Once again, I was lucky enough to be asked back to write another blog post for MLB Reports! I always love being asked to write for them! This time they asked me to write about the biggest baseball influences in my life...and I'm warning you, this could take awhile! I have been playing baseball for as long as I can remember, so obviously I am going to have many people that have influenced my baseball career. If I don't mention you specifically, I am sorry, but the list is way too long and I have to pick the biggest influential people in my baseball career.
I am going to start by saying my parents are easily the single biggest influence in my life, whether it be on or off the field. They have molded me into the man (sometimes little kid) that I am today and I am a product of them. They have always supported me no matter what I do and they have always been there for me through thick and thin. They have been there for the hardest times and have somehow always gotten me through it. They have taught me to chase a childhood dream and put everything I have into it. They taught me to never give up, they taught me to work harder than anybody else, they taught me to play the game right, the list could go on for days of what they have taught me and I could never thank them enough. For that and everything else they have done for me, I owe it all to them. I love you Mom and Dad!
The second biggest influence in my baseball career is an easy choice. It is a guy named Mike Maundrell. He was my pitching coach when I played at Midland and started the molding process of the pitcher that I am today. He has taught me literally everything I know about pitching and is still teaching me today. I have known him since I was 16 and he completely changed me as a pitcher and as a person. He was the first coach I had who taught me what hard work really was and what I had to do to better myself. I still work with him to this day and I have been training with him this off season here in Cincinnati. I can honestly say, I would not still be playing baseball if I had never met Coach Maundrell. He knows more about pitching than any human probably should know and he could talk about pitching for days on end. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to work with him for several years and will forever be in debt to him for everything he has taught/ is teaching me about pitching.
Another big influence in my baseball career is Tim Adkins. He and I both will admit we had our tough times together, but he was the one that gave me the great opportunity to play collegiate baseball at Marshall University. He was the pitching coach at Marshall at the time and he pushed me to great lengths. He pushed me to the breaking point, but he made me as strong as I am today because he pushed me to such great lengths and found that breaking point. He was the one that truly found out what made me tick and what got me going. I learned so much from him not just on the baseball field, but off as well. He continued to teach me what hard work is and he taught me to find out what works for me. I owe him a tremendous amount of credit because he developed me into the hard worker that I am and taught me that if I want something to go get it and let nothing get in my way. Along with Coach Adkins, I owe Coach Waggoner a tremendous amount of credit as well. He was my head coach at Marshall University and he has always been there for me. He always told me if I ever need anything at all to call him and he would be there for my family and me. He genuinely cared about my family and me and I can't stress enough how much I appreciate it. He always had confidence in me whether I was really good that day or extremely bad. He deserves a great amount of credit for how much he stood behind me and I thank him for that.
Coach Adkins departed from Marshall University after my Sophomore year and was replaced by Joe Renner. Coach Renner and Coach Maundrell are like brothers and they both teach the same concepts. Coach Renner continued to teach me what Coach Maundrell taught me. Coach Renner and I grew to become extremely close in just 2 years. I feel like I can go to him with anything and talk about it and he will help me through it to the best of his ability. It was extremely sad to walk off the field after my last collegiate game and see tears in his eyes because it was the last game he would coach me in. It brought tears to my eyes and I will never forget the 2 years I worked with him. He worked extremely hard to get me to the next level and I am very thankful for everything he has done for me. I know we will remain in contact for years to come!
The last person that I want to mention who has been tremendously influential in my baseball career is Clarence Mitchell. He was my baseball coach when I was 13-15 years old and I am telling you what, he was the strictest coach I have ever had. He taught me the true meaning of discipline and made sure he engraved it in our heads. I still remember to this day taking a ground ball to the eye during infield practice and the eye swelling up instantly and bleeding profusely, but refusing to come out because of the discipline he preached or the running for hours on end if we messed up or did something the wrong way. He taught me what hustling is and I still to this day have everything he taught engraved into my baseball actions and life in general.
Other people that were influential in my baseball career include Chris Fiehrer (my high school coach), Scott Humes (Midland Coach), Jeff Newman (Midland Coach), and Bernie Barre, Although Bernie Barre wasn't a baseball coach and had nothing to do with baseball, he taught me life lessons I can use on the baseball field. He was my football coach and was one of the best football coaches in the history of Ohio High School Football.
