August 9, 2009 vs Alby (all Cubans on this team) in the Kvalserien (Qualifying Series)
Note:This series is after the everyone in the Eliteserien plays each other, the bottom 2 teams go on to play the top 2 teams from the 2 Regionserien (6 team playoff). Those 6 teams play each other and the best 2 are in the Eliteserien for the next season.
Down 10-9 in the bottom of the 9th, we get our lead off runner on 1st and try to execute a bunt, well he gets into a rundown because of a pick off and as he is tagged out he runs over the 48 yr old pitcher at 1st base, and tries to help him up afterward (Tomas is a big guy and the old man was not!) Well that started a scuffle, the pitcher hit our player, called him "el gordo" and was ejected, benches cleared, a lot of Swedish and Spanish curses thrown at each other. The Cubans thought they could talk their way out of that pitcher getting tossed but that wasn’t an option. The catcher thinking he was a negotiator tried to do his own convincing and the field ump told him to go away and nothing could be done. Well he did not like that and went after that ump, getting in his face, then spit on the umpire, as his friends came to pull him back, he swung and HIT THE UMP IN THE HEAD! It wasn’t a forceful blow, but regardless he still hit an ump, so he was tossed. He went towards the dugout then came running back as if he were going to actually fight him (highly doubtful). So that took about a half hour to calm down. In the end 2 players are tossed and the team only brought 10 people with them, so they had to finish the game with 8 players. When the game ended in the 10th (with Gavle winning) the catcher, from his position, took his mask and punted it over the dugout! If you read the last blog posted you will notice that there are now 4 things I have never seen in baseball in my life, until playing in Sweden.
As a result Alby was DQ'd from the post season and every game they played was wiped from the records. Now this is not a test to the level of baseball here, but certainly to the disparity of the game from where it is being played. I do not know what is going to happen with that team but in my mind after an event like that, there is no way the federation should even think to allow them to compete as being one of the "best teams in Sweden".
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
The coaching experience
When it comes to playing in the States vs Sweden you have to take a lot of caution in comparison. At home you can have the option to practice everyday and make yourself better because of the facilities available and people who are at everyday events. Coming ot Sweden for my first summer I learned quickly that this would be far from what I thought would happen. In the 2008 summer I found myself having practices with somtimes only 4-5 players (myself included). Due to the amount of time each player is able to put forth in an effort to better himself has to be taken into account the vacation time they have, family situation, jobs, and overall prioritization of the sport itself in their lives. Some players we had did not start playing until late in their 20's and sometimes not until they were 30 or older.
As a player who was brought to Gavle to help the team I felt that my duties were more geared towards coaching and teaching the players as much as possible, which I found out was a lot (the title of player/coach). Being that I was fresh out of college (3 days removed from graduation) when I first landed in Sweden, and this being my first coaching job I took the approach that the players knew nothing. Not to discredit anything they may have learned in the past, I wanted to make sure that no stone go unturned because there were so many different players on the team. During practice time I found myself taking minimal swings and reps, and more time behind the L-screen, batting cage, and fungo. I found that I answered questions I thought were no-brainers but to people who haven't been around the game for 15 years or more, they have never had a chance to get them answered. So it is really an experience to remind yourself that you know more than you think, and people always want to pick your brain.
Game situations are another experience in itself, as a catcher I have always thought the game as it progressed and looked to what the next move would be, but as the head coach on the field I had to constantly think how I would get people in the game, or who would pitch next, or if I could count on the hitters coming up to get a bunt down.
In my first game in Sweden I was able to be graced with the presence of the man who got me the position in the first place, my pitching coach from Otterbein, Dave Ewing. He was in the country to put on some camps while working for MLB and came up for the day to see how I was doing. In that double header 2 things that don't happen very often (let alone in the same game) occurred, a triple play and a "hidden ball trick". The team we were playing was Alby with 2 men on and no one out they double steal while trying to bunt (great tactics I guess!) and pop the bunt up to me (catcher) which results in a 2-3-6 triple play! Two innings later with a man on second, our second baseman held onto the ball after a single and roamed around waiting for the baserunner to get off second, and sure enough the trick worked.
In 2009 I was much more fortunate to be able to come to Sweden with a partner, long-time friend and teammate Bobby Wright. This time we had more time and each other to feed off of for ideas and coaching. We found this year that the committment from the players was much more than in '08, having at least 10 players at each practice proved for improved practices and moral when it came to game time. We both learned you have to keep your temper under control because a lot of the drills and lessons being hammered out are new to each player. With the differences in age and language we found that the players are much more helpful with eachother making sure that each knows what we expect of them and how things should be done.
Being an American the baseball club wants to get as much out of us as possible with the time we are here. We coach the youth team (16u) as well as the Eliteserien team, run camps, and work with the local schools to recruit kids and teach them the fundamentals of the game.
As a player who was brought to Gavle to help the team I felt that my duties were more geared towards coaching and teaching the players as much as possible, which I found out was a lot (the title of player/coach). Being that I was fresh out of college (3 days removed from graduation) when I first landed in Sweden, and this being my first coaching job I took the approach that the players knew nothing. Not to discredit anything they may have learned in the past, I wanted to make sure that no stone go unturned because there were so many different players on the team. During practice time I found myself taking minimal swings and reps, and more time behind the L-screen, batting cage, and fungo. I found that I answered questions I thought were no-brainers but to people who haven't been around the game for 15 years or more, they have never had a chance to get them answered. So it is really an experience to remind yourself that you know more than you think, and people always want to pick your brain.
Game situations are another experience in itself, as a catcher I have always thought the game as it progressed and looked to what the next move would be, but as the head coach on the field I had to constantly think how I would get people in the game, or who would pitch next, or if I could count on the hitters coming up to get a bunt down.
In my first game in Sweden I was able to be graced with the presence of the man who got me the position in the first place, my pitching coach from Otterbein, Dave Ewing. He was in the country to put on some camps while working for MLB and came up for the day to see how I was doing. In that double header 2 things that don't happen very often (let alone in the same game) occurred, a triple play and a "hidden ball trick". The team we were playing was Alby with 2 men on and no one out they double steal while trying to bunt (great tactics I guess!) and pop the bunt up to me (catcher) which results in a 2-3-6 triple play! Two innings later with a man on second, our second baseman held onto the ball after a single and roamed around waiting for the baserunner to get off second, and sure enough the trick worked.
In 2009 I was much more fortunate to be able to come to Sweden with a partner, long-time friend and teammate Bobby Wright. This time we had more time and each other to feed off of for ideas and coaching. We found this year that the committment from the players was much more than in '08, having at least 10 players at each practice proved for improved practices and moral when it came to game time. We both learned you have to keep your temper under control because a lot of the drills and lessons being hammered out are new to each player. With the differences in age and language we found that the players are much more helpful with eachother making sure that each knows what we expect of them and how things should be done.
Being an American the baseball club wants to get as much out of us as possible with the time we are here. We coach the youth team (16u) as well as the Eliteserien team, run camps, and work with the local schools to recruit kids and teach them the fundamentals of the game.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
