Friday, May 27, 2011

Intro Songs

Every year since my high school days, starting with portable cd players, tape cassessets in the car, and in the past 10 years advancing to big clunky ipods to the iphone 4, I always enjoy certain music before the game in my headphones.


As far back as I can remember, I used certain songs to pump me up before baseball games. In High School it was a mix of classic rock and rap. Coolio – It’s all the Way Live ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERRsGLsTyso ) when I was just beginning high school, 2Pac’s Hit ‘em Up ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIjDAU05JgU&feature=fvst ), NaS – One Mic ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7C9cx9_wW9I ), Jay-Z’s Come and Get Me ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCVnjBJZ3To ), and Notorious B.I.G. and Bone Thugs – Notorious Thugs ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2p5TrW3BbQQ ) were staples of mine throughout high school. In my Junior and Senior years I listened to a rare live version of Led Zeppelin’s Whole Lotta Love ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9uPKcMkH0vw&ob=av3e ) before summer league games with the Michigan Rams, and before my fantastic senior year at North Farmington it was Tom Petty’s Running Down a Dream ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs ). When I started college we were allowed to pick “walk-out” songs that would be played by the P.A. when I would come into the game.
I remember my sophomore year I did a mix of Jay-Z’s P.S.A. as an intro ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAbxCTABfis ), which went into Dirt Off Your Shoulder ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oz_-VaTHpc8&ob=av2e ), fresh from the recently released Black Album.

My junior year I used a rare classic rock song from the group Traffic called Empty Pages (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfHt4kY8Io8&feature=related ) that had an awesome organ rift that reminded me of childhood games at Wrigley Field.

At GW in my senior year I couldn’t decide between T.I. – What you Know about that ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZJW-rkVKFE ) and Talib Kweli – Feel the Rush ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gydBx-rGBdo ), so I settled with the theme from Kill Bill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsF45oe6d5o&feature=related ).

At Hoboken in 2007, I started getting into Metallica before the game as well as new style of house/techno that I started to enjoy after arriving in Europe, highlighted by Eric Prydz vs. Pink Floyd – Proper Education (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IttkDYE33aU ). When I traveled down to Israel for the rest of the 2007 season, recently released Stronger by Kanye West ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsO6ZnUZI0g&ob=av2e ) and Black Maybe by Common ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mW_NFwOTjXc ) were my pre-game songs.

In 2008 at Tex Town once again they played walk-out songs and I used a Moby song called Graciosa from one of my favorite movies – Any Given Sunday ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbBxSNqwgOU ). I still think is the best one I ever had.

In 2009 at Almere I was all set with MSTRKRFT remixes – 1,000 Cigarettes ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1STkAaWzKI ) and Click Click ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDgzptvqwuM ), and Kaskade’s Sorry (Dirty South Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrQiFxSitwI ) until one of my first games the announcer played a random song with an amazing intro beat before one of my April relief appearances. I pitched real well and requested that this song be played before I came into the game. It ended up being a really strange song – called Do It Like a Truck by Geo Da Silva ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GX1wGLZIIWY&feature=related ), but it worked, and I went undefeated and we won the Dutch First Division championship and promotion series that year.

When I came back to pitch in Almere in 2010, I had assembled some awesome songs the during the year in Australia – Stanton Warriors ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgK15PVa57U&feature=related ), Pitbull – Shut it Down ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QECUFmEPbU0 ), Cassian – Friday Night ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v7To-BNnQQ ), Yusek – Extraball ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrOMSzS09s&ob=av2n ), and Gareth Donaghue – Rise of Ulyesses ( which i can't find anywhere on youtube) before deciding on Temper Trap’s Sweet Disposition Evil Nine Remix ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et3khYwUYjM ).

This year as I was coming to Hamburg I really couldn’t decide between – The Bloody Beetroots – Awesome ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L-aXsoYT0M&playnext=1&list=PLAD904C2DD0A75CCC ), Lupe Fiasco’s I’m Beamin’ ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ge4BEdyZ8bM ), Fenech-Soler Lies (Alex Metric Remix) ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c ) but when Elzhi came out with a new mixtape at the end of April – I finally decided upon “Genesis” as my intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93pDRd4Ik_c

One quick shout out to Black Milk who is from Detroit and I've always wanted to use this - ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mFcTUZnmBA )

well, there's always next year :)

