The Official Site of Matt Antonelli

BASEBALL TIP OF THE WEEK

2012-01-26T10:51:00.003-05:00

Hey what's up guys? I've gotten away from my weekly baseball tip of the week, but since I've received a lot of requests about it lately I figured I would start throwing some back up here again. The ready position is really important for all you young players out there. I think it is one thing that can really be improved on because of how it is taught at the younger levels of baseball. When I was drafted and made the adjustment to using this as my ready position it really helped me with my fielding ability. Give it a shot and good luck!

Also, if you want more baseball videos you can go over to my YouTube page:

Touch 'Em All Baseball

ORIOLES FAN FEST

2012-01-23T12:13:00.005-05:00

Hey everyone! I hope you all had a great weekend. I just got back from Baltimore yesterday afternoon after spending a little less than a week there practicing and participating in Orioles Fan Fest. It was really a great week and I was able to get a lot accomplished. After arriving last Tuesday I spent Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday practicing with a dozen or so guys. It was a great time to meet a lot of new teammates that I hadn't had the chance to meet throughout my career. The hardest part about joining a new organization is meeting so many new people. After spending five years with San Diego and building many friendships, it is really a different feeling walking into a clubhouse and not knowing a single person. After being thrown into that situation for the first time last year in Washington, it didn't seem as big of a deal doing it again this time around, but it always takes a few days to really get comfortable. That is probably the biggest benefit of having a week like this during the winter. Now when Spring Training rolls around, we are all familiar with each other and a lot more comfortable that first day of practice.

After meeting many new faces, we were able to use this time to speak with our coaching staff on the upcoming season. We were also able to get a lot of work in hitting, throwing, and strength and conditioning. On Friday night we attended an event, meeting many of the local sponsors of the Orioles, and spent a few hours taking pictures and talking with them. On Saturday the team spent about eight hours or so engaging in Fan Fest, which turned out to be a definite success. I couldn't believe the amount of people that showed up for the event. I could tell after only a few minutes of speaking with fans that Baltimore definitely loves its baseball. The overall event consisted of a bunch of different activities. I was able to sign autographs for two hours, give some young players a few hitting tips in the batting cage, beat up on some youngsters in XBOX 360, and socialize with many Orioles fanatics. I couldn't believe how many people came through the autograph line and talked to me about my blog. I thank everyone again for reading and coming out to support the team. The entire event was a huge success and it really got me excited for the upcoming season. I hope you all have a great week!

FAN FEST

2012-01-13T12:30:00.002-05:00

Hey what's going on guys? I hope everyone is enjoying their three day weekend so far. Mine started off on the right foot last night when my New England Patriots handed a beat down to the Denver Broncos for the second time this season. My agent is a huge Broncos fan and he loves to talk crap 24-7, which is probably the reason I'm even a little more excited than usual. It also puts a slight end to the constant chatter by our local sports radio hosts who love to talk ad nauseam about how the Patriots franchise can't win a playoff game and they should fire Belichick, trade Brady, and turn Gillette Stadium into a parking lot. Also, as much as I like Tim Tebow, I'm glad we can now put "Tebow Time" to rest, at least for a few months.

As happy as I am about the win, I am still nervous about the probable upcoming game next Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens scare the shit out of me from my living room sofa whenever I see them play, so I can only imagine what it's like to take the field against them. Since joining the Orioles a few months ago I've had the chance to connect with many Baltimore fans on Twitter and Facebook. Many of you have tried to swing my allegiance to your Ravens, but just as San Diego and then Washington D.C. fans discovered, my love for the Pats will not be easily swayed. For proof of my completely unhealthy addiction with the New England Patriots, and at one time Randy Moss, you can watch the video below that I created last year when I woke up and discovered my favorite player had been traded to the Minnesota Vikings. And yes I know, I've completely lost my mind.

Moving on. This Tuesday I will be heading down to Baltimore for a three day Mini Camp followed by Fan Fest this Friday and Saturday. I'm sure it will be a great time and I know from Twitter that I will get a chance to meet many of you when I arrive there. Until then, good luck to the Ravens during this afternoon's game. As much as I would rather see the Texans coming to town next Sunday, I feel I should at least make the Ravens my second favorite team in the NFL. Enjoy your Sunday!

WHAT REALLY GRINDS MY GEARS 2012

2012-01-06T10:33:00.000-05:00

Hey what's going on everyone? I hope you all had a great 2011 and have an even better 2012. I can't believe it is already January and the baseball season is just about a month away. This has by far been the fastest off-season for me since I was drafted in 2006. It has also been my busiest off-season of my career. As many of you know, in the last three months I have moved into a new house, got engaged, and signed with a new team. Now that 2012 is upon us, I am looking forward to warm weather and baseball. But before that, let me tell you a few things that have really been grinding my gears. If you agree, let me know in the comments below. If you think I'm over-reacting, keep your comments to yourself...Just kidding!

The first thing that has been driving me nuts (and the main reason for writing this blog post) are mass emails promoting your company but acting like we are best friends. I know you don't really give a shit about me. How could I tell? When you send me an email every week that looks like this:

Hello Friend,

Hope you had a great holiday season. My company is doing great! We sell this, and this, and this, and this, and you should really buy all of them. Have a great 2012!

Your Friend,
Who Givesashit

I literally get at least twenty of these a week through email, Linked In, Facebook, and Twitter. I'm by no means a great businessman, but I'm pretty sure receiving emails like this make me want to never buy your company's product. If you run a company out there I'm telling you, it is not a good marketing tactic.

The second thing on my list happened to me last night after picking up a to-go order at PF Chang's. I was walking out the door with my food in my hand and noticed someone about fifteen feet behind me about to leave as well. I made sure to wait a few seconds and hold the door open for the guy. He proceeded to walk through the door without taking it from me and didn't say a damn thing. For now on, if you don't say thank you, it's an automatic kick in the nuts. I like that rule.

The last thing on my list is Facebook anytime of the year, but especially right after New Year's Eve. Status updates may be the worst thing ever invented. They are so bad that you almost have to look at them. I don't know why I waste precious minutes of my life reading some of the stupid crap that is on there. The worst is right after New Year's Eve. This is everyone's opportunity to let the world know that they have friends, are wicked cool because they drink alcohol, and are so hungover they just can't get out of bed for a week and a half. I just find it strange that 28 year olds are still trying to be the cool kid on Facebook. I guess I'm just still upset that I went through my school years receiving atomic wedgies and swirlies from these kids fifteen years ago.

Anyways, I'm sure I could go on forever about things that really grind my gears, but these are just a few of the things that I've noticed over the past few days. Give me a list of things that grind your gears in the comment section below and have a great day!

WANNA BE LIKE MIKE

2011-12-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

If you've followed my blog over the past few years you know that I get called Mark more than I get called Matt. I still haven't been able to figure out why that is, but it happens. Matt doesn't seem like that tough of a name to remember. I don't call Peters, Paul. I don't call Bobs, Barry. But for some reason I get called Mark at least a few times a week. When I play in away stadiums I will get announced as Mark Antonelli as I walk to the plate. A good portion of my fan mail is addressed to Mark Antonelli. I've been introduced to people as Mark as well. Now that 2011 has almost concluded and the new year is upon us, I guess it's time to change things up a little. I just received some equipment in the mail for this upcoming season, and guess who it was addressed to.

Hopefully 2012 will be a better year for my name.

GAME DAY

2011-12-12T10:47:00.001-05:00

Hey what's up guys? I've received a lot of tweets and emails lately asking why I've been M.I.A on my blog over the past few weeks. I admit, I have been slacking a little when it comes to writing, but I'd rather not say anything at all than bore you. As exciting as it is, I don't think you guys want to spend ten minutes a day reading about how much fun I had vacuuming my living room, or about my latest adventure in the backyard raking leaves. I might add that it is pretty amazing that the temperature around here is still in the high 40's and there are actually leaves, and not snow, on the ground.

Anyways, I've done a few interviews with various blogs and radio sites over the past few weeks and I get asked this question in almost every interview I do. What time do I get to the field, and what do I do while I'm there? I know most people I speak with are very surprised at the times we usually arrive at the park, and most assumed we showed up an hour before the game, changed into our uniforms, and ran onto the field for our 7:05 start. I figured I could take a few minutes today, since I really don't feel like dusting right now, and break down a normal day at the ballpark.

Home games typically start at 7:05 PM, so I will arrive at the field around 2 in the afternoon. I would say this is average for players. There is always a group of guys on each team that are avid card players, and those guys seem to arrive an hour or so earlier than that. I typically bring my lunch to the field. This past season I would eat a Chiptole burrito around four to five times a week. I know it sounds very strange, but I am one of the pickiest eaters you will ever meet, so when I find something I like I eat it, a lot. I'm still waiting for my agent to hook me up with a Chiptole sponsorship. I have a feeling I'll be waiting a while.

I usually finish eating and digesting around 2:45 and will get changed into a pair of shorts and a tee shirt and go through a quick stretching routine in the indoor batting cage. Once I am ready to go I will go through my routine of tee work and soft toss. Baseball is a game of repetition and every guy has a routine that they will go through everyday to make sure they are prepared for that nights game. My routine is the exact same every single day, kind of like my lunch menu.

I finish up in the cage around 3:30 and head back to the clubhouse to change into my batting practice attire, usually a pair of practice pants and a BP top. Position players will stretch together around 4 o'clock for around ten minutes and then throw for another five to ten. 4:15 is time for batting practice. We are usually split up into three groups. One group with hit, one group will field ground balls or fly balls depending on your position, and the last group will shag. Each group usually lasts around fifteen minutes. Batting practice usually ends around 5 PM and players will retreat back to the clubhouse.

I spend the next 30 to 45 minutes relaxing, going on my computer, checking emails, playing video games, and eating a pre-game snack, usually a protein shake and some fruit. A group of guys is usually playing a game of cards, while others might be playing each other on their IPad. There were some pretty epic battles in Stick Man Golf this past season in Syracuse. If you haven't played I suggest you do. It's addicting.

Once 5:45 hits I like to jump in the hot tub. It's a good place to start mentally getting ready for the game and get my body loose. I'll take ten minutes in the tub thinking about that days starting pitcher and how I feel he might attack me during the game. In Triple-A it's sometimes difficult because the scouting reports are no where close to what they are in the big leagues. In an MLB game, you can spend all day in front of the computer watching every single pitch the guy threw in a 2-2 count during his 12 year old Little League season. In the minors you will get a single page print out with a brief description of his pitches and mechanics.

Now it's 6 PM and game time is about an hour away. Now that my body is warmed up I like to go through a quick stretching routine and if anything is really bothering me I may have our trainer either stretch me out or stem an area that hurts. I'm not smart enough to explain what stem is or what the hell it does, but it usually helps loosen up any area that may be bothering you.

At 6:15 I jump in the shower. I know, I know. Who the hell jumps in the shower before they go dive around on dirt for three hours? You may be surprised, but I'd say a very high percentage of players shower before game time.

It's now usually around 6:25 when I will throw on my uniform and grab anything I may be using that night. I will get out to the dugout around 6:40 and head to left field to go through another stretching routine and do some sprints. I again take a few minutes to throw and loosen up my arm and then take it back to the dugout. It's now around 6:55. I like to sit down, take a cup of Gatorade, and relax for a few minutes. Then its a few pre-game handshakes and good luck wishes and off to the field at 7:00 PM for the National Anthem. It's 7:05 and the first pitch is made.

A typical game lasts around three hours. When the game ends, and hopefully we've won, I like to sit and relax for a few minutes after the game. Post game routine changes somewhat depending on what day it is and what's served for dinner. I like to get a post game lift in around 2 to 3 times a week, so if its a lift day I will spend around 30 to 45 minutes in the weight room. I will then get a quick stretch in and if I have any bumps or bruises I will spend twenty minutes icing down or just jump into an ice bath. Ice baths are pretty good for your body, but they are complete torture. I will always try to go the ice bag route, unless my whole body is a complete mess and I need a full body ice down.

If the food is something I like, which is usually isn't, I will sit down and have a meal. Sometimes I'm not in a good mood or just feel like getting back to the house, so I will take some food to go and eat it back at the apartment. If it is something I hate, like Chicken Cordon Bleu, I will usually go out to eat. Typically I'm done with dinner and back at my apartment around midnight. I like to sit and relax for a while, watch some TV, and check out some stuff on my computer. I will talk on the phone with Laura for a little bit, and then usually jump in bed around 1 or 2 AM.

Tomorrow will be the same thing all over again.

FRICKIN' LASER BEAMS

2011-11-28T13:24:00.001-05:00

Hey guys, how are you all doing? The last week has been pretty busy for me. I've mostly been on the road, as I had a chance to travel down to Baltimore for my physical and also to meet members of the front office and coaching staff. I've received a lot of emails lately asking what types of things go on in the physical and how I spent my time in Baltimore, so let me take a few minutes to explain.

Basically, the physical part is not as complicated as many may think. The first thing they do is check and make sure you're alive with a heartbeat and a pulse. After a few grueling hours of analyzing my charts, they gave me the thumbs up and told me I had passed. The next part of the physical, and probably the most extensive of all the tests, was the eye exam. They put you through about fifteen different test, not only to check your vision, but also to check the health of your eyes in general and make sure you won't have any problems a few years down the road. You might assume that the blood work and "cough test" would be the shitty parts of my day, but spending thirty minutes with laser beams and bright lights shining directly in your eyes definitely takes the cake.

As the day continued I took visits to a few different doctors where we talked about any past medical problems throughout my life and any surgeries I may have had over the years. They then yank on your arms and legs, check your knees and shoulders to make sure they're fully healthy, and do some basic strength and mobility tests. After passing those I gave some blood and was asked to pee in a cup for probably the 400th time in the past five years. The process started around 9 AM and finally finished right around 3 PM.

Once I was told I had completed everything, I made sure to spend the afternoon eating lunch at Ra Sushi, one of my favorite sushi places in the country. The closest franchise to my home in Boston is in Baltimore, so I couldn't pass up a chance to get some Tootsie Maki. If you haven't tried it I suggest you check it out.

After lunch I took a ride over to the ballpark to check it out for the first time. I've heard from literally thousands of people over the years about how beautiful of a place Camden Yards is, and they weren't lying. It seems like a great place to call home during the season. I was able to spend some time speaking with our GM and Manager and also with other members of the front office and staff and then took a little time to do some interviews with the media. I can already get a sense for how excited everyone is for Spring Training and the start of the 2012 season. Now that the physical is in the rear view mirror and my contract is signed there isn't much standing between now and the beginning of baseball, except for maybe a few feet of snow. Either way, I'm sure it will be here before we know it and I'm really excited to get going! I hope everyone had a great holiday and I will talk with you later.

IT'S BEEN A LONG WEEK

2011-11-19T22:24:00.000-05:00

One thing's for sure. It's been a LONG week!

Over the last few days I've been pretty busy talking with teams and trying to decide which organization I believe is the best fit. Basically, I've spent a few hours speaking with each team, allowing them to explain the opportunity I have with them and how they see me fitting into the organization. It also gives me a chance to ask any questions I may have. A few days ago I narrowed my list of teams down to three and then narrowed it once again down to two. I must say, this process was much harder than it was last year. When I think back, the Nationals clearly presented the best situation during our talks in December. This year, it is much tougher to predict exactly which team presents the best opportunity, but after thinking about it for hours on end I made the most educated guess possible. I'm very happy to announce I've decided to sign with the Baltimore Orioles and will be heading down to Baltimore tomorrow for my physical. I am extremely excited to be joining the Orioles and can't wait to get to Sarasota in February.

