So there’s only 8 spring training games left and I’m still hanging in there.  Coming into camp I was excited but not sure how many opportunities there was going to be for me to get playing time.  To be honest, I thought I was only going to be here until around March 7, when minor league camp starts, but I made it past the first cut and a couple more after that.  I guess I can thank the WBC for most of my playing time since we did have 3 infielders out of camp for a couple weeks.  But anyway, I’m enjoying it out here.  The guys are awesome and I’m taking in a ton of information and learning little things everyday.  Whether it be baseball stuff or just how to carry yourself and act around the clubhouse.  Whatever happens, if I make to the end or not, I’m going to be heading out of here with an abundance of experience.  I appreciate all these guys and how comfortable it is to talk to them about their routines and mind sets in situations.  One guy that has been on me a lot about making everything competitive and talking to me about really getting my mind right during BP is Zaun.  He showed me some different games to play during BP where you have a point system for different rounds.  The first day he got me in on his game was the day I hit two homers.  So whether it was Zaun’s game or not, you better believe I’ve been playing it everyday now.

I still haven’t heard about where I will be going to play this season, I’m hoping that I’ll be in Norfolk, but I’ll just have to wait and see.  For now I’m just going to keep on enjoying it and having fun. Which would be a lot easier if we weren’t on this little losing skid.  Even though it’s only spring training, I hate losing.  I think that comes from my dad, just a guess though.

Another neat thing that happened was over in Ft. Meyers (Twins), I came out of the locker room a little early before our stretch and Joel, who did the radio when I played in the Cape, was standing out on the field.  He works for the Twins in Spring Training and is the usher right above the visiting dugout.  I stood and talked to him for a while until he let me get to the fans who were waiting for some autographs. One of the coolest things about being out here is the fans, I love going and signing autographs, especially for the kids.  The look of excitement and joy on there face is awesome.  The kids make me think of Blake, Kyle, and Cheyenne.  I wish I could be there to watch them play.  Will somebody send me a video or pics or something?  I do get updates from my parents.  Congrats on the 2 homers Kyle and Blake for your first knock, keep swinging buddy there are a lot more out there.  And I would give anything to watch Cheyenne play, I heard she throws like Cassie, steps and throws with the same foot, or maybe that’s like Mike. haha. Just kidding Mike.  Anyways miss all you guys and I’ll post again soon.

Sorry it’s been a few days, but I didn’t forget about ya.  Today was a very short and much needed easy day at the yard.  We had a seven inning scrimmage and were off the field by 1 PM.  I did something that I don’t think I’ve ever done in my life today, and that is steal 4 bases.  I think I had a total of 5 for all of last season so who knows maybe the black and orange is making me faster.  I also caught some heat from the skipper today about my hair.  Well it wasn’t too bad he just said I should trim it up a little bit that the TV people were making comments about it.  So that led to a haircut tonight and if you don’t know, when I get a haircut during season it isn’t just a trim.  yep, I took it all off and I’m already feeling a little cooler, as in temperature.  Anyways, I’m going to get to bed sorry for the long delay.  I’ll be back soon.

Justin

What an eventful day!

Today started with a three hour bus ride up the 95 to Viera, spring training home to the Washington Nationals. When we got off the bus it was 71 degrees and a little windy. By the time we got out to stretch at 11, the temp had dropped into the low 60′s and the wind was picking up. It was chilly. I’m going to partially blame the conditions for one of the worst batting practice’s I’ve ever taken. I was just brutal and this leading into a game where I was making my first start as opposed to coming in the 6th. But I don’t put a lot of emphasis on BP so it didn’t take long for me to put it behind me. So after BP we went in the locker room and were just kinda hanging around letting the time pass when Trembley, our Manager, came in and told everyone to bring it up and listen. He then introduced us to a college football legend, Lou Holtz. Lou talked to us for about twenty minutes and had some very inspirational stuff. He got us laughing a few times as well. There were a couple things I took from his talk and I wish I could have recorded it to soak it all in. The number one thing he stressed on us were three questions to live by. Can you trust them? ( your teammates, coaches, or people in general) Do they compete for excellence? Do they care about you as a person? He told us that if one of those three are missing, you don’t have a good teammate or friend or whoever you want to apply it to. That was his main point, but there was a lot of humor in the speech as well. He told us that he is the only man on earth that has wrote more books than he has read, that one day during his first year at South Carolina, a guy came up to him in the airport and said, “Has anyone ever told you you look like Lou Holtz?” He replied, ” Ya, all the time.” Then the guy said, “Man, I’m sorry you get that all the time.” This was when South Carolina was terrible and then the next year he turned the program around as he did with every program. So anyways, needless to say this was a great experience and Lou was extremely passionate and I can only imagine how awesome it would have been to play for him. After I had him sign a ball for me so that was cool too.