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Winning > Losing


I like winning, you know, because it's much better than losing.
I began the year losing, not entirely due to my pitching, but my somewhat meager performances didn't help hold offenses down to zero runs when we also couldn't find ways to score the second game. Maybe it was due to my lack of conventional spring training (only on the mound and facing hitters for the first time outside when I arrived against Dortmund - except I didn't give up a hit in the first 4 innings that game). Maybe it was the fact I had to take a bunch of law school exams and write some papers within my first few weeks here - which didn't give me much free time for extra training or solely focusing on baseball, let alone piece of mind. Or maybe it was traveling with the coaching responsibilities in Hungary (probably not because of this because I was still training for baseball and thinking baseball) but there was a girl issue sort of involved, as they always are. Anyways, since my return from Holland (where I was scouting), getting a haircut, lowering my pants, getting some great physiotherapy from Emile Kool in Almere, and finishing exams - I have reeled off two straight wins and our team has won 4 in a row. Beginning two weeks ago, I pitched my first complete game of the year against the floundering Berlin Sluggers (a day after my last law school final exam in Con Law) Again, we didn't score much, and in fact, after throwing a wild pitch with a runner on 3rd and giving up a solo home run on the next pitch to Berlin's American catcher, we were already behind 2-0. This was in the 4th inning and I knew that I had to make some adjustment. I felt out of whack with my motion and my 4-seam fastball was getting hit and my 2-seamer *old reliable, wasn't being located very well. In between innings, one of our other Americans, Pitcher-Outfielder and former teammate, that of Harvard lore, Max Warren, gave me a quick tip - go back to the 2-seam and just aim it down the pipe, the movement will take care of itself. From the 5th inning on, it just worked. Got into a groove, and everything else was kind of a blur. Apparently we came back to take a 3-2 lead somehow (it's good that I don't remember because it means I was starting to "zone out"), but in the top of the 8th with two outs and a runner on 1st and 3rd, our Funky French Firstbaseman got a ball that was tough to handle, as I do, I run over to cover 1B, only to find his throw was behind me so I make some extremely contorted non-athletic looking but very athletic play to catch the ball while my foot/ankle/shin (basically everything below my knee) dragged on the base. The Umpire in the middle of the diamond, and out of position, called the batter safe at first, even though the throw and my touch of the base clearly beat him. I don't think he saw my leg laying on the base and when I came off the ground to show him I had control of the ball (as we are taught to do in the states) he ruled that I was on the bag but I didn't have control. (If I didn't have control, why would I show you I did?) As I've learned over the years, European umpires are routinely terrible, and calls are routinely never overturned, so there's no use arguing too much, just let them know that they really got it wrong, and hopefully the next close play will go your way. The run scored tying the game, and we didn't score in the bottom frame, so I came back out for the 9th, went 1-2-3 and finally in the bottom of the last inning, we loaded up the bases, and our pinch hitter Philip hit a sac fly to win it. NOTE: We need to perfect the craft of walk-off victory celebrations instead of just a high-five line... maybe because it was the 7th hour of playing baseball, but come on guys you need to jump up and down a bit to celebrate.

Coming off the Berlin victories was another sedative week with law school officially over, it was back to training hard, and figuring out how to make good use of my time when you only play games once a week. Of course I have the scouting job, that will eventually take me all over Europe by the end of the summer, and the coaching gig for the Hungarian national team as well, but May is shaping up to be a lot of time spent in outskirts of Hamburg - just me, the internet, and my thoughts. There were two nights that I stayed up to 6am, in order to watch the Wings vs. Sharks game 6 and 7 of the hockey playoffs, starting respectively at 2am and 3am... and I can honestly say it had no affect on my next start, Sunday in Pulheim.

