Gatorade Shower

In the 2016 spring baseball season I experienced one of the most gratifying experiences from our successful team known as the Gatorade shower.

We had about a half dozen players return from the 0-14 losing season in 2015.  So, to make it to the championship last year was quite an accomplishment. Read more

I kept reminding the players – practice fundamental baseball. Simultaneously, always keeping them motivitated, “who wants to bring home the hardware?”

It paid off!

Also known as the Gatorade dunk or the Gatorade bath, is an American sports tradition that involves players surreptitiously dumping a cooler full of liquid (most commonly Gatorade mixed with ice) over the head of their coach (or occasionally a high-profile assistant coach, star player, or team owner in professional leagues) following a meaningful win, such as the Super Bowl or World Series. Read more

Interestingly enough, I had the pleasure of leading our soccer team to a championship season as well. Read more

Crawl before you can Walk

Everything I’ve read to date suggests that if you want to be SUCCESSFUL, find somebody who is and copy everything they do.

It’s that simple.

However, if you have more than a High School degree you might make this more complicated than it really is. Not only did I have a FANTASTIC education in College @ Johns Hopkins University 1992-2000 with Michael Bloomberg giving the commencement speech upon graduation; I also attended a great college preparatory school named Boys Latin and another parochial school named John Carroll. Today when I meet people and they ask me, “What do I do for a living”, I typically say, “not much”.

When they ask me where I went to school, I usually say, “it’s a long story”.

In 2019, I have the opportunity to be apart of two(2) baseball teams that are both playing in a NATIONAL 12U tournament in Cooperstown New York. In 2018, I was just a FAN watching my son play @ the Legendary Dream Park . This year I am an OFFICIAL member of a 4 man coaching staff on the Roland Park Baseball Leagues 12U Travel “A Team” that competes in Harford County (HCTB)and various other tournaments around the area.

The other team is a BIG surprise, called Lutherville (LTRC) which not only has one of the BEST baseball rec programs, they are considered #1 in Football, Lacrosse, Basketball, Soccer in both Men and Women’s sports. Since my son has made some great friends playing sports, one of his teammates was invited to play on this travel team at the OTHER Cooperstown venue called Cooperstown All-Star Village. His name is Jonah Stockton and in my opinion is perhaps one of the BEST all around athletes in Maryland. I would like to say my son is better but Jonah is about 6 inches taller and 20 pounds heavier. That makes a difference, all things being equal. Short guys have to work even harder.

Off the record, I tell Blake, “just do everything that Jose Altuve does and you will be fine. I also think Dustin Pedroia is a another great role model for shorter guys. As a matter of fact, I had the opportunity to meet the legendary Orioles Hall of Famer and MLB All-star second baseman Brian Roberts at a unique Bible Study I attend @ Baltimore Country Club about 10 years ago.

In case you did not know, Dream Park is where Bryce Harper and Mike Trout both played when they were 12 years old. It has become so popular that they are SOLD OUT 13 weeks of the year every year. Every week during June, July and August over 100 teams from around the United States come to Cooperstown to play in this VERY special tournament. But, little did I know, for the kids it is even more – it is a WEEK LONG sleep-away camp.

So, getting back to the whole BLOG title – “Crawl before you can walk”. For the 1st time in about 14 years I am NOT the head coach of a team so far in 2019. Even before my children were born I was asked to help coach at Boys Latin baseball. When my daughter arrived on May 23, 2004 I started coaching little league rec baseball. Then when she was about 4-5 I started coaching her girls soccer teams, both outdoor and indoor. Then my son Blake was born on December 20, 2006 and the rest is history – read bio under coaching menu.

Meanwhile, I am just an Assistant Coach and it sucks NOT being in charge. I already am well aware of my LIMITATIONS! When I was a college professor @ Towson University, I remember getting a SURVEY at the end of the semester and multiple students agreed that I was the biggest Control Freak they ever met.

So, once again, I go back to the SIMPLE formula mentioned above. KISS – keep it simple stupid. Find a great assistant coach and do everything they do. If you think you know more than the head coach, suck it and accept that he is in that position for a reason. Learn from him!!!

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Five Legendary Baseball Coaches

The best coaches are what legends are made of. Through their commitment to players and innovative strategies, they are able to push the team to levels the players never thought was possible. Out of all of the legendary coaches who have come and gone, these five coaches are some of the best ever.

Sparky Anderson

Born as George Lee Anderson, Sparky Anderson played baseball in the Major Leagues before he started to manage teams. While he was with the Cincinnati Reds, his team reached the championships in both 1975 and 1976. A third title was added in 1984 when he was with the Detroit Tigers. He holds the record for being the first coach to win the World Series in both leagues. Over the course of his career, his teams garnered 2,194 wins. He was later admitted to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Tony La Russa

Tony La Russa was born in 1944. He quickly rose up the ranks as a major league baseball player before turning into a head coach. Interestingly, he received a law degree from Florida State University following his MLB career, so he is one of the few managers who is also allowed to practice law. As a manager, Tony led his teams to a total of 12 division titles, 3 World Series titles and 6 league championships. Over the course of the last 33 seasons, his teams have won 2,728 games. This places him as the manager with the third most wins in the history of the major league. IN 2013, he was inducted to the Hall of Fame for his years playing and coaching baseball.

