February 2015

Feb 1 – Great day of baseball today at we took down Blacktown 3-2. Despite the long layoff, I felt great on the mound today and was able to maintain strength through the seventh inning. My command was back as well, a great sign after having somewhat shaky command last time out. Two weeks left in the regular season and then its on to the playoffs. Other teams will be adding strength with the end of the ABL season, but we’ve been strong all year. Came home to catch a bit of the Australian Open tennis final and the ODI Tri-Series Final. Man the sports here are great.

Also, officially set up the call with the MLB London office for thursday. It would be great to be able to continue to work with MLB International and I’m looking forward to connecting with that office.

Feb 2 – Super bowl Monday, after a good morning workout I was greeted by Tom at the office who only wanted to talk about the Super Bowl office sweepstakes, which Alex and I organized. After a few short hours of work we headed down to a local pub to watch the game and enjoy free food and drinks. Not a bad way to start the week.

Feb 3 – Pretty standard Tuesday, especially since training finally wasn’t rained out again. Good to get back in the usual swing of things.

Feb 4 – Another baseball event not cancelled! However we didn’t play well and lost a game we should have won. I’ll get a chance to even the series this weekend.

Feb 5 – Most of the office is in Adelaide for the ABLCS so today was and tomorrow will be pretty quiet in the office. Today was Rob’s last day here so we had a group lunch and then ate cupcakes. Had a call late with the MLB office in London and I’m optimistic that we can work something out there for the northern summer.

Feb 6 – Standard Friday, good to get home and rest after a long week

Feb 7 – Great day of baseball. All four grades won, I threw seven shutout innings and struck out a guy who played AAA last year. We’re really clicking as a team right now and will be tough to beat in the playoffs, especially as Jake, Spud, Cavill and more guys are back and healthy again. We clinched the second spot tonight, meaning that we will have two chances to win a three game series to make it to the finals. I like our chances.

Feb 8 – Hot day, didn’t take much thought to decide to go to the beach. Began at Bondi, spent time riding the waves at Tamarama and sitting in the rock pools and jumping into the ocean at Bronte before making it to Coogee. Coogee is a nice beach, highlighted by calm, clear water and a lagoon on the far left side where the water is calm. This was a terrific day and very relaxing, and the best part about it was that I didn’t pay a cent the entire day.

Feb 9 – After a workout and a short day at work, I headed down to the SCG to see the West Indies take on England in a Cricket World Cup warm up match. The match wasn’t much good as the West Indies got smashed, but I did get to sit in the member’s stand with one of the members I met named Harvey. It’s easy to see why the member’s stand is so coveted – out of the sun, close to the field, with the players, and the classic feel, it was great fun sitting in the heritage listed stand if even for a warm up match.

Feb 11- With Charlie and I resting for playoffs, we had a Johnny Wholestaff day and squeaked out a walkoff victory. With a man on second and two down in our last at bat, Wigg grounded up the middle but their infielder threw it away allowing Masa to score the winning run from second. It’s been that kind of season for us and Manly.

Feb 10, 12, 13 Usual days of work/training. Bought my flight on Friday

Feb 14 – Had a good skype with the family in the morning, planning out the activities for when I make my triumphant return to the states. It’ll be a busy but very fun few weeks and nice to catch up with them after six months away.

Last day of the regular season, we won 18s, 3rds and 2nds but missed a chance for a sweep when first grade got washed out. Went to the pub with the squad and watched Australia dominate England in the CWC opener. Playoffs begin Tuesday and I think I’m getting the ball.

Feb 15 – Beach day! Jake and I met up with Wigg and his family at Shelly Beach, a small calm, clear beach on the far right of Manly. The Australian Open was going on at a packed Manly Beach but we made our way through the crowd to Shelly, which was much less crowded. Wigg supplied food and drinks for us and the weather was beautiful, but perhaps the best part about the day was the snorkeling. There were a few Queensland Groupers near the ridge on the right side of the beach, as well as lots of small colorful fish.

Feb 17 – Playoff time. The game didn’t go great, I threw pretty well and don’t think I gave up an earned run, but we dropped the opener 4-1. We still have plenty of chances to get it done, but it would have been nice to get the opener and give ourselves a bye to the Grand Final. Playing at BOP was fun, the playing surface is terrific and the facilities are very good. Hoping we can bounce back on the weekend.

Feb 16, 18, 19, 20 – usual weekdays. Last few weeks have been full of work and baseball.

Feb 21 – A full day of playoff baseball that probably went just about as bad as possible. Watched the 18s lose a heartbreaker in the morning and then came back in the evening to watch us get smashed by Baulko, which means we will need to beat Penrith next week instead of getting a direct bye to the grand final.

Feb 22 – Another day of playoff baseball and another day of poor results. Got out to BOP early to watch 3rds and then seconds, and both got knocked out. That makes 0-5 so far in the postseason for our club, which is not what we wanted to happen after being the only club to have all four teams make the playoffs. First grade is the only grade still left.

Feb 23, 24 – normal days of work and training Tuesday night

Feb 25 – Great day by all standards. Today was the first day of the Australian baseball summit, and I was able to be involved with much of it. It is very enlightening to be in the room with many of the executives during these meetings and discussions, and attending has been extremely beneficial in gaining a broader, big picture view of the sport here.

I ducked out a bit early to head to BOP for our playoff game against Penrith in the semifinals. We won 2-0, I threw 8.1 innings and Wigg came in to close it out in the ninth. Great win and puts us a win away from the grand finals next week. Now we just need to win one of the next two.

Feb 26 – Day two of the summit was a full but great day. Heard presentations on anything from sports law to insurance to ASADA (anti-doping), and all were very interesting and enlightening. It’s been great to be a part of this and I’ve learned a great deal about the sport at the summit.

Feb 27 – After another good day at work split between the office and the Little League presentation at the summit, it was back to BOP for game two. A win would have sent us to the grand final, but we played awful and lost 6-2. A deciding game three is on Sunday.

Feb 28 – The Australian baseball summit concluded with the Baseball Australia Diamond Awards (BADAs) at the Sofitel in downtown Sydney. This is where all BA club awards, ABL awards, and Hall of Fame inductions were done, and it was a nice way to celebrate many of the people doing great things for baseball in this country. With so many baseball personnel in Sydney, this week has also been a terrific opportunity to meet new people in the industry and hear about many of the great things that they are doing. It’s tough to leave now as I’ve now learned a great deal about the organization and feel that I’m really starting to thrive in the role. Said goodbye to Chris and Adam last night, which was the first time I’ve said that down here. They’re good blokes and have been great to work with.