I also want to mention Dennis Holmberg. He was my very first professional baseball manager and he taught me so much more about the game of baseball that I never knew. I made sure I wrote down everything he taught me so it will be with me forever. He made my first professional season one that I will never forget.
I can't begin to express how much I appreciate everybody that has had an influence on my baseball career. I owe them all a HUGE thank you and I would not be where I am today without them. I am so grateful for everybody that has influenced me so Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Twitter Ten: Top Minor League Players To Follow | Baseball Digest
Twitter Ten: Top Minor League Players To Follow | Baseball Digest
Recently, I was named to the Top Ten Minor League Players to Follow! I am all over Twitter, if your not following me, you should be! I am very interactive with all my followers and try to answer everybody's comments! I am honored to be apart of this list and owe it all to the people who follow me! If you notice there are 3 Blue Jays on the list, Deck McGuire and Justin Jackson and myself. Does that mean the Blue Jays have the best Twitter game in all of minor league baseball? I think so!
Anyways, Check it and follow me @Bearjew36
Happy Holidays
Once again, it's been awhile since I have blogged, but I hope everybody had a Happy Holiday(s). I am at home right now in Cincinnati to spend time with my family. We just got home from a family vacation to New York City. My mom did all the planning and once again she hit it right on the nose. For everybody that doesn't know, my mom is the best vacation planner there is. She planned our family vacation last year around this time to California down the coast from San Francisco to San Diego and she planned this years as well.
It was my first time to the big apple so I had no idea what to expect, with the exception that there would be HUGE crowds at all times. We stayed in the Trump at Soho which was an extremely nice hotel. If you know my family, it is essential that we have access to a gym and not just a regular hotel gym, but a gym where we can get things done and get a good workout in every morning. Soho is an area of New York City. I guess it's known as the area where all the models are, but I wouldn't be able to spot a model if I tried so I didn't see any. My mom and dad planned out our days once we arrived in the city and they made sure we saw all the typical tourist places along with some places that would be considered off the map for tourists.
Day 1 - The first day we spent around the hotel. We walked around the Soho area and shopped a little bit. It was a very cool area and it was probably my favorite area because there weren't as many people and as many crowds in Soho as there were in the main parts of the city. After we shopped in Soho for a little while, we made our way down to ground zero. I'll never forget ground zero with all the construction still to this day. We also saw Wall Street before heading back to the hotel to relax a little bit. That night we ate at a little Italian restaurant right down the road from our hotel. I won't even try to spell the name because I would do it an injustice. The food was amazing and it was a very cool atmosphere.
Day 2 - After everybody got up and worked out, we all got ready to go out for the day again. We spent the day along 5th avenue shopping and walking around. For dinner we went to a very nice restaurant called BLT Fish. The BLT chain has a couple different restaurants in the New York City area, but my Dad had been to BLT Fish before and loved it. He wanted to take us back to show us. We met one of my parents friend's daughters there as well because she goes to college in NYC. She is also pretty good friends with my little brother, Max. The meal was unbelievable. The best part of the meal and the most unreal part of the meal was dessert. We had ordered several different ones because there are 6 people with 6 different tastes in my family (the menu only had 7 different dessert choices). I think the restaurant was shocked at how much dessert we ordered they just threw in the other dessert dishes that we had not ordered as a thank you. They also give everybody green apple flavored cotton candy at the end of the meal. It was an awesome place!
Day 3 - After the workouts, we spent the day around Times Square walking around and shopping once again. Times Square was one of the cooler visuals I have ever seen. I have always seen it in movies and on TV, but this was the first time I had seen it in person and it was unreal. There were so many people walking around that it was honestly hard to maneuver between everybody. My poor little 9 year old brother almost got ran over multiple times. That night my mom had gotten tickets for the family to go see the Rockettes. I am in no way a museum person or musical show person, but this show was pretty good. It was cool to see the famous Rockettes and it was worth going to see. After the show, we ate at a nice Italian place that looked like it could be the headquarters for the Italian mafia. We had reservations, but we could've gone in without any and have been sat in the same amount of time. Once we did sit down, the food was worth the wait. They are known for their veal and I shied away from it, but my mom got it. I ended up trying it and it was really really good. I ended up eating the rest of her dish that she didn't eat.