Joe Torre

Joe Torre was born in Brooklyn, New York. As he grew up, he became one of the top players in Major League Baseball with 2,000 hits. As a coach, he attained 2,000 wins, which makes him the only person to achieve both of these goals. He spent 29 seasons working as a manager and started with the Mets. Torre’s greatest success was a .605 winning percentage for the regular season with the Yankees. While he was managing the team, the Yankees achieved six American League pennants and four World Series titles. While he was there, the Yankees made the playoffs every year. By 2014, his impressive track record in the game led him to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Read more

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So, since I attended University of Maryland in College Park 1985-1988, I’m going to start modeling my behavior after Erik Bakich (sounds like back ich, eric with a K).

Erik Michael Bakich (born November 27, 1977) is an American college baseball coach. He is currently the head baseball coach at Michigan. Bakich previously was the head coach at Maryland and served as an assistant coach at Vanderbiltand Clemson.

Other references

Assistant Coach of the Year

Top 10 College Baseball Coaches under 40

Take me out to the Ballpark

‘It’s a holiday’: Orioles fans flock to Camden Yards for Opening Day, filled with cautious optimism.

Read more
http://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-orioles-opening-day-fans-20220411-ec2sg7622nbdrccj7lzmcfq7oy-story.html

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The Baltimore Orioles take a 1-0 lead into the latest series against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Baltimore went 52-110 overall and 27-54 in home games last season.

Read more
http://www.espn.com/mlb/preview/_/gameId/401354314

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Watch “Baltimore Orioles 1992 – The First Season at Camden Yards” on YouTube

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‘This is a tradition in Baltimore’: Orioles fans celebrate return to normalcy during Opening Day –

Read more
http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/news/2022/04/11/orioles-fans-celebrate-opening-day.html

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ROLAND PARK BASEBALL LEAGUES

RPBL is proud to be sponsoring a Night at the Yard for the THIRD year in a row!!!
Click here to DOWNLOAD FLYER

Baltimore ORIOLES vs. Los Angeles ANGELS

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2019 @ 7:05 PM

ONLY $10.00

Upper Reserve Section 344-354 (Rows 13-25). The individual ticket price is normally $17.00 for Upper Reserve. Additional 10% transaction fee ($1.00 per ticket). If you are having trouble connecting to MLB ticket order entry site, copy & paste the following url into your browser address bar: www.orioles.com/rolandpark

INTANGIBLE VALUE
What do people learn going to a professional baseball game? Well, if you have never been before, it’s FUN! Not to mention, Camden Yards is considered one of the BEST stadiums in Major League Baseball in the entire country. It’s both exciting and entertaining. It can be very competitive and suspenseful depending on the pitchers.

As a Head Coach for over 10 years, I am a “student of the game” and continue to learn new things going to a live baseball game. In my own experience, the benefits are countless!

Whether you are going with your son or going as a team, it’s a great bonding experience. Plus, the coach often can learn more about the player be better able to relate to them. Best of all, the kids witness first-hand, real time some of the best professionals in a chosen field of discipline – baseball. Watching MLB players performing at the highest level of skill is awesome, especially when you consider how much they are getting paid.

Coaches and baseball teams can build on all the PRACTICE hours, days and weeks trying to run drills by explaining situations and the reasons why. There is also a well-known FACT in the “Art of Pedogogy” – people can learn from reading it in a book, listening, watching or doing.

Teaching fundamental skills is very difficult if you don’t have much passion, interest and some natural ability. Read more

Broken Clock

Were you late for any meetings this week (e.g. Monday, March 13)?  How many clocks did you have to change in your house and office? Well, I have at least a dozen or more. This includes microwave, coffee maker, watches, etc.

A broken clock is right twice a day.  Thank God for “smart phones” that automatically adjust twice a year.  Hopefully, I am right more often than I am wrong, but that is often debatable. Two steps forward, one step back.

Nevertheless, if you are like me, you might have some broken clocks, or a watch with a dead battery.  In fact, if you are really behind the eight ball, you may have to update your calendar or your watch because February only has 28 days and your watch may be 3 days behind if you have not worn it in awhile.