In non-baseball related news, I spent this weekend in New York City. I came to realize that I wouldn't last long in NYC. Don't get me wrong, the city is exciting, beautiful, and full of things to do, but I just don't think I could live there permanently. A few days is fine, but any longer and I couldn't handle it. The place is a natural stress inducer. People drive like complete morons, and that's coming from someone that has lived his entire life in Boston. If I heard one more taxi beep obnoxiously at me or cut me off I was going to lose it. Also, the price of everything is astronomical. On our second night there we decided to try a small Italian restaurant. It wasn't bad, but nothing to write home about. My Chicken Parmesan cost $40.00! I've eaten at about a thousand different Italian restaurants all over the country and I don't think I've ever spent much more than $20.00 for Chicken Parm. Laura ordered a simple salad that ended up costing $30.00. How do they sleep at night?!?! Speaking of sleeping at night, it cost me $7.00 for the toll to enter Manhattan! Apparently that's how they pay for their starting pitching.

Anyways, enough about how much I felt ripped off. The real reason we traveled down to the city was that I surprised Laura with an engagement ring and asked her to marry me. I know, I know, very romantic right? I'm not exactly the romantic type, but I think I did a pretty damn good job with this one. Laura thought so too. More importantly, she said yes, which was a good thing! I should also take a minute to apologize to Mila Kunis, now that I'm off the market.

Before I head out I wanted to thank everyone that has congratulated me and wished me luck. I really appreciate it! Have a great weekend!

OFFSEASON UPDATE

2011-11-08T12:11:00.002-05:00

Hey guys! How are we doing? I can't believe I am already two months into the off-season. Before you know it we will be headed out to either Florida or Arizona for the start of Spring Training. I've received a lot of emails lately asking me what my status is for next year and if I've made any decision on where I will be playing. I wanted to take a few minutes and answer a bunch of the questions that I've received.

The free agency period technically only started a few days ago. I guess the rule is that no teams can discuss free agency with a player until five days after the World Series ends. Since that day has passed I have spoken with a dozen or so teams so far, but these are just preliminary talks and we will get more into detail over the next few weeks. I know after I put this blog up I'm going to get a thousand more emails asking what teams I have spoken with and who has the most interest, so I wanted to let everyone know ahead of time that I'm not going to go into too much detail about the teams until we get a little further in the process. A lot can change from day to day so I figure it's best to wait before I get into too much.

At this point I am not really sure when I will make my final decision. Last year I didn't sign with the Nationals until around the middle of December, but that situation was a little different from this year. I wasn't actually a free agent last year until around the beginning of December, so things got pushed back a little longer than usual.

If you have any questions let me know by writing in the comment section below. If you have emailed me lately and I haven't gotten around to answering you back I'm sorry, and will try to do so as quick as I can. My email has really gotten backed up over the last few months. I hope everyone has a great week and I will talk with you all later!

WIPE YOURSELF OFF, YOU'RE BLEEDING

2011-11-03T11:36:00.000-04:00

What the hell is going on with the weather lately? I was left totally unprepared last week when I noticed the first snowflake fall from the sky. Usually when it comes to the weather I am never unprepared. Guys started to call me "the weather man" during this season for my obsession with weather.com. If there was rain in the forecast, I was the guy to come to for the precipitation details of that night's game. I don't know what it is, but I have a strange obsession with looking at maps and trying to figure out what's going to happen. I guess it's the geek in me.

Anyways, for some reason I hadn't checked the weather in a few days and had no idea that on October 29 there was a foot of snow in the forecast. Since we just moved into a new house I have no snow blower, no shovels, or anything capable of picking up snow. Hell, we don't even have furniture, so I guess it's no surprise we aren't prepared for a massive snowstorm. On our way home from furniture shopping (see, we are trying!) we drove as fast as we could to some local hardware stores to only find they had closed early because of the weather. I was screwed.

As I arrived home and sat in my living room watching the snow fall, I decided we weren't going to be the new kids in the neighborhood that let our driveway go to shit. I was going to find a way to stay ahead of the storm and clear that damn driveway. I looked around the house for ideas. After a few minutes of pondering, I came up with what I thought was a genius plan. I took a broom stick, a dust pan, and Laura's hair elastic (what do you know, we have no tape in this house either) and constructed what I thought was the worlds best shovel. I would find out in about five minutes that it was a total piece of shit, but that didn't stop me from rushing outside to show off my newly constructed product.

I felt great after scooping my first few bits of snow. I knew it was going to take me a few hours to get the job done, but my new invention made me feel so smart I really didn't care about time. About five or six scoops into the process my dust pan had enough and decided to inform me that it was made to pick up @#$%ING DUST and not wet, heavy snow. It had snapped into two extremely jagged edged pieces, one of which made its way straight into my hand. As I let out a loud scream, I swear I heard the thing say, "that'll teach this dumb bastard." It sent me running into the house and up the stairs yelling at Laura to grab me some band-aids and a first aid kit. Serves me right I guess. No more inventions for me.

SIR, HAVE YOU BEEN DRINKING?

2011-10-21T11:14:00.001-04:00

Laura's car is a piece of shit. Ok, I take that back. Calling it a piece of shit is taking it a bit far, but it has seen its better days. Over the years its had its fair share of issues, so when she told me one of her windows was broken and wouldn't go up, I wasn't surprised. It's not the fact that the car is too old, or not a good car. I mean, the thing is a Honda and should go another 120,000 miles. It is the fact that she drives the thing like a damn bumper car. Just take a look at her bumpers and you'll see what I'm talking about. She's rear-ended people, sideswiped her own car while driving someones else's, backed into just about everything imaginable, and almost drove through our garage door. Laura has a bunch of great qualities about her, driving just isn't one of them.

For the last month she has driven around with her passenger window down, allowing whatever wants to come in the car, to freely come on in. Whether its the forty degree temperatures when she drives to work at six in the morning, or the monsoon like rain that passes through the area every couple of days, its made itself comfortable on the passenger seat of her car recently. For some reason Laura was too proud to tape a garbage bag over the window because she thought it would make her car "look like crap." Personally, I'm not sure how much crappier it could possibly look, and actually think it could potentially hide some of the cars flaws. I mean what's more embarrassing? Driving with a dark bag covering your open window during a hurricane, or having people watch you struggle to not drown as your drive down route 1.

Police Officer - "Sir, have you been drinking tonight."

Me - "No sir, just taking my girlfriends car down to the body shop to fix her broken window."

Anyways, I was free yesterday, and started to feel pretty bad for her piece of shit car, so I decided to take the thing down to a dealership my uncle works at to get an idea why the window won't go up. We take it over to the Collision Center and the mechanic comes out to inspect the problem. He tries the window a few times and sees that it won't budge. "Hmmm, looks like there may be a problem with the motor." He tries it a few more times. "Yeah, its got to be the motor." He pauses to think for a minute, then looks at me. "The window lock button isn't pressed over there is it?" In my head I quickly think to myself, "come on buddy, she's been driving around in the cold, soaking wet rain for the last month! I think she would have had the common sense to un-press the window lock button by now!" Instead, I just looked and said, "No, there's no way its pressed. It's definitely the window. Everything on this car is falling apart!" Just as I finish, he reaches across the center console, clicks the window unlock button, and what do you know?! The window goes up like brand new. You've got to be shitting me.

LESSON LEARNED

2011-10-06T21:12:00.000-04:00

Yes, I am still alive. I've spent the last few weeks of my life moving all of my belongings (my XBOX, clothes, and baseball bats) from my old house to my new house which we just recently purchased. It's the first time I've bought a house for myself and I'm starting to learn I'm a complete amateur in the department of "making your new home livable so you won't go crazy". As I sit here with my computer, a little bit of food, and not much else, let me fill you in on my lessons learned over the past two weeks.

Lesson #1
Always set up your cable early

As many of you know I am obsessed with television. I get made fun of because one of my hobbies is to walk into Best Buy and roam the TV aisle, even though I have no intentions of buying one. I just think they are pretty, much like a woman views her pocketbooks. (Although I still feel pocketbooks are a waste of money.) It turns out, once a television is placed in your home without cable, it's not that fun to stare at anymore. I've had my television laying on the living room floor now for two weeks, still waiting for Verizon to come hook up my cable. I never knew it took more than two weeks for them to set the damn thing up. Do yourself a favor and plan the cable to be set up on your arrival date. Make sure to call a few weeks in advance, not a few days like I tried.

Lesson #2
Buy furniture

Why when we were kids was it fun to sit "Indian style"? Remember those days? It was like the cool thing to do. Well, I was a pretty big geek, so maybe that had something to do with it. Anyways, it's really not that fun anymore. At 26 years old it's painful to even try to get from a standing position to the floor, never mind trying to cross one leg over the other. The problem is, I have no furniture, so if you want to eat at my house you either stand, or sit on the floor. I learned this the hard way the first day I moved in here. I found the stairs much easier than the floor, but don't be like me. Order your furniture early and have it delivered the day you move in. Don't be like us and think, "we don't want just any table. We will be living here for years, lets hold off until we find something we love!" If you think like this you will be eating your fair share of dinners as such.

Lesson #3
Order your shower doors in advance

I was pretty excited. For the first time in my life I had a real shower, not a bath tub that also acts as one. Unfortunately, I won't be able to use it for three weeks, because that's how long it takes for glass doors to be made. By this time you're probably realizing I'm quite the procrastinator. I thought all these companies would drop everything they were doing to make sure my house was ready to live in the second I called. I've now learned that isn't the way things work, but Laura is the real one that suffers. Her job is to hold up the shower curtain for me.

Lesson #4
Buy some power tools

You think you're strong? I thought I possessed a decent amount of strength, at least more strength than my sister. Turns out, I'm not so sure anymore. I was assigned the task of installing the mailbox yesterday. No problem. Sounds easy enough to me. Turns out it's a complete pain in the ass. Two hours into the process I started to pray I struck oil and could retire and pay someone else to put my next mail box in. If you follow the directions, they recommend you dig to @#$%ing China to ensure your mailbox is properly installed. Don't think for one second doing this with your basic shovel is going to be a nice easy weekend job.

This was me before my neighbor came over to help (above). He has apparently installed a mailbox before. Because this was me after he came to the rescue (below).

Lesson # 5
Just buy an apartment

Enjoy your weekend!

MY FAVORITE PLAYS OF 2011

2011-09-22T13:03:00.003-04:00

Looking back at my favorite offensive and defensive plays of the 2011 season with the Syracuse Chiefs.

SPORTS TALK RADIO

2011-09-21T18:32:00.001-04:00

I have a strange hobby. Well, I guess it isn't technically a hobby, but it is something I do every single day. When I get in my car to start my morning I always turn the radio to 98.5 The Sports Hub, where there is none stop chatter about the Celtics, Bruins, Patriots, and Red Sox. There are certain guys I really enjoy listening to on there, who do a great job of breaking down games and give excellent insight into the upcoming schedule. There are also certain guys that I can't stand to listen to. These are the guys that find something negative to say about every game no matter the sport. If the Patriots win 45-0 they will find a way to make it seem like they are the worst team in the league. If the Red Sox go 22 and 6 for the month of June they will make a case for how disappointing it was because they should never have blown two of those games. My problem is, although I disagree with mostly everything they say and would love to beat the crap out of them, I can't turn it off.

Lucky for me, I've arrived home right at the perfect time. The Boston Red Sox are in the playoff hunt and over the last few weeks they have seen their lead in the Wild Card race dwindle to only two games. Every single day I drive to workout I get to hear all the reasons why the team is full of "bums", "losers", "stiffs", and "soft players", and how they should all empty their lockers, pack up their stuff, and choose a new profession. Obviously, if you don't come in first place by thirty games or clinch a playoff spot by August, it's time to back up the truck and turn Fenway "Pahk" into an actual parking lot, right?

Before I go on, let me say that I think Boston fans are some of the best in the world. Their level of passion and knowledge for their teams is matched by few cities around the country. But I also think people around here often times overreact to a lot of silly things, and I think right now is one of those times. All I've heard lately, whether I'm walking around the gym, eating at some wicked good restaurant, or stuck in traffic, is people talking about how shitty the Sox are. Let's take a few minutes today and talk about why everyone seems to be going crazy in Beantown.

PERFECT BASEBALL

One thing I've learned after playing baseball for the last twenty years of my life is that in baseball, anything can happen. You can be the friggin' man one week and the goat the next. It's a game of ebbs and flows. As a player you don't judge yourself on one game or even one week, but instead learn to look at your performance over the long haul. If I were to go crazy every time I went 0 for 4 in a game, or each time I struck out, I would drive myself insane and be locked in a padded cell before I came anywhere close to the all-star break. You learn to put your last game, whether good or bad, in the rearview mirror as quick as possible, because there will be another game in less than twenty four hours. That's the way the season is played as a professional. 162 games, almost every night, for six months.

Now that the Sox are in the playoff hunt fans take a microscope to every little thing that happens in a game. Ortiz strikes out to end the first, people think the game is over. Gonzalez hits into a double play in the 3rd, "forget about it, this one's over!" The game of baseball is not going to change just because its now the playoff race. Hitters will continue to hit into double plays during a playoff run, they will still strikeout with men in scoring position, and they will occasionally chase a curveball in the dirt. Pitchers will still let up home runs, throw wild pitches, and sometimes they won't make it out of the fourth. I can't believe how many people I've heard call into the radio and say "how can Crawford hit into a double play right there?!?! We're in a playoff race!!!"

The bottom line is, the game of baseball doesn't change just because it's September. Infielders will still make errors, hitters will pop out, and pitchers will walk guys. Don't worry, the Yankees, Rays, and everyone else's guys will still make the same mistakes they've made all season too. I'm sorry, but if you think you're team is going to magically play perfect baseball every single night now that you think these games mean more than the 140+ others, it isn't going to happen. That's just baseball.

I understand, the Sox have't played their best baseball the last few weeks, but that doesn't mean they will suck forever. Like I said earlier, it's a game of ebbs and flows. They didn't play well in April, played great in the middle of summer, haven't played well in September, and could very well play unbelievable for the rest of the year. Baseball has a weird way of evening things out.

INJURIES

Ok, now that I'm starting to get worked up, lets get into what really grinds my gears so I can hopefully start to sleep better at night! Over the past few weeks the Red Sox have been bitten by the injury bug, and now all you hear is, "these guys just don't care anymore! If he was a real ballplayer he'd go out there and play with two broken legs! It's September!!!" I can't understand why when a key player gets hurt late in the year he is now considered "soft" or a "pansy". Suddenly he doesn't care to win. He's a baby. He only cares about the money. It's ridiculous. Believe me, these guys do everything they can to be healthy enough to get out on the field every single day, especially when there is a playoff race. Do you think guys play every single day for six months through all types of ailments to just pack it in when a possible World Series trophy is within reach? Sometimes no matter what you do you can't get out there and play. Injuries are a part of the game, no matter the month.

And there's my rant. I'm sure most people will still say I'm full of shit and the Red Sox are still a bunch of choke artists and overpaid babies. Oh well, I tried.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS

2011-09-11T23:41:00.000-04:00

That's it. My 2011 season officially ended and I'm back home sitting on my sofa trying to find something to do. For the last six months I've basically been at work every single day from 2:00 PM to 11:00 PM, traveled on buses and planes for hours at a time, roamed from hotel to hotel, and eaten enough Chipotle to kill a small horse. Things will be a little different for me over the next six months, except for the Chipotle part. I'll probably only go four times a week instead of the usual seven. Life feels so different when you don't have somewhere to be every single day at a certain time. For now I will rest up my body from the grind of seven straight months of baseball, but as the weeks go by I will begin to work out more intensely and begin preparing for the 2012 season.