Now it was time to go out and stretch and get ready for the game. On our way out to the field, some workers were telling us that it was supposed to rain at game time. That would have sucked. But it didn’t rain, however, when we went out on the field the temperature had dropped to 51 degrees and the wind was howling. It was freezing, I never wear sleeves and I went back in and put them on for the game. I came up for my first AB in the third inning against Tyler Clippard. Lou Montanez had walked and stole second and I got into a three two count. I got a good pitch out over the plate and hit one over the wall in left center. It was a pretty good feeling and I did my best not to smile the whole way around the bases, but I’m not very good at that. I’m glad my Mom, Dad, and Jill were here to see it and I think my Dad even said he got it on tape. Anyways, we ended up winning 7-5 in a nail biter at the end. It was a great day.

Red

So we had our first game yesterday against team Italy and I hit ninth and played shortstop until the sixth inning when Blake came in and I moved over to second.  I was a little disappointed that I didn’t have any balls hit to me at short, but I did get a couple at second including one that started a game ending double play.  On the other side of the ball, I had three at bats.  I felt really good at the plate and saw the ball really well even though i have nothing to show for it.  My first at bat I grounded out to the shortstop on a pitch that later once the season starts I better not miss.  My second at bat, Juan Samuel, our third base coach put on a hit and run on the first pitch.  The pitch was in off the plate and I just reacted and threw the barrel out there and hit a foul home run off the net down the left line.  Too bad those don’t count, I ended up hitting a fly ball down the right field line on a two strike splitty.  The right fielder came in hard and ended up dropping the ball.  So I got on for the first time.  On the third pitch I was off and running and stole second uncontested.  In my last at bat, I worked a 2-0 count and got a good fastball to hit, I drove a line drive right at the shortstop, who caught it and doubled the guy off who was on first.  Anyway, we won 4-0 and I don’t think Italy is going to be hanging around the classic very long.

Today was opening day for the grapefruit league and the O’s were taking on the Mets.  I did not start this game so in the morning I did all of my work on the backfields.  Huff, Roberts, Izturis, and Mora weren’t playing either so today I got to take ground balls with them.  Izturis is pretty ridiculous at shortstop, the guy is so smooth and doesn’t miss a ground ball.  It is crazy, it looks like he is not even trying and he gets a perfect hop every time. So that was a treat and a great experience.

When the game started, I didn’t get to watch much because they had us on the backfields taking extra ground balls and then in the cages taking some hacks.  We went in in the 6th inning and the infield was a pretty special group.  Scotty was at third, Blake at short and I was at second.  How cool is that.  anyways I got two balls at second.  One of which was a chopper over the pitcher’s head and I had to come in on the run and pick it and got the guy at first.  At the plate, I felt good once again, but have nothing to show for it.  My first at bat I drove a ball pretty good into right center but with the conditions today it had no chance of getting down.  The wind was blowing pretty good straight in from center.  My second ab wasn’t very good, I came up with the bases loaded and 1 out in the ninth and yep you guessed it, 6-4-3 double play.  What a rally killer I am.  But it’s OK, tomorrows a new day, though I’m not playing, I’ll go back to work in the morning.  I’ll be back in a couple days.  By the way, pretty excited, my parents and sister are coming out this weekend.

