Big Leagues... For a Day

Garret and Red Sox 3B Kevin Youkilis

One of the greatest college baseball traditions comes in early spring training every February.  The Boston College baseball team travels down to Fort Meyers, Florida and plays an exhibition game against the Boston Red Sox.  My best friend, Garret Smith a high school teammate of mine (Chad), plays catcher for Boston College.  I asked him to write about what it is like as a college athlete to play against not only a major league team, but a team that we both grew up loving.

In New England, it’s every kids dream to one day grow up and play for the Boston Red Sox. As a senior at Boston College, I get the opportunity to play the Red Sox every year during our spring break trip. As a freshman, our coach threw me into the fire when he put me into the starting lineup against the Sox. It was a dream of a life time; I was a boy amongst men. I never thought in a million years I would be playing against my favorite team.  I was slated to face one of the best arms in the majors, Josh Beckett. When I heard the news that we were going to face Beckett, I told my friends I was going to take him deep, but the chances of that were like winning the lottery.  Facing Beckett was an experience I will never forget, actually making contact with a pitch was a plus for my confidence.

During batting practice we get the chance to meet the players that we see on NESN every night. This was the best part of the whole day because we try to pick all the guys brains and watch their routines, getting insight to how big leaguers go about their business. Everything they hit was hard and to the gaps with most of them hitting monstrous homeruns.  They made everything look so easy.  Why couldn’t I make it look that easy? That’s why they are in the show, everything they did screamed big league.

When it came down to game time, it was just like any other game. Coaches say the opponent is nameless and faceless, but that is thrown out the window once you play the Red Sox. I caught the first inning of this year’s game, which is the best time to catch because that’s when the heart of the lineup comes to bat. I am welcomed with a nice greeting from Marco Scutaro, Dustin Pedroia, David Ortiz and Kevin Youkilis. I try and make mini conversation with them about chicks, their gear and whatever is relevant at the time. When it comes down to it, they are genuinely nice guys.

Over the past few years I have become particularly friendly with Kevin Youkilis.  Kevin and I have worked out in the off-season at Boston College hitting together.  I have found Kevin to be a very friendly and down-to-earth guy.  He is always willing to help me with my swing or any infield tips.  We share baseball stories, even though his are way cooler than the ones I have to share.  I will miss the whole Red Sox experience during the beginning of every season.  The whole day is a great experience for both teams, it shows us what it’s like to make it to the top, and it shows the big league guys how much passion us college guys have about the game. It was a blast every year to play one of the greatest baseball teams of all time. This game reminds me every year why baseball is the greatest sport on earth.  

The Eagles lost to the Red Sox on Saturday 6-0.  Despite being shut out it was a day that all of the Eagles will never forget.  As for us, we conclude our weekend in North Carolina tomorrow (Sunday) morning.  We will be back in Poughkeepsie on Monday when we will check back in. In the mean time check out Kyle and I featured on the College Baseball Insider this past Friday!

Hope you all enjoyed your weekend!

Back to Reality

After losing the third and final game of the series on Sunday, bringing us to a 1-2 record on the weekend, it was time to board the bus for a thirteen hour ride back to Poughkeepsie.  Before we actually started the long journey home, we made a brief stop at the Johnson City Wal-Mart to stock up on food and drinks.  This Wal-Mart stop has become a customary practice for the Marist ball squad.  Leaving the nice weather of the south is hard enough and to make matters worse, we found out that school was getting hit with a snow storm.  After traveling through the night, we arrived back on campus just after 6:30 a.m., just in time for 8:00 a.m. classes.  I can tell you from experience there is nothing quite like riding a bus for 13 hours only to attend four classes.  Balancing school and baseball during the season is always tough.  When we’re on the road we have to keep in constant contact with professors to find out what is happening in the classroom.  We do receive class excuse forms for the days we are traveling; however, we do not get excuse forms for assignments, so staying on top of things is crucial.

Being a pitcher is a very unique position; when you’re out on the mound everything is on you.  The other eight guys on the field count on you to get the other guys out as quick as possible.  As starting pitchers, we get one game every week to go out there and give our guys the best chance to win.  There is no better feeling than pitching well and giving your team a chance to win.  On the other hand, when you go out there and don't perform well enough to win, you feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.  In either case, you itch for that next time you get your chance to compete.  Being a starting pitcher is tough in that you are constantly waiting for your next chance to help your team.  Position players have to wait, at most, three innings until they get another at bat.  A week can sometimes feel like an eternity when you are waiting for your next shot on the bump.

This week we will be heading down south again to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.  We will play UNC-W on Friday, the University of West Virginia on Saturday, and Miami-Ohio on Sunday.  Looking ahead to these three very quality opponents, a good week of practice and preparation is key. 

Well, we need to get back to hammering out school work before practice.  We will check in later on in the week when we dig ourselves out of the snow back here in Poughkeepsie.