Since I've returned home many people have asked how my season went, what I thought about my performance, and what's in store for next year. Since I've got some spare time, I figured now would be a good time to sit down and reflect on the 2011 season.

To start things off, the year didn't begin the way I had originally envisioned when I arrived at Spring Training. With a week to go in camp I strained my left hamstring causing me to miss the first month of the year. After going through the last two years injured with San Diego this obviously wasn't the start I was hoping for with my new team, but it turned out only being a slight bump in the road along the way.

When I was healthy enough to return to the playing field around the beginning of May, I was sent to Double-A to play in the Eastern League for the Harrisburg Senators. It was going to be my first time playing in Double-A since 2007. When I first heard I was heading to AA instead of AAA I wasn't thrilled, but after being out of baseball for more than a year you never know exactly what's going to happen when you return. I was new to the organization and they didn't really know exactly what I was able to do on the field, so heading to AA and showing I could still be successful was what I needed to do. Turns out my stay in Pennsylvania was short. After playing four games I was called into our manager's office and told I was heading up to Syracuse, New York, to play for our Triple-A team.

My first two weeks in Syracuse I was rotating with a few players and basically starting about three to four games a week. Again, things didn't start exactly how I was hoping, but after a few weeks I started to hit well and eventually stuck in the starting lineup. One of my most exciting parts of the year came about two months after arriving in New York when I was named to the International League All-Star Team. It was my second time being named to an all-star team in my career, and the first time making it at the Triple-A level. Looking back at the way the season started for me I would never have guessed I would have the opportunity to be an all-star, but sometimes things turn out better than you expected.

The last two months of the season moved faster than any season I've ever experienced in the past. Two months honestly felt like two weeks, and before I know it the "dog days of August" were in the rear view mirror and my final game of the 2011 season was upon us. The end of this season was a little different for me from past years. Because I signed a one year contract with the Nationals the possibility of me being with a different team next Spring Training is much higher than in the past. Throughout my career I've been a part of many great teams and made friendships that will last much longer than my baseball career will. This year's team was one of my favorites to be a part of. Entering the year with a new organization for the first time in five years I wasn't sure what to expect, but I honestly couldn't have been luckier landing with the team that I did.

I'm not sure what this off-season will bring, but I am really excited to build on this past year and improve in all areas of my game. I was able to do a lot of things on the field this year that I wasn't given the opportunity to do in the past. For one, I played four positions throughout the year. The majority of my playing time came at third base where I really hadn't spent much time since my college days at Wake Forest. I played a decent amount of games at my natural position of second base and played about fifteen games at short stop. I hadn't played a game at short stop since high school back in 2003. I also had the chance to play the outfield for the first time in my life. I believe I played about five games or so in left field and I must say it's pretty damn fun. As far as the batting lineup goes I think I hit in every position, and I was able to finish the last week of the season hitting in the 3-hole, which was fun for my ego. I've always been an on-base type hitter who hits in the leadoff or 2-hole, so hitting in the third spot at least made me feel like I had some power, even if it was only for a week. This was another part of why I enjoyed myself so much this season. I was able to do so many things that I was never able to do during my five previous seasons. Playing a bunch of different positions and hitting all over the lineup kept things fresh and exciting throughout the year.

I want to thank everyone that kept up with the blog, came out to the stadium to watch us play, and wished me luck throughout the season. I'm not sure what uniform I will be in come March of next year but I know it will be another fun season full of unexpected twists and turns, and hopefully I will be able to achieve my goal of getting back in a Major League uniform. Thanks again!

HONESTLY, WHO THROWS A SHOE?

2011-09-02T00:39:00.002-04:00

BOOOOOOOO!!!!! I must admit. I've never understood booing. I mean, I guess I kind of get it. A player from your favorite team just screwed up. He struck out, he fumbled, he missed a dunk, he tripped over the blue line, whatever it may be. Now you're pissed and you want him and everybody else to know about it. BOOOOOOOO!!!!!! I guess I just don't understand the objective behind booing. It's not really going to change anything. The guy screwed up. He knows he screwed up. He's the one playing the game. And no matter how mad you are as a fan about what just happened, believe me, he's more upset about it than you are.

We were playing a game a few nights ago in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania against the Iron Pigs, the Triple-A affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. One of their players missed a fly ball in the first inning and you know happened, the Boos started. I know what you're thinking. "Philly fans booing? No way!" As hard as it is to believe, yes it's true. I heard it with my own two ears. Anyways, when his name was announced over the loud speaker before his first at-bat it happened again. "BOOOOOOOO" As strike three hit the catchers mitt, you guessed it, "BOOOOOO!" Next at-bat same thing. "BOOOOOOO!" His third at-bat, yet again. "BOOOOOO!"

At this point the guy is 0-3 with three strikeouts. Now you know what Benjamin Franklin said about insanity right? He said its doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Now I'm no rocket scientist, but if you see the pattern that I'm seeing, I think it's time to try something else. Why not try clapping for him one time? How about you just laugh when he comes to the plate? Scream at him? I don't care if you take your shoe off and throw it towards home plate. Just try anything but booing. It's obviously not working. It's not beneficial for your blood pressure and it sure as hell doesn't seem to be helping his confidence. I'm sorry, but booing isn't going to make someone get a hit. Believe me, if it did, I'd make sure to tell everyone in the stadium to boo the shit out of me every time I stepped to the plate.

AMAZING

2011-08-30T12:07:00.003-04:00

I have to confess. Many of you have seen my Nerf basketball video where my former roommate Wade Leblanc of the San Diego Padres and I drain some pretty ridiculous shots in our run down living room during Spring Training. Well, the truth is, a lot of those shots weren't made on the first try. In fact, some of them took five, ten, even twenty tries. But today I have something better for you. We're not joking around with this shot. No Nerf basketballs. I'm talking about the real thing. And this shot was made on the first try. No re-takes. No edits. First shot of the day. Swish. The shot is made by my current teammate J.D. Martin and he needs some props. If my shitty Nerf basketball shots made it all the way to ESPN and First Take then this shot needs to get there too. With you're help, and J.D.'s super human talents, I'm positive it will. Here you go.

YOU DO KNOW IT'S A HURRICANE?

2011-08-27T11:07:00.009-04:00

I've always wondered why the hell weather reporters have to stand outside during their live footage when covering really dangerous storms. I'm watching news coverage of Hurricane Irene right now on The Weather Channel and some idiot is standing on the coast of Virginia Beach giving live coverage of the storm. The wind is blowing about 75 MPH, the rain is so hard that I can't even see the damn guy, and he can't talk because he is chocking on water. He has said about ten times, "there is a severe weather warning and you should take cover and stay away from windows and please DO NOT leave your house. If you know anyone that is thinking about going outside please tell them to STAY INSIDE!!!" Yet, this numb nut is standing in the eye of the storm with a microphone. Well, they just lost the connection to this guy and don't really seem to be very concerned, so I'll go back to ESPN. Seriously though I hope everyone is safe this weekend.

Anyways, it has been a busy week for me. We played a four game series against the Pawtucket, Red Sox so I was able to go home for four days for the first time since the beginning of February. The weird thing about the baseball season is that we travel so much it felt like I was just home a few days ago. The season is really a blur and sometimes you lose track of time and forget where you are and how long you have been away. The cool part about going back home was that we played one of our games at Fenway Park. Although I had previously hit a few times at Fenway, it was my first time every playing a game there. It was pretty exciting to play on the same field as many of my childhood idols. I would have loved to take one "ova the Monstah" in my four at-bats, but I forgot to eat my Wheaties that day and only managed a single and double. Either way it was still a great time and awesome atmosphere. Thanks to everyone that came out to the game to cheer us on and take in the game.

Right now I am getting mentally prepared, because Hurricane Strasburg is making its way to Alliance Bank Stadium in Syracuse tonight at 7:05. It should be total chaos, which should make the game quite fun. I think they are expecting a sell out crowd, which would make for the biggest crowd this year. If you are in the area come down and check it out!

Lastly, one of my teammates JD Martin made one of the most amazing basketball shots I've ever seen, and it was done on his very first try. I'm going to throw the video up here in a few days and it is our job to get this thing on ESPN somehow. I have faith we can do it! Until then, have a great weekend!

ANIMAL HOUSE

2011-08-16T10:34:00.001-04:00

Wooooo!!! College!!! The good old days right? Well, this is just another sign that I'm just getting old. Last night around 2:30 AM I was awakened by a dozen teenage kids horribly singing along to Britney Spears and Jon Bon Jovi. Over the past few months I've thought it was extremely strange that I haven't seen one neighbor of mine in my apartment complex. Well, I have it figured out now. School was out of session over the summer, so the apartment emptied out, and to my liking was completely silent from May through July. Now it's August, school is back, and so are those damn students. I've quickly learned that I have extremely thin walls, hate college kids, and 95% of Americans sing like shit.

Flipping subjects, a few days ago I helped out with a local baseball clinic that was held at our home field here in Syracuse. I'm not sure how many of you guys have seen the show "Kids Say the Darnedest Things," but I remember watching it back when I was probably in middle school. One of my favorite parts about working the baseball clinics is hearing the outrageous things most of the kids have to say.

We took the first ten minutes to huddle up the group of 85 kids to ask and answer any questions they may have for us. One of my teammates asked the kids, who ranged in ages six to twelve, "who wants to one day be a professional baseball player?" As expected, about 90% of the kids started screaming, "I do! I do! I do!" One little kid in the back who looked to be about eight years old raised his hand, and when I asked him what was up he responded, "I want to be a professional baseball player for the money!" I've got to say that's the first time I've ever heard someone under the age of twenty hit me with that response. I'm guessing Scott Boras will be in contact with his parents in the near future.

Last week we were in the great city of Buffalo, New York playing a quick two game series against the Buffalo Bisons. At approximately 8 AM the most annoying fire alarm in the world went off. Not only was it the loudest thing in the world, but it talked to you. "Attention! This is an emergency! Please use the stairs and exit the building!" I did what I, and everyone else, normally does when an alarm goes off while staying at a hotel. First, you lay in bed until either the alarm shuts off, or you can't stand to listen to it anymore. You roll out of bed cursing, "who the @$#% pulled the fire alarm. I'm going to kill those damn kids!" You open the door and check the hallway. Is there smoke? Are people screaming as they sprint down the hallway and towards the exit? Nope, coast is clear. You return to your room and look out the window. Is there a fire outside? Smoke? People running for their lives? Doesn't seem like it. Back to check out the hallway. Why the @#%$ is the alarm still going off?!?!

At this point my roommate and I had to get up and leave the room. There was no quit in this fire alarm. We got to the stairwell on the 7th floor and realized there was nowhere to go. The thing was packed with people. After waiting in line for about five minutes the alarms finally went off and we were told there was no emergency. Unfortunately we had to be up for our day game in another hour so there was no need going back to bed. I love living in hotels.

Lastly, some of you have been wondering why I haven't played the last few games. Well, a few days ago I dove for a ball and somehow landed oddly on my ribs. It is nothing serious and I was given a few days to rest up. I was supposed to be back in the lineup two days ago but we've been rained out back to back days. I'm back in there today. Speaking of that, it's time to head to the field. I hope you all enjoy your week!

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL

2011-08-11T00:25:00.007-04:00

I haven't been writing over the last week or so because of a few reasons. The first one is that I haven't had Internet in a while. I apparently went over my monthly limit on my Verizon card so I have to wait another few days before I can resume using it. Luckily we are in Buffalo, New York right now and the hotel Internet is free. I've also been mostly on the road over the last ten days spending four in Toledo, Ohio, four in Columbus, Ohio, and now two in Buffalo, New York. I can't wait for our upcoming eight game home stand.

I've had some interesting things happen to me over the last few days. First, I was eating at Ted's Montana Grill. If you haven't been there before you should try it out. They have bison burgers which are supposedly a lot better for you than normal beef burgers, although I'm not sure anything can reverse the damaging effects eating McDonald's and Burger King four days a week from the ages of eight to twenty-two had on my vital organs. Anyways, after paying for my meal I received my six dollars in change back from my waiter. It was paid to me with four one dollar gold coins and a two dollar bill. I didn't even know there were one dollar gold coins and I thought only my grandmother gave me two dollar bills as a little kid. At first I thought it was a joke, but apparently you can use both forms of payment. How exciting.

On a totally different subject, if you've ever wondered what it feels like to get hit with a ninety MPH fastball in the ribs I'll fill you in. It hurts like hell! This is what my ribs looked like three weeks after being hit by a pitch. Remember, this is three weeks later. Please disregard the extreme paleness of my skin. I seem to be allergic to the sun.

In other news, Mark Antonelli just received his one hundredth autograph request in the mail today. For some reason it was sent to me, and even though I've checked MILB.com fifty times I still haven't been able to find a Mark Antonelli in the minor leagues.

Switching gears once again, I've sadly decided to give up on my aspirations of having better hair than both Bradley Cooper and Matthew McConaughey, two of my hair idols. The length of my hair was really starting to get out of control and there is only so many times a guy can brush his hair behind his ear with his fingers before he is forced to draw a line and shave his head. It was a good six months, but like my girlfriend says, the hair had to go.

Well, its getting late and we have a day game tomorrow, so I'm going to sleep. I hope everyone enjoys their Thursday.

HAUNTED HOTELS

2011-07-31T12:27:00.000-04:00

I don't know what's up with the hotels in the International League over the past few weeks. Last week we stayed in Scranton, Pennsylvania where we were told the hotel was possessed by ghosts. Yesterday I checked into my room in Toledo, Ohio and found a half drank Pepsi, the extremely pungent smell of Sex Panther cologne that really did sting my nostrils, and a rubber duck in the bath tub. It actually worked out pretty well for me though, as I quickly realized I had forgotten my G.I. Joe's back in Syracuse.

I tweeted last week about my haunted hotel experience, so I wanted to take a few minutes and let you all in on what it was like spending four nights with ghosts. I will preface my story with the fact that I am scared of the dark. Honestly, it scares the shit out of me. I can't even fall asleep with a night light on. That thing is probably even spookier than sleeping in total darkness. You can make fun of me it's fine. My three year old cousins give me shit for it all the time. Anyways, not only do I not like the dark, but I friggin' hate ghosts. Weird huh? The kid that doesn't like the dark is also afraid of ghosts. As surprised as you may be, it's true. So when I found out that our hotel was haunted you can probably tell how excited I was for the next four nights.

Before I head up to my room for my first night in our haunted hotel I am bombarded with ghosts stories from teammates that have either stayed there before or heard from other buddies the stuff they had experienced. I hear about the crazy "waiter ghost" that runs up and down the hallways with his tray of food only to disappear when guests spot him. The little kid that lives on the 6th floor that enjoys spinning his head around 360 degrees. The train that supposedly loudly passes right outside the hotel every night even though the tracks had been removed more than 100 years ago. And the lady that apparently commits suicide by jumping of the 6th floor balcony a few nights a week. These are just some of the stories I heard before making my way back to my room around 1 AM the first night.