Daylight Saving Time

The good news is the days are getting longer and you will start seeing more daylight.  Daylight Saving Time changes at 2:00 a.m. on the second Sunday in March in the U.S. when we set our clocks forward (“Spring Forward”) one hour ahead of Standard Time. We turn the clocks back at 2:00 a.m. on the first Sunday in November (“Fall Back”), thus returning to Standard Time. Read more

You may recall my Introductory “Little League” Letter was all business.  Well, actually I’m pretty laid back and often digress – side track or even worse, regress move backward.  Did you know that moving your clock forward one hour is a lot easier than moving it back in the fall because you have to cycle through 11 hours?  Depending on whether you have an Analog or Digital clock, when you change the time from 2am to 3am it’s real easy.  However, changing from 2am to 1am means you have to go all the way around.

This reminds me of my life.  Physically “In old age, one’s body regresses.”  Frequently, “I battle with ONLY two gears in my life”.  Forward or Backwards.  Rarely do I Park and Sit Still. That is my greatest challenge – moderation and being low key.

When local standard time was about to reach Sunday, March 12, 2017, 2:00:00 am clocks were turned forward 1 hour to Sunday, March 12, 2017, 3:00:00 am local daylight time instead.  Sunrise and sunset was about 1 hour later on Mar 12, 2017 than the day before. There was more light in the evening.  However, there is a one week, one hour time difference Eastern Standard Time (UTC-5) or Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4) depending upon the season (Spring forward, Fall back), so please adjust accordingly. Read more

As your Skipper, I believe it is better to give you too much information than too little. That gives you the autonomy to decipher what is important to you. For example, this Friday, March 17 is Saint Patrick’s Day and Monday, March 20 is the First Day of Spring.  Another life lesson I have found is that it is easier to lighten up than tighten up.

During our Parent Meeting at our last practice (March 11), I discussed the importance of having Fun this season.  This is a very big philosophy of Roland Park Baseball League and I want to reinforce this principle.  Too often I see kids get burnt out or lose interest.  My goal every time I coach is to develop talent and make it enjoyable.  If you are not getting better than it quickly becomes no fun.  I stressed the importance of Parent expectations and think Mike Matheny said it much better than I could ever articulate.  However, I do want to emphasize my promise to you that I will try my best to keep email communication short and sweet.  I will routinely post pre-game and post-game blogs and interact with the League Toolbox as far as scheduling goes.  Notice on this blog that there are many, many baseball and sports related Hyperlinks that will keep you busy for hours.

In terms of practice plans, we will typically start out every practice and game with stretching and conditioning (running stairs is a great way to get the heart rate pumping).  Then we will break-out into 3 groups focusing on pitching, fielding and hitting.  I like to end the practice with a scrimmage and really concentrating on “situations” for both offense and defense (e.g. what do you do with one out, man on first and the ball is hit to the shortstop?). More importantly, I am very serious about sportsmanship and hustling.  I don’t ever want to see kids teasing each other or their opponents and insist on running on and off the field between innings.  Also, I prefer that the kids help setup the equipment, carry the bags to/from the coaches car and cleanup and the end of every practice & game.  That’s how we did it when I played little league.  And I remember distinctly the coaches telling me that when the college and MLB scouts show-up at our games, they are paying particular attention to ATTITUDE.

Moving forward, we need lots of help!  I’m still looking for volunteers to help run stations.  I received some questions about Uniforms and it would probably be best if we all wore Black baseball pants with black socks, but I’m flexible.  If you already have grey or white pants, that’s fine.  Also, if you are considering investing in a helmet, Baltimore City requires that you wear a face mask.   The RPBL gives us more than four team helmets with mask.  I suggest if you are concerned about hair lice that you purchase your own.  Just make sure it is comfortable (snug and doesn’t slide around) and can see well.  We also have 3-4 baseball bats and you are welcome to take home with you, but if you would like to buy your own I can help you decide.

Youth Baseball Bats feature a 2 1/4 inch barrel diameter and are often lighter, with a length to weight ratio between -8 and -13. Youth bats are sometimes referred to as small barrel bats or Little League baseball bats, and are used by players that play in leagues that mandate a bat with a 2 1/4 inch barrel. Most will be Little League approved bats and should also be legal in one or more of the following associations: Babe Ruth, Dixie, Pony, AABC, or USSSA. NOTE: As of January 1, 2018, the new USA Baseball Bat Standard will be implemented. Little League-approved baseball bats that are approved for use for the 2017 season will no longer be acceptable for use in any Little League game or activity. Read more

 

Be True to Yourself!

Even if people call you, “The Freak” or you are labeled “Stan the Man Unusual”. Always remember, “someone LOVES you”.

If you are in pain, feeling self-pity or perhaps you had a problem that caused GRIEF… Hang in there. Don’t give up. Keep working hard!

Sometimes you may need to look around for that inspiration and/or gratitude. It’s very hard when you are hurting and feeling weak. But it’s there. Trust me!

