The Boys of Winter

Some notes and observations from the week:


Here is the Championship team from the Ponce 2011 Winter season -- front row from left -- Joe Ciardi, Rich Petrassi, Nick Christianson, Tom Classick and Mo Werner; back row from left -- John Fernstrom, Jack Molenkamp, Jay Hedlund, Coach Darrin Garner, Bob Labelle, Chris Clark and George Manuel. (Clicking on the photos should enlarge them.) Final record 8 wins and 1 loss. Tina said she would order up the Duck Boats for the parade!

I have been to this camp five of the last six years. In my first three years, my teams had a combined record of 1 win and 26 losses; the last two years the record is 17 and 1. Every year the camp is great fun -- but, as always, its more fun when you win. This year the teams seemed more evenly balanced and games, across the board, were more even. However, I fear I will have to relive a dark part of the week for me all year -- Stuart Cohen from my weekend Ponce team up north was two for two at bat against me in our game on Monday. I am sure I will hear that once or twice during our upcoming Ponce season. Well done Stuart.

Part of the fun is getting insights into professional baseball from the coaches. The Red Sox coaches each spoke very highly of Ryan Kalish and expect big things from him. They also mentioned shortstop Jose Iglesias and catcher Luis Exposito as prospects to watch. Exposito apparently has great tools for a catcher, but still needs to mature. The Sox have a number of left-handed relief pitchers in camp who will be candidates to be the lefty specialist out of the bullpen. Lefty rookie Felix Dubront, who was in the majors some last season as a relief pitcher, will be worked as a potential starter in spring training. Whether he stays with the Red Sox as a reliever in April or goes to Pawtucket as a starter for the first part of the season may depend on whether one of the lefty candidates can earn a job in the bullpen or what starting depth Tito Francona wants available in Pawtucket in case one of the Red Sox starters gets hurt. Arnie Beyeler said that right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Weiland may be available to help the major league team later in the season. Victor said that a lot of the Sox up and coming prospects are very young and in the low-levels of the minors, so have a long way to go to develop into major leaguers.

I asked Steve Liddle which person in the major league organization works out the practice schedule (fielding, hitting, baserunning, which pitchers will be throwing each day, etc.) for spring training -- the manager, bench coach, a spring training coordinator? He said it is the manager's responsibility but that the Twins have done spring training "exactly the same way" for 20 years or more. Tom Kelly set up a system that they still use every year -- with what each player, coach, etc. will do each day in the spring training period before the exhibition games start. They have a 9-day, 10-day, and 11-day schedule on a spread sheet that they follow, depending on the number of spring training days the General Manager says they have before the first games start. The Twins are known to be one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the majors year after year -- and Steve attributes some of that to how consistent their training is and how much emphasis they put on fundamentals (pitchers fielding, base-running, situational hitting and fielding, etc.) each spring. Steve has been the Twins bench coach for some years but will switch to be third-base coach this season.

The team hotel was the Hilton Garden Inn on College Ave in Fort Myers. Later this month the Twins, who like the Red Sox train in Fort Myers, will take over all 126 rooms for the duration of spring training for their major and minor league players and coaches.

Rick Knapp is the pitching coach for the Detroit Tigers and spoke very highly of Armando Galarraga, the young pitcher who last season had a perfect game taken away from him on the last batter when the umpire made a wrong call at first base. Rick said that Galarraga, who has been since traded to Arizona, showed uncommon sportsmanship in how he handled the situation and earned the respect of everyone involved. Rick also said that for each game Major League Baseball has an "authenticator" in the dugouts -- whose job it is to put an official MLB mark on any balls, bats, etc that are used in historic games. The authenticator in the Galarraga game started to collect baseballs in the fifth inning as people started to realize that the pitcher not only had a potential no-hitter but a perfect game in progress. Rick said that every Tigers player and coach got an authenticated game ball from that game -- which in many ways became more notable for the controversial last call than a straight perfect game might have been.

Rick also said that Galarraga is a terrific kid. He told the story of a game when Justin Verlander, one of the best pitchers in baseball, was pitching for the Tigers and Galarraga, who is good but doesn't have Verlander's stuff as a pitcher, was sitting on the end of the bench. Tigers manager Jim Leyland is famous for his intensity -- and as the game progressed Leyland kept shouting to Rick about Verlander's pitching. "Why did he throw that?" "What kind of pitch is that?" "Why isn't he attacking the plate?" And so on. Finally in about the fifth or sixth inning, after Verlander walked a batter, Leyland shouted at Rick, "Go out and talk to him." After Rick got back to the bench, Galarraga came over to him and said, "If he (Leyland) is like this with Verlander, it must be really terrible when I'm pitching!" Rick's comment (cleaned up), "No kidding."