As I open my door I'm greeted by my alarm clock radio playing at full blast. If you've seen the movie 1408 you know what I'm talking about. If I wasn't already intimidated of this place, I was now. You may be thinking, "Come on Matt, that's nothing to be scared of!" Well, the strange part is that the radio alarm was turned to "off " but the music kept playing. We eventually had to unplug the radio from the wall to get it to stop. When it was finally time to go to bed, falling asleep was harder than I had anticipated. According to the stories, guests usually notice strange activity in their rooms from 1 AM to 5 AM. It was about 2 AM at this point and I couldn't help but notice I was in the "danger zone." Our air conditioning unit wasn't helping my sleeping disorder any. It would turn on and off every few minutes accompanied by the most unpleasant sound I'd ever heard. Perfectly fitting for a haunted hotel. To my delight, it turns out I didn't spot any ghosts, but that didn't stop me from poking my head out from under the covers and checking for them every ten minutes throughout the night. Apparently I wasn't the only one that came up empty on the ghost front. We officially had zero sightings during our four day stay, and that's just fine with me. I'm just glad we don't go back there again this year, and if I'm back next year I probably won't be staying at the team hotel.

PERFECT

2011-07-27T15:30:00.004-04:00

Since I've been on the road the last few days and haven't had much time to write on here I wanted to take a quick minute and give a quick shout out and congratulations to former teammate of mine Justin Germano, who threw a no-hitter against us last night while pitching for the Columbus Clippers. As much as it sucked that he had to throw the no-no against us, it is still a great accomplishment, and the first time I have ever seen a perfect game.

TRIVIA FOR BATTING GLOVES

2011-07-21T16:41:00.005-04:00

Hey what's up everyone? We are going to have another trivia contest coming up in a few days and the winner will receive a brand new pair of red Nike batting gloves. The question will be posted on Tuesday, July 26 on my Touch 'Em All Baseball Channel. For more details on the contest check out this video.

Don't forget that in order to win you must subscribe to our Youtube channel here Touch 'Em All Baseball Channel and also be the first to leave the correct answer in the comment section on Youtube. I wish everyone luck!

ALL-STAR BREAK

2011-07-18T23:01:00.000-04:00

Before I begin to write I want you guys to check this out. It may just be one of the most amazing things I've seen. Enjoy!

Ok now that you are extremely impressed, or really pissed I just wasted four whole minutes of your life, I can start to answer some questions. I've received a lot of emails over the past week asking about my experience at the All-Star game in Salt Lake City and also wishing me luck. I wanted to thank everyone for the good luck wishes and also take a few minutes to write a little bit about my time there.

I can't lie, when I arrived to our field last Sunday I was really looking forward to that three day All-Star break. I hadn't yet found out that I had made the All-Star team, so I had a glorious three days planned of sleeping, eating, laying on my sofa, eating some more, and probably going back to sleep. And it sounded terrific! I guess the first half of the season took more out of me than I had expected. I guess that's what happens when you haven't played a full season in more than two years. Or maybe that's what happens when you turn 26. Either way I felt old and tired and needed a break. When I found out that day that I had made the team and would be flying out to Salt Lake City at 6 AM the next morning the first thing that popped in my head was, "Shit, that 4 AM alarm is gonna suck." Once again I can't lie, the alarm really did suck when it went off the next morning. But looking back on the three days spent in Utah I'm extremely glad I didn't shut my clock off and go back to bed, and had the opportunity to be a part of the All-Star week.

It's always an honor to be named an All-Star, no matter what league you are playing in. After playing in the International League for more than two months I've seen a lot of really talented players, so being chosen to represent our league meant a lot. I know a lot of you guys have been asking what type of things went on during the break, so I'll take a few minutes to break it down for you.

I arrived in Salt Lake around 2 PM on Monday after a two hour flight to Atlanta and four hour flight to Utah. That night we had the home run derby where I was elected to participate but chose against it, instead allowing other guys to experience their time in the limelight. (I'm kidding. I have three home runs this year and nobody wants to watch someone shoot singles through the 4-hole in a home run derby) The event was actually pretty amazing. The finals was between Stefan Gartrell of the Gwinett Braves and a local high school player Kayden Porter, who qualified for the derby in the local high school home run derby. Don't let his age of sixteen fool you. He stood six foot five and weighed over 250 pounds. I honestly thought at first that Mark McGwire was a celebrity guest when I saw him walking to the plate. Even though he was allowed to swing a metal bat, I don't think I've ever seen a player of any age hit balls as far as this kid was hitting them. One was estimated at 550 feet, and it honestly may have gone further. It was by far the best home run derby I've ever been to.

The following day we arrived to the field around 11 AM and spent most of the afternoon signing autographs for fans and sponsors of the All-Star event. I was really surprised at home many Salt Lake Bee's fans remembered me from my Portland Beavers days. I guess it's hard to forget a guy that struck out that much. Anyways, later that day we had a game of Miracle Baseball with the Shriner's Hospital for Children. I was amazed at the swings some of these kids had. And the smiles on their faces when they made contact with the ball was priceless.

The following morning we were up early for a luncheon where the teams were introduced at EnergySolutions Arena, the home of the Utah Jazz. The guest speaker for our event was Rod Carew, former MLB player and Hall of Fame member. He spent about thirty minutes or so speaking with us about his career, sharing advice to the players and wishing us the best of luck. At the end he spent time answering everyones questions, mostly about baseball and how he could hopefully teach us to hit about 1/10 as well as he did. It's not everyday you are able to gain some knowledge from a Hall of Fame hitter so I was pretty excited.

Our game started later that night around 7 PM where we ended up defeating the Pacific Coast League 3-0. The PCL is known for its offense but this night was all about pitching. I ended the night playing four innings at short stop and went 0-2 at the plate. The game was televised on the MLB Network, and from what I've heard from people, my hair was looking pretty damn good in HD.

Before I knew, it was time to jump on a plane the following morning around 8 AM and head back to the East Coast to play in a game that night in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. I did come away with some cool gifts from the event. Every player received a really nice All-Star edition Rockwell watch, along with a Flip camera. What can I say, free stuff gets me pretty excited.

Now it's back to the grind. I think we have a little less than fifty games left on our schedule. If we want any chance at making the playoffs we will have to get a nice winning streak started soon and tonight sounds pretty good to me. I'll talk with you all later.

MR. FIT

2011-07-14T20:16:00.001-04:00

Hey guys. I just got back to Lehigh Valley after a long day of flying yesterday. I was going to write a little bit about my experience over the last few days in Salt Lake City, but I desperately needed to catch up on sleep. I figure I'll save the writing for tonight during our four hour bus ride back to Syracuse. Instead I thought I'd throw this up. It's a really really nice article from my friend and strength and conditioning coach Mark Cinelli, or as he's known by the ladies, Mr. Fit. He writes a fitness blog for the Boston Herald, so be sure to check it out online. Thanks Mark!

A Well Deserved Honor for one of My Athletes

Congratulations to CATZ Needham athlete, Matt Antonelli (Peabody, MA), on his selection for the 2011 Triple A All-Star game in Salt Lake City, Utah. Matt is currently playing professional baseball for the Washington Nationals, Triple A affiliate, Syracuse Chiefs. I have had the pleasure of training and getting to know Matt for the last three years. Matt is a hard working and dedicated individual and one of the most genuine people I know. At CATZ our Mantra is “Prepare to be Great”, and Matt exemplifies that in every sense of the word. He is willing to learn and wants to get better everyday. He strives to be the best person he can be on and off the field. Over the past two seasons Matt has battled back from a couple of injuries, as well as moving on to play for a new team. If there is anyone who deserves this honor, it’s Matt. Congratulations my friend and good luck in the Game

“It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.”

-Unknown

Matt you made this happen through commitment to yourself, desire to succeed and a will to never give up.

Stay Active, Stay Fit

Twitter.com/MrFitBlog

SALT LAKE CITY

2011-07-11T15:30:00.005-04:00

Hey everybody, how are we all doing today? I received a nice surprise yesterday when I was told I'd be jumping on a plane today to Salt Lake City, Utah to participate in the Triple-A All-Star Game. I guess it's like they say, better late than never. I woke up this morning at 4 AM to head to the airport for what was suppose to be a total of seven hours of flight time. Unfortunately, both of my flights were delayed because of plane issues and the trip took just under nine. This got me thinking.

Why when your plane is delayed because of a mechanical problem do they always let you know specifically what the problem is? "Ladies and gentleman, we are having some problems with our aircraft today. It seems the right engine doesn't want to cooperate this morning and the left wing is partly detached from the body. We are going to have maintenance come out here with some superglue and see if we can get this thing put back together. Sorry for the delay." Now I have to fly across the country wondering the whole time what type of glue they used and if its strong enough to keep me in the air for six hours. Just tell us that the plane is delayed and for how long and that's it. I don't want to know specifics.

Anyways, the engine stayed on the entire time and it must have been some bad ass glue because I did arrive safely. I'll be heading over to the team hotel with one of my teammates Tom Milone to find out exactly what the deal is for the next few days. I believe we have the home run derby tonight, but for some reason me and my three home runs weren't invited. Too bad it wasn't a "seeing-eye single" derby. I'd dominate that shit.

I hope everyone enjoys the beginning of the new week and I will talk with you all after I get some much needed shut eye.

INTERVIEW

2011-07-08T23:29:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I did an interview with Jason Benetti and Kevin Brown, the voices of Syracuse Chiefs baseball. I was asked some pretty freakin' hard questions, but I thought I did OK answering them. Let me know what you think!

I THINK I BROKE MY ASS

2011-07-05T12:20:00.013-04:00

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great July 4th weekend! I spent mine playing two games over the weekend in Buffalo, New York and then headed back to Syracuse for a night game on the 4th of July. It's always fun to play during this time of year, as they tend to be some of the best baseball days of the season with sold out crowds and post game fireworks. While in Buffalo, Laura and I were able to take a quick trip over to Niagara Falls to check it out. Unfortunately, the traffic was horrible and by the time we arrived we only had about twenty minutes to walk around and enjoy the scenery. Nonetheless, it was still a pretty cool sight and a shit ton of water.

In other news, over the years I've dealt with my fair share of injuries. (If you've followed my blog you know what I'm talking about) In my five year professional career I've hurt a knee, a hand, a wrist, a finger, a hamstring, my mental health, and the list goes on. A few days ago I hurt something I've never hurt before. Don't worry, it isn't anything serious, but it sure hurts like hell. The crazy part is, it doesn't really hurt when I play, but it kills when I'm sitting on the sofa at home watching TV. A few days ago I slid into second base ripping my pants and sliding shorts that I wear under my uniform. Unfortunately, they don't give you much time for a wardrobe change and I had to slide three more times in the game. The difference was I now had the opportunity to slide on my bare ass. I'm guessing not many people have tried this before, but I can tell you from experience, it's not very fun to run full speed and dive naked onto dirt. Anyways, I now have the biggest strawberry known to man, and its located in perhaps the most uncomfortable spot to have a bruise. I'd show you a picture, but I don't want the cops showing up at my door. Instead, here is a video a fan took of my reaction after I slid.

There hasn't been a whole lot to write about over the last few days since its been basically the same busy schedule for me. I have noticed one thing that I thought I would write about today. Most people I talk with are extremely confused when I tell them that I play baseball every single night. I've probably received a few dozen texts, emails, Facebook messages, etc. from people asking me what I was planing to do for the holiday weekend. When I told them I was playing in Buffalo and then back in Syracuse to play on the 4th they seemed really surprised. I received the same response every time, "You don't get a few days off to celebrate?" The funny part is I don't receive this question just on the 4th. I get asked all the time what I'll be doing for the weekend. Again, when I tell people I have games they are surprised we don't get the weekends off. When I inform them that we only have one off-day a month they look at me stunned, kind of like the jury just told them Casey Anthony was not guilty. Most think I am lying. I've always just assumed people knew that baseball was played every single night. If you don't count the All-Star break as days off, since some guys will be playing in the game, we only have five off-days for the entire season, which lasts a little more than five months. Crazy I know.

Well, I just got back from a game and I have a big thing of Chinese food sitting next to me waiting to be eaten. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the week. I'm hungry!

VOLKSWAGEN KNOWS BASEBALL

2011-06-29T23:42:00.007-04:00

Baseball can be a rough sport on your brain. Seriously, in the almost twenty years of playing, its given me my fair share of headaches. Ok, maybe not twenty years of headaches. When I played Little League the game was a little different. If you went 0 for 4 or your team didn't win it really didn't matter. Your coach was still taking the team out for ice cream sundaes after the game. Unfortunately, they don't allow twenty-six year olds to play Little League, and if you tried I'm sure you'd be getting a call from Chris Hansen at Dateline NBC. Baseball changes quite a bit after your mom stops driving you and your teammates to your games on the weekends. You've probably heard that at some point baseball becomes a "business." That may be true to a degree, but the changes I'm talking about have nothing to do with money. The game just gets hard.

Like with anything in life, it's not very fun when you fail, and in baseball you fail A LOT. I mean, if you fail seven out of ten times during your career as a Major League hitter there's a good chance you're going to the Hall of Fame. In what other line of work are you considered great for succeeding 30% of the time? You might be thinking, "man, all I have to do to be great is succeed 30% of the time? Where do I sign up?!?!" Well, that's the part that drives you crazy. It's really friggin' hard to be that successful, especially at the Major League level. Honestly, if you play baseball long enough it's an absolute certainty that at some point you will experience the desire to rip all of your hair out of your head. There's a reason why teams around the league are hiring sports psychologists to help their players improve their play. There's a reason why the "mental game" is such a big part of succeeding. It's because if you aren't mentally tough and don't know how to cope with some of the emotions this game will put you through, you really won't succeed.

Anyways, that was basically a really long intro for something that probably doesn't require one. I saw this on TV a few days ago and it really made me laugh. I get asked questions all the time about being a baseball player. Things like, what it's like to go through a slump, and what it feels like to have your swing go from feeling great one day to feeling like absolute crap the next? If you can't imagine what it feels like to not have things go your way as a hitter, this kid pretty much sums it up.

HEADS UP!

2011-06-26T11:33:00.005-04:00

Something happened at our game yesterday that got me thinking about a few things. While playing third base, I witnessed an older lady take a line drive foul ball straight to the cranium. I'm not talking about a glancing blow either. I'm talking about taking a ball hit over 90 mph right between the eyes, and she shook it off like she had just been bitten by a mosquito. It's tough to explain exactly what it looked like, but here is an attempt.

So, this got me thinking. Why doesn't this stuff happen more at ballgames. Now I'm not saying I wish it would, because it was pretty damn scary watching this lady take one straight to the dome, but I'm just surprised more people don't get hit. I play in close to 200 games every year and I might see one or two people really get hit hard by a foul ball. The crazy part is, I probably witness another 100,000 times where a line drive misses someone by an inch or two, ricochets off twelve empty seats, all while coming within inches of another thirty or so people. The craziest part is, most people are never watching the game and don't even flinch until a full two seconds after the ball has missed ending their life by a few centimeters.

This brings me to my second observation. Why is nobody ever watching the game! Now I understand, baseball can be pretty damn boring sometimes. I mean, I'm actually playing in the game and it is extremely tough to stay mentally focused pitch in and pitch out for every game of an entire season. But I do know one thing, if a ball was coming straight towards my face I would realize it's coming and get the hell out of the way. It is amazing how many times I witness a foul ball coming straight at people and not one person has any clue that a broken nose could be in their immediate future.

Anyways, I'm just looking out for people. So next time you go to a game, bring your glove, or at least where a helmet. It will make me feel a lot better.

QUESTION AND ANSWER

2011-06-23T12:41:00.003-04:00

Hey what's up guys? A few days ago I did an interview with DC is for Baseball, a website that talks about Nationals baseball. If you would like to read the article just click the link below. I hope you enjoy!