Timothy Leroy Lincecum (born June 15, 1984), nicknamed “The Freak”, is an American professional baseball starting pitcher who is a free agent. He pitched in Major League Baseball for the San Francisco Giants from 2007 to 2015 and for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in 2016. He stands 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs 170 pounds. Lincecum helped the Giants win three World Series championships in a five-year span. Lincecum was the team’s ace starter in 2010 and as a relief pitcher in 2012 and 2014, winning the Babe Ruth Award in 2010 as the most valuable player of the MLB postseason. Read more

I watched Lincecum warm-up before Angels vs. Orioles game last year. He was starting pitcher and part of his routine was to “long toss” like every good ball player. Especially outfielders. But what blew me away was seeing him throw a line drive 300 feet from corner of Camden Yards home run fence across the entire field and hit the catcher on the dime. Not once, but 5 times in a row. Catcher never moved his glove. WOW!!! 100 yards. Entire football field. That’s why he us called, “The Freak“.

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George Bernard Shaw (July 26, 1856 – November 2, 1950) was an Irish playwright, critic and polemicist whose influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from the 1880s to his death and beyond.

If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.

With a range incorporating both contemporary satire and historical allegory, Shaw became the leading dramatist of his generation, and was awarded the 1925 Nobel Prize in Literature. Read more

 

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Donald Joseph Stanhouse (born February 12, 1951 in Du Quin, Illinois) is a retired baseball pitcher who had a ten-year major league career from 1972 to 1980, 1982. He played for the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles of the American League and the Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Dodgers of the National League.

Shuttled back and forth from the bullpen to the starting rotation with the Rangers and Expos, Stanhouse excelled in 1978 after joining the Baltimore Orioles, where Manager Earl Weaver employed him as a full-time closer. Because of his Harpo Marx hairstyle and pre-game batting practice antics – where his primal scream would entertain early ballpark arrivals – he was quickly labeled Stan the Man Unusual, a pun on the nickname “Stan the Man” for Hall-of-Famer Stan Musial.

Stanhouse finished 3rd in the American League in both 1978 & 1979 in saves, recording 45 over that span, helping the Orioles capture the American League Championship in 1979. He was selected to the American League All-Star team in 1979. Read more

 

Indoor Training Facilities

If you are like most teams, finding an indoor facility can be challenging. Here is a list of facilities in the local area (in order, great to good). There is no such thing as a “bad” batting cage.

B.U.B.A. Baseball

Address: 1205 South Carey Street Baltimore, MD 21230
Website: Click here
Andy Weltlinger, Owner
Email: bubabaseball@gmail.com

CR Sports Zone

(formerly Cages Baseball Training Center)
Address: 1201 Pauls Lane Joppa, MD 21085
Website: Click here
Raffy Marrero, Owner
Phone: (443) 619-5236
Kelly Billing, Scheduler
Phone: (443) 504-2345
Email: rmdbaseball@yahoo.com or crsportszone@gmail.com

Next Level Sports Performance

(formerly Extra Innings)
Address: 7904 Rossville Boulevard Baltimore, MD 21236
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-665-6789
Email: stanton@nlsportsperformance.com

S3 Training Center

Address: 1412 Shoemaker Road Baltimore, MD 21209
Website: Click here
Rob Slade, Owner
Phone: 443-474-8090
Email: robslade1@verizon.net

Maryland Sportsplex

Address: 5200 Glen Arm Road Glen Arm, MD 21057
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-510-7418
Email: mdsplx@marylandsportsplex.com

PerformFit Sports Experience

Address: 10880 Railroad Avenue Cockeysville, MD 21030
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-785-2600
Email: tim.bishop@performfit.com

Coppermine Fieldhouse

Address: 4 Hamill Road Baltimore, MD 21210
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-337-7781
Email: info@copperminefieldhouse.com

Elite Prospects Athletic Complex

Address: 10900 Gilroy Road, Unit L Hunt Valley MD, 21031
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-329-1400 | 410-808-7779
Email: jimmy.parisiEPAC@gmail.com

Harford Sports Performance Center

Address: 121 Industry Lane Forest Hill, MD 21050
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-420-8442
Email: harfordsports@gmail.com

Top Gun Baseball Academy

Address: 1332 Londontown Blvd. Suite 102 Sykesville, MD 21784
Website: Click here
Phone: 410-449-3050

D-Bat

Address: 8777 Snouffer School Rd Gaithersburg, MD 20879
Website: Click here
Phone: 240-588-3030 | 202-437-5643

Professional Baseball Training

Address: 6541 Baltimore National Pike Catonsville, MD 21228
Website: Click here
Phone: 443-250-5712

Bases Training Facility

Curtis Business Center 713 E. Ordnance Road, Suite 319
Baltimore, MD 21226
Website: Click here

In the Net

Address: 798 Airport Road Palmyra, PA 17078
Website: Click here
Phone: 717-838-8706 | 888-408-9119
Email: sue@inthenet.com

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Biggest indoor facility in the midwest

Elite – Wyoming, MI
Website: Click here

Strikeouts

Why do players strikeout?