Day 4 - My Dad is originally from Framingham, Massachusetts so his entire family live in that region. He has some cousins that live in the Brooklyn area and we spent a day to go visit with them. We met his cousin at a little mexican burrito place in Brooklyn called Calexico. We then walked around the Brooklyn area and he showed us a great view of the city skyline. He also showed us where he plays stickball on occasions. He even gave Cooper a stick ball bat (its basically just a small dowel stick). Cooper has been pumped about it and has been wanting to play ever since he has gotten it. I told him we will play after i get a bat grip to put on the stick, but what he doesn't know is that he won't win (yes, I know I'm too competitive to let my 9 year old brother win). The only down part of the day was that it was a little gloomy and rainy out, but it didn't stop us from walking around. Later that night, we went back into the city to eat dinner with my dad's cousins. There were three of them, Seth, Marne, and Suzanne and Suzanne's boyfriend. We went to a place called Sammy's Romanian Steakhouse. Let me tell you, words can't even begin to describe how cool and how much fun this place was. It was one of the funnest times I have ever had. It is this heavy Jewish steakhouse with very traditional styles. They sat us upstairs where the ceiling was so low that I had to bend over so I wouldn't hit my head (I am only 6 feet tall if that gives you any help with how low the ceiling was). Nobody had ever been there, but Seth had friends that recommended it. When we first arrived the waiter came up to us and said what do you want to drink? Vodka? (Does that help to describe the place a little bit?) Of course we said sure to the Vodka. The steakhouse served everything family style in very large proportions. We had chopped liver, chicken, stuffed cabbage, steak, salad, sausage, and salmon. There was way too much food for all of us to finish, but my favorite was the stuffed cabbage and chopped liver. All the food was unbelievable. The funniest part of the night was the DJ. They had a very Jewish DJ (my brothers and I said he is dead on Weird Al Yankovich if Weird Al had never gotten famous) that had a very heavy Jewish New York accent that made Jewish jokes and made fun of everybody there. It was hysterical. He played all the traditional Jewish songs earlier in the night and then once it started getting late, it seemed like the place turned into a club! By the end of the night, we were all dancing and having a great time (maybe due to the Vodka? but I would like to think it was because of the great company!). As we were walking out to leave, we saw a site that I thought I would NEVER see. We saw a guy being carried out by two of the guys that work there (yes I have seen somebody so drunk get carried out before). The funny thing was that he was an orthodox Jew! He had the long long beard with the curly cue side burns. We all thought he was going to blow chunks all over us so we made a dash to get out of the way! It was the absolute best way to celebrate Hanukkah with the ones I love. I still can't get over how much fun it was!
Day 5 - Once again, after we all worked out and got ready, we spent the day walking through the Flat Iron District. After I worked out, I had an interview with the kid reporter! She has interviews Curtis Granderson among other big league players. Her name was Haley and we met in the lobby of my hotel for the interview. She asked some great questions and as soon as the article is published, hopefully I will have a link to it so everybody can see! She really did a great job! It is called that because of a famous building. The building looked crazy! it was fit into this tiny corner, but it had a great view of the Empire State Building. After we walked around the Flat Iron District, we went up to the top of the Empire State Building. It was so windy up there, but the view from the top was unreal. You could see forever it seemed like!
Day 6 - This was our last full day in New York City and we spent the day walking around and shopping by the Rockefeller Center (if you haven't caught on, my family loves to shop). We had a tour of the NBC studios as well. After the tour, we went and ate at the famous Carnegie Deli. The portions there were unreal! The corned beef and roast beef sandwiches were stacked high. I don't know how one person is expected to eat a whole sandwich. That night we had tickets to the Rangers vs. Flyers hockey game. It was the first hockey game I have ever been to and I'll admit it was awesome! It was so much fun! I think hockey is the only sport where you can't get through the entire National Anthem quietly. People were cheering and going crazy throughout the entire song! The game was awesome, even though the only rule I know is that fighting isn't discouraged! I am a new fan of hockey as I think my brothers are too.