I’ll be back soon,

Red

Hey Everyone,

Sorry I it has been a few days since my last blog.  I’ve had a few problems with my computer and the battery.  But it’s all good now, so here we go.  The last few days have pretty fairly short and very similar as far as our practice plans have gone.  We stretch and play catch, then report to the back fields for 20 minutes of groundballs.  I have been switching back and forth between taking them at Short and Second which has already paid off, but I’ll get to that in a bit.  Then we go into some sort of team fundamental, the first day was bunt D’s, the next was first and third D’s, yesterday was pop fly priorities and relays and today we did run downs.  Then we go into to live at bats against pitchers.  The pitchers usually are on a 25 or 30 pitch count.  Blake and I are in a group and we just rotate seeing 5 pitches at a time until the pitchers are done.  So far I’ve seen Troy Patton, Bob McCrory, Koji Uehara, Danys Baez, and Chris Ray.  It is a process get back in the timing of things and today was the first day I felt comfortable in the box.  Apparently the other day after facing Koji, the writers wrote that I swung at high fastball and missed and chuckled because I was overmatched.  Just want to clear it up that the reason behind the chuckle was it wasn’t just a high fastball, it was darn near over my head and I swung at it.  All I could do was laugh, so ya I’m already experiencing a little taste of the media printing whatever it is they want but it’s not really that big of a deal.  So after that we get to jump into some regular batting practice followed up by a little conditioning and then it’s a wrap.  So the days have been light and we’ve been getting out fairly early but that all ends tomorrow when we have our first game against Team Italy.

So yesterday after we got done conditioning which was base running, Trembley( Manager), came over to talk to us about some of his pet peeves, and concluded by telling us to make sure we check the board today because the line-up was going to be posted.  Then he proceeded to tell us how to read it and what it meant when there are numbers by your name.  So he says, ” So say for example Turner your playing SHORTSTOP, and Murphy your playing second.  Then there will be a 6 next to your name which means after the 6th inning, Justin your going to second, Blake you’ll then go into short, and Donnie you’ll be done.”  Now he said for example, so I wasn’t sure if that was exactly how it was going to work or if you was just trying to give us an idea of some things that could happen.  But sure enough, when I came in the locker room today it was posted. I’m starting at short and batting ninth, then moving over to second.  And Scotty is starting at third, which will be weird since when we played together he played short and I was at second and now it is shifted over a little bit.  So needless to say I’m pretty excited and looking forward to tomorrow.  I think I might be the only guy playing the whole game too.

So I’m going to rest up and we’ll probably take a trip down to the mall since we are on a little cinnamon pretzel addiction and walk around a little bit.  Then it’s to bed early, got a long one ahead of me tomorrow.  I’ll be back soon.

Red

Today was day one of the Orioles 2009 ST camp where all players were in attendance.  It started out with an eye and oral examine which completed my little card that needed to be checked by about eight different doctors to be released to play.  I was pleased to see the results of my eye test, 20/15 in the right and 20/13 in the left.  So I think the surgery turned out to be pretty good but, I’ll have to wait for a night game to be 100% sold on it.  This was followed by a ton of dead time.  Baseball has a funny way of scheduling things and the common saying is that it is a “Hurry up and wait” sport.  We were at the field at 8 and did not start with our team meeting until 11. The meeting was a brief introduction to all what seemed like 30 coaches in camp.  I’m still trying to put all the names to the faces.  Then we were introduced to the front office and media people.  The meeting ended with a talk from GM Andy McPhail and Manager Dave Trembley.  The overall feeling in the clubhouse was excitement.  Everyone is ready to get the 2009 season rolling. Finally at noon we got out on the field and went through a stretch and 10 minutes of catch.  I’m back with my old long toss partner, turn two partner and former teammate Blake Davis.