Answer: By regulation, baseball bats may be no more than 2.75 inches in diameter at the thickest part and no more than 42 inches long.  A MLB baseball is only 3 inches in diameter. Thus, it is very, very difficult.  As a matter of fact, you can fail 7/10 times and be qualified for the Hall of Fame (.300 batting average). Read more

Batters

The top 15 Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders: (as of 2015 season)

1. Reggie Jackson – 2,597
2. Jim Thome – 2,548
3. Adam Dunn – 2,379
4. Sammy Sosa – 2,306
5. Alex Rodriguez – 2,220
6. Andrés Galarraga – 2,003
7. José Canseco – 1,942
8. Willie Stargell – 1,936
9. Mike Cameron – 1,901
10. Mike Schmidt – 1,883
11. Fred McGriff – 1,882
12. Tony Pérez – 1,867
13. Bobby Abreu – 1,840
14. Derek Jeter – 1,840
15. Dave Kingman – 1,816

Active batters with over 1,400 K’s:
(as of 2015 season)

1. Alex Rodriguez – 2,220
2. Ryan Howard – 1,729
3. David Ortiz – 1664
4. Carlos Beltrán – 1,592
5. Mark Reynolds – 1,519
6. Adrián Beltré – 1,518
7. Curtis Granderson 1,459
8. Adam LaRoche 1,407
9. Melvin Upton – 1,406
10. Miguel Cabrera – 1,400

Single season strikeout records (batters):

Rank	Player	Team	Strikeouts	Year
1	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	223	2009
2	Adam Dunn	Chicago White Sox	222	2012
3	Chris Carter	Houston Astros	212	2013
4	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	211	2010
5	Drew Stubbs	Cincinnati Reds	205	2011
6	Mark Reynolds	Arizona Diamondbacks	204	2008
7	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	199	2007
8	Ryan Howard	Philadelphia Phillies	199	2008
9	Adam Dunn	Washington Nationals	199	2010
10	Chris Davis	Baltimore Orioles	199	2013

 

Strikeout records

Then there is the best pitchers who threw strikeouts.

Pitchers

The Top 20 Major League Baseball career strikeout leaders (active players in bold) (since 1901):^[16]

1. Nolan Ryan – 5,714
2. Randy Johnson – 4,875
3. Roger Clemens – 4,672
4. Steve Carlton – 4,136
5. Bert Blyleven – 3,701
6. Tom Seaver – 3,640
7. Don Sutton – 3,574
8. Gaylord Perry – 3,534
9. Walter Johnson – 3,509
10. Greg Maddux – 3,371
11. Phil Niekro – 3,342
12. Ferguson Jenkins – 3,192
13. Pedro Martínez – 3,154
14. Bob Gibson – 3,117
15. Curt Schilling – 3,116
16. John Smoltz – 3,084
17. Jim Bunning – 2,855
18. Mickey Lolich – 2,832
19. Mike Mussina – 2,813
20. Cy Young – 2,803

Active pitchers with over 2,000 strikeouts (as of 2015 season):

1. CC Sabathia – 2,574
2. Bartolo Colón – 2,237
3. Félix Hernández – 2,142
4. Jake Peavy – 2,105

The Top 10 Major League Baseball career strikeout-per-nine innings leaders (since 1900, minimum 1,000 IP):^[17]

1. Randy Johnson – 10.61
2. Kerry Wood – 10.32
3. Pedro Martínez – 10.04
4. Tim Lincecum – 9.61
5. Nolan Ryan – 9.55
6. Max Scherzer – 9.51
7. Trevor Hoffman – 9.36
8. Sandy Koufax – 9.28
9. Clayton Kershaw – 9.26
10. Óliver Pérez – 9.22

The Top 5 Major League Baseball single season strikeout-per-nine innings leaders (since 1900, minimum 1.0 IP per team game):

1. Randy Johnson, 2001 – 13.41
2. Pedro Martínez, 1999 – 13.20
3. Kerry Wood, 1998 – 12.58
4. Randy Johnson, 2000 – 12.56
5. Randy Johnson, 1995 – 12.35

The Top 10 Major League Baseball single season strikeout totals (since 1900):^[18]

Pitcher	Strikeouts	Season	Team	League	Overall Rank
Nolan Ryan	383	1973	California Angels	AL	8
Sandy Koufax	382	1965	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	9
Randy Johnson	372	2001	Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	11
Nolan Ryan	367	1974	California Angels	AL	14
Randy Johnson	364	1999	Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	15
Rube Waddell	349	1904	Philadelphia Athletics	AL	18
Bob Feller	348	1946	Cleveland Indians	AL	19
Randy Johnson	347	2000	Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	20
Nolan Ryan	341	1977	California Angels	AL	25
Randy Johnson	334	2002	Arizona Diamondbacks	NL	30

The Top 10 Major League Baseball single season strikeout totals (all time):^[19]