Day 7 - We had a flight out of New York City later that night so we still had half a day to do things. We went and saw Grand Central Station. It too looked like it was out of a movie! Apple had a store there that was really really cool because it was right in the middle of the station, but if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't have noticed it. After that, we made our way to the airport a little early, hoping to miss the Holiday traffic. It was our lucky day, a TSA worker let us slip by the lines! I think it was due to the fact that he saw our family was so big and we had a little 9 year old. We had a safe flight home and it was really good to be home. There is nothing like home!
It was a very successful trip and a very fun trip. Everybody enjoyed it and it was great to be with all the family together! My mom did an exceptional job planning the trip and my dad planned out the days. I feel like we saw everything we needed to see and then some! I hope everybody has a great New Year!
It was my first time to the big apple so I had no idea what to expect, with the exception that there would be HUGE crowds at all times. We stayed in the Trump at Soho which was an extremely nice hotel. If you know my family, it is essential that we have access to a gym and not just a regular hotel gym, but a gym where we can get things done and get a good workout in every morning. Soho is an area of New York City. I guess it's known as the area where all the models are, but I wouldn't be able to spot a model if I tried so I didn't see any. My mom and dad planned out our days once we arrived in the city and they made sure we saw all the typical tourist places along with some places that would be considered off the map for tourists.
Day 1 - The first day we spent around the hotel. We walked around the Soho area and shopped a little bit. It was a very cool area and it was probably my favorite area because there weren't as many people and as many crowds in Soho as there were in the main parts of the city. After we shopped in Soho for a little while, we made our way down to ground zero. I'll never forget ground zero with all the construction still to this day. We also saw Wall Street before heading back to the hotel to relax a little bit. That night we ate at a little Italian restaurant right down the road from our hotel. I won't even try to spell the name because I would do it an injustice. The food was amazing and it was a very cool atmosphere.
Day 2 - After everybody got up and worked out, we all got ready to go out for the day again. We spent the day along 5th avenue shopping and walking around. For dinner we went to a very nice restaurant called BLT Fish. The BLT chain has a couple different restaurants in the New York City area, but my Dad had been to BLT Fish before and loved it. He wanted to take us back to show us. We met one of my parents friend's daughters there as well because she goes to college in NYC. She is also pretty good friends with my little brother, Max. The meal was unbelievable. The best part of the meal and the most unreal part of the meal was dessert. We had ordered several different ones because there are 6 people with 6 different tastes in my family (the menu only had 7 different dessert choices). I think the restaurant was shocked at how much dessert we ordered they just threw in the other dessert dishes that we had not ordered as a thank you. They also give everybody green apple flavored cotton candy at the end of the meal. It was an awesome place! 
Day 3 - After the workouts, we spent the day around Times Square walking around and shopping once again. Times Square was one of the cooler visuals I have ever seen. I have always seen it in movies and on TV, but this was the first time I had seen it in person and it was unreal. There were so many people walking around that it was honestly hard to maneuver between everybody. My poor little 9 year old brother almost got ran over multiple times. That night my mom had gotten tickets for the family to go see the Rockettes. I am in no way a museum person or musical show person, but this show was pretty good. It was cool to see the famous Rockettes and it was worth going to see. After the show, we ate at a nice Italian place that looked like it could be the headquarters for the Italian mafia. We had reservations, but we could've gone in without any and have been sat in the same amount of time. Once we did sit down, the food was worth the wait. They are known for their veal and I shied away from it, but my mom got it. I ended up trying it and it was really really good. I ended up eating the rest of her dish that she didn't eat. Day 4 - My Dad is originally from Framingham, Massachusetts so his entire family live in that region. He has some cousins that live in the Brooklyn area and we spent a day to go visit with them. We met his cousin at a little mexican burrito place in Brooklyn called Calexico. We then walked around the Brooklyn area and he showed us a great view of the city skyline. He also showed us where he plays stickball on occasions. He even gave Cooper a stick ball bat (its basically just a small dowel stick). Cooper has been pumped about it and has been wanting to play ever since he has gotten it. I told him we will play after i