Opening Weekend

The 2011 college baseball season is finally upon us. For the Red Foxes Thursday was a pretty long day. We began our trip to Tennessee by boarding the bus at 5 a.m. to begin the long day ahead of us. By the time we got onto the mid Hudson Bridge most of our teammates, including the two of us were already getting ready to fall asleep (or at least try). For some players falling asleep on a bus can come pretty easy, while for others it can be one of the harder things to do. After about six hours into the bus ride we made a stop in Harrisonburg, Virginia for a mid-day practice at James Madison University and a lunch break. Once we finished up with lunch it was back on the bus for another five hours of traveling. While on a long bus ride, there are a lot of things players will do to pass the time. Many players will pop on headphones and listen to their iPod’s or get some studying in. Other guys will catch up on some sleep or play video games. Watching movies is a popular thing to do to kill the time on the bus. on this trip we watched episodes of “Criminal Minds” and also watched the movie “Miracle”. We arrived at the hotel around 8 p.m. and after room assignments we finally got a chance to settle in and get some rest for the big day ahead of us. 

The Big Day: 

Our day began with a wakeup call at 9am and heading to the hotel lobby to grab some breakfast. After getting some food in our system many of the guys headed back up to their rooms to either take a quick nap or shower. After hanging out in the hotel for a couple hours it was time to grab an early lunch before heading to the bus at 12:25 p.m. The ride to Cardinal Stadium was about five minutes down the road from the hotel (For those of you who don’t know East Tennessee shares their ballpark with a minor league baseball team). After going through all the pre game routines it was finally 3pm which meant it was time for the first game of the year. Oddly enough our first game of the year has been postponed until tomorrow because the lights in the ball park were not working. So tomorrow we will conclude the first game and play game 2 of the series. We will check back in when we get back to Poughkeepsie until then, Enjoy your warm weather.

Hitting the Books.....On the Road

(Chad and his mustache getting some studying in before the trip)

So it’s that time of year again….only days away from the opening weekend for the College Baseball season. For the Marist baseball team, the opening weekend takes us 12 hours to Johnson City, Tennessee to face off against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers. Days before leaving for a long trip like this, times can be very hectic for many student athletes. Catching up on your school work and making sure all your teachers know about your travels is a vital part to insuring a less stressful trip. Because of the crazy travel schedule it can become tough to get work done which means keeping in contact with teachers is important. While on a long bus ride it’s not uncommon to wake up from a nap in the middle of the night and see another teammate typing away at a paper on his laptop.

How in the world can we get all of our work done on a bus and hotel room you might ask? Over the years you learn exactly what you have to do in order to manage your time around an action packed weekend of travels. One of the major things we have learned over the years is the best way to get work done is to knock out as much as you can before you arrive to the hotel. Long trips such as the one we have coming up gives you plenty of time to catch up on some reading you have for a class or get a head start on a paper you may have coming up. Even though it may not be the quietest place in the world to get your studies done, it’s all part of the fun while being on the road.

      

 Tune back in Thursday for our first post from the road to Tennessee!!!!

Taking one for the team

When we came to Marist in the fall of 2007 Dennis Healy was the man we came to play for.  After our MAAC Championship season of 2009 coach Healy departed for Wake Forest to serve as the Demon Deacon pitching coach and recruiting coordinator. Coach Healy was hired by long time friend Tom Walter, who previously coached at the University of New Orleans.  Walter, Healy and the rest of their staff have worked extremely hard since day 1 at building the Demon Deacon baseball program back to the top of the Atlantic Coast Conference. We came across this story early this morning and wanted to share with the rest of you what kind of dedication coaches have for their players.  Follow the link below:

Wake Forest coach donates kidney to player

Walk Out Songs

Before every season baseball players across the country get to pick a song that plays as they are walking up to the plate or warming up on the mound.  This is something that not many other athletes are able to do.  This can be a fun experience for many, but for others it can be something that takes up a lot of their time, trying to find the perfect song that will get them pumped for their at bat or outing.  Players will often spend weeks sifting through their ipod to find a song that fits their personality.  Others will seek the input of their teammates in selecting a song.  Other players even take songs that opponents walk out to during the opening series of the season.  We all know the popular walk out songs like Yankees closer Mariano Rivera’s “Enter Sandman” but many players try to find a song that is unique and not heard very often.

Every player has his own idea as to what he wants to hear when he walks up to the plate and for our team it’s no different. Some guys enjoy listening to rap while others go a different road and listen to a country song. For me personally, this year I chose to walk out to an old school song, “No Sleep till Brooklyn” by the Beastie Boys. I figured this would be a song that many people would not expect to hear a pitcher to walk out to, while at the same time having a pretty cool beat. Left -handed pitcher Chad Gallagher chose the song “Bullet & a Target” by the band Citizen Cope which is a popular song but at the same time unique to him. Some other walk out songs from past seasons include “Lose Yourself” by Eminem, “Weekend Warriors” by A Change of Pace, “Deliverance” by Bubba Sparxxx, and “He got Game” by Public Enemy, among others.

One of the funnier parts about choosing walk out songs is that many teams across the country pick walkout songs for the freshmen on the team. Many of these songs have funny lyrics or they are simply a song that nobody would ever choose as their walkout.   While on an early season bus trip or after a practice, upperclassmen will come together and find a funny song that fits each individual freshmen player. Some of the songs we have heard in the past include, “The Fresh Prince of BelAir Theme song”, “Milkshake” by Kelis and “Glamorous” by Fergie.

Walk out songs are all part of the fun of a long college season.

Feel free to leave a comment about a song you walk out to or have heard in the past.