Pitcher	Strikeouts	Season	Team	League	Overall Rank
Matt Kilroy	513	1886	Baltimore Orioles	AA	1
Toad Ramsey	499	1886	Louisville Colonels	AA	2
Hugh Daily	483	1884	Chicago Browns/Pittsburgh Stogies/Washington Nationals	UA	3
Dupee Shaw	451	1884	Detroit Wolverines/Boston Reds	NL/UA	4
Old Hoss Radbourn	441	1884	Providence Grays	NL	5
Charlie Buffington	417	1884	Boston Beaneaters	NL	6
Guy Hecker	385	1884	Louisville Eclipse	AA	7
Nolan Ryan	383	1973	California Angels	AL	8
Sandy Koufax	382	1965	Los Angeles Dodgers	NL	9
Bill Sweeney	374	1884	Baltimore Monumentals	UA	10

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Count Everything

“In Baseball, we count Everything”…

That’s why a scorecard is so, very important to the game.

Below are the position numbers in baseball.  Notice that 3rd base is position #5, not Three (also the jersey # of Brooks Robinson).  Click here to learn more about keeping score.

Opening Day

Baseball Really Is a Game of Inches

Baltimore Orioles win their first game 3-2 over the Toronto Blue Jays in the 11th inning. Read more.  Mark Trumbo hits first opening day walk-off home run in Orioles history. Trumbo picks up where he left off last season, as he led the majors in home runs with 47 in the regular season and he also added one in the wild card game. Speaking of which, it had to feel good for the Orioles to take down the Blue Jays in similar fashion to how the wild-card game ended. The Trumbo walk-off winner here was historic, as it was the first walk-off home run on opening day in Orioles history. It’s also the first in the majors since 2014, when Neil Walker, then of the Pirates, did so to the Cubs. Read more

Unfortunately, our Junior Orioles U12 Little League team lost our home opener vs. the Bearcats 5-4.  However, we were not able to finish the game in 6 innings of regulation play on account of darkness (7:25 PM – approximately 85 minutes – 5 complete innings) and the umpire was concerned about safety.  Who knows if we had another 30 minutes of daylight what would have happened?  Read more.  Also, if you recall the letter from an earlier blog by Mike Matheny, he said, “We will lose a lot of games”.

Blake and I stopped to get something to eat on the ride home and anxiously awaited the NCAA Championship game.  It was no surprise that the game was decided in the last 60 seconds.  North Carolina (1) prevailed over Gonzaga (1) 71-65.  Roy Williams deserves a lot of credit! I really enjoyed watching the FINAL FOUR this year.  In particular, I loved what South Carolina’s Frank Martin, Head Coach said in an interview,

“People keep score when you play games 35, 36, 37 times a year, and sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t. That score eventually goes away. When you impact people by the masses the way these kids have, that means you’re a winner as a human being and that’s what matters.  When we get home and they realize what they’ve done in our community, their hearts will open up with joy because they’ll be so happy that the pain of losing a game eventually goes away.”

South Carolina lost to Gonzaga in the Final Four on Saturday, but Gamecocks head coach Frank Martin believes his players are still winners.  In the press conference, he was asked what he has to say to the kids who are fans of the team. Martin took his time with his reply, while trying to hold back tears.  Read more.

In addition, our Brewers Over 40 Baseball Team also lost 12-4 in our season opener vs. the Diamondbacks.  However, the score was a lot worse after 9 innings than any of the previous games mentioned.  Yet, the score was 0-0 after my first 3 innings of pitching on the mound.

Tonight’s Most Valuable Player (MVP) award goes to Richard McLeod.  He received the game ball and starting Thursday we will start handing out the trophy below (similar to the “Stanley Cup“) for the kids to take home till the next game (please be GENTLE so it does not break).  He sparked the bench in the 2nd inning with a standup triple and later scored our first run to put us on the board.

 

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Rain Rebound

Orioles Head Groundskeeper Nicole Sherry is in a League of Her Own

CLICK HERE

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5 Ways To Help Your Infield Skin Rebound From Rain Quickly

(following excerpts are from original material at Ballfields.com)

While the western quarter of the US is battling a daunting drought, the central portion of the US has been dealing with lots of rain over the past couple of months. Think about it. In a three week span, the entire state of Texas went from a major 4-year drought to being totally drought free. It takes a lot of rain to knock out four years of drought in just three weeks. With all that rain, surely there are many who are having issues with trying to get their fields ready after a rain. Let’s take a look at what you can do to help your fields recoup from a rain event as quickly as possible.

