April showers bring May flowers, or so they say.  May has been on of the wettest months I’ve seen in a long time, and for baseball it’s been a nuisance.  The grounds crews’ across the league have been doing a great job at getting the fields in playing condition by game time, but the key words there are, “by game time.”  As a player, this means that since the field in unavailable prior to the game, our pre-game routine is completely altered.  Typically, players arrive at the park around 2pm for a 7pm game.  At 2:45, pitchers will stretch, condition, and throw their bullpens.  Meanwhile, position players will get in their t-work and take flips (soft toss from the front) in the batting cages.  At 3:30 position players stretch, review a fundamental (ie. Bunt coverages), take infield and outfield, and then take batting practice on the field.  Hitters will also get in a third, small round of flips an hour before the game.  That’s just a brief overview of all the preparation that takes place before a game.  There are other activities such as lifting, injury rehab, long toss, pre-game meal, etc.  It’s commonly known that baseball players are some of the most superstitious athletes on the planet.  We are creatures of habit and are even encouraged by the staff to develop daily routines.  Knowing this, one can see why rain is such an irritant to our schedule.  "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." – Bull Durham

Personally, taking batting practice on the field is one of my favorite things to do.  You can get a lot accomplished in a batting cage and are even able to take more repetitions; however, you can’t really see the path of ball as it hits the side of the net.  There is a saying in baseball, “the path of the ball doesn’t lie.”  It’s on an open field where you can see how the ball is carrying, read the back spin, slice, or hook.  Here, I feel that flaws in your swing become more obvious, and at the same time you can see if you are making the proper adjustments.  As an outfielder, along with taking batting practice on the field, I also get the opportunity to practice getting jumps off a live bat.  While it’s good to have a coach hit you fly balls, the best drill for an outfielder is to catch balls hit during bp (batting practice).  The hitter takes more of a game-like swing compared to a coaches fungo swing.  We’ll practice getting our jumps, making a quick first step, and taking the shortest route to the ball.

Today, we play the second game of a series against the Winston-Salem Warthogs.  The team is starting to heat up as we have won 7 of our last 10 games.  I’ve felt pretty comfortable at the plate this last week, which was highlighted by a 3 hit game on 5/15 and a 5 rbi game on 5/18.

P.s.  My alma mater, Johns Hopkins University will be sending its baseball team to its 2^nd appearance in the NCAA Div. III World Series.