Rick and all the coaches are terrific with all the campers. They all encourage us to come up and say hello to them when we are in the same city as their team (either DC or on the road -- minor league or majors.) Rick has even called campers' friends who are Tigers fans to say hello and talk about their team.

A critical part of the week is the training room where Larry Bennese, from the Twins system, who has been part of the camp for all or most of the 12 years, and Chris from the Rays system keep us together with baling wire, glue, and good cheer. They provide massages and Atomic Balm for sore hammies, quads, and shoulders; fix blisters and repair (drain?) bruised or broken toe nails; provide pain relievers; and help us ice down various body parts after the game. They are terrific and make it possible for a number of us to get through the week. It was also interesting to learn that the Twins have a comprehensive electronic medical record on each of the players in their system -- injuries, ailments, base-line physical information, treatments, etc. Health reform, meet baseball!

It was the most successful week for me physically of the five years I have gone to the camp. My quads were tight and I had some blisters on my toes -- but stretching and the trainers kept me going fairly uneventfully. I was generally happy with my hitting -- I got on base a lot early in the week without hitting the ball very hard, but had more drive to the ball later in the week. I pitched poorly in my first game on Monday but did better on Wednesday and Thursday. My base-running and fielding were terrible throughout the week. I don't know if it is because my physical ability couldn't match up with my "instincts" on the bases or in the field -- or if my instincts have withered to the point where no athletic ability could make up for bad reactions. In any case I need to do more work on those fundamentals.

The coaches and fellow campers make the week -- and you have a real sense of having a shared baseball adventure. Most everyone -- from all walks of life -- is quick to help each other out. For instance, on Monday, when I got hit on the noggin with the fly ball, right away other players came to help. The first person to reach me said he had an X-Ray equipment company, the next said he was an anesthesiologist and could help put me out of pain, and the third said he was a lawyer and could sue someone for me.

If you have any questions or comments, post them in the comment section here or email me at jayhedlund@rcn.com.

Can't wait until next year -- with a lot of Ponce and Red Sox baseball to come between now and then!

That Championship Season

The Ponce Winter season ended on a high-note for Team 3-C Garner with a come-from-behind 9 to 8 victory over Team 4-D Rodriquez to win the Championship. The two teams had split two games earlier in the week, with Team Rodriguez giving us our only defeat on Monday by a score of 7-4 and us beating them in a rematch on Wednesday by a score of 7-1.

The Championship game on Friday started in the main stadium with our opponents jumping out ahead in the first inning with two runs. From there the lead see-sawed back and forth. We took a 6 to 5 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when we scored three runs -- sparked by Joe Ciardi's 360 foot triple hit to the wall in right field to lead off the bottom of the 4th inning. (Joe, who severely hurt his groin on Monday morning and couldn't play in the field for the two games that day, is the player who hit one out of the ballpark for us on Thursday. Boy, were we glad he was feeling better.) In the top of the fifth inning, Team Rodriguez scored three runs -- aided in large part by a bad throwing error from centerfield by yours truly -- to pull ahead by a score of 8-6. In our half of the fifth, against the top pitcher for the other team, our lead-off batter got on base and scored on a double. Our next batter also reached base and a combination of a passed ball and a steal left the tying run on third and the lead run on second. Chris Clark -- our closing pitcher and our best hitter and player (and, I think, the best overall player in the camp) -- struck out for the second out. Joe Ciardi, a big switch-hitter batting left-handed, came to the plate with first base open. Ponce has a rule that there are no intentional walks (we all want to have the opportunity to play!) The other team did not "pitch around" Joe and instead pitched to him -- with a big shift of the fielders to the right field side. Joe proceeded to slam a hard double about 340 feet into left field to score the tying and lead runs. In the top of the sixth, and final, inning, our pitcher Chris Clark struck out the first two batters. Their third batter hit a ball into shallow right field, which our right fielder picked up and threw to first base before the batter reached there -- for the third out and victory for the good guys. We ended the week with an 8 and 1 record. I was 1 for 2 at bat (glasses on!)

Following the game there was a moving (?) awards ceremony -- where each player on the winning team was presented with a gold medal by coach Garner; and each member of the opposing team was given a silver medal by coach Rodriguez -- with team photos taken. For Chris Clark, Joe Ciardi, John Fernstrom, Mo Werner and me it was two Ponce winter championships in a row -- since all five of us were on the team that won in 2010. (I got "evacuated" out of the championship game last year by the blizzard that was approaching Washington, so I was glad to be present and active in this game.) Of the 11 players on our team only nine were left standing by the end of the game due to the accumulation of injuries during the week.

