Defeat

Last weekend, I spent it with friends up north. During one of our numerous conversations, we got on the subject of baseball, and then the slo-pitch league we play in during the summer. Kurtis, who spent most of that summer out west and wasn't playing, recalled how he went to the fields during the playoffs and saw me sitting alone on a bench. He was about to say "Hi Phil! Good to see you!" when he noticed I was alone, head bowed, crying profusely, and utterly broken. Instead, he went "Ok, well Phil is over there. I'll just go that way instead..." I'm glad Kurtis decided to walk away and not talk to me; I doubt that conversation would go over well.

That was my last memory of my first and last experience co-managing in a slo-pitch league. I could come up with all sorts of excuses for why we were eliminated earlier than I thought we would, but as in life excuses get you as far as nowhere. The truth was I overestimated my team and underestimated the opposition; two of the cardinal sins of any manager or coach. There are other misdemeanors I can plead guilty to, so I made a list of them.

• I cried in front of my team that day and apologized for embarrassing them; then, once they left for lunch, I stayed behind at a park bench to cry some more.
• I lost my batting gloves, and by 'lost' I mean 'hurled them in a random direction and neglected to look to see where they landed.
• For a summer day, the next five hours spent alone in my room were the coldest on record.

I vowed never to coach again, unless it was absolutely necessary. Much to my surprise, however, I was already considering next year, and getting better. "Next season" began in my room that August afternoon. There was too much at stake, and the memory of how last year ended is too fresh in my mind. This year will count for something, or I will quit for good.

Anyone got any batting gloves?

Seven Things about Sunday Baseball

1. I watched my 1st live televised baseball game of the season. It was a Spring Training tilt between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Pittsburgh Pirates. If anyone can correctly gauge a team or player's performance during the regular season from watching them in Spring Training, then he should get an hour long show on MLB Network.
2. What are they wearing (See picture above)?!
3. Buck Martinez & Sportsnet crew are stumped by the identity of Pirates ninth-inning pinch-hitter #64. He is black, bats left-handed, and struck out swinging -_- ...If you know his identity, please feel free to type in comments below ^_^
4. Prime Time Sports' host Bob McCown has a new commercial featuring Damien Cox and Stephen Brunt. It was jokes ^_^
5. Jays wins 5-0, and a rainbow rams right through southern Ontario ^_^
   
6. I may buy the new batting practice jersey of the Pirates. I have the black one from last season, but the current bright yellow edition is so sick...literally SICK o_O
7. Where is Bradenton, Florida in conjunction with the major cities in the state? It seems like a nice place, but there are MANY seagulls flying about the ballpark. I think it is along the coast, but I may be wrong?
   

Special Thanks

I would like to give a shout out to all my readers in China and Vietnam, who support this blog by staying up late and reading my posts the second I upload them to the blog. This message is for China:

谢谢你，棒球支持者。我希望今年能够与你的祝福，并在棒球运动，我们可以讨论，并主张在即将来临的赛季充满美好时光约！

This message is for Vietnamese readers:

Cảm ơn bạn, ủng hộ của bóng chày. Tôi hy vọng bạn thích mùa sắp tới nhiều như tôi thích ăn phở, mà tôi được hưởng rất nhiều! Bóng chày và Phở là một sự kết hợp tốt! Có một hạnh phúc 2011!

Spring Fever, Busy Summer

This summer will mark my fourth year playing recreational softball, yet unlike previous seasons I'm getting ready for 2011 earlier than usual. My "usual" refers to the week before, when I'm scrambling through the aisles of the local sports store for marked-down, wrong-sized baseball pants. This summer will also be different because I want to play in two leagues: So, by the end of August, I should be exhausted.

On the plus side, I will try to post weekly updates on how me and my team(s) are doing through the year. You can find most of my slo-pitch league stories can be found on my baseball blog page, Hits & Errors; who knows if some really good LIFE stories will make it on THIS blog?

Finally, one of my goals this year is to dress up in proper baseball gear. Last year, I wore authentic ROYALS gear to my games, and even got to play in a shirt for a game (long story)! This year, I bought PIRATES gear to wear to games. Most sports stores in Canada do not sell MLB authentic baseball pants; it is usually generic white or grey without piping, although navy pinstripes pop up every now and then. I recently bought authentic pants online, and I'm waiting for the postman to deliver the goods. They should come in a week; I hope to have a pic of me uploaded wearing the full Pittsburgh Pirates Alternate Home Uniform soon.

One question remains as I write about my upcoming summer: Don't I have a girlfriend? Shouldn't I be blowing my money on a girl, or saving it so I can procure financial stability as I engage with a young woman in a fulfilling, life-altering, long-term relationship? Instead, I'm buying baseball gear like a lonely costume wearing manga enthusiast one week late for the annual anime convention at the downtown convention center. I must be crazy, if not girl crazy, or baseball crazy...? o_O ...!,

SWEET CANDY APPLE, Part 2

"The Nats Blog" broke the story about new Washington Nationals jerseys for 2011. When the team announced new jerseys as well as a new logo, I did have some concerns that I listed in a previous blog. However, I look at this and I say...

WHY DIDN'T THEY DRESS THEIR PLAYERS IN THIS?

I love the road uniform, and now a home variant would be awesome. Don't rush to shop.mlb.com to buy this jersey though. This was a prototype the Nationals decided against wearing.

However, if you checked out the MLB shop recently you will notice the 2011 Authentic Home jersey (white) for the Washington Nationals is not available for personalization. Perhaps they had a change of heart? We will have to wait and see... ^_^

SWEET CANDY APPLE! WHAT IS THAT?!

You are driving down a dark road, when a deer pops up right in front of you! What do you do, what DO you DOOO?

You are shopping the MLB shop website, like you usually do before and after work, when you click on the Athletics shop. A few seconds later, your eyes are bombarded with a sudden and shocking sight! You grab your friend, who doesn't care about baseball and is sitting on the couch watching television next to you, by the shoulder blade to keep you from falling back further into your chair! He sees your eyes locked in amazement, and follows their frightful gaze to the image on the laptop computer screen.

That jersey is so bright, it will bring traffic on the 401 to a halt!
That jersey is so yellow, I got a craving for pineapple!
That jersey is so yellow, I got a craving for banana!
Life-size Juicy-Fruit, oh boy!
Flashback Fridays is now Flashback All the Time!

Wow, I didn't expect that coming. Then again wearing a black jersey, when black isn't part of the team's colour scheme, doesn't make much sense either. When Oakland teams wore gold it was the early seventies, so by winning they can get away with it. You don't see anyone tinkering with the Yankees pinstripes, do you? Look good, feel good, play good; that's my motto. See? ^_^

Go Royals?

Oh yeah, Spring Training

The Blue Jays, as well as 29 other teams, are back in the swing of things for Spring Training ^_^ I should get writing again...!