baseball w/ beer in the dugout?

Definitely. In this league, at least.

might help me throw strikes......

Lost a game we led 4-1 in the top of the last inning. Our starter was fantastic but gassed. Put 2 on and let the reliever in. With 2 outs he induces a weak hopper to 2nd who doesn't charge, bobbles and makes a poor throw. They tie it.

I come in for the extra and give up 4 on 1BB some hits and more errors. Had an 18! pitch AB that resulted in an RBI single. Was not trusting my slider with a man on 3rd so it was 18 fastballs over the inside corner. He finally got around on one.

Then I struck out with us down 3 and bases loaded to end the game.

Just a ****ty game.

kinda an x-post from h&f log
Just found a local adult team that I am going to try out for next season. One small problem is I haven't played competitively in ~five years. Hell, I can't even find my old glove anymore and I fell in love with that thing over the years.

So I guess one of the first steps I need to do is get a glove, but what else should I be doing to get back into baseball?

In my google searching to find a team, I found a guy that runs a baseball training facility here, which seems more geared towards children than adults (http://www.stksports.com/). The guy that runs the facility played in the minors and had a short stint in the majors, but was never anything big. Just realized that this guy is a sponsor for the team and also plays for them occasionally. So I think I'll go talk to him and hopefully get on track to play some ball next Spring and/or some games throughout the Winter.

I don't particularly like my baseball pants. They have an elastic, and I think they might be a bit too short. Before every at-bat/inning, I pull them down to my cleats, but after minimal activity they ride up and I end up looking like such an old man (here is an example of what I look like). I would prefer a longer pant with slightly cleaner look (example) that hides my socks, similar to what most pros have moved to over the last decade+. I don't want something super baggy (example) or something that covers almost the entire cleat (example) like some players wear.

A couple of teammates have suggested removing the elastic myself. Others have suggested buying pants with some adjustable velcro that can "let down" additional pant.

Any recommendations, in particular, for a good online retailer?

Won this week in walk off fashion. The team we beat has lost only 2 games all year, both to us. No pitching, but played a very solid 3B. Several key plays in a tight game. 0-3 at the plate with a K and 2 pop ups. Slumping a bit.

Worst thing of the weekend, two of my cheapass teammates using my bats and breaking a pair of them. One was like $40 that I bought 3 years ago when we didn't even use wood, one a new bamboo one I bought just for this season for $80. Both of them say they will pony up but I am skeptical. Regardless, I need to buy a new bat this weekend, that no one better touch the rest of the season. The money is no big deal but Jesus, if you are playing wood bat baseball, show up to the game with your own freaking lumber.

Threw 5 IP, 1 K, 2 BB, 1 ER.

1-2, 2 BB, 2b.

I'm now at .323/.462/.387 - 10 for 31 with just 2 doubles. Not all that good for this league tbh. It doesn't help that I refuse to swing at pitches 6 to 8 inches outside that I keep getting rung up on. My ERA has to be well into the double digits.

Haven't kept as good of stats this year as I normally do. My power is way down due to my herniated disc issue. It not only messed up my ability to swing as hard as I'd like, but also messed up my swing mechanics. I still lead both teams in batting average and on-base percentage, though. Despite that, I bat ninth for my one team, which is total horse**** and I haven't been showing up to games because the team is annoying and batting ninth is a giant joke. (Also my kid obviously limits how much baseball I can play in a given week.)

Getting to play once a week at most def. hurts my hitting. My team has finally put me higher in the order. Been hitting 2nd, 5th, or 6th of late.

I need to improve my throwing at batters ability. Tried to drill a guy 2X because his teammate stole 2nd up 9 in the last inning. He managed to get out of the way both times. Had a brief argument w their skipper after, who tried to defend the running, which he called from 3rd. What a dick. Why is it the good teams are always the biggest dbags?

Only ptiched the last 1.1. OR OH 1K

0-3 hitting. 1RBI on a 4-3 ground out w men on 2nd or 3rd.

Threw 8 IP in a doubleheader. Their lineup had 7 current or ex-college players and had more than double the amount of HR than any other team. I had to be perfect, I wasn't, gave up 5 ER - 3 home runs. Went 2-for-7 at the plate, we lost. gg summer season

Fall ball cometh.

Played for my other competitive team. Batted last in the order (rofl). Went 1-for-3 with a hard liner through the hole, grounded out hard to the 2b, and pissed on a ball to deep left that the outfielder somehow tracked down.

Then I threw 3 IP, 1 ER, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 lolbad HBP call (it nicked the knob of his bat, lols) and got a GF. We lost 15-8. But yeah, I bat last and I'm the last pitcher in the rotation. Makes sense.

Good news is that my arm feels great, my mechanics are solid, my fastball has good arm-side run to it, and my curveball is back for now. My sinker/change is decent but I developed a sidearm-type slider as a third show-me pitch just to have on the second time through the lineup. It's not bad, if inconsistent.

i used to have a great sidearm slider. now i can't throw any breaking stuff worth a ****. It seriously depresses me.