get a bat grip to put on the stick, but what he doesn't know is that he won't win (yes, I know I'm too competitive to let my 9 year old brother win). The only down part of the day was that it was a little gloomy and rainy out, but it didn't stop us from walking around. Later that night, we went back into the city to eat dinner with my dad's cousins. There were three of them, Seth, Marne, and Suzanne and Suzanne's boyfriend. We went to a place called Sammy's Romanian Steakhouse. Let me tell you, words can't even begin to describe how cool and how much fun this place was. It was one of the funnest times I have ever had. It is this heavy Jewish steakhouse with very traditional styles. They sat us upstairs where the ceiling was so low that I had to bend over so I wouldn't hit my head (I am only 6 feet tall if that gives you any help with how low the ceiling was). Nobody had ever been there, but Seth had friends that recommended it. When we first arrived the waiter came up to us and said what do you want to drink? Vodka? (Does that help to describe the place a little bit?) Of course we said sure to the Vodka. The steakhouse served everything family style in very large proportions. We had chopped liver, chicken, stuffed cabbage, steak, salad, sausage, and salmon. There was way too much food for all of us to finish, but my favorite was the stuffed cabbage and chopped liver. All the food was unbelievable. The funniest part of the night was the DJ. They had a very Jewish DJ (my brothers and I said he is dead on Weird Al Yankovich if Weird Al had never gotten famous) that had a very heavy Jewish New York accent that made Jewish jokes and made fun of everybody there. It was hysterical. He played all the traditional Jewish songs earlier in the night and then once it started getting late, it seemed like the place turned into a club! By the end of the night, we were all dancing and having a great time (maybe due to the Vodka? but I would like to think it was because of the great company!). As we were walking out to leave, we saw a site that I thought I would NEVER see. We saw a guy being carried out by two of the guys that work there (yes I have seen somebody so drunk get carried out before). The funny thing was that he was an orthodox Jew! He had the long long beard with the curly cue side burns. We all thought he was going to blow chunks all over us so we made a dash to get out of the way! It was the absolute best way to celebrate Hanukkah with the ones I love. I still can't get over how much fun it was!
Day 5 - Once again, after we all worked out and got ready, we spent the day walking through the Flat Iron District. After I worked out, I had an interview with the kid reporter! She has interviews Curtis Granderson among other big league players. Her name was Haley and we met in the lobby of my hotel for the interview. She asked some great questions and as soon as the article is published, hopefully I will have a link to it so everybody can see! She really did a great job! It is called that because of a famous building. The building looked crazy! it was fit into this tiny corner, but it had a great view of the Empire State Building. After we walked around the Flat Iron District, we went up to the top of the Empire State Building. It was so windy up there, but the view from the top was unreal. You could see forever it seemed like!
Day 6 - This was our last full day in New York City and we spent the day walking around and shopping by the Rockefeller Center (if you haven't caught on, my family loves to shop). We had a tour of the NBC studios as well. After the tour, we went and ate at the famous Carnegie Deli. The portions there were unreal! The corned beef and roast beef sandwiches were stacked high. I don't know how one person is expected to eat a whole sandwich. That night we had tickets to the Rangers vs. Flyers hockey game. It was the first hockey game I have ever been to and I'll admit it was awesome! It was so much fun! I think hockey is the only sport where you can't get through the entire National Anthem quietly. People were cheering and going crazy throughout the entire song! The game was awesome, even though the only rule I know is that fighting isn't discouraged! I am a new fan of hockey as I think my brothers are too.
Day 7 - We had a flight out of New York City later that night so we still had half a day to do things. We went and saw Grand Central Station. It too looked like it was out of a movie! Apple had a store there that was really really cool because it was right in the middle of the station, but if you weren't looking for it, you wouldn't have noticed it. After that, we made our way to the airport a little early, hoping to miss the Holiday traffic. It was our lucky day, a TSA worker let us slip by the lines! I think it was due to the fact that he saw our family was so big and we had a little 9 year old. We had a safe flight home and it was really good to be home. There is nothing like home!
It was a very successful trip and a very fun trip. Everybody enjoyed it and it was great to be with all the family together! My mom did an exceptional job planning the trip and my dad planned out the days. I feel like we saw everything we needed to see and then some! I hope everybody has a great New Year!