1. Keep Your Infield Properly Graded
   First and foremost, make sure that your infield is properly graded to promote positive surface drainage. Ideally, the infield should be graded so that the area around the base of the pitcher’s mound is the highest point on the infield with the surface grade then sloping away from the mound in all directions. However, depending on the lay of the land that the field was built on, the other way of grading an infield would be to “sheet drain” it. This means the entire infield is tilted in one direction; for example, the infield may tilt from the first base foul line towards left field. In either instance, both of these surface grades are only efficient at draining the water off it if the surface is smooth and consistent. In other words, there are no high spots or low spots to impede or deflect the drainage. Proper nail and float dragging are crucial maintenance practices that, when done correctly, will keep your skin surface in smooth and consistent surface draining condition.
2. Maintain Your Turf Edges
   Maintaining your turf edges to prevent lip buildup will allow the water to easily pass over from infield skin to turf area without any issues. When infield soil and infield topdressing buildup in the edges of the grass, that ridge or “lip” impedes the water from freely moving off the field. The more severe the lip, the more water it will hold back onto the infield skin. Properly maintain those lips to keep them from slowing your field from recuperating.
3. Choose Appropriate Infield Soil Material
   The right infield soil material has a huge impact on speed of reentry onto an infield after a rain. Infield soils that are either high in silt or high in fine and very fine sand drastically effect how quickly the field is playable again after a rain. Even worse is when you have both problems! High silt and high fine sand content infield soils can take a day or multiple days to recuperate. Have your infield soil tested to check to see how your soil material lines up with the acceptable specifications. Strive for a balanced infield soil with the right amounts of medium to coarse sand and the proper ratio of silt to clay. It’ll make all the difference in the world as to how easy it will be getting the infield back into playing condition.
4. Use an Infield Top Dressing
   Use a topdressing on your infield skin surface. An infield topdressing is a ¼” to ½” layer at the infield skin surface of a granular material that will not stick to a players cleat, even when wet. These materials, usually made of calcined clay, vitrified clay, expanded shale, crushed aggregate or crushed brick, tend to dry more quickly on the surface then if you just had the bare soil exposed. The topdressing will dry on the surface while your infield soil underneath is still moist, but the topdressing allows you still to reenter the field. It acts much like a mulch in a landscape bed and provides many benefits in the performance of the infield.
5. Drag the Field Before Rain Storms
   When you know a rain is coming, keep the field dragged smooth if at all possible. The water will flow more easily and rapidly off the infield if it is smooth and not pock marked with cleat marks and divots. Additionally, keep the field TIGHT! A tight field absorbs less water than one that has been deeply nail dragged, which will create pore space for water to fill and slow the drying process down considerably after the rain event.

How it rains also can have an impact in how fast your field will recuperate and come back up online for play. A long, slow light to moderate rain of a couple hours or more is very penetrating and will be deeply absorbed by your infield soil. This type of a rain usually requires longer for the field to dry from. Compare that to a heavy rain lasting 15 to 30 minutes, or even an hour. This kind of rainfall, while possibly dumping many times the amount of water than a slow rainfall did, is a violent rainfall to the soil.

Paul Zwaska

A former head groundskeeper for the Baltimore Orioles, Paul graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1984 with a Bachelor’s in Soil Science with a specialty in Turf & Grounds Management. Paul took over as head groundskeeper for the Orioles’ final season at old Memorial Stadium in Baltimore and then was heavily involved throughout the design and construction phases of Oriole Park at Camden Yards which debuted on April 4, 1992. Read more

Dream Big

Always be reaching for the stars! Because in case you fall short, at least you can visit the moon.

For example, look @ Elon Musk & Roger Federer

Never, Never Give Up. Just Do it! Training definitely leads to Success. So practice, practice, practice. That’s also how you get to Carnegie Hall.

The future of travel? First photos of Hyperloop test track built in Nevada desert. Read more

It was designed by California company Hyperloop One, who has unveiled ambitious plans to transport people or cargo between cities at near-supersonic speed.

The 500 metre-long Hyperloop test structure, which has a diameter of 3.3 metres, is located around 30 minutes from Las Vegas.

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Elon Reeve Musk (born June 28, 1971) is a South African-born Canadian-American business magnate, investor, engineer, and inventor.

He is the founder, CEO, and CTO of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product architect of Tesla Inc.; co-founder and chairman of SolarCity; co-chairman of OpenAI; co-founder of Zip2; and founder of X.com, which merged with Confinity and took the name PayPal. As of February 2017, he has an estimated net worth of 13.9 billion, making him the 94th wealthiest person in the world. In December 2016, Musk was ranked 21st on Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People.

Musk has stated that the goals of SolarCity, Tesla, and SpaceX revolve around his vision to change the world and humanity. His goals include reducing global warming through sustainable energy production and consumption, and reducing the “risk of human extinction” by “making life multiplanetary” by setting up a human colony on Mars. Read more

Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, better known as SpaceX, is an American aerospace manufacturer and space transport services company headquartered in Hawthorne, California, United States. It was founded in 2002 by Tesla CEO and former PayPal entrepreneur Elon Musk with the goal of creating the technologies to reduce space transportation costs and enable the colonization of Mars. It has developed the Falcon 1 and Falcon 9 launch vehicles, both designed to be reusable, and the Dragon spacecraft which is flown into orbit by the Falcon 9 launch vehicle to supply the International Space Station (ISS) with cargo. A manned version of Dragon is in development. Read more

Roger Federer (born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No. 10 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). Many players and analysts have called him the greatest tennis player of all time. Federer turned professional in 1998 and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from October 2002 to November 2016.