The only negative thing about today’s and most likely the majority of camp is that it is separated.  The Big Leaguer’s do all their work on the stadium field where all the non-roster invites work out on one of the two back fields.  This really isn’t too big of deal other than I would have loved to watch guys like Cesar  Izturis and Brian Roberts take ground balls and go about their business because those are two pretty good ball players.  So ya, we are out on the back field and immediately we go into taken ground balls.  I was at second base with former Patrick Henry boy, Donnie Murphy, and on the second ball of the day I caught a terrible hop right in the sternum.  So it didn’t start out to great and obviously the back fields are not in the shape that the stadium is in, but that’s ok, it will just make me that much better.  After ground balls, we went into a short round of batting practice which was followed by some conditioning.  That was day one.

We got out of the field around 3:15 and Scott and I decided to head down to the beach to meet up with pitchers Jeremy Guthrie, Brian Matusz, and Jake Arrieta.  The beaches down here are beautiful but they are a little different.  For one, since the water is east and the land is west, the sun goes down behind you if your facing the water.  That throws me off a bit.  Then there are enormous condos and hotels right on the beach, so as the sun goes down the beaches get covered in shade.  The nice things are that the water is a lot warmer, there are all sorts of bars and restaurants right on the beach, the water is clear for a few hundred feet out, and depending on the day your likely to see 3 or 4 giant cruise liners pulling out of the harbor.  It is pretty sweet.

So after the beach we came home and showered up and took off for dinner where we met center fielder Adam Jones at a place called 52 seasons.  It’s a very healthy, yet tasty restaurant by the mall.  We had a few orders of flat bread, some edamame, and I had grilled salmon and asparagus for dinner. It was legit. And now I’m getting ready for bed.  We see live pitching for the first time tomorrow and I’m going to sleep on whether or not I’m going to swing. I’ll be back soon.

Red

2009 Spring Training 2-19-09

2009 Spring Training 2-19-09

Today was beautiful. About 80 degrees with a little breeze, perfect baseball weather.  Got to the field just before 9 and had some breakfast.  A few more guys reported in today, Brian Roberts, Nolan Reimold, and Brandon Snyder.  I played against Snyder and Reimold out in the fall League so it made it a little easier to strike up a convo.  As far as the baseball stuff the only change in today’s schedule was I got to take a few swings in the cage one on one with Crowley, the hitting coach and it was nice to break down a few mechanical things and get some direction as to what he’d like to see me work on while I’m in camp.  BP was good, my swing feels very good right now and I took a few more ground balls over at short today.  Wayne Krivsky, who is the assistant to our GM and was my GM over with the Reds keeps telling me to make sure I get balls at every spot. So I guess that’s a good thing, they either believe I can play short or they want to see if I can.  Everything went smooth over there though.  After that we had a little conditioning and a bit of a step down from the two previous days in our lunch spread.  today it was good ol’ fashioned hot dogs and hamburgers.  Now I’m just sitting at home relaxing watching the A Rod interview on ESPN.  See ya tomorrow.

Red

Hey everyone,

As you all know Scotty and I came out early on and red-eye out of Long Beach.  I thought Jet Blue was going to make it a better flight but all it resulted in was no sleep and a lot of TV watching.  We got in around 4:45 AM EST and had to wait around for the car rental counter to open at 6.  We got to our apartment at 7 and met some guy to show us our place.  We wanted to go straight to sleep but, the guy just let is in the apartment, he didn’t have any keys for us.  So when the office opened at 8:30 we had to head down and get our keys.  Finally, we got to come and get some sleep.  The first day was pretty much a wash from being so tired.  We drove around a little bit and Scotty showed me around the city some.

