Recalling Undergrad Classes

I know the subtitle of the blog says something about a journey through a baseball season, but that was a couple seasons ago and so I am deciding, for the moment anyway, to add some thoughts outside of baseball....because I can.

This morning I was a little light-headed for the first couple hours at school, but as the day continued I felt as though I had more energy than I did yesterday.  I had a hitting/pitching lesson with a ten year old, had a nice workout at the Y, and then did some grocery shopping, came home and made some dinner for Eric and myself.

At the grocery store I ran into and said hello to Spencer Bennett, a retired History/Social Science professor from Siena Heights University.  As a social Science major during my undergrad years, I had the opportunity to have a handful of classes with Spencer.  I'm pretty sure the first one was a class titles 'Popular Culture in the US'.  I remember having an assignment requiring us to go to downtown Detroit and watch a movie that had just come out that was called 'The Buddy Holly Story.'  Since then the movie has been on television countless times and I always watch at least a little bit of it if I've got nothing else going on.  I still love to hear many of the Buddy Holly (and the Crickets) that were featured in that soundtrack.

I remember another time, during my senior year of college, when I missed a test in Spencer's American History class on a Friday morning.  I was prepared and I knew the information and would have probably scored well on the test.  My roommate, JD, was also taking that class, and we always studied for the tests together on the morning of the tests.  JD took the test and earned a 'B' I think.  He was a business major and was taking the course as an elective.  I went to Spencer's office to explain that I was sorry for missing the test and that I would take the test if he would give me the opportunity.  He told me to forget about it, that he knew I would have done fine, and allowed me to slide by without penalty for missing it.  Needless to say, JD wasn't please with either me or Professor Bennett!!  I have seen Spencer a number of times at the YMCA over the past few years.  I am thankful for so many people like him!  He was an extremely intelligent man who enjoyed his job and had a great sense of humor!

Anyway, I do feel much better tonight, though I'll probably get to sleep earlier than normal.  On to what I hope will be a speedy recovery from the scary flare-up of last week.

My kids are both awesome!!

Second Home

Today was to be a day full of work, a YMCA workout, and then coaching a doubleheader in the evening.  Our summer school days end at 1:30, and by about noon I was dragging and just about out of energy.  I decided to skip my Y workout and try to nap a bit before our games, and what a great choice that was.  I ate some good food and napped at home and barely got to the game before the first pitch was thrown.

I must say it was great to get back into the dugout, but I also wasn't as involved as I normally am.  I let the catchers call the pitches and I basically hung out at the front corner of the dugout with no responsibilities other than teaching situational things, attitudes, and the other normal things that coaches must do during games to help their teams and players make improvements.

I'm home now, but I need some sleep.  I know my body needs to get back to full strength again and I guess it will tell me when to rest......hopefully I will listen!!

We did win two games to bring our season record to 24-9, which so far is progress from last year's 21-19 finish.  Most of all, I felt at home in the dugout, which probably really is my second home!

Coming to

So, today I went back to work after having last week off due to a flare-up of my colitis.  I've got to admit, this time it attacked me like a tornado.  Without warning, I had significant rectal bleeding Monday night and Tuesday morning.  While getting ready for work Tuesday morning I fainted twice on the toilet and fell off, then twice more in shower--one time falling completely out of the shower and another time falling in the shower.  I called my daughter Tess, and she told my ex-wife Vicki, who picked me up to take me to the ER at Bixby Medical Center.

Each time I 'came to' after fainting, I was immediately confused about where I was and also felt like I had been in a fight.  Since I have been on blood thinners for two years, those falls could have resulted worse than what happened.  They did a Cat Scan and found no bleeding in my brain, thankfully.  Steroids and other drugs in the hospital got my colon functioning closer to normal, and I only needed to spend three nights there before coming home.