Federer has won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, the most in history for a male tennis player, and held the No. 1 spot in the ATP rankings for a total of 302 weeks. In majors, Federer has won seven Wimbledon titles, five Australian Open titles, five US Open titles and one French Open title. He is among the eight men to capture a career Grand Slam. He has reached a record 28 men’s singles Grand Slam finals, including 10 in a row from the 2005 Wimbledon Championships to the 2007 US Open. Read more

Three things we learned from AO 2017
1. 35 is the new 25
Perhaps not, but this fortnight will force us to review the idea that once a player has a 3 before their age, their best days are over and they’re in the twilight of their career. What it also shows is the value of taking a break. Players who compete in Grand Slam tournaments have, of necessity, devoted their life to tennis and known little else since their age was still well in single digits. So it’s hardly surprising if after several years as a professional they get tired. Roger Federer said his break from tennis was a result of him getting bored with having “practice, treatment, practice, treatment, match, treatment, practice, treatment”, so taking a six-month hiatus to let all his injuries and niggles heal and rediscover the fun in tennis was a crucial part of his unexpected fifth title here. We may well find players continuing their careers well into their 30s as a result of this AO, especially if the idea of sabbaticals catches on.

1. The middle generation may get by-passed
   With the Big Four of Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray (and arguably Stan Wawrinka too) having dominated tennis for so many years, much attention has been focused on which generation of players will succeed them at the top of men’s tennis. The next generation has been led by 2014 US Open champion Marin Cilic, and his contemporaries Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Grigor Dimitrov. But Dimitrov’s semifinal aside, the results at this year’s AO suggest that generation might get by-passed. Raonic struggled to make much impression on Nadal in the quarterfinals, and Nishikori and Cilic lost early. By contrast, the leader of the following generation, Sascha Zverev, made great strides in taking Nadal to a four-hour five-setter in the third round, and Dominic Thiem and David Goffin also had good tournaments. With the Big Four likely to be around for a while, it may be some time before we know who the next generation of men’s tennis really is.
2. There’s a vacancy in women’s tennis
   Much as the Williams sisters emphasised what brilliant players they are, even at a youthful 36 and 35 they won’t be around for that much longer. Yet there seems to be no-one emerging to assume Serena’s mantle. Coco Vandeweghe was the player whose stock rose most at this AO, but much depends on how she follows up on the WTA tour from her semifinal. Karolina Pliskova and Garbine Muguruza reached the quarterfinals without ever looking a potential champion, and Belinda Bencic had the misfortune to draw Serena Williams in the first round. With Petra Kvitova off the tour, Angelique Kerber with a lot of ranking points to defend in the next few months, and Simona Halep still struggling for consistency, everything looks teed up for two former Australian Open champions to seize the limelight when they return to action in the next few weeks: Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova. Read more

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Are you a “Change Agent”?

My Dad always said, “Son, there are three kinds of people in life.

People that make things happen.

People that watch things happen.

People that say, ‘what happened?

What kind of person are you?

In addition, when I was in grad school @ JHU, I took a course on “Business Process Reengineering”.

In short, BPR means “Radical Change”

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BPR: “Using Radical Change to Improve Organizational Performance”

Sometimes-radical redesign and reorganization of an enterprise is necessary to lower costs and increase quality of service. Business Process Reengineering (BPR) is the practice of rethinking and redesigning the way work is done to better support an organization’s mission and reduce costs.

Reengineering starts with a high-level assessment of the organization’s mission, strategic goals, and customer needs.

Basic questions are asked, such as “Does our mission need to be redefined? Are our strategic goals aligned with our mission? Who are our customers?” An organization may find that it is operating on questionable assumptions, particularly in terms of the wants and needs of its customers.

Only after the organization rethinks what it should be doing, does it go on to decide how best to do it.

BPR projects are typically aligned along 7 principles to streamline the work process and thereby achieve significant levels of improvement in quality, time management, speed and profitability:

Organize around outcomes, not tasks.
Identify all the processes in an organization and prioritize them in order of redesign urgency.
Integrate information processing work into the real work that produces the information.
Treat geographically dispersed resources as though they were centralized.
Link parallel activities in the workflow instead of just integrating their results.
Put the decision point where the work is performed, and build control into the process.
Capture information once and at the source.
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The Accelerate Evolution team has accumulated many years of experience through in-depth exposure to BPR exercises in large multinational and regional organizations alike.

Contact us to learn more about how we can help your organization transform itself to improve the here and now and be better prepared for the future.

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BPR: “Using Radical Change to Improve Organizational Performance” – Accelerate Evolution

Read more

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Think Different
“Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Watch => https://youtu.be/AL3TQtJDr0U