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Thanksgiving
I had the opportunity to go home for a week for Thanksgiving to spend the week with my family. It felt really good to be home and I wish I could have spent more time at home, but I had to be back Friday morning for Black Friday (I had to work it).
My family had Thanksgiving at our house this year. My mom's side of the family came over and spent Thanksgiving with us. My mom made so much food (all of it was amazing), we had enough leftovers to have another whole Thanksgiving dinner! It was good to see everybody and it was a very good holiday. I am thankful for so much, the list goes on and on, and I wouldn't want to give it up for the world. I have came to realize the older I get, the more I look forward to going home. I think it's funny because when I was younger, I looked forward to leaving the house. It has come full circle and I loved being home, spending time with my family!
Black Friday, on the other hand, I dreaded working it. Thankfully, I did not have to work at 4 am or those early hours and only had to go in at 2 - 8 pm. I got lucky because I just missed the Black Friday rush. Don't get me wrong, it was really busy when I was there, but it wasn't so busy that it was out of control. I heard that earlier in the day the lines stretched all the way to the far back corner of the store!
I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! December is coming up and you know what that means...Baseball is right around the corner!
My family had Thanksgiving at our house this year. My mom's side of the family came over and spent Thanksgiving with us. My mom made so much food (all of it was amazing), we had enough leftovers to have another whole Thanksgiving dinner! It was good to see everybody and it was a very good holiday. I am thankful for so much, the list goes on and on, and I wouldn't want to give it up for the world. I have came to realize the older I get, the more I look forward to going home. I think it's funny because when I was younger, I looked forward to leaving the house. It has come full circle and I loved being home, spending time with my family!
Black Friday, on the other hand, I dreaded working it. Thankfully, I did not have to work at 4 am or those early hours and only had to go in at 2 - 8 pm. I got lucky because I just missed the Black Friday rush. Don't get me wrong, it was really busy when I was there, but it wasn't so busy that it was out of control. I heard that earlier in the day the lines stretched all the way to the far back corner of the store!
I hope everybody had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday! December is coming up and you know what that means...Baseball is right around the corner!
Friday, November 11, 2011
Veteran's Day
Today is Veteran's Day and I want to take a moment to thank all the men and women that have served this country. This country would not be where it is today without them and they are the reason we have the freedom we have. Both men and women have sacrificed their lives for this country and there is no greater thing you can do for your country than serve in the military.
It also puts into perspective how lucky we are as a country. I, myself, am extremely lucky and I couldn't be more thankful. I am able to live out my childhood dream of playing baseball and one day hope to make the dream come true and play in the big leagues. I am also lucky enough to have a college degree that not everybody is able to receive. This will be with me forever and nobody will be able to take it away from me. I am truly thankful for everything and everybody I have in my life. I am thankful for have loving parents and 3 awesome younger brothers. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Everybody knows a person that has served or is serving this country in one way or another. They have touched millions of people's lives and we should all be very thankful for them. If there is a veteran reading this or somebody that is serving us right now, I want to personally thank you for everything you have done for this country. We all really appreciate it and we would not be where we are today without you guys!
It also puts into perspective how lucky we are as a country. I, myself, am extremely lucky and I couldn't be more thankful. I am able to live out my childhood dream of playing baseball and one day hope to make the dream come true and play in the big leagues. I am also lucky enough to have a college degree that not everybody is able to receive. This will be with me forever and nobody will be able to take it away from me. I am truly thankful for everything and everybody I have in my life. I am thankful for have loving parents and 3 awesome younger brothers. I wouldn't change it for the world.
Everybody knows a person that has served or is serving this country in one way or another. They have touched millions of people's lives and we should all be very thankful for them. If there is a veteran reading this or somebody that is serving us right now, I want to personally thank you for everything you have done for this country. We all really appreciate it and we would not be where we are today without you guys!
Proud Big Brother...
I want to dedicate this post to my little brother, Max. Earlier this week he committed to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina to play baseball next year! About a month ago, he and I took a trip to Furman for a visit/showcase. We were both hoping he would be offered the chance to play there because he liked it down there and so did I! Furman is a beautiful school, in a great city, with unbelievable academics. The baseball team plays a good schedule as well.