I spent my weekend in recovery at home, watching a lot of the British Open Golf and Major League Baseball on television and spending some nice time with both of my kids in the evenings. I missed our Legion (Adrian Post 275) team's District Tournament, but we swept through it to qualify for next week's Zone Tourney.  I am truly thankful and lucky for so many of God's Blessings, most notably the people with whom He has allowed me to be with.

Today I went back to work, though it was an easy day.  Jason Boring and I had to pick Sammy up at his house in Tecumseh, bring him to the Hope Center, work on his goals, and we even to take him to the Lenawee County Fair.  I haven't been to that fair in a few years, and we went before it was too crowded and hot.  I appreciate the willingness of Jason to do most of the physical work, pushing Sam's wheelchair around the Fairgrounds.

Though I did get tired kinda easily, I came home, ate lunch, had a decent workout at the YMCA of Lenawee, and then came home to read, shower, make dinner, etc.  Being back to work is a blessing, and so are the people in my life.

I'm trying to become better at being me and understanding my body.  More to come later.  Thanks for taking a few minutes to read about me!

Observing the mental game

Today is basically the last day of my stay-at-home recovery from this past week's flare-up.  I am reminded of my initial bout with colitis in 2010 and my recovery at home.  At that time my hospital stay was fourteen days and my at home recovery was virtually all summer.  This time I only spent three nights in the hospital and am now in my third day at home, thankfully.

Each time I returned home from the hospital I have been able to relax and watch major sporting events on television as a doze off and come to the realization that I don't always have to be doing something.  Two years ago, my mother-in-law Jean Murray took care of me for a week while we watched the French Open Tennis Tournament all week.  Jean is a huge tennis fan and player.  I was struck by the television broadcasters and how much they talked about the mental game during that week.  I was also able to share some mental tips with Jean's husband Mike, who was also visiting and playing rounds of golf during his week here in Adrian.

Today, during the last round of the 2012 British Open, again I can observe not only the performances of these fabulous professional athletes, but at the same time I can listen to the broadcasters and their opinions of the nerves, the mental preparation, the sleep patterns interrupted, and the emotions of the golfers.

The more I am involved in athletics and have the privilege of working with kids of many ages, I can clearly observe while watching some of the world's top athletes, that the mental game and the ability to control emotions is so vitally important to success in competitive athletics.

In saying that, I want to give a shout out to 23 year old Rick Porcello of the Detroit Tigers, who dominated the Chicago White Sox yesterday, and to the Adrian Post 275 American Legion Baseball Team, who swept through the District Tournament the last two days by allowing only three runs in three games.

Gratitude and perspective

While I spend a lot of time coaching in the summer and enjoying the game of baseball and the people around it, occasionally events outside of my own life give me the opportunity to remain grounded and grateful for all that I have.

The terrible shooting rampage at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado could not remind us enough of how we never know which day will be our last, or when we will see our loved ones for the last time.  My own kids have been spending time with me this week while I went through a flare-up of my colitis.  I have always said that once we choose to be parents, we have chosen a new life priority.  Acting on that priority, which some may consider to be a sacrifice, is one of our greatest contributions we can make to the world around us.

Every year I come to realize more and more that God didn't put us here by ourselves.  He put us with all of His other children so that we could share His love in whatever ways we can do best.  Having gratitude for my family and friends helps me to handle any bumps (real or imagined) along my path.

My prayers go out to the families and victims in and around Aurora, Colorado.  May they feel God hold them in His hands and comfort them.

Success

So another season ended yesterday, but it's never really just another season.  It is a journey that includes so much more than competing against opponents on the field.  A season is like an adventure with a group of guys who are all in it for like reasons, to have each other's backs and to succeed in reaching common goals.

This season and this team were similar to past seasons and past teams, only different.  As is the case every year, this particular group of guys have only one year together.  Eight of them graduate and move on, and next year some new players will join the core group of returning players.  This isn't anything new; it takes place every year for every team in America.

