tomorrow is our last day in surprise, AZ...pretty soon we'll be getting heckled with 90% unoriginal material from the fans in Seattle...
some typical heckles from behind the chain link fence at the bullpen:

"hey nice glove! did you get it at Kmart?" yeah it's a T-ball glove bro.

"hey you stink, go back to A ball!" yeah nice one pal.

"you better start warming up!" sure thing!

Personally I look forward to the "whoop-woooooooo" from the oakland and twins fans, the actually funny detroit fans, and the guy in tampa bay who just screams at one player the entire game. We really enjoy the tasteful back and forth with certain fans, and love busting out lines like "have another one pal", or the Rick Bauer comeback- "sorry we don't speak idiot, go get a translator" haha.

A kid emailed me on myspace to ask about playing in "big games" and how to get settled in when there are lots of people, scouts, etc all watching. So the next day, a few of us were talking about the mental game, and what it's like to actually be on the mound in front of 20, 30, 40 or 50,000 fans. I really hate to blow the lid off of this, but when I'm out there, there's no voodoo "clear the mechanism" junk. When I'm warming up especially, I've found it's easier to keep it loose and just let the jeers and sounds kinda bounce around, and not give them too much weight. If you try and "block them out" then all you really do is focus on the noises. What works for me is to instead try and focus on the target, and try to narrow my vision to where I want the ball to go right before I throw the pitch. If you're nervous or agitated, then try to laugh about something funny just to relax and get back to your effective level of awareness.

After the pitch is released, then it all kinda slows down, and you really notice everything...you better be paying attention so you don't get smoked by a comebacker. Once the pitch is fouled off, missed, or hits the mitt, you've got a few seconds to replay what just happened and think about any clues to what the opponent is trying to do, or what he just did. Once you decide what to do, it's back on the mound for more.

Last year, whoever yelled "throw the gyrooooo!" in arlington always made me laugh inside. Just enough to keep me relaxed in the tense late innings.

maybe one of these days, the season will actually be under way, and the nice warm Texas sun will be roasting the visiting bullpen in Rangers Ballpark in Arlington...
I really do enjoy spring training, I mean, baseball is obviously my dream job- but compared to the actual games and grind of the season- it really does come up short. Being sidelined with a bit of tendonitis for the last 10 days or so has been a bit of a drag, but it's really given me a good chance to get all the goals, plans, and routines ready for the season. This is a big year for our franchise, and we've got a lot of responsibility to perform up to our personal expectations and those from the front office.

The real strange thing about spring training, is that you look around a full locker room on Day one, and by Day Thirty-two, there are less people. I think this year we invited about 60 guys to camp, and those in the know can tell you only 25 of them get to be on the big league team when the season starts...this creates some weird tensions and realities. There are always more than one or two guys who don't make the team but come up later in the year and really give a boost to the squad, but sometimes the AAA pill is hard to handle. I've been sent down 4 or 5 times so I remember how bummed I got each time, but eventually turned that around into a motivating tool.

It's a common misconception that baseball players are untouchable entities without emotions, tensions, or families. It's cool to be "on the team", but the reality is that some of your buddies don't get to play. Whether it's from injury or the old saying "we're gonna go with the other guy for now"- it's not easy to sit behind while the team leaves you in the dust, or the desert.

In 2004, I was recovering from Tommy John surgery, and had hopes of leaving camp at some point to join a squad 4 to 6 weeks after spring training. Due to normal complications, I didn't end up leaving, and didn't get to pitch at all until 2005. It was by far the longest spring training/april/may/june/july I've ever had in baseball. Nobody likes to sit out, especially pro athletes- we're trained to be in motion, or at least preparing for it...and for me it was a really difficult time. I had really next to nothing to do, other than read books and try to get my body as healthy as possible for the next season.

Willie Eyre was one of our bullpen guys last season, and eventually came down with "the not so good elbow", and this year he's rehabbing to get back to full strength as soon as possible. While I was on the shelf with my tendonitis last week, we played catch a few times at 75 feet and 90 feet. Just observing him and watching everyone ask "how's your arm bro?" reminds me a lot of my time in rehab...you get sick of answering the same question all the time, and develop strange coping mechanisms to avoid being repetetive (just like the Blue sniper on Red vs Blue episode one). It's funny because he likes to ask the pitching coaches if he can throw in a game, or "you need any extra guys today?"...

He's taking it all really well, and if you knew him, you'd expect it. His wife got him a T-shirt that says "rehab all-star" and he likes to wear it around all the time when he works out and stuff. There's a sense of pride that goes into being positive all the time, and all the other guys down here would do really well to follow his example. Your mind is a part of your body after all, and if you believe that you'll heal- you probably will. If you stay loose, laugh and joke, eat well, you're gonna be healthier and more capable of dealing with stresses and setbacks that are inevitable in the game.

I'm back to making progress now- the tendonitis is gone after a fortnight of posting up unwanted in my arm. But since Monday- I've thrown two bullpens, and get to pitch in a game on Saturday...so I can finally get back on the horse/bike/bull and get some competition under my belt- that's what it's all about!