I didn't need to see anything from my brother as far as his baseball skills go because I already knew that he had the talent to play at the Division I level; I have been saying it all along. Watching him play in the showcase just proved my point even more that he could play and excel at the Division I level. He was hands down the best one there. He may not have been the fastest or the tallest, but he was the smoothest in the infield, had the strongest arm out of anybody in any position, had the best range in the infield and had the best look as far as looking like a baseball player goes. He also looked the strongest out of anybody there (I won't lie, he is BIG). Just by watching, you could tell he was a cut above the others. All this was also the morning after he had just finished playing a football on Friday night!
I couldn't be any happier for him because I know how much he wanted to play and how much he wanted the chance to play at the next level. He has put in a tremendous amount of work and dedication to getting better and you can tell just by looking at him. He has transformed his body from small and wiry, to muscular and cut. I'll give it to him, he looks really good.
I know my entire family is proud of him and I know he is ecstatic to have the chance to play at the next level. I am definitely a proud big brother and I can't wait to be able to watch him play at the collegiate level.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Long Time, No Talk...
I realize it has been almost a month since I have last blogged, but I have been busier than I expected myself to be and quite honest not too much is going on....
I have been working at Dick's Sporting Goods as a Sales Associate in Team Sports. It is a rather easy job, but the hours are long. I usually work 3 - 9:30 pm. When I finally get home from work, I am exhausted and usually watch a little bit of TV then get in bed. Everyday I have a couple of duties or jobs that I have to get done, but they never take longer than an hour. Some of the jobs consist of restocking shelves or rearranging shelves.
The worst part of the job is having to pick up after these little kids. I have come to realize that most parents have ZERO control over their kids and let them run around like maniacs. These little kids rip things off the shelves and leave them on the ground or rip things out of the package and leave them laying around. Nothing has made me madder since I have started working than when little kids do this or when their parents allow it!
Aside from working, I have been training extremely hard. Every morning, Monday - Friday, I get up at about 9 am and get some breakfast. I then watch some Sportscenter or MLB Network before I get ready to head to the gym. I usually get to the gym around 10 and train from 10-12:30/1. I get my cardio in along with my weight training and core work.
When I get home from the gym, I make something to eat for lunch and shower before I usually go to work. Thankfully, I have had today and yesterday (Monday and Tuesday) off to relax a little bit.
A couple of weekends ago, I took a road trip with my brothers, Max and Cooper down to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. My brother, Max, was going down there for a baseball showcase type thing. I drove home Friday for his football game, which they won, and after the game we loaded up the car and set off. Cooper was able to watch his movies in the back seat while Max and I talked in the front seat. It was the first time Max and I had been able to talk about anything and everything by ourselves in a long time.
It was an easy drive until they both fell asleep and I was left all alone. It was about a 7 hour drive. I tried stopping in Gatlinburg, Tennessee to get a hotel for us because the plan was to drive until I got tired, then stop and get a hotel somewhere, then wake up early Saturday morning and finish the drive....no such luck. There was not one hotel with any vacancy so I made the decision to fill up on gas and get all hopped up on caffeine and finish the drive that night. I won't lie, driving through the Smokey Mountains was scary. It was all twists and turns, then factor in the big semi-trucks that were on my rear, it was nerve wracking. Once I got through the mountains, I finally stopped in Asheville, North Carolina, about an hour away from Furman. I was exhausted and needed a couple hours of sleep. I pulled off around 5 am in a Holiday Inn parking lot and slept for about 3 hours. When I woke up at 8, we pulled out again and finished the hour drive.
It was a good weekend, there was a little fall festival in downtown Greenville that "the brothers" went to after Max was done with baseball (Cooper always used to refer to Kendall, Max, himself and I, as "the brothers" when he was talking about us all in a group, so it kind of caught on as a nickname of sorts). We found a cool little sports bar to get some dinner at while we watched some college football. It was WILD in there because the Clemson game was on and Clemson is only about 15 minutes from where we were.