During the week, Joe Ciardi worked hard to be able to play despite hurting his leg badly on Monday -- and his hitting and fielding at third-base and catcher were outstanding and made a major difference for us. He caught the whole Championship game. John Fernstrom -- a pup, three months younger than me -- also hurt his hamstring and glute early in the week and was hobbled badly, but continued to play. He is a Hoover as a first baseman and was a very hot hitter all week (even if he couldn't get to first base on a double down the line!) At the Thursday night Awards Dessert, John was given the "Spirit of Ponce" award for our team and Joe was named the MVP -- both the absolutely right choice.

Following the game folks immediately scattered to make their way home -- with my flights to Washington (via Charlotte) carrying about 10 Ponce players back to DC.

For Team 3-C Garner, our great week was topped by the gold medal we won. "We don't play for the money, we play for the ring" -- or the cheesy medal in this case. (Many players, me included, would prefer a cheesy trophy instead -- as Elizabeth rightly says, "There's no medals in baseball.")

(If you double click on the photo I believe it expands so you can read the inscription -- and where it was made.)

I'll post final thoughts on the week tomorrow.

Late Breaking Sports Score!!!

Earlier today in Fort Myers, Florida the Team 3-C Garners scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to defeat Team 4-D Rodriquez by a score of 9 to 8 to win the Ponce de Leon Winter Spring Training Championship Gold Medal. Details at 11 (well, actually, on Saturday.)

Post Season Play!

Every team in every league wants to qualify for post-season play so they have a chance to win a championship. Well for Team 3-C-Garner, it isn't post season (its the final game of our week) but it will be a championship game for us on Friday! Today we won two more games to stand at 7 wins and 1 loss -- and we will play Victor Rodriquez' team (6 and 2). They won their way into the championship in an extra-inning "shoot-out" against Rick Knapp's team that had the same record going into their Thursday afternoon game.

We won our morning game against Stu Cliburn's team by a score of 14-5 (they had been winless until they won their afternoon game.) I was 3 for 3 at bat and started experimenting with wearing my glasses again in my third at-bat. The highlight of the game came when teammate Joe Ciardi, who severely strained a groin in fielding practice before the first game on Monday, hit a home-run over the 325 foot sign on the right-field fence and into the road 15 feet beyond the fence! There have been some inside-the-park home runs this week, but Joe's is the only one to go over the fence and out of the park.

In the afternoon game against Arnie Beyeler's team we won again, this time by a score of 13-7. I started this game as pitcher and allowed 4 runs in three innings, with runs scoring in two separate innings when the third baseman threw the ball away trying to get a force play at home plate. I can't complain about the defense, however, since our team seems to be the best fielding team in the camp -- and made a number of good plays behind me. I was 2-3 with a double in the second game (wearing my glasses.) I have been getting hits all week, but not hitting the ball very hard -- today I hit the ball much better and think my work with Don Buford has helped.

Tomorrow we play at 9:30am in the main stadium. We held our two best pitchers back from the games today, so we hope they are rested and able to put us in a good position to win tomorrow. Steve Liddle this morning pointed out that in all of baseball the most important path to winning is to "pitch it and catch it." Good pitching and good defense wins games (he said he hadn't seen much of either from Ponce this week.)

Stuart Cohen, the only other player from my regular weekend team at home who is here along with me this week, is on the team we will be playing tomorrow. When I first came here 6 years ago we were joined by many other teammates -- Bill, Ralph, Frank, Mike, Jim, George and perhaps others. So tomorrow, Team 48+C-Cornwell will come out a winner no matter which team -- Stuart's or mine -- wins.

Ponce and baseball is a remarkable venue for geezers to make friends (at this late stage in life!) In the six years I have been playing I have been lucky to develop terrific friendships with my teammates back home -- baseball is the bond that has allowed us to get to know and appreciate each other as interesting and engaging individuals, from a variety of walks of life. Today, when I looked at the rosters of all the teams here this week I realized I have played at one time or another (winter camp, spring or fall weekend league, summer league, or spring or fall weeknight league) with almost half of the 67 people here. So even beyond the good friendships that I have made, there is an enjoyable continuous interaction with players who are more than just acquaintances.

Tonight was the Awards Dessert -- Steve Liddle and all the coaches speak about what they have seen this week that they have never seen on a baseball field before -- like a first-base coach shouting "I got it" and catching a foul pop-fly in front of the first-baseman. Each coach gives awards to their team's most valuable player and one to the player who displays the most "Spirit of Ponce" (sort of the Ponce Ms. Congeniality.)