After mashing the Pulheim Gophers (I keep thinking of Bill Murray in Caddyshack), those of the camalflouge uniforms, in Game 1, by the score of 15-2. I was mentally prepared for a tighter ball game since all of our Game 2's against the opposing team's foreign pitchers, like myself, seem to limit our offense no matter what we do in Game 1 (and maybe we are also extremely tired from running around the bases so much in Game 1. In the first 3 innings we put a tally up on every inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. Two notes on this historical start to the game:
1) It was the first time I was pitching with a lead to begin the game 2) it equalled the most runs I received in any game while I pitched, all year. I stuck with the end of the Berlin game pitching strategy and only gave up a long hard fly ball to Pulheim, and the Bundesliga leading hitter two years in a row, from New Zeeland - Daniel Lamb-Hunt. By the 6th inning, we had encountered three rain delays, only one walk (to Lamb-Hunt), 3 more runs - to make it 6-0, and thus far I had yet to give up a hit. I started the inning by walking the #2 and #3 hitters on full-counts. Felt like I was being squeezed a bit, maybe the umps were trying to make it a bit of a game for the home-team, but I wasn't about to complain, these were probably the best umpires I had in all my time in Europe, I recall thinking that. Up came Lamb-Hunt, and to the mound came our manager Jens, I guess not realizing despite the 3 total walks, there had still been zero hits. After the brief mound visit, which I'm sure was good intentioned, I became sort of un-focused, which sounds strange but it's true. I made a good pitch on the hands to Lamb-Hunt that he fisted into foul territory just out of the reach of our 3B and LF. Naturally, Jakub our catcher wanted some off-speed so we went change-up low and away for a ball, and another change-up that he didn't bite on. With 2 balls and 1 strike, I didn't want to pitch around him with runners on like I did last time, so I challenged him a fastball that he laced into left-center field for the first hit of the day and the first run. I induced a grounder to third and a strikeout, and got two outs when their other import, an American who plays with the Greek national team with Max, hit a dribbler in between SS and 3B to give them 2 more runs. I struck out the next batter and left the game with a 6-3 lead, and the final score after our young and talented German pitcher, Daniel Harms, got the 3 inning save. After the 5 1/2 hour ride back, in which my expensive Vibe II Moda headphones ceased to function, and I somehow lost my iphone case, I felt like I was doing the GW roadtrip adventures all over again (or the no games more than an hour away in Holland made me soft). Now this week is about getting ready for Paderborn, the first place and undefeated team, where we'll be missing Max (back in the U.S. for a presentation for Harvard on his year-long expedition to Africa) and Sam (back in the U.S. for his best friend's wedding).

Photo Note: A motor scooter raking the field in between games (only in Pulheim)

Here are the mister-baseball recaps of the past two weeks of games + standings:

May '1117

Recaps North: Untouchables come back twice against Alligators

Berlin Sluggers – Bonn Capitals 0-11 (7), 0-11 (8)

One week after dispatching the Dohren Wild Farmers, the Bonn Capitals also had no problems with their next task in the northern division of the German Baseball-Bundesliga, celebrating a pair of 11-0 shutouts over the Berlin Sluggers on Saturday. In game one Tim Henkenjohann threw a complete game one-hitter, striking out eleven in seven innings. No ball left the infield and only an infield single by Jakub Buttgereit denied the no-no. In the second game Bonn scored six runs in the seven and four in the eighth to blow an otherwise close game wide open. Bryce Schoening picked up the win. Bradley Roper-Hubbart hit a two-run homerun for the Caps.

Dohren Wild Farmers – Dortmund Wanderers 2-18 (7), 1-0 (10)

The Dohren Wild Farmers and the Dortmund Wanderers settled for a split in their twin bill on Saturday. In game one Elliot Biddle homered twice and drove in six to lead Dortmund to an 18-2 rout. Aljosha Heller and Kevin Möller also went deep for the Wanderers. Trevor Howell went 5-for-5 with a double and four runs. In the second game Garrett Rogers struck out 17 in a ten-inning complete game shutout to lead the Wild Farmers to a 1-0 win. His impressive work on the mound was not all, as he also hit the game-winning solo homerun in the bottom of the tenth off Matt Kemp, who had relieved Dennis Stechmann in the sixth.

Untouchables Paderborn – Solingen Alligators 10-5, 7-6

The Untouchables Paderborn defended their perfect record in the Baseball-Bundesliga coming back in both wins over the Solingen Alligators on Sunday. In game one the U’s erased a 0-5 deficit with five-run rallies in the fifth and the seventh en route to a 10-5 win. They also overcame a two-run homerun and the 500th hit of Dominik Wulf, as well as a four-hit performance by Chris Beck in his return to the Baseball-Bundesliga. In the second match Paderborn scored six runs between the sixth and eighth to turn around a 1-5 deficit into a 7-6 win. 300 people witnessed the duel between the two top teams in the northern division, which was interrupted by rain delays. Eugen Heilmann was used in relief and picked up the win in both ends of the doubleheader.

