a bit glitchy, but nonetheless

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.