This season was filled with success.  Some people didn't expect this team to be as good as it was, due to the graduation of several of the league's top players last year.  Personally, I expected nothing but success and expected to compete for the NCAA DIII National Championship.  The fact that we were eliminated from the Mideast Regional Tournament on Friday means that we will not win the National Championship, but by no means was the season a failure.

We can measure success in many different ways.  This was a team which was among the DIII statistical leaders in several categories, such as batting average, slugging percentage, scoring, triples, earned run average, pitchers' walks per game, and strikeout to walk ratio.  But those statistics are not what made the season a success.

Several individual team members set or broke team and MIAA Conference records as well, in hitting and pitching categories, and five guys were named to the Mideast All Region teams.  But that really isn't what made this team successful.

This year's Adrian College Baseball Team won 37 games, setting a school record and giving this senior class the most wins of any class in Adrian Baseball history.  It also won it's fourth straight MIAA regular season championship and became the first ever MIAA Conference Tournament Champions.  Successful?  Yes, but not due to on the field performance.

The great success of this squad has more to do with a group of college student-athletes who cared about the team more than they cared about themselves.  They were friends and mentors, teachers and students, companions and warriors.  They put the team ahead of themselves and nurtured positive relationships with each other.  They trusted each other and knew that when they stepped on the field for practices and games they were going to help each other improve as teammates and as players.

Most importantly, they gave everything they had for each other, and expected nothing in return.  By expecting nothing in return, they were rewarded with a lifetime of brotherhood and memories.  For that reason, they were so very successful.  I congratulate them and love them!!

On to the next task

Yesterday we won the championship in the first MIAA Baseball Tournament, earning a automatic berth into the NCAA DIII Regionals next week.  In past seasons we earned the privilege to compete in the regionals by winning our regular season championship.  Though we did win the regular season title again, we had to prove it all over again on the field this week by winning the four-team, double elimination conference tournament.  We completed the job without a loss, thanks to some fantastic execution by our hitters, defensive players, and pitchers.

Congratulations to our eight seniors, who were MIAA Champions all four years here at Adrian College!!  They are the first group to do so since some Alma College players did it back in the 1950s!!

Our players know that the season does not end here; we've still got some work to do!  We advanced to the DIII College World Series in 2008, but that was a year before these seniors put on their AC uniforms.  We now must go win a Regional Tournament, most likely in Marietta, Ohio, to advance to the CWS again.

Obviously, the regional tournament will have other championship teams trying to achieve the same goal that our team has.  One of those teams is Marietta College, the defending national champions who just won their conference tournament today.  In 2011 we played them in a doubleheader in Florida and split the two games with them, losing 3-1 and winning 2-0.

What do we have to do to continue our success in the post-season?  The answer is that we need to keep executing in the batters box, on the mound, and with our gloves.  Our plan as a pitching staff has been the same all season: throw first pitch strikes, get leadoff batters out, throw to the bottom of the strike zone, and successfully manage damage control.  The pitchers know that this team's offense is going to put some runs on the scoreboard, and that always takes some pressure off of the defense and pitching.

Our team is among the DIII national leaders in some statistical categories as we prepare for the regionals.  Among those categories are slugging percentage, batting average, runs per game, triples, earned run average, walks allowed per game, and strikeout to walk ratio.  With some of those categories, the keys to success have so much to do with taking care of the little things and focusing on the task at hand.  Once we take care of the task at hand, we can focus on the next one.  One pitch at a time, on batter at a time, one inning at a time, and one game at a time.

We call that Business as Usual.

Before I finish this, I want to give a proud shout out to my Alma Mater and former team, the Saints of Siena Heights University, who won the WHAC Tournament and advanced to the semi-finals in the opening round of the NAIA National Tournament.  Congrats to Coach John Kolasinski, his staff and all the players.  In addition, continued good luck to our former AC coaches Luke Harrigan and Xander Younce, who are currently in their third game of the WVIAC Tournament.