Last Week vs. Mendoza and All-Star game

It's been pretty cold and wet this whole week, maybe a few days of sun. We played a six game series with Mendoza, and ended up splitting the series, 3-3, each. All of the games were hard and long, they are in second place behind us, and we live in the same hotel as them. As one may suspect things got a little heated in the fifth game of the series, the benches cleared and some words were exchanged. Nothing happened, but that will set an interesting tone during playoffs. The next month should be real friendly around the hotel with them, but around playoff time it should start picking up. During the week I had two huge ideas about hitting, and they have been proving to be very helpful. The first is to ignore the pitchers windup until his arm starts forward, that's when the hitter gets ready to hit, but before that the hitter should be nice and relaxed. I was getting sped up in some of my AB's because of the jerky moves of a few pitchers. The other idea is where the hands start. They should start in a relaxed position, with no tension, and should stay there until you react to hit the ball, no extra move up or extra tension. Both of these ideas are huge because they allow the hitter to see the ball longer and react quicker and with more accuracy. Hopefully I will be able have complete understanding of these ideas by the time I come home, so I can share them with all of my students.
Last week was not all good, I rolled my ankle on Saturday and sometimes Spanish is kicking my butt. I sat out the game on Sunday, but still had an awesome performance. I was able to lead another Baseball Chapel. My main focus is to try to get everyone focused on their purpose, and I gave the team this scripture, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mathew 22:37-39) I then explained to the guys what love is. The message was much better this time. If anyone would like to see my notes from the Chapel service, I would be more than happy to send them to you. Now the Spanish is getting better, but it is still hard to get everything out like I want to, especially with girls. Hopefully I'll keep getting better, haha...
After the series with Mendoza me and seven other players from my team took off for Xalapa for the All-Star game. We had dinner and recieved a plaque on Wednesday night and last night we played the game. I started in centerfield and lead off. I didn't do much in the game, but the our team won in the ninth to give the team on our side in the finals homefield advantage. It was a fun couple of days, check out the pictures I added to photobucket. After the All-Star festivities and the benches clearing I can really see how close my team is. We are good people, who play hard, respecting the game and each other. This is awesome to be a part of and the other teams better watch out. We got rained out today, but hopefully tomorrow we will be able to continue our strong season. I hope everything is going good for everyone back in the states, I really don't know much about what's going on with everyone. Shoot me an e-mail and let me know. Talk to yall later.
Dom

Last week on the road in Acayucan and Mixtequilla

We just got finished with six games on the road, our record is now 18-8, still leading the league. Last week was tough because of the bus rides again, I don't get to work out much, and I'm on the bus for four to six hours everyday. I played third all week and had an awesome time over there, I don't think I'll be moving to another position any time soon. Third is different than any other position, it's a game not to let anything past you, how quick can you react, but at the same time you have to be able to cover the bunt. I had quite a few balls hit to me, I was relaxed and ready to make every play. I could have sworn the second game of the series against Mixtequilla the hitters started changing their swings, trying not to hit the ball to third, or maybe I was making it up. hahaha. Off the field I still spend most of my time writing and reading. I read a book on Orel Hershisher and one of the the biggest points of his book is to focus on the process not the result. Work hard and prepare to the best of your ability, that should be your grade of success and failure, not the wins and losses. If you prepare as good as you can, you have put yourself in the best position to be successful. This was a good reminder for me and I am happy with my preparation for each game, hitting it from every angle, with good rest, diet, excersize, and a good mental approach. Something special happened yesterday, I was able to lead the team in a baseball chapel, it was my first time to do something like this and I feel like it went pretty good. Usually on Sunday's there is a pastor from a local church that comes and speeks to the players and sends a small message and prays for anyone who needs it. We don't get this in Mexico, so I felt I should deliver a message before the game. I asked my teammate Zeke to help me translate, we talked to the coaches, and we had about ten minutes before the team stretch to have Chapel. We got everyone in the dugout, all the players and coaches and I delivered the simple message, reminding the guys that God is in all of us, and to focus on a direct relationship with him. I felt like the message was direct and strong, hopefully the guys benefited. Today we have an off day and I have been relaxing and catching up on a few things. This month I hope to make big strides in my spanish, maybe I can find a mexican girl to teach me. Hahaha. Peace. Dom... One more thing, check out my trainer's blog, if we can understand these thoughts, we would all be better off. unitedbyadversity.blogspot.com

Playing Third

Today the sun finally came out. It was warm and so beautiful. It has been cold and wet for a little over a week now, and for all of you that know me, know I don't like the cold. But, I do like it when it rains because all of the colors really come to life. Everything looks so clean and fresh when it rains. We just finished up playing a three game series with Minatitlan at home. We played a double header yesterday, won one and lost one, and today we lost. The series before that we played the Brujos at home and lost two of three. We won two games out of our six game home stand. Ouch! But the good news is, we are still in first place in our division. The whole week I was starting in left and got to throw a few people out, that's probably my favorite part of the outfield. Today the manager switched it up a little; me and the third baseman switched positions. The high school days again, playing third, some of it was coming back to me, like; backing up the throw from the first baseman to the pitcher after a pick off, reactin towards the mound when a ball is hit back to the pitcher, things that Coach V taught me. Thanks again V. I enjoyed myself over there, I got a lot of action, turned a couple of double plays and threw a guy out trying to drag bunt on me. I am still leading off and the hitting is relaxed, loose, and the barrel is finding the ball. I have been drag bunting a lot lately, I think I have a handful of bunt for base hits. Everything is going really good on the baseball field for me. The team and the manager are fighting a little, but that will hopefully clear up. Outside the field, the studies and writings are still going well. I am able to journal all of my days experiences and all of my at bats. Because of all my reading and writing, my english is getting better, but my spanish is what I'm supposed to be working on out here. haha. That's getting better also, I carry a dictionary pretty much everywhere I go, and when I can I look up the words I don't know. I miss all of you and Texas. I hear Texas lost today, sorry about that for those Longhorn fans out there. I hope everything is going good for everybody, let me know! And if you need my help with anything let me know. We have off on mondays, I'm gonna enjoy my day tomorrow. I am going to Veracruz city to experience the beach and the city. I'll talk to yall soon. Much Love.