Pulheim Gophers – HSV Stealers 2-15 (7), 3-6

The HSV Stealers improved to 8-4 for the season with their second sweep in a week, winning both games in Pulheim. In game one Brehan Murphy (2), Jerome Rousseau, Jakub Vojakand Sam Boone hit homeruns to lead the Stealers to a 15-2 rout in seven innings. Murphy drove in seven runs. Veteran Frank Stattler was the starting pitcher in place of an injury Max Warren. In the second game Hamburg built up a fast 6-0 lead through the middle of the sixth en route to a 6-3 win over the Gophers. Justin Prinstein pitched six innings for his second win of the season. Bryan Roberts took the mound for the Gophers, having recovered from an injury.

Standings North

#TeamWLR+R-.pctGBStreak
1Paderborn Untouchables110118271.0000W11
2Bonn Capitals10314962.7692W9
3Solingen Alligators849175.6663.5L2
4HSV Stealers8410294.6663.5W4
5Pulheim Gophers5987117.3577.5L9
6Dortmund Wanderers487579.3337.5L1
7Dohren Wild Farmers21040117.1669.5W1
8Berlin Sluggers11143134.08310.5L11

Last Week:

Northern Division:

HSV Stealers – Berlin Sluggers 16-10, 4-3

After four splits to start the 2011 season, the HSV Stealers celebrated their first sweep against the promoted Berlin Sluggers. In game one Hamburg scored five runs in the second and eight between the fourth and seventh en route to a 16-10 victory. Berlin cut the deficit to three runs in the top of the eighth, but couldn’t do more in the slugfest to prevent a loss.Daniel Harms received the win, Iwan Galkin the loss. In the second match the Stealers needed a run by Mirko Oliczewsky in the bottom of the ninth to prevail 4-3. Pinch hitterPhilipp van Soosten lifted a flyball into center field to drive in the winning run. Justin Prinstein went the distance for his first win of the season. Ales Keprta took the loss.

Bonn Capitals – Dohren Wild Farmers 16-0 (7), 18-0 (7)

The Bonn Capitals dispatched the Dohren Wild Farmers on Sunday. Losing 0-16 and 0-18 Dohren was completely overmatched in both ends of the twin bill. In game one Tim Henkenjohann got his first win of the season. Bonn had provided him with a fast 7-0 lead after two frames and blew things wide open with six runs in the sixth. Florian Nehringrounded the bases for a three-run inside the park homerun. In the second match the Capitals greeted Wild Farmers’ starter Garrett Rogers with twelve runs in the opening period. Bradley Roper-Hubbert homered and tripled to drive in five. Max Schmitz and Bryce Schoeningheld Dohren scoreless.

Dortmund Wanderers – Untouchables Paderborn 3-13 (8), 1-5

The Untouchables Paderborn continue to dominate the northern division, improving their perfect record to start the season to 9-0. In game one at the Dortmund Wanderers seven runs in the second decided the outcome early in a 13-3 rout in eight innings. Eugen Heilmannreceived the win, Dennis Stechmann the loss. In the second match Brian Fields out-dueledMatt Kemp to lead Paderborn to a 5-1 win over Dortmund. Elliot Biddle went deep for the Wanderers. Daniel Groer had five hits in six at-bats.

Solingen Alligators – Pulheim Gophers 11-5, 7-3

The Solingen Alligators extended their winning streak to six games against the Pulheim Gophers, solidifying second place one week before their matchup with the undefeated Untouchables Paderborn. In game one Solingen dominated besides a five-run eighth by Pulheim. However at this point, the Alligators already were up 8-0 en route to an 11-5 victory.Andre Hughes struck out seven in seven two-hit innings for the win. Daniel Lamb-Hunt had a three-run double for Pulheim. In the second match the Gophers actually led 3-2 midway through the fifth, but three Solingen runs in the bottom of the same frame put the home team back in front. Phil Ortez hit a homerun, the first this season. Moritz Buttgereit followed with a two-run single.

Standings North

#TeamWLR+R-.pctGBStreak
1Paderborn Untouchables110118271.0000W11
2Bonn Capitals10314962.7692W9
3Solingen Alligators849175.6663.5L2
4HSV Stealers8410294.6663.5W4
5Pulheim Gophers5987117.3577.5L9
6Dortmund Wanderers487579.3337.5L1
7Dohren Wild Farmers21040117.1669.5W1
8Berlin Sluggers11143134.08310.5L11