Ok, so I know I haven't been as good as I promised on this blog site and I am no longer going to apologize because that doesn't seem to fix it anyways...LOL!! But since I am sitting in the waiting area at the local Honda Dealership while my car gets tuned up I figure I could give everyone a quick update on what is going on so far this season...
We are 8 games into the season and sit at 5 and 3 so far. We have a pretty solid team with what seems to be a solid group of guys. They seem to care about what they are doing and can't wait to get on the field each day to play. It is funny how each year I have a group of guys and as I go through the year I speak to myself and say, "wouldn't it be nice if..." and magically the next year it appears! This year I wanted to have a group of guys who pay attention, are low maintenance, and who want to be ballplayers...so far so good!
There are some quality arms on the staff and there are some quality guys who show some pitchability. Overall this year we have more guys in this group that will be able to help out and pitch the innings they are asked to more then last year. There are some fine tunings to be done with the bullpen thus far but as a whole I think we have a pretty quality staff. But ask me again in a month...LOL!
I have been here in Johnson City, TN for the past 2 weeks and will continue here until the beginning of September. The town of Johnson City has about 60,000 people in it and is a very nice town. There are plenty of places to go eat and they have set us up with a beautiful facility to workout at. The field is ok, nothing to write home about but it has some character. There is a hill in the outfield that spans from the right field line all the way to center field. Somewhat like the Astros ballpark but much steeper...lol! I have seen some amazing plays made on that hill the last year, let's just hope that continues and more for us then for the visitor.
The league itself is very competitive, most teams are evenly matched and like always in baseball you can get beat anytime if you don't show up to the field to play hard. This year the league expanded the playoff roster to four teams instead of two, so we should have a good shot at getting in this year. Usually the toughest teams in the league are Danville Braves and Elizabethton Twins. We play both of those teams a whole lot coming in July so if we are ok after the month of July we should stay in the race all the way through. Of course, a lot of that depends on staying healthy and whether or not the organization higher-ups keep the kids together. A lot of the times there are fill-ins needed and promotions granted at the higher levels and so that comes directly from our rookie league teams. In the past few years I have been with the organization we have moved a lot of guys quickly so we will see what happens this year.
Hope everyone is doing well and we will talk to you soon!!!!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Monday, June 28, 2010
Joints, Nerves and Muscles
I was in the gym in Johnson City, TN today and doing my usual Z-health neural warm-up. This is a program I have become more and more familiar with over the past couple years as I have been taking their courses to increase my knowledge on the body. Anyways, this man came up to me and asked me what type of program I was doing because he had never seen the type of movements I was making. So we started chatting a little bit and from our conversation he thought I should write an article about the information I have come upon. It just so happens I have this blog and thought that wasn't such a bad idea!
Don't want to make this too complicated so I will explain it this way:
Muscles are dumb, they do nothing unless told to. Joint mobility is everything because if the joints don't move well, the signals from the nerves to the muscles do not get transferred properly. The key to working out is letting the muscles know they are about to get a workout in and to be ready to receive the information. The best way I have learned how to do that is working through the nervous system and the best way I learned how to do that is to learn how to move the joints.
Inside the joints, when you move them correctly, a liquid called synovial fluid is released into the joint to lube the area and fill it with good feelings (for lack of a better term). The receptors you have in the joint area are called mechanoreceptors and they receive this good feeling signal which helps the nerves which helps the muscles. All this together is allowing your body to be more aware of itself and where it is in space (proprioception). If you are more aware of yourself and how your body moves in space the better you are able to perform, naturally. Did you get all that? LOL... Makes perfect sense once you understand the concept and how the nervous system works.
The question is how does a person begin to learn how to move better so that the cycle can begin? Well, there is a company called ZHealth who has created courses and DVD's for people to become more familiar with this information. The great thing about this information is that it has been around since the beginning of time. The body and the nervous system works in a certain way and there is no way around it. If you are able to grasp the information and then use it, you can create your own program for you because in the end you should know yourself better then anyone else.
If this blog catches your attention at all and you would like to hear more about it check out Lou McGovern at www.essentialstrength.com or go to the Z Health website at www.zhealth.net
Good Luck and we will talk soon!!!!
Don't want to make this too complicated so I will explain it this way:
Muscles are dumb, they do nothing unless told to. Joint mobility is everything because if the joints don't move well, the signals from the nerves to the muscles do not get transferred properly. The key to working out is letting the muscles know they are about to get a workout in and to be ready to receive the information. The best way I have learned how to do that is working through the nervous system and the best way I learned how to do that is to learn how to move the joints.
Inside the joints, when you move them correctly, a liquid called synovial fluid is released into the joint to lube the area and fill it with good feelings (for lack of a better term). The receptors you have in the joint area are called mechanoreceptors and they receive this good feeling signal which helps the nerves which helps the muscles. All this together is allowing your body to be more aware of itself and where it is in space (proprioception). If you are more aware of yourself and how your body moves in space the better you are able to perform, naturally. Did you get all that? LOL... Makes perfect sense once you understand the concept and how the nervous system works.
The question is how does a person begin to learn how to move better so that the cycle can begin? Well, there is a company called ZHealth who has created courses and DVD's for people to become more familiar with this information. The great thing about this information is that it has been around since the beginning of time. The body and the nervous system works in a certain way and there is no way around it. If you are able to grasp the information and then use it, you can create your own program for you because in the end you should know yourself better then anyone else.
If this blog catches your attention at all and you would like to hear more about it check out Lou McGovern at www.essentialstrength.com or go to the Z Health website at www.zhealth.net
Good Luck and we will talk soon!!!!