Click here for the full question and answer I did with DC is for Baseball

TO THE SOUTH

2011-06-20T23:43:00.006-04:00

Hey what's going on everyone? I've received a lot of emails from people asking me where I've been, what's going on, and why I haven't been writing very much on here lately? As we get closer and closer to the midway point of the season, this is really where the days start to blend together. My days have began to feel like I wake up, go to the field, go to bed, wake up, go to the field, go the bed and so on. Plus, one of the main reasons I've cut down a little bit on the writing is because nothing really exciting has happened to me over the last few weeks. I don't want to bore everyone with the, "today I hit a single to left field and stole a base. It was a fun game. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow" talk. One thing I am learning is how hard it is to find fun material to talk about during the season. Like I said earlier, most of my days are spent at the field, so it can be tough to find new material to write about. I haven't had a whole lot of extra time to make Nerf basketball videos, run on water, or talk about "what really grinds my geahs". When I do find some funny stuff to write about I'll be sure to jot it down for everyone.

Anyways, a few days ago we jumped on a plane for Charlotte, North Carolina. I went to school about an hour away from Charlotte, so it was nice to be back in the area again. I always liked North Carolina and how laid back the people are down there. People are just so nice. They always address you as "mam" or "sir", they thank you for the simplest of things, and they don't seem to always try to find something to curse at you about. I'll tell you one thing, it's a lot different from the Northeast. Most people down there actually have manners, won't try to run innocent pedestrians over while crossing the street, and don't flip you the bird just for shits and giggles. I don't know if I could permanently live there, but it is most definitely a nice change of pace once in a while.

After a four game series we traveled yesterday to Gwinnett, Georgia to play another four game series against the Atlanta Braves Triple-A affiliate. My days here so far are spent walking through the 95 degree heat with 3000% humidity to find the closest restaurant to eat at. One of the worst parts about being on the road is not having a car to get around the city. Basically everywhere I go is on foot, and since I'm such a picky eater I probably walk further than most to find that days lunch. If you have any good ideas about how I can get from my hotel to lunch and it doesn't involve walking or calling a cab let me know!

Well, like I said, on my wake up, go to the field, and go to sleep schedule its about that time to go to sleep. Hopefully someone streaks naked across the field in the middle of the game tomorrow night so I'll have something new to talk about. Talk to you later!

COMING BACK FROM INJURY

2011-06-15T08:53:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! Since I am back and playing baseball again on a regular basis for the first time in about two years I've started to get a lot of interview requests from newspapers and websites about the last few years of my career. Obviously the biggest topic and question that I am asked about is my injury. This is probably the most in depth I've gone into what happened over last year with my injuries and missed season, so I wanted to give everyone that doesn't know a chance to see what has transpired since last April. I hope you enjoy.

Experiencing a major injury is something most athletes will go through at some point in their career if they play long enough. Mine came when I turned 25 years old. I had made it through almost twenty years of team sports, including a lifetime of hockey and football, without ever visiting a hospital. I had minor bumps and bruises, and thirty or so stitches, but nothing that kept me out of a game. In most cases, nothing is worse than when the doctor finally says the dreaded word, "surgery." I guess my situation was a little different.

I could probably write a book about how my surgery and recovery from it went over the eight month period, but I'll save you the time, and me the carpal tunnel. I had been experiencing pain in my hand and wrist for over a year. I may not play a contact sport, but when it comes to a hurt wrist, I wish I did. It's nearly impossible to successfully swing a baseball bat when every time you do so resembles being stabbed with a sharp object. I had been to numerous hospitals, seen a hand full of doctors, and no one could really figure out exactly what was wrong with me. The hand and wrist are complex. There are a lot of things in a really small area that could be causing the pain, so pinpointing the problem is far from easy. In fact, problems with the lateral part of the bottom hand for a baseball player can often times be career threatening. Really not the way I envisioned myself exiting the sport just after my twenty fifth birthday.

Eventually, after what I always say, "enough cortisone shots to kill a small horse" and many different diagnoses, I was told I had a broken hamate bone. Like I said earlier, most players cringe at the thought of surgery, but for me it was different. I was actually relieved. Since I was told for so long that nothing was wrong with me, I thought I would never be able to play pain free again, because there was nothing to fix. Knowing that there had been a problem, and that I hadn't gone crazy, was actually good news.

I went under the knife on April 28th, 2010, about two years after I first felt discomfort in my hand. Here is a video before and after surgery my first surgery.

Looking back at all of this, the surgery was actually the easy part. It was the rehab that sucked. First of all, it's boring as hell. For the first two weeks you do absolutely nothing. I needed help doing the simplest of tasks. I couldn't wash myself, I couldn't cook, I couldn't drive, I couldn't do anything. After I got my cast off I was able to start using my hand again. First my job was to pick up change. I would empty my wallet and make piles of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters. That was it. It felt a lot like being in pre-school all over again. I would do this everyday for about a week. Once I became strong enough I would squeeze a rehab ball that felt similar to play-doh. As the weeks passed I would start to use light weights, maybe three to five pounds, and do wrist curls. You can imagine how boring this would be, but it was also somewhat painful. I would go to the field for about an hour or two everyday, but other than that I was in my apartment reading books, watching TV, and sleeping. Luckily I had my girlfriend living with me to keep me company and take care of me, or I may have gone insane with boredom.

My rehab moved much, much slower and took much longer than most hamate surgery rehabs. In fact, I started to think I was crazy again. We were now two months out of surgery and I was in the same amount of pain that I was in before surgery! At the ten week mark, when most players who receive hamate surgery are back on the field playing in games, I was struggling to hit off a tee. I did so in pain every single day. I actually thought my career was over. There was no way I could play in the state that I was in, and I already had the surgery that was suppose to fix everything. After exhausting every option to get back on the field I just couldn't do it and opted to instead receive another surgery to see what was wrong.

After opening my hand up for a second time they found I had developed a cyst on the side of my wrist that they believed was the reason for my extreme pain and lack of improvement over the two months. After this surgery I rehabbed the exact same way as after my first surgery. If you thought rehabbing once was the worst thing in the world, try to do it all over again. The good news was that this time the pain actually went away after a few months. The fact that I've played through the 2011 Spring Training and am now two months into the regular season and I haven't had the slightest hint of pain in my hand is somewhere I wasn't sure I would ever get to.

I guess I've learned a lot throughout my eight months of surgery and rehab. For one, I've learned about the anatomy of the hand. Sadly, I've memorized the eight carpal bones and can recite them on command. (What a geek) On a more serious note, I've learned a lot about staying positive when nothing seems to want to go your way. If I had given up after my first surgery didn't work and the pain never wavered I wouldn't be playing right now. I've learned about being patient and staying determined in the face of adversity. I've always believed that certain things happen for a reason, and that helped me continue to stay patient and positive, and have faith that I would eventually be back to playing. And probably the most important thing I've learned throughout this year long process is making sure at least one of my kids is a doctor. Those medical bills are friggin' expensive! I am truly sorry Padres.

Thanks for reading!

BASEBALL TIP OF THE WEEK

2011-06-12T22:22:00.004-04:00

Hey guys how are we doing? I've received a few emails over the past week saying that I haven't put up a "Baseball Tip of the Week" video in a few weeks, so here you go. Also, if you would like to see the tips when I forget to throw them up on here, you can click here and subscribe to our Youtube page where we put them up every few days.

Touch 'Em All Baseball Youtube Channel

I would love to stay and chat but my eyes are closing after an early morning and a day game today. I will talk with you all tomorrow!

CAN'T WIN THEM ALL

2011-06-08T17:30:00.008-04:00

Hey guys, how are we doing today? I just returned home to Syracuse after an eight game road trip and it feels great to be back. Weird that even though I live in a hotel here in Syracuse it now feels more like a house than just one room with a bed and crummy television. I'm actually hoping to move into my apartment tomorrow, which I'm sure will feel like a penthouse suite even though it is only a small loft. I'll be able to enjoy about a week or so there until we board our next plane for an eight game road stand in North Carolina and Georgia.

So, after waking up from my semi-coma since returning from our 6 AM plane flight yesterday, all I've heard on the television, radio, and Internet is how Lebron James had the worst game four in the history of sports and how it is absolutely unacceptable. My hotel only has about six channels and I literally cannot find one that isn't talking about Lebron. I can't drive in my car without hearing it on my radio. And I can't surf the web without reading it somewhere. I understand it's the championship series, but how much more can everyone continue to scrutinize the guy before they just accept the fact that sometimes you don't play well. I admit, I didn't watch the game because I had a game of my own, but I did see his stat line of scoring only eight points and heard about his choice of opting to pass much more than shoot throughout the game. The thing that I find strange is how none of the media can just accept the fact that the guy had a bad game. I've said it a thousand times, like Forrest Gump said in one of the greatest movies of all-time, "Shit happens...sometimes." The guy is perhaps the greatest player on the planet, and when it is all said and done will go down as one of the top players to ever play the game, but that still doesn't mean he will never have a downright shitty game.

I've seen ESPN interview every analyst, expert, friend, former girlfriend, his elementary school teachers, and so on to try and find out what happened to Lebron in game four. I've heard one hundred different excuses like he's afraid, he didn't care, he checked out, he's nervous, he didn't sleep well the night before, and blah, blah, blah. The truth is, sometimes you suck. Sometimes the ball doesn't go into the hoop. Sometimes you lose your confidence. Sometimes the other team shuts you down. Sometimes it's just not your day. Shit happens. When he absolutely dominates the next game is it going to be because he suddenly wasn't nervous, he got over his fears, he got some good rest before the game, his mom remembered to cook him his good luck breakfast that morning? It just drives me nuts that these "experts" can't just say he had a bad game. It happens to the best of them. Tiger Woods has days where he couldn't hit a tee shot into the ocean from a boat. I've seen my main man Tom Brady have games where he just can't seem to hit an open wide receiver. Albert Pujols has stretches of games where he can't get a hit, and the guy actually is a machine. Bad games happen. Although at times all these great athletes do things that defy physics, in the end they are all human...I think.

RAIN DELAY

2011-06-06T00:50:00.003-04:00

Hello everybody! Since I've been back playing for the last month or so, I've been involved in a good amount of rain delays, suspensions, and cancellations. If you are a huge baseball fan and have sat through as many rain delays as I have, I believe you will find this extremely funny. If you don't, well I'm sorry but you should!

FLYING SUCKS

2011-06-01T12:47:00.004-04:00

Well, I made it. I arrived to Louisville in one piece after our 3:15 AM wake up call and 5 AM flight on Monday morning. It wasn't easy and it sure as hell wasn't fun, but I didn't accidentally forget to wake up for our game, and I managed to not fall asleep during one of my at-bats, so overall I'd mark that down as a great success.

During out flight I experienced a few things that I found funny, mainly because they didn't happen to me, but they also got me thinking. What the hell do these things have to do with safety? Maybe you all can help me out.

The first one happened at around 5:00 in the morning. One of my buddies next to me is sound asleep. Most of us were working on one or two hours of sleep if we were lucky, so everyone was trying to catch up on some Z's once we got on the plane. About ten minutes before takeoff our flight attendant attempted to get his attention by yelling "Sir!" three to four times. When she realized he was dead asleep and there was no waking him she went with the "shoving method". I'm sure he thought for a spilt second that the plane was going down, but once he realized what was going on he gave her that groggy look of, "what the hell do you want, and where am I?" The reason she was so hell bent on waking him. "Sir, you're window shade has to be completely up for take off!"

OK fine, if not having the window shade completely up is going to take this plane down, then go ahead and shake the hell out of all of us. But the next one I'm still confused about. About twenty minutes after takeoff one of our guys decided to switch seats, opting for an empty row where he could better get some shut eye. As the flight attendant came down the aisle she must have noticed that someone was not in the row earlier in the flight, but now was. "Sir! Excuse me Sir!" Once again this wasn't working on us. Her back up plan was to shake him (she was a big fan of shaking) which worked after three or four times. "Sir, did you move to these empty seats from another spot on the plane?" He looked at her and shook his head. "OK," she responded as she walked away. I'm still not sure if maybe she was jealous everyone on the plane was sleeping while she wasn't able to, but I still have no idea why the hell you would wake people up at 5 AM for this stuff. Maybe that stuff is important, and I'm not really that upset because it didn't happen to me, but I'm still very confused about it.

Anyways if you are a flight attendant, or maybe have a friend that is one, you can help me out on this one. In the meantime, I have to get over to the stadium for our game tonight. See you guys later.

PLANES, TRAINS, AND AUTOMOBILES

2011-05-29T12:35:00.004-04:00

Man, I can't believe how different life is once the season starts. I guess that's what happens when you haven't been in "baseball mode" for more than two years. Time works differently during the baseball season. I tell people all the time that I usually don't know what day it is, and sometimes what month it is. Although most people think I'm kidding around with them, I can assure you, right now is most definitely one of those times. There are no weekends during the season, so a Tuesday feels a hell of a lot like a Saturday, and since it's still raining everyday in Syracuse, it could possibly be February. It really is a strange feeling when everyday feels the exact same way.

I've been so busy lately that I just realized I haven't been on here in more than a week. I think that's some kind of record for me. I was on the road in Rochester, New York for four days and now have spent four days back home in Syracuse. During my time away from the field I've been working hard to lock down an apartment to live in. I've been in a hotel everyday since the middle of February, so getting out of one and into something that kind of resembles a house is a high priority for me. I'm hoping next week will be my last time in a hotel for a while. I can only hear "Housekeeping!" about two more times before I totally lose it.

Out of everything that goes on during the Minor League baseball season, there is really only one thing that truly upsets me, and it's happening tomorrow. It's plane flights. Triple-A is known to have one of the worst travel schedules of any league or sport in the country. Luckily the International League is a whole let better than the Pacific Coast League when it comes to travel, but every now and then we will have a trip from hell. Tomorrow morning we have a 3:30 AM wake up call to head to the airport where we will fly a connecting flight to Louisville, Kentucky. I'm still trying to decide if I should even go to sleep tonight after our game. I will probably get out of the field tonight around 10:30 PM, and by the time I'm done eating dinner it will be past midnight. It would probably feel better just to stay up through the night, but we have a 4:00 PM game tomorrow in Kentucky, so if I go that route I may be falling asleep at 2nd base during the game. Plus it's pretty tough to hit a little round white thing being thrown at you when your eyes are half closed. Anyways, although I will feel horrible for most of the day tomorrow, nothing will feel quite as good as when the game is over and I put my head down on my pillow later that night.

Well, like usual, I got to head out to the field for our game today. I hope everyone has a great week and I will talk to everyone when I arrive in Louisville!

SYRACUSE

2011-05-21T00:26:00.001-04:00

Hey guys, how are we doing? I hope everyone has survived the last twenty days of rain. I don't believe I have ever seen it rain this much in my life. Also, I don't want to jinx it just yet, but it seems we've also survived the end of the world. Slap hands on both accounts!

Right now I'm hanging out in my hotel room in Rochester, New York after playing a game against the Rochester Red Wings, the Triple-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins. After playing with the Harrisburg Senators for four games I was sent to play with the Syracuse Chiefs in the International League about five days ago. I officially feel like a nomad now, traveling around the country without a permanent home for the past three months. If only I could use my reward points at our team hotels. I would probably be able to trade them in for a new Mercedes.

I've been pretty busy during the few days I've been in Syracuse, mostly looking for an apartment to live in. I was debating between moving into an apartment or just living in a hotel for the summer since it is already almost June, but even if it's only for a few months an apartment will feel so much better. I can't wait to move in next week and finally be able to settle down.

