teammates, and I think all four of them have a great chance at making it to the big leagues. They are all fun to work with on a daily basis, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Britton and Waring aren’t with us much longer. All in all though, we do have a good team and we’re trying to win this second half and go from there. That’s about it for now, and I hope to hear some of your comments on my teammates. Thanks again for being so consistent with your letters of encouragement. Until next time,
Cheers,
CJ
First off I want to apologize for this being so late. I’ve been extremely busy with the all star game, girlfriend visiting, and other small stuff that always seems to add up quick on me. I know I use that excuse a lot, but I’m sorry.
We’ll start off with the 2009 All Star Game. After being blessed enough to participate in last year’s All Star festivities I kind of knew what to expect, or did I? I was amazed at the professionalism the crew in California showed throughout the entire weekend. It was very well planned and it ran very smoothly.
It all starts with the travel. This was without a doubt the worst part of the trip but you can’t complain much. We started off with a 6 hour bus trip after our last game in Myrtle Beach. Brandon Waring, Pedro Florimon, Luis Lebron, Zach Britton, and I arrived at the airport hotel at 4AM. We were scheduled to leave the hotel at 5:15 for our shuttle to Raleigh’s airport. We didn’t even sleep. After a 2 hour plane trip to JFK airport in New York, we then hopped on a plane flying cross country to San Diego that lasted 5 hours. BRUTAL! Talk about being stiff. But after we got off the plane it was all fun and games. We stayed at the beautiful Pechanga resort that featured a connected casino.
The next morning we boarded the buses and headed over to the beautiful field where all our bags and equipment was loaded and unpacked for us, something that doesn’t happen in regular road trips. We had all kinds of typical festivities: team picture, autograph session, homerun derby (which I thankfully didn’t participate in this year) and of course the game.
We didn’t end up victorious at the end but the finish was great for the home team. We went into extra innings tied at 2 when the first batter of the bottom of the 10th homered in walk off fashion to win the game. It was the loudest cheers from 9,000 fans that I’ve ever heard. The atmosphere with all of the fans and players was electric. It was very very similar to a big league experience (that’s what it seemed to me at least).
After the game we had another early wake up call as we left the resort at 5AM and headed back to the airport for the exact same flight itinerary except our final destination was Washington instead of Raleigh. All in all it was an incredible experience that I’ll never forget. It was a pleasure to be a part of it with so many future big leaguers and big name players.
As for the start of the second half we have jumped out to a decent start. We’re 3-3 and have a really good team. Hopefully this team in Frederick will exceed expectations because we really do have a lot of top prospects. We have great talent, it’s just all about each individual player putting those talents into place at the right time.
Looking back at the first half I am pleased with my performance. I wouldn’t say I’ve surprised myself with my offense, because I’ve always expected to hit, but I certainly didn’t expect to be leading the league at that point in time. The second half has started well as I’ve already hit two homeruns in the first 3 games. It’s all about consistency though, so we’ll see.
I can still improve on my defense, as I hope and think that’s the only thing holding me back from a promotion to Bowie (Double-A). It is my first full year in pro ball and I do understand that they want to make sure I’m ready for the next step. No matter what though I’m certainly not content with Frederick, as no player should if their ultimate goal is the major leagues. It’s a day by day process that I can’t worry about or quite frankly think about. Consistency consistency consistency is the name of the game.
I’m looking forward to the second half and hopefully before long I’ll be posting about my first game in Bowie. If not, I’ll for sure be posting about how well our team in Frederick is doing.
Long day tomorrow as we have to be there at 8:00AM for a kids camp so I’m outta here. Thanks for reading and again…Thank you to all of you who consistently post on here notes of encouragement. It really helps and YES I read them everyday. See you soon. Cheers.
CJ