They also conducted a kangaroo court and would fine players (or coaches) for egregious baseball mistakes. I was afraid my base-running for the week would cost me money, since I believe I set a record for the most ways of getting thrown out on the bases in one week. They included (not an exhaustive list): getting picked off first by leaving too early on a steal; being thrown out by the first baseman while trying to go from second to third on an infield out; being hit on the foot by a batted ball; and being doubled off after leaving second on a line drive out to the center fielder. As in life, I believe most, if not all, of these blunders were caused by an excess of hubris. Carl Crawford I'm not. Fortunately my base-running blunders were not so far out of the Ponce norm to attract attention by the kangaroo court and I wasn't fined.

I leave for the airport to fly home right after the game tomorrow, so my next blog post for Ponce week will be on Saturday. So, I know the suspense will kill you, but I won't be able to get you the score and information on our championship game for about 24 hours after it happens. (Don't expect to see the score on ESPN in the meantime.) Maybe Don Gillis will be able to do a radio ticker-tape re-creation in the meantime.

Staying Ahead of the Competition

A big day in Fort Myers for Team 3-C-Garner as we took two games and moved into first place with two-thirds of the games played. We took the first game by a score of 9-4 against a team coached by Stu Cliburn, and in the afternoon we won 7-1 against Victor Rodriquez' team, the only team to beat us earlier in the week. Our record now stands at 5 and 1, with the Rodriquez, Beyeler and Knapp teams at 4 and 2 in the standings. If we win one game tomorrow we ensure a place in the championship game on Friday. At bat, I was 1-1 with a walk in the first game and 0-2 in the second game.

Barry, the ace pitcher of my weekend Ponce team up North, asked how come I had reported on my batting and not my pitching? My answer to him was that I was hitting better than I was pitching this week (it's my blog and I can control what I put in it!) I pitched two innings on Monday and gave up 5 runs in the game we lost -- so thought I would "forget" to mention that. Today I pitched three innings and gave up no runs and faced only 10 batters -- so now I'm ready to talk about pitching. And, actually while I have been getting on base a lot, I am not hitting the ball hard -- a lot of bloopers and seeing-eye ground balls, that all look like line drives in the box score (or blog score, as the case may be.)

People wonder about the level of competition for the week -- and there is no easy answer. When someone asked me how hard the pitchers throw, the answer was some of them throw as hard as anyone I have ever faced, it's just that the ball doesn't go very fast. Based on speed of pitches I have observed before with radar guns and at batting cages, I would estimate that this week, "fastballs" range from a low of the high 40s mph to about mid-60s; the fastest pitcher here this week may throw up to 70 mph. In general the pitches are probably in the mid-50s. For comparison, the Red Sox' Tim Wakefield throws his knuckleball -- perhaps the slowest pitch in the major leagues -- at a speed ranging from the mid-60s to the low 70s. (And, as Jim knows, Aroldis Chapman has thrown his fastball as fast as 105 -- about twice as fast as what we see.)

The age of players on my team range from the youngest who is 33 to two of us who are 64 -- the rest of the team are from their mid-40s to their mid-50s. There is one woman who is a regular at this camp (and in the league up north) -- Susan is a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. This week she is playing for Arnie Beyeler who told us that although Susan doesn't have the strength and overall athletic ability of the men he thinks she knows as much about baseball and how to play as any of the men -- she is a very fundamentally sound player (who pitches, and plays first and second base.)

Rules are designed to move the game along and to protect players. If a pitcher walks four batters in an inning, he (or she) must be removed from the game but can return in a later inning; if a pitcher hits two batters he is removed and cannot return in that game. There is a 3-run limit per inning, except for the last inning which is unlimited. The umpires are encouraged to have a big strike zone to encourage hitting (and minimize walks) and are generally lenient about applying the rules. Today I was on third base and we had another runner on first base -- the other team's pitcher was on the pitching rubber and turned to throw to first base, but stopped -- a clear balk that should have allowed both runners to advance. The umpire made no call and said, "I haven't called a balk all week and I'm not starting now!" Then he instructed the pitcher about the rule and what he must do if he makes a move toward first base.

Nephew Billy reminded me that my extensive instruction to him when he was first playing baseball was to "keep your elbow up and your dauber down." We are getting better instruction here. This morning I had a one-on-one session in the batting cage with former Oriole Don Buford who (on his birthday) was showing me how to strengthen my top hand through the hitting zone and also how to get my hips into my swing to generate more power. It really helped and I was pounding the ball in the cage -- however, I didn't get the ball out of the infield in my two games after my hitting lesson. So, tomorrow, do I go back for more instruction -- or do I clear my head and just "see it, hit it"?