Max's baseball was a 2 day event on Saturday and Sunday. I will hold my own opinions on how he did to myself because to me it is a NO BRAINER that he was the best middle infielder there, HANDS DOWN! But yet again coaches are all caught up on the size of the kid rather than the heart and work ethic and desire of the kid, but thats a whole other issue...
Sunday after Max was done, we made the drive home. We met my parents right outside of Lexington so they could take Max and Coop back to Cincinnati and I could go my separate way back to Huntington, WV...all in all it was a fun trip and the brothers had some great bonding time.
That has been the most exciting thing that I have done in the past month or so. Lately, I have been getting that itch to start baseball again. I can't help, but get excited, especially as I am watching the World Series!
Once again, sorry it has been so long since I last blogged, but I will try to write more...
I have been working at Dick's Sporting Goods as a Sales Associate in Team Sports. It is a rather easy job, but the hours are long. I usually work 3 - 9:30 pm. When I finally get home from work, I am exhausted and usually watch a little bit of TV then get in bed. Everyday I have a couple of duties or jobs that I have to get done, but they never take longer than an hour. Some of the jobs consist of restocking shelves or rearranging shelves.
The worst part of the job is having to pick up after these little kids. I have come to realize that most parents have ZERO control over their kids and let them run around like maniacs. These little kids rip things off the shelves and leave them on the ground or rip things out of the package and leave them laying around. Nothing has made me madder since I have started working than when little kids do this or when their parents allow it!
Aside from working, I have been training extremely hard. Every morning, Monday - Friday, I get up at about 9 am and get some breakfast. I then watch some Sportscenter or MLB Network before I get ready to head to the gym. I usually get to the gym around 10 and train from 10-12:30/1. I get my cardio in along with my weight training and core work.
When I get home from the gym, I make something to eat for lunch and shower before I usually go to work. Thankfully, I have had today and yesterday (Monday and Tuesday) off to relax a little bit.
A couple of weekends ago, I took a road trip with my brothers, Max and Cooper down to Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina. My brother, Max, was going down there for a baseball showcase type thing. I drove home Friday for his football game, which they won, and after the game we loaded up the car and set off. Cooper was able to watch his movies in the back seat while Max and I talked in the front seat. It was the first time Max and I had been able to talk about anything and everything by ourselves in a long time.
It was an easy drive until they both fell asleep and I was left all alone. It was about a 7 hour drive. I tried stopping in Gatlinburg, Tennessee to get a hotel for us because the plan was to drive until I got tired, then stop and get a hotel somewhere, then wake up early Saturday morning and finish the drive....no such luck. There was not one hotel with any vacancy so I made the decision to fill up on gas and get all hopped up on caffeine and finish the drive that night. I won't lie, driving through the Smokey Mountains was scary. It was all twists and turns, then factor in the big semi-trucks that were on my rear, it was nerve wracking. Once I got through the mountains, I finally stopped in Asheville, North Carolina, about an hour away from Furman. I was exhausted and needed a couple hours of sleep. I pulled off around 5 am in a Holiday Inn parking lot and slept for about 3 hours. When I woke up at 8, we pulled out again and finished the hour drive.
It was a good weekend, there was a little fall festival in downtown Greenville that "the brothers" went to after Max was done with baseball (Cooper always used to refer to Kendall, Max, himself and I, as "the brothers" when he was talking about us all in a group, so it kind of caught on as a nickname of sorts). We found a cool little sports bar to get some dinner at while we watched some college football. It was WILD in there because the Clemson game was on and Clemson is only about 15 minutes from where we were.
Max's baseball was a 2 day event on Saturday and Sunday. I will hold my own opinions on how he did to myself because to me it is a NO BRAINER that he was the best middle infielder there, HANDS DOWN! But yet again coaches are all caught up on the size of the kid rather than the heart and work ethic and desire of the kid, but thats a whole other issue...
Sunday after Max was done, we made the drive home. We met my parents right outside of Lexington so they could take Max and Coop back to Cincinnati and I could go my separate way back to Huntington, WV...all in all it was a fun trip and the brothers had some great bonding time.
That has been the most exciting thing that I have done in the past month or so. Lately, I have been getting that itch to start baseball again. I can't help, but get excited, especially as I am watching the World Series!
Once again, sorry it has been so long since I last blogged, but I will try to write more...
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