I wish there was more to talk about, but all I've been doing is a lot of traveling lately. Thanks again to all the good luck wishes I've received since arriving in Syracuse. I think some of you guys may find out which team I'm heading to before I do. Very impressive. Anyways, enjoy your weekend and I shall talk to you all later.

WHATEVER TAKES THE FOCUS OFF YOUR HEAD!

2011-05-16T11:46:00.003-04:00

Hello everybody. I'm back in Harrisburg, PA and had a few minutes this morning to make a video about being back to playing baseball, racking up my frequent driver miles, and my new hairdo. Here you go, and thanks to all of you that have been wishing me good luck!

QUESTION TIME

2011-05-13T16:10:00.000-04:00

What's going on guys? I've been in Richmond, Virginia the last few days playing a four game series against the Richmond Flying Squirrels. Yes, I agree with you, that is possibly the strangest baseball mascot I've ever heard of. Anyways, this is my first time in Richmond and it seems to be a pretty cool place. So far we have split the first two games of the series, and I'll be spending another two days here before heading back to Harrisburg on Sunday night.

On a totally separate note, I wanted to quickly give you a preview of "The second most interesting man in the world" right behind that Dos Equis guy. Sorry ladies, but he's taken.

Lastly, I just realized that I answered a bunch of questions for Jessica Quiroli of Heels On the Field a little more than a month ago but forgot to ever post it on my blog. I guess it is still interesting to see how some of my answers about Spring Training actually ended up turning out now that it is over. Anyways, here you go. I hope you enjoy.

Growing up in Mass I'm sure baseball was a big part of your life. When did it shift to become something you wanted to do with your life? As a multi-sport talent did you feel sure baseball was the direction you wanted to go in professionally?

I think right around the beginning of my Junior year in high school I had a pretty good idea that I wanted to try to play baseball for a living. That was the time I decided I would play baseball in college, and my ultimate goal was to be drafted into professional baseball and hopefully one day play in the Major Leagues.

When I was younger I always wanted to play in either the NHL or the MLB. I actually thought I had a better chance of playing hockey for a living when I was first entering high school, but by my Junior year I knew baseball would be the sport I had the best chance at playing professionally.

Having played at every level of baseball, what's the hardest thing to adjust to? Obviously the pitching gets tougher, but has there been anything you struggled with the most?

I think every time you move up a level in baseball you have to adjust to a bunch of things. The game moves a little fast as you move up and get older, so you have to work on slowing the game down. You don't have as much time to do things so you really have to be efficient with everything you are trying to do. As far as hitting goes, you won't have as many opportunities to get that good pitch to hit, so you have to make sure your swing is right, so when you get that one good pitch to hit you don't miss it.

You've got a new opportunity with the Nationals and you have to prove your healthy. What's your goal out of spring training?

My number one goal is to stay healthy. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure my body is ready to go. My injuries so far have mostly been from bad luck, so I also have to get lucky. I feel that if I can stay healthy I will be successful this season.

Have you changed your approach at the plate since you were first drafted? What is the best hitting advice you're received in the years you've played at the pro level?

I have definitely changed parts of my approach at the plate since being drafted. I think you learn a little bit each year and you take those things and add them to your game. A lot of times the things you learn are more mental than physical. One of the big things I've changed as far as my approach goes is my aggressiveness. I've had to learn how to be more aggressive. How to look for a certain pitch, and when I get that pitch I need to put my best swing on it.

I've received a ton of advice and hitting knowledge since playing professionally. I don't know what the best word of advice was because there are so many, but I think the simplest yet most important advice is to expect that you will get your pitch to hit every single pitch you see. Seems quite simple, but it really makes a big difference.

What inspired you to begin the blog? Has it helped you as you've gone through all the different experiences?

I first started my blog because a friend of mine on my team had one and I thought the idea was pretty cool. I like to interact with fans and I thought it would be a cool way to do so. I also wanted to do it so I could let my friends and family back home know what was going on with me while I was playing baseball on the other side of the country. I have really enjoyed my time blogging and I've had the opportunity to talk with and meet a lot of really great people from all over the place.

Finally, what is the one thing you'd like to improve this season?

I always want to improve all areas of my game, but the one thing I want to be better at this year is my offense. The last three years I have either been injured, or if I was healthy I hit extremely poorly. I know I am a totally different player right now than I was during those three seasons, so I am looking forward to getting on the field and proving I can hit again.

HARRISBURG SENATORS

2011-05-11T16:03:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, how are we? I haven't been able to get on here in a while and let everyone know how things were going because I've been doing a lot of driving lately. On Monday I had a rehab game in Lakeland, Florida, about two hours from our Spring Training complex in Viera, Florida. In the 5th inning I was told to change out of my uniform and jump on the van to head back to Viera because I was heading out to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Although I had traveled four hours that day, and had another sixteen plus ahead of me, it was very welcomed news. I got back to our home field at around 1:30 PM, packed up my stuff, and jumped in my car for the ride north.

I got on the road around 3:30 PM and drove until about midnight before I pulled over and found a hotel in South Carolina. I did manage to take an hour dinner break and watch the first half of the Celtics vs. Heat game. I guess I should have stayed for the second half and brought a little more luck to the C's, but I had a long way to go. I woke up early the next morning and left the hotel around 8:00 AM before arriving at our field in Harrisburg at about 5:30 PM that night. If you've never seen a game in Harrisburg before let me tell you, it is a beautiful stadium. It may be one of the nicest stadiums I've played in at any level of the minor leagues. I am really looking forward to spending more time in this area.

Today I made my debut for the Senators, starting at 2nd base and hitting second. As crazy as this sounds, it was my first Minor League game since the beginning of August, 2009. Even though that's almost two years ago, once the game started it didn't feel like I have been out of action that long. I guess I've played enough baseball in my life to remember what a real game feels like. As far as the game went, we ended up losing. Personally I felt pretty good and ended the game with two hits. I was just really happy that I ran the bases full speed a few times and had no problems with my leg. This is the first time in my life that when I get from one base to the next I give myself a high five and a congratulations for nothing bad happening to me during the 90 foot run. I guess it's tough getting old.

Tomorrow we are jumping on the bus early in the morning and heading down to Richmond, Virginia for a four game series with the San Francisco Giants affiliate. Hopefully we can get a few wins and I can stay out of the trainer's room. Talk to you guys later and enjoy the rest of the week!

TORNADO RELIEF EFFORTS

2011-05-05T20:40:00.002-04:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great week. I wanted to take a few minutes today to spread the word about this Saturday's Padres Wives Tornado Disaster Relief Effort to help assist the victims of last month's devastating tornados across the South. Here is all the info and I hope we can get a good turnout on Saturday.

PADRES WIVES

TORNADO DISASTER RELIEF EFFORTS

Saturday, May 7, 2011

The San Diego Padres players’ wives will raise funds at PETCO Park before the game this Saturday, May 7 to assist victims of last month's devastating tornados across the South. Fans are encouraged to donate clothing and cash to the help aid those affected by the recent tornadoes. The wives and players will be hosting a post-game autograph event with Adams, Bell, Hundley, Hudson, Johnson, Latos, Ludwick, Luebke, Qualls, Stauffer, and Venable. Meet and greet passes will be sold for a $20 donation (per person per autograph) and will take place post-game Saturday, May 7^that PETCO Park. In support of the sisterhood of MLB players’ wives, the Padres wives have selected the Josh Willingham Foundation, 501c3 certified nonprofit organization based in Florence, Alabama as the beneficiary. 100 percent of the funds and clothing will go towards the Alabama Disaster Relief Project to assist with the immediate needs of those affected and to the long-term recovery and rebuilding efforts.

GENERAL INFORMATION:

· Wives will be selling post game meet and greet passes, collecting clothing and cash/check donations

· Fans can make donations of either cash or checks

· Checks must be made payable to Josh Willingham Foundation

Josh Willingham Foundation
C/O Ginger Willingham
P.O. Box 2194
Florence, Alabama 35630

5/7 COLLECTION GATES:

· Home Plate Gate

· Park Blvd Gate

· Gaslamp Gate

· East Village Gate

5/7 POST GAME DETAILS:

· Players confirmed: Adams, Bell, Hundley, Hudson, Johnson, Latos, Ludwick, Luebke, Qualls, Stauffer, and Venable

· One autograph or photo per person per player

· Event will start 30 minutes post-game and to last approximately one hour

Any donation, large or small, will help. For example, $3 can provide a comfort kit for someone in a disaster. $6 can cover the cost of a blanket, $10 the cost of a hot meal, For $150, someone’s donation can cover the cost of providing food and shelter to a family of four for a day they spend in a shelter.

BACK TO PLAYING

2011-05-03T18:36:00.006-04:00

Hey guys, how are we doing? Yesterday I was able to play in my first game since re-injuring my hamstring two weeks ago. I played three innings in the field and was able to get three at-bats at the plate. Today I played six innings in the field and received three more at-bats. It felt great to get back out there and be able to get through both games without anything bad happening to me. I'm not yet at the point of playing without thinking at all about my hamstring, but we are still only two days into my rehab games. Tomorrow I will be playing DH, followed by nine innings at second base the following day. I'm still not sure exactly when I will be leaving for the regular season, but it pretty much depends on how I am feeling and if I pass all the tests without any problems. I will be sure to let everyone know how things go. Wish me luck!

On a totally different subject, has anyone ever been to this area of Florida before and witnessed "Love bug season"? I'm really not exactly sure if it is only this area of Florida, or all of Florida, or maybe all of the southeast, but I do know it is pretty disgusting. I'm not a big fan of bugs, or snakes, or spiders, or basically any insect, so having a thousand of them flying around and landing on me every three seconds is not one of my favorite moments so far in Florida. Here is a picture of our team bus on the way to our game today.

Pretty disgusting, I know.

Also, since I went a while without being able to do much on the field I decided to design some new cleats online. Let me know if I'll score some cool points wearing these guys when I get back out there.

And before I leave you to watch the Celtics play the Heat, here is a little video of what my reaction might look like it I hurt myself again, although I don't foresee that happening. Enjoy your night!

SPRING TRAINING

2011-04-28T13:23:00.001-04:00

Hey what's going on everybody? I just finally got internet back in my hotel today so I'm sorry I haven't been able to post anything over the last week or so. I really hate hotels.

Since the NFL draft is one of my favorite times of the year I have been spending most of my days outside of the field thinking of draft strategies for the Patriots to employ. I'm still not really sure why I waste my time doing this, considering I have no say whatever in what Belichick decides to do, but it still feels fun to me. I guess it's good practice for my fantasy football season coming up in a few months.

Anyways, a few weeks ago I wrote a little story for The Biz of Baseball about my 2011 Spring Training with the Washington Nationals. I cover a bunch of topics including what it was like being the new guy on a new team, the differences in Spring Trainings, and a bunch of other random stuff. I hope you enjoy.

After spending my entire five year professional career with the San Diego Padres, arriving in Viera, Florida for my first Spring Training with the Washington Nationals was definitely a strange situation. Most baseball players look forward to routines, the same thing day in and day out. We like things to be the same when we arrive to the ballpark each day. Comfort comes in knowing where we will hit in the batting order and what position we will play that night. After playing for so many years with the same team, you know what your day is going to look like. You know what you will eat when arriving at the clubhouse that morning, and who will join you for company. You know where "cage two" is for early batting practice, which shower head has the best water pressure, and who to go to for help if your jock strap doesn't want to cooperate.

My first day walking into a new clubhouse felt a lot like that first day of high school, expect I was a transfer student and everyone else had already been giving the freshman atomic wedgies for the past two years. I didn't know anyone. Not one coach, one player, one training staff member, not a janitor, nobody. Luckily for me, all baseball players have experienced it at one time or another in their career. We've all played on dozens of teams throughout our journey in professional baseball. We've all been the "new kid" at one time or another. The first day you feel like the odd man out, when nobody knows your name or where you came from, but a week into Spring you feel like you've been there your whole life. I spent the first few days meeting teammates and coaches, learning how the Nationals do things on and off the field, and understanding the schematics of the clubhouse. It's never cool when you're looking for the bathroom and half the team witnesses the new guy mistakenly stroll into a storage closet.

You may think that all organizations are the same, follow similar plans, and have identical rules and goals. But many teams have different ways of doing things. During the first day with my new club I met with management to understand the rules and regulations I had to adhere by. Next up was to get with my coaches to understand our team philosophies. Each organization will teach hitting, base running, and fielding a little differently. Some teams want you to be extremely aggressive at the plate, while others may want you to be more selective. Some may bunt, steal, and use situational hitting to account for most of the offense, while others will wait around for the three run homer. It is important to understand how your team plays and how your game fits into the system.

When practice started I quickly learned a few things about my new team. They like to teach, and take pride in developing their own players. As I said earlier, all organizations are different. Some have big budgets, using free agency year after year to put together most of their big league club, while others look to the farm system to develop their future stars. One of the reasons I chose the Nationals was because of their commitment to their minor league program and how they want their minor leaguers to one day make up their Major League roster. You can see this by the way they teach, their attention to detail, and the hard work the staff puts in day in and day out. In a lot of ways it is very similar to the way the Padres did things with their minor league system.

Most Spring Trainings are used to dust off the cobwebs resulting from the three to four months away from baseball. For me, this Spring Training was much different from those of the past. The last time I had played in a baseball game was March, 2010, almost a full year ago. The last time I had played in a baseball game where stats were kept and would displayed on the back of my baseball card was the beginning of August, 2009. Baseball is one of those sports where a week off feels like a month off, a month off feels like a year off, and a year off feels like you might as well be playing a foreign sport. I think I took for granted how quickly I would be able to get my swing back and start playing like I had never stepped off the field. After hitting batting practice with the team the first few days I realized it would be harder than I had thought. Reality was setting in, and I knew I had to be patient about getting back into form. I can honestly say that even after a month into Spring I still did not feel comfortable at the plate. Curve balls seemed to be moving way more than I had remembered. Change-ups didn't seem to be fair. And when the hell did they decide to widen the standard seventeen inch plate?

The toughest part for me to deal with was the fact that I knew it would take time to get back to playing good baseball, but I was with a new organization and wanted to do everything I could to assure them that signing me was a good decision. This was the most frustrating part of joining my new team. Like they say, you never get to make a first impression twice, and I didn't want my first impression to be one that resembled my skills back in tee ball. I decided I would do my best, take my lumps, and in the end, Spring Training was still what it always was, a month and a half to shake off the rust.

As Spring Training neared an end I was called into the office and informed that I would be starting the year with our Double-A affiliate, the Harrisburg Senators. I had spent the last three years playing either Triple-A ball or briefly in the Major Leagues, so many might see this as a demotion. The truth is, I haven't been healthy in almost two years, and when I was healthy I didn't play well. I've said it hundreds of times, baseball is a "what have you done for me lately" business, and I haven't done much except get out or get hurt. I have to prove to not only my team but to all thirty teams around baseball that this is the beginning of a new career for me and the best is yet to come. In the end it doesn't matter if my opportunity came in Triple-A, Double-A, Single-A, or in the California Penal League, it is an opportunity to display my baseball skills, and after being out of the game for two years that is really all you can ask for. I'm looking forward to joining my new team in the next few days and getting my game back to where it should be.