Victor Rodriguez said he believes highly touted Red Sox Cuban shortstop prospect Jose Iglesias, who played last year at AA Portland at 20 years of age should be able to be a very good big league hitter and perhaps ready to play in the majors by sometime in 2012. He is already a big-league caliber fielder. Victor said he spoke to Jose this morning and that he has been working out in Miami with Alex Rodriquez.

I am not taking pictures here, but there is a professional photographer who takes pictures each day and posts them on his website in the hopes that campers will buy them (I have in the past and you can see what I bought attached to this blog.) If you are interested in seeing any of the "action" this week you can go (with no obligation) to wagnerphotography.com and click on the Ponce 2011 button on the top of the home page. My team is Team C on the photo site.

Moving into a tie for First Place + PEDs

Another beautiful day at Terry Park in Fort Myers and Team 3-C-Garner took two games -- the first (against Rick Knapp's team that we beat yesterday) by a score of 8-5 and the second game by a score of 12-6 against the winless team managed by Stu Cliburn. I was 1-2 with a walk in the first game and 2-2 with a walk in the second game. I am experimenting this week by batting without my glasses on -- and so far the lesson seems to be I hit better if I can't see the ball. (Next I'll try swinging with my eyes closed and they won't be able to get me out!)

After today's games (44% of the way through our 9 game season) we are one of three teams tied for first place with records of 3W-1L; two teams have records of 2-2; and the final team is winless in 4 games. The two teams with the best record after Thursday's games play in a championship game on Friday morning.

As any baseball fan knows, PEDs, Performance Enhancing Drugs, are the bane of the sport and put many playing records in dispute. In Ponce, we have different PEDs -- Performance Enabling Drugs. A constant topic of conversation during the week revolves around medications people take to keep them going through the week and through their baseball seasons back home. The PEDs range from aspirin and ibuprofen, to stronger Advil and Aleeve (my favorite.) Camp includes a player who is taking prednisone as a preventative against the inevitable inflammation that arises during the week; a player who is taking flexeril for muscle spasms; and another taking percocet for the pain of a muscle tear. Perhaps the most common non-baseball conversations during the week involve orthopedic injuries, orthopedic surgeons, and physical therapists. It is not easy to play geezer baseball. For me, Jackie, the key is doing my sun salutations multiple times a day (and the Aleeve.) So far so good.

Saying that, the team we beat this afternoon featured a 72 year-old pitcher and a 70 year-old catcher. So it can be done (and the pitcher has told me he doesn't use pain relievers and doesn't use ice on his arm!)

We play at Terry Park, a facility owned by Lee County, which formerly was the spring training site for the Pirates, Philadelphia Athletics and Kansas City Royals. The fields are named for Roberto Clemente, George Brett and Connie Mack. The facility has undergone a major rehabilitation over the last two years and the clubhouse and other buildings are now first class -- and up to par with what have always been pristine playing fields. (Last year the clubhouse rehab was "in process" -- this year, much to our relief there is water and working toilets in the clubhouse.) Baseball camps and tournaments are big business for a county facility like this -- Steve Liddle told us this morning that the park superintendent told him the facility is in use for baseball for 51 weeks in the year, and in the 52nd week Ponce is here.

Several readers have asked me if I was embarrassed to have a fly ball hit me in the forehead yesterday, and of course I was. But I realized it wasn't nearly as embarrassing as when a fly ball bounced off Jose Canseco's head and into the right field seats for a home-run a few years ago. My run-in with the ball was only in practice.

For Reds fans (Jim), Tom Brown said that Aroldis Chapman, the Cuban phenom pitcher signed by the Reds has unbelievable stuff (he compared it almost to Nolan Ryan!) He said that if he can learn to get the ball over the plate consistently he will be hard to beat -- and that his curveball, if over the plate, is unhittable. (Chapman throws his fastball from the mid-90s to over 100 mph.) He also said that Chapman made amazing progress last year from when he started in spring training to the end of the year. He is an exciting prospect.

Regarding the Nationals now injured phenom, Stephen Strasburg, Arnie Beyeler said that while he did not see Strasburg pitch in the minor leagues, he was told by a number of old scouts who have been around for a long time that Strasburg was "the best pitcher they had ever seen."

Tomorrow is hump day -- the walking wounded (and those just incredibly stiff and sore) learn how much they love baseball and whether they (with or without PEDs) will make it for the duration.