I was the same way. I used to have a great cutter, then I lost it in college. I predominantly threw a really good changeup, then I basically permanently lost that (though I am regaining a sinker). So basically I had nothing but a high-70's four-seam fastball with poor command, which explains my results for the past few years.

Now I switched back to my two-seam grip for my overhand curveball which works with my higher arm slot, and I just decided to say "**** it" and throw my slower slider sidearm. It works pretty well as a third pitch but it's nothing to write home about.

Had a good fastball today though. I throw exclusively two-seam fastballs. It has decent arm-side run to it, which is good since I generally only work inside with my fastball. I can't command it to the outer third of the plate with any confidence; the arm-side run just brings it over the plate.

This is me too. Got by with a high velocity 4 seamer for my league for the first 2 years. Then I got some coaching for Tom Gorman (former Mets, Padres, etc) and he switched me a very loose 2 seam grip. Now my fastball moves a lot more and makes up for some velocity I have lost due to shoulder issues. I also work almost entirely on the inner third to righties. I seriously try to throw outside and cannot even do it with any regularity. But I don't get hit hard.

Added a show me slider that is nothing special but gets me away from 100% fastballs. Actually went back to the 4 seamer a bit lately when I had trouble throwing strikes with the 2 seamer. But I drop that in outings when the 2 seamer is working well.

Ahhh the hole. Oh god I hate the hole. I'm a bit shorter than most pitchers and though I've got fairly long legs for my height, my delivery is way upright. Don't get a ton of push off the rubber so the hole always ****s with me. And the mound is usually hardpan dirt (concrete) lol. My foot usually lands where my toes are over the hole so then my foot bends down and slides into the hole which is obviously ****ty. I blamed all my bad outings on the hole.

I've heard this from opponents' dugout multiple times before. LOVE hearing this ****. It means they've stopped thinking and are swinging even harder b/c they are pissed off so I will go slower and junkier. So awesome to hear a guy in the dugout after popping up my 12-6 to 2nd, or hitting my 2-seamer for a 9-hopper to short be like "he ain't throwin' **** out there".

Seen worse. I was doing mop-up in a game we were losing like 21-0 once. They were awesome and we sucked. Not gonna lie, I gave up a lot of hits. Guy on 2nd steals 3rd (full speed, headfirst slide). Our catcher just lobs ball back to me and I look over and tell him he doesn't even get to stat-pad since it was uncontested. ****ing meathead. I was like what is this I don't even.

had yips again tonight, only recorded one out on a would be wild pitch where the catcher brushed the ball to me with the back of his mitt and I barehanded it and tagged the runner at the plate at the same time. lol I suck.

Was your first baseman holding him on?

Played again for the srs biznass team. Batted 10th (last) behind some taxi pool / sub players. Oooookay. Definitely going to bitch at the manager.

Only went 4-for-4 with three line drives, one of which was a track hop against the LCF fence (360 ft) for a bases-clearing double.

Pitched 0.2 IP, struck out one, walked two, and my CF got ejected on the fifth batter because he was yelling at the ump for missing so many strikes. Which was good, because if he hadn't gotten tossed, I probably would have. The ump legitimately missed 6 fastball strikes that were not borderline whatsoever.

This league is such a ****ing joke, and people take it so seriously. I pulled myself and let someone else pitch because **** that ****.

I also got "caught stealing" when I slid into second, my left foot hit the bag, my right ankle touched the bag, and then the tag was applied. LOL umps. Four innings later, a much closer play at third base happened for our team, and the ump called him safe.

Really no reason to play in this league anymore. It's a joke.

kyle, you seem pretty angry

imad.tiff

Another game for srs bizness. We had good umps this time.

During the afternoon, I threw long toss, weighted baseballs, and some medicine balls with my college-bound guys at the facility. I didn't expect to pitch today.

Went to the game, we only had a starter lined up for six innings. They asked me if I could pitch the last three. What would Trevor Bauer do? (WWTBD)

Hitting: 2-for-3, 2b, BB
Pitching: 3 IP, 2 K, 1 BB, 1 HBP

Despite all the throwing earlier, I had good velocity and a good slider today. My two-seam fastball has a lot of arm-side run on it when I throw it middle-in, which is becoming a problem with outside fastballs. I need to develop a four-seam fastball for that purpose this off-season. Curveball was OK; still getting a better feel for this pitch. I hope to be consistent with it by next year.

I batted last again today. I pulled the manager aside and asked him what the deal was. He was really apologetic; apparently he forgot that I was coming and submitted the lineup without my name on it, so he added it to the bottom. He then offered to swap me and him (5th in the lineup) and I said no thanks. He apologized like four times throughout the game so apparently he was just being braindead for the last two games and forgetting I was on the team since I took 3 weeks off after my kid was born.

Whatever. We won, BTW.

Fall ball season starts this weekend. I have some concrete training goals for 2012 that I'd like to hit barring more back injuries. I think it is reasonable to expect to be consistently 78-80 with my two-seam fastball and reaching 82 with my four-seam fastball if I really put in a lot of work. My arm feels good and the mechanical changes I've made over the past two years have kept my shoulder feeling solid, so here's hoping that it'll hold up down the stretch.