Here is the article on The Biz of Baseball if you would like to read it here Matt Antonelli and the Road Back to the Show

ABOUT ME

2011-04-25T13:43:00.003-04:00

Hey what's up guys? I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday yesterday! Unfortunately for me, the Easter bunny wasn't able to find my hotel room, but I still went out to eat last night and pretended it was my Easter Sunday dinner. I've received some suggestions to expand on the "About Me" page of my blog, so I added a little more detail to it yesterday and wanted you guys to let me know what you think. If there is anything you would like me to add or expand on please let me know. I appreciate everyone's suggestions to help make things on here better, so don't hesitate to write me. Thanks again!

About Me

On April 8th, 1985 I was born in Peabody, Massachusetts, where I grew up and still currently live. Peabody is a city of just over 50,000 people about fifteen miles north of Boston. As a kid I loved to play sports. It didn't really matter which sport it was, as long as there was a ball involved (or puck) and I could dribble it, kick it, throw it, or shoot it, I played it. I can still remember rushing from soccer practice to baseball practice, then from baseball to basketball, all while changing uniforms in the car ride from one to the next.

I decided to attend high school at St. John's Prep in Danvers MA, a Catholic school home to about 1200 students, where I played four varsity seasons of football, hockey, and baseball. During my Freshman year I was lucky enough to win the state championship in baseball. I wish I could say I was the main ingredient to the teams successful playoff run, but instead I only played a few innings in left field and used most of my energy cheering from the bench. As a Senior I shared the football field with a tremendous amount of great athletes as we made our way to the state championship game and national ranking. Unfortunately we lost a heartbreaker to perhaps the most storied high school football program in Massachusetts history, the Everett Crimson Tide. I've played in thousands of sporting events throughout my lifetime, but high school football possesses the top spot in my memory. I was fortunate to meet great people, make fantastic friends, and play alongside devoted teammates during my four years of high school. The Prep, as it is known around the area, helped prepare me for life in college and as an adult.

During my Junior year of high school I realized baseball would provide me the best opportunity of accomplishing my goal of playing a professional sport. I took unofficial visits to the University of Virginia and Georgia Tech, and official visits to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University. The University of Virginia was the first college baseball program to contact me early in my Junior year of high school and invite me to watch a baseball game against and Florida State University. After watching both teams play I told my dad there was no way I would ever be good enough to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but if Virginia made an offer to me I would take it and happily sit on the bench for four years just to be a part of ACC baseball.

A year later I ended up being drafted after my senior year of high school by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 19th round. I had always wanted to play professional baseball, so deciding to decline the offer and instead go play college baseball was a tough decision. In the end, I valued a college education and knew if I continued to work hard on the field I would receive another chance of being drafted. I decided to attend and play baseball for Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina from 2004-2006. While at Wake I majored in Communications, although when my friends ask what I majored in, I tell them I majored in Baseball. Anyone that has attended Wake Forest knows that I'm joking (they don't call it Work Forest for nothing) Although managing my time between baseball and school work wasn't always easy (yes I actually did study) it undoubtedly prepared me for life in the real world and I'm happy I chose the college route. While in school I was able to play in the acclaimed, Cape Cod Baseball League, where I created some of my favorite baseball memories. I also got to play three great years of ACC baseball, something I had always dreamed of doing.

After my Junior season I entered the 2006 Major League Draft and was selected by the San Diego Padres in the 1st Round (17th overall). Being drafted again was a special moment, but having the opportunity to be the first pick of a Major League organization was a privilege. I spent three seasons working my way through the Padres minor league system. I've had the chance to spend my summers and play in a host of great cities along the way, including Eugene, Oregon, Fort Wayne, Indiana, Lake Elsinore, California, San Antonio, Texas, and Portland, Oregon. On September 1st, 2008 I was fortunate enough to make my Major League debut at 2nd base against the Los Angeles Dodgers and get my first hit during my first at-bat against future hall of fame member Greg Maddux. That day is one I will definitely never forget. In December, 2010, after missing most of the previous two seasons with a broken hand and other ailments I was non-tendered by the Padres, consequently making me a free agent. A month later I signed a one-year contract with the Washington Nationals for the 2011 season. I am continuously trying to improve my game in hopes of receiving another shot at the Major Leagues. If there is anything else you would like to know about me just ask! I would love to answer your questions.

MAIL BAG VIERA, FLORIDA

2011-04-21T15:21:00.009-04:00

Hey what's up guys? I have a few different things to talk about today. First, I will be doing a trivia question tomorrow and give the winner a pair of batting gloves. I know a lot of people ask if they can receive a game used pair of gloves or an autographed pair, so I will give the winner whatever it is they want when it comes to the gloves. The question will be asked on Twitter since I've done the last few on here, and the person to answer first will get the prize. It should be around 4 PM Eastern Time and I will send out a tweet a few minutes before the question. Follow me at @mattantonelli9 to participate. Good luck to everyone!

Secondly, I've been slacking a little bit when it comes to answering my email and Twitter questions. I took some time today to answer those questions on Youtube. Thanks to all that wrote in, and if I didn't get to your question I will try to do so in the next few days.

Lastly, I couldn't forget about my main man, and twin brother, Keenan Cahill. Everyone have a great weekend!

WANTED ---> MR. MIYAGI

2011-04-18T06:22:00.002-04:00

You want to hear the most annoying sound in the world? Watch this video.

Ok, now do you want to hear the most frustrating thing in the world? I don't have a good video to explain, but I can type it out. It's when bad stuff happens to you and you have absolutely no control over it. Doesn't that just drive you nuts? I know it drives me nuts. Saying that I've had a tough time staying on the field over the past year would be quite the understatement. I've experienced more severe injuries than the goalie for the local dart team. They have caused me to play in only about sixty games over the past two-plus seasons. Listening to all the people tell me, "Matt, you're just injury prone," or "You're just one of those guys that gets hurt a lot," makes me want to rip my newly grown creepy mustache right off my face. (It probably wouldn't be that bad of an idea, considering how much I'm scaring the kids at our town movie theater) The crazy thing is, I went my entire life without getting hurt. I spent most of it playing two of the most dangerous sports in the world, hockey and football, and I never missed a game. I never missed a high school game playing three sports for four years. Never missed a college game in three years. Then all of a sudden in 2009 I got a visit from the injury fairy, and she kicked my ass.

If 2009 I had a mysterious knee injury after diving for a ball and landing awkwardly. I woke up the next day and literally couldn't walk. It took me almost three months, and about five cortisone shots to get rid of the problem. Couple that with missing three weeks due to the Swine Flu, that's right the %#$*ing Swine Flu, and there goes most of my season. All while this was going on I was experiencing pain in my left hand. I guess I was so preoccupied with my 105 degree temperature and near death experience that I just played through the pain when I actually had a chance to hit. That all stopped in 2010 when during Spring Training the pain got so bad I couldn't take a practice swing without keeling over in pain. As most of you know, I ended up having a broken bone in my hand and then later found a cyst in my wrist. After six cortisone shots, one PRP injection, two surgeries, and enough medication to kill a small horse, my season was flushed down the toilet.

Don't worry though guys, because it's 2011 and the bad luck is in the rear view mirror. That was until about a week left before the regular season started and I hit a double into the left center gap. On my way to second base I felt a strange feeling in my hamstring. I had never really hurt a muscle before, especially a hamstring, so I figured it was just a cramp that would go away the next morning. Unfortunately, when I woke up the next day I knew it wasn't just a cramp and I had strained my hamstring.

The good news was that resting my leg for about a week should give it time to heal and I'd be back on the field practicing again. Ten days later I was back to hitting when I attempted to run down the first base line and felt my hamstring "grab" again. To make a long story short (probably already too late for that), every time I've gotten to the point of leaving Florida for Pennsylvania my hamstring has not wanted to cooperate. I ended up hurting it again about four days ago and am in the process of resting for a week to seven days. The worst part about this whole thing is the fact that I can't do anything about it. I feel great other wise. My hand has absolutely zero pain in it. My swing is feeling the best it has since last Spring Training. But I can't start my season because of my leg. I'm hoping I can finally get some luck on my side and have this thing heal up over the next week or so. If it doesn't I may have to give my old friend Mr. Miyagi a call. Hey, it worked for Daniel-san.

You're the best!

Around!

Nothing's gonna ever keep you down!

Man this song rocks! Have a great day while I put this on repeat.

BASEBALL TIP OF THE WEEK

2011-04-14T18:19:00.003-04:00

Hey guys! I have received a lot of requests, mostly from Little League dads, but also from some young players, to give a few baseball tips so ballplayers from around the country can continue to improve their game. Since I love to coach and teach baseball, and spend most of my off-season helping Little League and high school players from around my area work on all aspects of their game, I thought I would throw a video up today that I made a few months ago. The video is me explaining some of the techniques used to turn a double play, but if you are not an infielder or just aren't that interested in infield play you can check out a bunch of different videos I have put together here ---> Touch 'Em All Baseball Also, if you have any ideas for new videos or have any questions please let me know! I hope you enjoy.

EXTENDED SPRING

2011-04-11T21:35:00.000-04:00

Hey guys! I've received a lot of emails and Twitter questions asking where I am and why I haven't made my debut yet this season. The last time we talked I let everyone know that I strained my hamstring a little bit and the club wanted to make sure I didn't rush back to playing before I was fully healed. Although I've never really strained a hammy before, from what I hear they are something that you absolutely do not want to pull. If you do, you can throw a good month or two of the season down the drain and also won't really be able to run full speed for a good portion of the year. Because that is the last thing I want, we want to make sure I have no tightness at all in my leg before I head up to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for the start of the season.

Over the past few days I've been in Viera, Florida practicing with the Extended Spring Training team. For those of you that aren't really sure what Extended Spring is, it is where all players not assigned to Single A, Double A, Triple A, or the Major Leagues will practice and play until Short-season A ball starts in June. It is also a place for injured players to get healthy for their return to the season. We have been practicing down here for a little over a week and today played in a six inning scrimmage game. Because my hamstring has been feeling really good lately I played three innings in the field and also hit every single inning. I finished the day going 0-1 with four walks and a HBP. It was probably the first time I have ever walked four times in a game before, but right now I'm just looking for at-bats and trying to get a feel for seeing the baseball again since I haven't played in a game in around two weeks.

As of right now I am hoping I will play in a few more Extended games before shipping out for Harrisburg. It will come down to how well I am feeling and also what the front office has for a game plan. Well, I have to wake up at 6:30 AM tomorrow, so I'm off to bed. Enjoy your Tuesday!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

2011-04-08T20:41:00.000-04:00

Since not much new has happened over the past few days I thought I would take some time to share an interesting story with you. You may not think this is as interesting as I may, but I'll tell it anyways.

For those of you that aren't aware, today is my 26th birthday. For some reason it feels like a really weird birthday for me. I don't know why, but 26 seems a lot more older than 25. I feel like I am almost 30, and there is no way I feel I should be making my way so fast to the big 3-0. Anyways back to the story. Twenty six years ago to this day I was born in Melrose, Massachusetts. On that day the Boston Red Sox had their home opener at Fenway Park against the hated New York Yankees. The Red Sox defeated the Yankees that day to a score of nine to six. It just so happens that my favorite two numbers are both nine and six. I wore number six throughout my high school career, and when I went to college and was unable to wear number six I changed to number nine. I continued to wear number nine through college and as a professional. Nine was also the number I wore when making my Major League debut. You may think, OK that is somewhat weird, but who really gives a crap.

Well, the weird thing is today, twenty six years later, again on my birthday the Red Sox had their home opener at Fenway Park against the hated New York Yankees. Once again the Red Sox were victorious by a winning score of nine to six. You may once again be thinking that is somewhat weird, but who really gives a crap. If you do think that, I guess there is no helping you, but I think it's pretty damn interesting. That is the end of my story. Goodnight, and happy birthday, to me!

P.S. Thanks to all that wished me a happy birthday today! I really appreciate it!

I LOVE HOTELS

2011-04-05T20:46:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I chose to live in the team hotel this Spring. It is the first time I've been back at a hotel during February and March since 2007, so it takes a little getting use to. There are definitely a lot of pluses and minuses to living here. There are plenty of good things, like a warm breakfast of waffles and bagels prepared for me, my bed being made every morning, and fresh towels and toilet paper available whenever I want. Then there are the bad things. Here you go.

This really didn't bother me that much, but I still found it funny. Man, are these walls thin.

BASEBALL IS BACK

2011-04-03T12:05:00.000-04:00

Hey guys, how are we all doing? How good does it feel to have baseball back on TV and in stadiums across the country. Although Spring Training was being played in March, for me it was kind of a dead time of year for sports, with no football, the NBA playoffs still a month away, and the NHL never being shown on national television. My nights finally have sports again, which is always a great thing. Over the last few days I've watched pretty much every national televised MLB game, with a special focus on following the Nationals and Padres since a good amount of my friends are still playing over there.

Personally, a lot of stuff has happened over the last few days so let me get everyone caught up on what's going on down here in Viera, Florida. The first new thing to happen is finding out that I will be starting the season off in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania with our Double-A affiliate. I had worked out with our Triple-A Syracuse Chiefs team all of Spring Training, but in the end they decided I would receive the most at-bats with Harrisburg so that is where I'll be. I know a lot of people that have found out recently on Twitter that I will be in AA instead of AAA are asking me all kinds of questions about why I would be going back to Double-A when my last time playing there was in 2007. I obviously want to play at the highest level possible, but in the end the most important thing for me is to be somewhere that I will have the opportunity to play everyday and get my at-bats. The last time I played in a real baseball game where stats were actually kept was August of 2009. That is almost two years ago, so simply being back on the field with a real team and getting an opportunity to play is most important for me right now.

Unfortunately, a few days ago while playing in our AAA spring training game against the Detroit Tigers I hit a double to left center field and on my way to second base I felt tightness in my left hamstring. I've never had any problems with my legs throughout my career so I was a little nervous when I first felt something wrong. Turns out a have a slight sprain and have used the last few days to receive treatment and let the staff work on me. I played in a game today and the leg still wasn't 100%, so we are going to make sure we take it slow over the next few days. The last thing you want is to totally pull a hamstring in April and be out for two months. As of right now I will probably not be playing in our opening day game on April 7th. The temperature in Harrisburg that night is suppose to drop down into the 30's during the game, which is not very conducive to testing out a tight hamstring. I am not sure exactly when I will be making my 2011 debut, but it shouldn't be very much longer than a few days.

Today was officially our last day of Spring Training, so all of our players have either boarded planes or jumped in their cars and headed towards their regular season homes. I will be down here in Florida for a few more days to stay in the warm weather and continue receiving treatment on the leg. I hope everyone has a great start to the week, and good luck to whichever Major League teams you may cheer for!

LOOK OUT BELOW!

2011-03-30T18:33:00.000-04:00

That was a close call. A few minutes ago I was on the phone with my agent talking about a bunch of different things when my hotel phone started to ring. I've learned over the last month or so of living here that when the hotel phone rings it's never for me. Usually, I'll receive an "hola, Pablo por favor." I'll respond that Pablo doesn't live here and hang up. The phone will ring back two seconds later asking for Pablo again. Now the phone goes unanswered. A few minutes passed before I heard a loud banging on my door. When I opened it up it was a buddy of mine from our team telling me I better get down to the parking lot quick and move my car before it got demolished by a giant street light.