The following 3 days consisted of an hour drive in the morning down to Miami where we met up with Jose Cruz Jr.  He took us to a gym to get a pretty good workout in and then to this awesome Cuban restaurant by his house.  After  we hammered down some grub, we headed over to Jr.’s house which was unreal.  He gave us a tour which was highlighted by his upstairs leisure room which included a full bar, a couple of card tables, an unreal surround sound, and an enormous projection screen that his 9 and 10 year old sons were playing Star Wars on XBOX 360 on.  But the best part was the all his jersey’s he had hung and framed from every team he played for except his Mariner’s jersey.  The story behind that was that he was leaving the on deck circle to walk up to the plate during a game when the manager called him back.  He thought he was just getting pinch hit for but when he got in the dugout the GM was standing there and told him he had just been traded.  So he hasn’t been able to get his hands on that uniform yet.  Anyways, he has a sweet house with a legit batting cage in the backyard.  So we got some good work in there and he gave us a couple bats to take with us.  It was a good experience and Jr. is a great dude.

So, after the workouts we got to have a little fun and headed down to South Beach.  The beach was awesome, the water is clear and a lot warmer than Cali water.  The crazy thing was that almost everyone there was not from the US and they were all speaking crazy languages.  It was definitely a different experience.  The third day we were down there Megan was with us and we had dinner right on the beach, Ocean Dr.  This was an experience like no other.  On Ocean is strip of restaurants which are mostly set up outside on the sidewalks.  So as your walking down the street, not only are people sitting down eating right next to you but the hostess’s are trying to pitch there menu’s and happy hour specials to you.  We ended up eating at a place called the Colony which doubled as a hotel.  So not only were people walking through on the sidewalks, but people were pulling up in cars and unloading to check in right next to us.

First Day @ Fort Lauderdale Stadium 2/15

We reported in to camp today and as soon as we walked in I was greeted by Dave Trembley (the manager), he had some kind words and welcomed me to camp and then informed us we had to get physicals done to workout.  So that started a long process of giving blood ( and I didn’t pass out this time, nurse got it in one try), took a TB test, got an EKG done and I guess my heart is good, and went number 1 in a cup in the first room.  Then I went to room two were a doctor did the basic check up on me, you you know checked the back, listened to me breathe, asked me to turn my head each way and cough, etc..  Then i made my way to the last room where they tested my strength and twisted my limbs around and stuff to make sure they weren’t going to fall off.  Finally, they told us we could head out to the field to stretch and get ready to hit so I guess that means I passed my physical.  When we got on the field, it was Scott, Ryan Freel, Justin Christian and I.  We stretched out and played a little catch and then jumped in and out of the cage on the field for about 30 minutes.  I had a good time but didn’t hit very well.  I thought they forgot to put the barrel on the bats I ordered because I sure wasn’t finding it all during BP.  But that’s usually how day one goes, no one really hit to well.  Then we went out to take some ground balls which went a lot better than hitting.  The Big League infield coach, Juan Samuel, was hitting me fungo’s and I felt pretty good in that aspect.  After that we went in and grabbed a shower and the spread they had for us was pretty good.  Mahi Mahi with some potatoes, vegetables and a salad.  It was good, I love Mahi Mahi.

Day 2 – 2/16

Today was a little smoother since we did not have any physicals.  We got to the field around nine and had breakfast.  Adam Jones checked in today and he’s not the smallest guy I’ve ever seen.  So our hitting group consisted of five guys today.  Scotty put on a pretty good display in BP. The right field bleachers are aluminum, so when you hit a home run, it is pretty loud.  Our hitting coach, Terry Crowley, yells “loud noise at the end” every time  someone goes deep.  So Scotty heard that several times today and the fans (probably 100) started cheering for him when he came out of the cage.  It was pretty cool. Scotty took off his helmet and waved to them.  It was funny.  While Scotty put on a power display, I put on a pretty good show of line drives.  Definitely a turn around from the day before.  Then it was ground balls at short and second.  Everything was standard out there. Had our first day of conditioning today, 150 foot gasers which pretty much means you go down and back for one.  We had eight of them and it wasn’t bad at all.  Then it was lunch(chicken and rice), and we got out of there.  So far it’s been good , still trying to learn everyone’s names but that will come. Hope this is informative enough for everyone and I’ll try to keep it updated.  I’ll be back soon.

Justin