Monday, June 7, 2010
The Draft Is Here
Hello Passion for Pitching Family
It has been a while so I thought I would force myself to sit down and write a bit!! The last few days I have been back in San Diego and that can mean only one thing, the amateur baseball draft is here!! Every season thousands of kids who have been scouted through the past several months or even the past couple years go onto a giant board for all major league clubs to see. They sit for hours upon hours and choose out of those thousands of athletes, college and high school level, who can potentially help their club at the highest level.
For any young kid out there reading this blog right now, I want you to know you can be one of the athletes chosen when you are old enough to become draft eligible. The real question is do you want to be one of those kids chosen in the baseball draft??
Life is a journey, we have all heard that before right!?! Life is a journey that truly never ends. More and more continues to happen as we roll along through our lives. More and more asking, more and more wanting. But when we are preparing ourselves for something like professional sports there is one thing you always want to make sure of, ask for it all!! Are you paying attention? Did you just read what I wrote? ASK FOR IT ALL!!
This is what I mean by this statement. So many times in life people ask for something that they want to have happen in their life but don't really ever stop to think about what happens once it comes. For example, if you are a young kid right now thinking of being drafted one day and how great that would be and how bad you want that to happen, don't stop there. The asking of being drafted is just one little dot on a very long line called, your life. Ask for the being drafted part but don't let that be the end of your story. Make sure that the asking to be drafted part is right around chapter 3 and then the rest of the book is about the amazing journey of how you got to the big leagues and then all the success you had once you were there. But if you stop at the drafted part, how are you going to know what is next.
When you dream at night or when you day dream during the day, GO BIG!! The more you are able to fill in the entire story line and feel good about it while you are doing it, the better chance you will have in fulfilling that story.
The other part I wanted to add to this soap box of a blog is the preparation part. And in professional baseball there is a whole lot of preparation that goes on for most people before they ever get to think about the big leagues. I don't want to make this point to scare anybody but besides dreaming big and asking for it all instead of just a small part, you also must do your research. There is a lot that happens to young athletes once they get drafted and most of them are nowhere near prepared for what is going to happen. The early mornings of extended spring training, the 12 dollars to eat every day, the long bus rides, the rigors of a full season, the late hours, the long hours, etc.... Do you get my point? Again, I am not trying to scare anyone because I truly believe the game of baseball is an amazing sport and is second to none when we talk about how it can develop you as a human being. But you also must be honest with yourself and ask how bad do you want it. Do you realize what is on the other side of that draft day? The asking is the easy part, it is getting what you asked for that can be the tough part sometimes.
To wrap this one up I just want to tell everyone reading this blog that you should always ask for what you want, but make sure that you ask for all of what you want and make sure and research what that truly consists of. Know what it all entails, not so you can be discouraged and realize you don't want something, but to prepare yourself for what is to come so you can handle it as it comes to you.
Thanks again for reading my blog and I hope all your seasons are going well!! Enjoy your summer, it is coming right around the corner!!!
It has been a while so I thought I would force myself to sit down and write a bit!! The last few days I have been back in San Diego and that can mean only one thing, the amateur baseball draft is here!! Every season thousands of kids who have been scouted through the past several months or even the past couple years go onto a giant board for all major league clubs to see. They sit for hours upon hours and choose out of those thousands of athletes, college and high school level, who can potentially help their club at the highest level.
For any young kid out there reading this blog right now, I want you to know you can be one of the athletes chosen when you are old enough to become draft eligible. The real question is do you want to be one of those kids chosen in the baseball draft??
Life is a journey, we have all heard that before right!?! Life is a journey that truly never ends. More and more continues to happen as we roll along through our lives. More and more asking, more and more wanting. But when we are preparing ourselves for something like professional sports there is one thing you always want to make sure of, ask for it all!! Are you paying attention? Did you just read what I wrote? ASK FOR IT ALL!!
This is what I mean by this statement. So many times in life people ask for something that they want to have happen in their life but don't really ever stop to think about what happens once it comes. For example, if you are a young kid right now thinking of being drafted one day and how great that would be and how bad you want that to happen, don't stop there. The asking of being drafted is just one little dot on a very long line called, your life. Ask for the being drafted part but don't let that be the end of your story. Make sure that the asking to be drafted part is right around chapter 3 and then the rest of the book is about the amazing journey of how you got to the big leagues and then all the success you had once you were there. But if you stop at the drafted part, how are you going to know what is next.
When you dream at night or when you day dream during the day, GO BIG!! The more you are able to fill in the entire story line and feel good about it while you are doing it, the better chance you will have in fulfilling that story.
The other part I wanted to add to this soap box of a blog is the preparation part. And in professional baseball there is a whole lot of preparation that goes on for most people before they ever get to think about the big leagues. I don't want to make this point to scare anybody but besides dreaming big and asking for it all instead of just a small part, you also must do your research. There is a lot that happens to young athletes once they get drafted and most of them are nowhere near prepared for what is going to happen. The early mornings of extended spring training, the 12 dollars to eat every day, the long bus rides, the rigors of a full season, the late hours, the long hours, etc.... Do you get my point? Again, I am not trying to scare anyone because I truly believe the game of baseball is an amazing sport and is second to none when we talk about how it can develop you as a human being. But you also must be honest with yourself and ask how bad do you want it. Do you realize what is on the other side of that draft day? The asking is the easy part, it is getting what you asked for that can be the tough part sometimes.
To wrap this one up I just want to tell everyone reading this blog that you should always ask for what you want, but make sure that you ask for all of what you want and make sure and research what that truly consists of. Know what it all entails, not so you can be discouraged and realize you don't want something, but to prepare yourself for what is to come so you can handle it as it comes to you.
Thanks again for reading my blog and I hope all your seasons are going well!! Enjoy your summer, it is coming right around the corner!!!
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