I had a really cool afternoon yesterday with two of the newest editions to the Rangers: Ben Broussard and Matt Walbeck. Ben is our new first baseman, which is good for me personally because after he hit a homer off me to right center field last spring, I haven't really enjoyed facing him too much. Matt Walbeck and I both spent 1999 and 2000 nearby the 5 freeway in anaheim- he was catching for the angels and I was in junior college at Santa Ana College aka Rancho Santiago College (name changes are prevalent in orange county apparently). He's now our 3rd base coach.
While grabbing some claritin for my typical spring training allergies, Matt asked if I'd be interested in visiting the Fender Guitar Corporate HQ in Scottsdale, to which I was very quick to accept. One of the regrettable things about spring training is that you rarely have opportunities to do things for the first time, you just generally stick to a routine which typically involves a nap or early dinner. But hey the day before games start, we're done early enough to hit the coolest thing I've ever got to do in spring training.

Currently, I'm a novice guitar player, while Matt has played for about a dozen years and Ben actually releases a CD in 2005 as a Cleveland Indian. You've really got to (or at least I do) respect the dedication and talent it takes to express yourself through art and music- especially when it's not even your first talent. As we were led around by Jason Farrell, we got to meet a lot of people who were genuinely stoked to work for the company. We even got to go into the product testing area while 2 guys were ripping on van halen approved amps and axes.

After about 40 mins of getting shown around various departments and seeing really cool limited edition or one of a kind guitars, they let us go into the "artists studio" to play. Beautiful limited edition or vintage stratocasters, telecasters (my dad's current guitar), and a lot of other guitars from Gretsch were stacked double overhead in a soundproof room with about 50 vintage and classic amps.

Of course on the way out I actually intended to jam a bit since my Gibson SG is back home in Dallas- but the way Ben instantly found a microphone clammed me up a bit- so I just watched while they played together for about an hour, ben on rhythm and vocals, matt on lead. Eventually Jason busted out some drumsticks and it was a full out session. It was so cool to see them having fun, all clicking together with timing and style- being really versatile on an instrument is really difficult and I was totally blown away just watching it all unfold. Hopefully I can pick up some tips and tricks here and there to bust me through a few plateaus in the same manner that my friends at Ruf in Dallas have done with my driving.

on the baseball field today:

AJ murray, Luis Mendoza and Frank Francisco got our 2008 Spring Training pitching off to a really good start today- they only allowed one collective run through the first 5 innings and fielded some grounders and bunts flawlessly as well. Of course since you can't just pitch all day (and we don't hit anymore), all pitchers rejoice when a moundman fields his position well- we do practice all spring!

When we got home to the west side...I made my mad dash to Barnes and Noble last night, and have my 5 books that I hope evolve my game to the next level. Each year I read a ton out here in AZ- it conserves energy and helps give me new ideas for everything from organizing my closet to places I'd like to travel to- time permitting. With our new teammate, Kazuo-san, I thought it would be a cool idea for all the relievers to learn at least one word a day in japanese, so we could exchange more communication from both sides- it would be asking a lot for him to just be fluent in English overnight, right?

So- Instant Japanese! a short little book that can probably fit in our bullpen bag so that we can make time to have little lessons here and there. It's just part of my policy to not only approach the new guys, but offer my services for dining tips. In the minors, I got a lot of practice with my spanish language skills in this manner. Since japanese culture holds a place in my heart it's that much easier. During stretch today, we worked on a few basics, like ohaiyo gozaimasu- good morning. Mizu- water (hey we get thirsty), kudasai- please, and doitashimaste- you're welcome. Without looking, I might have misspelled the last one...

Pitching is an art, and as a novice it's generally a good rule to look for inspiration from every available source. There is a new niche of books geared towards creativity, and the human potential for unlocking that expressive force inside- David Lynch has a small book out that I read last year. This year I was lucky enough to facilitate a book-for-book deal with Matt- I'm presenting him with The Art of Learning (favorite book of last year) and he hooked me up with The Artist's Way. The more work we put into our respective crafts, the more of our true inner spirit comes out...that's the most fun part of developing.

dusty sunsets, bell road traffic...35 mph speed limits and drifting in my rental car...
SPRING TRAINING RETURNS!!!!!!

the weather has been cooperative so far, and everyone is showing up in relatively good shape...so all that's left are some random defensive drills to be followed by games, games and more games. A games, B games, road trips to Tucson that everyone tries to avoid...and then the season starts on the road up in Seattle, then heading up to

early notes:

Frank Catalanotto showed up with a beard
Franklyn German is the biggest Ranger ever, he's even bigger than Carlos Lee.
TR Sullivan really enjoys reading my blogs, or at least asking about them...
Bell Road Traffic still stinks
Brandon McCarthy's offseason program worked wonders
Enterprise rents Jettas- which is a cool departure. Just glad it's german, oh and I can sorta turn off the ESP

For whatever reason, the plumbing is weird in our locker room...there is a magic combination of showers that work together to create optimal temperature.

I've thrown 2 bullpens so far, first one was 24 or 25 pitches and today I threw a 30 pitch bullpen. I should end up with about 12 innings assuming weather and arm scheduling cooperate.

I'm looking forward to reading some books, and catching up on some movies while I'm out here, as well as leaving with a sweet tan.

One of the best things (in my opinion) that happens in Arizona is that I get to meet my future teammates. Guys that I've read a lot about on newbergreport.com or lonestarball.com but never seen play- like Chris Davis, German Duran, and Matt Harrison. Josh Rupe is feeling good, which I think could make a huge difference for our team this year. If he's kicking it in the bullpen, not only do we get the benefit of his sense of humor but also his mid 90's fastball and righty killing slider.

time for sleep, early wakeup tomorrow courtesy of Jose and Vazquez and the early conditioning...

random dancing from youtube...