I quickly ran downstairs and was greeted by hurricane like winds and the type of sideways rain Forrest Gump had to deal with during the war in Vietnam. I then saw the street light. It was probably about fifteen to twenty feet high and leaning over onto a tall tree. It was only a matter of minutes before it came crashing down on my car, leaving me with a brand new convertible. Since I've never been a "top down" kind of guy I booked it to my car, started the engine as quick as I could, and slammed on the gas. There was now a crowd of guys standing inside the door leading outside the hotel watching as the wind put the finishing touches on the street light. About two minutes after I finished moving the car the light gave way and came crashing down into my old parking spot. I wish I got the actual crash on camera but I wasn't able to. All I know is it would have destroyed my roof and probably cost thousands of dollars to fix. I did capture two videos, one of the light being held up by the tree, and another after the light had fallen into my parking space. Enjoy.

WHAT DAY IS IT?

2011-03-26T21:02:00.000-04:00

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great weekend. Speaking of weekends, and days in general, I have a quick story about days of the week. Most people don't believe me when I tell them that I usually have no idea what day of the week it is. There has been more than one occasion where I asked someone if today was Tuesday, and they responded with, "Ummm its actually Friday," all while wearing a look on their face that seemed to signify I was a dumb ass. Anyways, yesterday we had a meeting with insurance to help some of us understand what insurance is, and others to understand what kind of coverage our insurance provides. After a few failed jokes attempted by our presenter, she questioned our lack of enthusiasm by saying, "come on guys it's Friday, why aren't you all excited?" The room quickly burst out in laughter, with a few players yelling from the back of the room, "what's Friday?" See, I'm not the only one that doesn't know the days of the week anymore. As baseball players we play seven days a week, so there is no such thing as weekend or weekday. We keep our summers straight with "game days" and the very not so often "off day".

One more quick story about sports. I like to take pride in the fact that I am a pretty good judge of athletic talent, whether we are talking about baseball, football, or arm wrestling. Over the past few years I've done pretty damn well in fantasy football. Some guys in my league would like to argue that fact because I haven't won the "big one" yet, but I still consider Dan Marino and Jim Kelly great friggin' quarterbacks despite their lack of hardware. Anyways, I've decided to take any knowledge of sports I once possessed and throw them down the shitter. Over the past few months I've witnessed my girlfriend destroy me in both my ability to pick football and college basketball winners. A few weeks ago I decided that Ohio State would be my pick to win the NCAA tournament, citing specific reasons like their balanced offense, their dominant big man, their stingy defense, and their weird looking mascot with the enormous head. Laura however had her own strategies. She chose Kentucky to win the title. Her reason was that while visiting the school together last Spring she thought it was a "really pretty place." Well, she's two wins away from the damn trophy and my team has gone home for the Spring. Son of a bitch.

On a closing note, I wanted to answer some email questions I've received over the past few weeks. I am really sorry that I have been slacking with my ability to answer questions within a timely manner since Spring Training started. The video below has five questions that I got to today, and I will be sure to answer everyone else's over the next week or so. I hope everyone enjoys and have a great start to the week.

STAY OFF THE TRACKS

2011-03-22T20:57:00.001-04:00

Hey guys, how are we all doing today? The baseball has continued here in Viera, Florida over the past few days as I've been back and forth between the Minor League and Major League games. It is crazy to think that the Major League season starts in only a little more than a week, and the Minor League year starts about a week after that. I've now been in Florida for a month, and time has really flown by.

Over the past two days I've had some interesting things happen to me. Yesterday we made a two hour bus trip down to Jupiter, Florida to play the St. Louis Cardinals. After a bunch of interesting episodes of balls being thrown at batters of both teams, the benches cleared as player's from each team ran onto the field after one of our batters was hit for the second time in the game. There were no punches thrown, but there was a lot of pushing and shoving and also a lot of jawing at each other. I wasn't in the game at the time so I made sure to quickly make my way from the bench towards the middle of the action for a front row seat. I'm glad no one got hurt or did anything stupid to warrant a suspension, but it definitely added some excitement to the afternoon. I've been in a decent amount of bench clearing episodes so far in my career, but never have I seen one during a Spring Training game. The video below is what most pitchers do when they see me charging the mound. Like I always say, "stay off the tracks when the trains coming through."

At today's game we were making our way to the home dugout when we saw a player from across the field sprinting for his life towards us. It turns out he was being chased by a swarm of bees. I swear I have never seen so many bees in one place in my life. The swarm had to consist of over a thousand bees, and they all were moving in a pack towards our team. We all ran from the dugout and towards cover like a bunch of school girls, but the bees decided to hang out for about fifteen minutes on the field. The game was delayed a good while until finally they decided they had enough and moved on. It was the first time in my life I've had a game delayed because of bees. This is the type of stuff that starts to happen when you've been at Spring Training long enough.

On a side note, a few games ago I got drilled by a fastball right in the ribs. It was one of those "deer caught in headlights" moments, when even though the ball was coming right at me I didn't really know where to go. To get an idea of what it felt like, check out this video below of a reaction quite similar to mine.

In all seriousness, I hope she is OK. Everybody have a great day, and if you happen to know this lady tell her I apologize.

JUST DANCE

2011-03-17T19:33:00.000-04:00

Wow! We are already almost a month into Spring Training. As much as it feels like I've put in a ton of work so far this Spring, it still doesn't feel like I've already been here for almost a months worth of workouts. Since arriving on February 23 I've been on the field for either a practice, a game, or both for 23 straight days. My body actually still feels pretty damn good for all the hours I've spent on the field, but the one thing that is getting run down are my eyes. I can't keep these things open past 7 PM. In fact, I'm struggling to get this post published before my head hits the desk. I've received a lot of questions lately about what a day of Spring Training is like, so let me take a quick second to give you a run down of my day. Not everyday will fall exactly like this, but most of them do.

6:30 AM- Alarm clock sounds. Hit snooze

6:35 AM- Alarm clock sounds again. Drop some profanity before shutting alarm off

7:00 AM- Arrive to field to eat breakfast

8:15 AM- Early work- work on either defense, hitting, or base running (sometimes all three)

9:00 AM- Practice starts

11:30 AM- Head into clubhouse for lunch

12:30 PM- Back to field to stretch and prepare for game

1:00 PM- Nine inning game probably against the Houston Astros

4:00 PM- Game is over. Head to weight room for weight lifting session

5:00 PM- Training room to ice any sore muscles. Usually consists of drowning myself in ice tub

5:30 PM- Shower, get dressed, drive to Chic-Fil-A for snack

8:00 PM- Eat dinner

10:00 PM- Goodnight

This is the way my day has pretty much gone for most of the days down here in Florida. We have seventeen more days of camp, so it will continue like this until April 4th when we all break to head to our teams. Every now and then we will play in a night game which throws the normal routine off a bit, but almost everyday is Groundhog Day. For all the people that ask me why I never pick up my phone, haven't been great at answering their emails, or aren't writing as many blog posts, this is mostly why. I say bed time is at 10 PM, but I'm under the covers long before that each night. Once the regular season starts the hours are much better and I'll be back to doing my normal thing. Anyways, I hope everyone has a great St. Patricks Day. It is just about 8 PM and according to my daily schedule it's dinner time. Panda Express here I come! I will talk to everyone later.

P.S, I've always said I would dominate if I were to make an appearance on Dancing With The Stars. Unfortunately, I'm no star, but I can still dream can't I? Anyways, when I show up for DWTS 2023 this is the move that's going to take me to the top.

LETS PLAY TWO...OR SIX

2011-03-12T16:06:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! I hope the weather is starting to warm up wherever you are, and you are starting to get that feeling that opening day is right around the corner. The weather down here in Florida has been great with the exception of maybe two days since I've been here. It really reminds me everyday that I and everyone else who voluntarily chooses to live in cold weather climates during the winters are completely nuts. One day I think I'll make Florida my home from December to May, but probably not for a few years down the road.

Over the past few days I believe I may have set some kind of Spring Training record for most innings played/viewed. On Thursday I watched and played in both split squad Major League games. The first one was played at home at 2 PM against the New York Mets. When the game ended a few of us jumped on a bus and drove an hour for our night game against the Houston Astros. Once that game ended we headed back to Viera, arriving home around midnight. The next morning we played an eighteen inning game against Team Italy. A few of my fellow countrymen noticed my last name on the back of my jersey and tried to speak some Italian with me. I think they failed to notice the "Irishness" of my skin and the fact that there was not a very good chance I was from the homeland. Anyways, today we played an intra-squad scrimmage that went twelve innings. I'm no mathematician, but I think that's something like 48 innings in three days. I know it's probably a record for me, and I'll put it up against almost all other Spring Training three day stretches. Tomorrow is back to reality as we are heading to Jupiter, Florida to take on the Florida Marlins at 1 PM, where nine innings is going to feel like a half day of school.

As far as my play goes, over the past few games I've moved around and played a couple different positions while continuing to get use to playing again. I've played my normal position of second base a few innings, played a few as the DH, and played about six innings today back at my old college position of third base. It felt really weird being back at the hot corner, but one thing I really would like to do is get more comfortable at all the infield positions. As far as my hitting goes it's been a work in progress over the past few weeks. I'm still not feeling totally comfortable at the plate like I did last Spring Training, but I didn't expect to walk right back onto a field for the first time in a year and feel like I never left. I know over the next few weeks I will keep working on things and eventually find that comfort zone that I'm looking for.

Well, I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I'm going to head out for some dinner before I hit the hay for another early morning tomorrow. These days really start to fly by when you're up early for ball and back in bed early for the next morning. Talk to you all later!

GAME TIME

2011-03-08T19:32:00.001-05:00

Hey guys, how are we all doing? I haven't written in a few days and there is good reason for it. I have been really, really tired. I'll tell you what. We have been working extremely hard down here in Viera, Florida over the past two weeks. I can honestly say that in my five Spring Trainings, this is the most work I've seen a team put in to date. That is one thing I really like about my new organization. We get after it. After missing a full season last year, this is exactly what I need to get my body back to getting used to the rigors of a full 162 game season.

So far this spring we've had two games. Our first game was Sunday against the Houston Astros and our second game was Monday, a scrimmage against ourselves. I've had five at-bats so far, going 0-1 in our first game as a pinch hitter, and 1-3 with a walk, stolen base, and RBI in the second game. Although I've only had a few plate appearances I can definitely feel how much more comfortable I'm getting at the plate with every at-bat. It still feels weird when I think about the fact that these at-bats are the first ones I've had in almost a full year. It is kind of amazing when I think about it. I still can't believe I missed an entire season! I guess as much as it stinks, it is part of the game, and as Forest Gump said, "Shit happens...sometimes."

One thing I have noticed is how much I forgot what kind of toll playing every single day puts on your body. We have only been practicing and playing for about fourteen or so days in a row and your body starts to get some dings and bruises right around this time. Now that games have started we spend around six to seven hours on the field each day. It doesn't seem like it would be too bad, but when most of that time is spent on your feet running around, swinging, or chasing ground balls it starts to take its toll after a while. The cold tub and I are now on a first name basis.

Well, I'll keep everyone up to date with what's going on down here over the next few days. It's only 8 PM and my nice cozy hotel bed is calling my name. I hope you all have a great week!

WINNING!!!

2011-03-04T17:23:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, how are we all doing? I'm officially about a week or so into Spring Training and I just about have the routine down that I will continue for the next month or so. I believe our first game will be on Sunday, so I'm looking forward to getting back on the field again for the first time in a while. I hear there will be real umpires and everything! I'm pretty pumped. Anyways, over the past few days we've been practicing every morning and then facing our own pitchers to get ourselves ready for the upcoming game action. My swing is starting to come along over the last few days and I should be feeling pretty good come game time. I will be sure to let everyone know how things go on Sunday.

Now onto some other issues. In case you've been living under a rock over the past few days its official, Charlie Sheen is nuts. I try not to talk too much about other people on here, but I've gone mad watching endless clips of him telling me he's a winner. I guess if I was being paid two million dollars every sixty minute episode of my own television program I'd consider myself a winner too, but whatever. Anyways, after watching countless interviews conducted by dozens of news programs I was just stuck wondering how I would have done it differently. Check it out below.

BACK TO WORK

2011-03-01T18:01:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Practice has officially gotten underway here in Viera, Florida. Today was day five of practice for me and about forty five other minor league players. I wanted to take a few minutes and make it clear to everyone exactly what team I am practicing with this Spring Training because I have received a lot of emails and twitter questions asking me why I haven't played in a Major League game yet. I know the last three years many of you are used to seeing me playing in Spring Training games with the Padres, but that was because I was in Major League camp during that three year period. I was not invited to Major League camp this year with the Nationals, so I will be playing in minor league games. That doesn't mean I won't get to play in any Major League games this spring, it just means I probably won't play in very many. Our Minor League games don't start until March 19th, so we still have a good amount of time before I get into game action.

Now that I've cleared that up, lets get on to what has been happening at practice over the last week or so. About forty five players have been invited out to Minor League Spring Training about two weeks early to get a head start on things and get prepared for this season. I am really glad I was invited out here early, because it has been about a year since I've been on a field playing baseball. After the first five days of practice I can definitely tell that I am still a little rusty after not playing in so long, but it's not as big of a deal as I thought it might be. I keep forgetting that it has been almost 365 days since I've really practiced at full speed. Overall I think things have gone decently well so far. I still have some things to work on as far as my swing goes and my fielding will really start to come around as the days go on. Right now I am trying to get things feeling the same as they did last Spring Training when I was very successful until going down with the injury. The good news is I still have more than a month of training before the regular season starts, and that should be plenty of time to get things right.

Right now we are practicing for about four to five hours a day, and we just started hitting live pitching yesterday. It feels good to be back in the batter's box against an actual pitcher and not just a coach. I'm sure once we start our actual games in another few weeks it is going to really feel weird for me, but I'm looking forward to it. Things should start getting busy around here in the next few days when all the other Minor League players arrive to camp. I'll be sure to give updates with how everything is going, and I appreciate everyone checking in on me and asking how things are at camp. Well, I just got down with practice and it's time to eat some dinner. I'll talk with everyone later!

BASEBALL STATISTICS

2011-02-27T12:38:00.000-05:00

I recently answered some questions by Matthew Coller from The Biz of Baseball on a variety of baseball topics including the importance of on-base percentage, fielding statistics, hitting statistics, and much more. I hope you enjoy!

On-base percentage is something that is quickly becoming a favorite of General Managers around the league, and in many ways is becoming the measuring stick for a hitter's overall ability. When I was drafted by the Padres in 2006, they were one of the teams in the league that were extremely concerned with a hitter's OBP. That is one of the reasons I was drafted by them. I have never been a power type hitter, someone that was going to hit a bunch of home runs and drive in a lot of runs, but I've always been very effective at working the count, having a good ability to control the strike zone, and ultimately get on base.

The good thing was, I never had to change my thought process and try to adapt to the Padres way of working the count and drawing more walks, because it was already a part of my game. Many players however do have to adapt their games in certain ways to fit a certain style or system that a team may believe in. If you want to increase your OBP there are certain ways you can do so. The first thing you need to do is really understand the strike zone. I was always the type of hitter growing up that would take a lot of pitches. Some coaches didn't like this approach because I would often take very hittable first pitch fastballs for a strike and fall behind in the count. I would also have a lot of at-bats with two strikes on me, which isn't always the best situation to hit in. However, because of my style of hitting, I would walk at a very high clip, and being a leadoff hitter my entire life, my main job was to get on base and set the table for the hitters in the middle of the order. I've learned the strike zone very well over the years because of how many pitches I took. Many of my at-bats would go four or more pitches, and when you add all those pitches up over the years I've been able to learn what is a strike and what is a ball. I've actually had to adjust my game to allow myself to hit for a little more power and drive in more runs. I think there is the right balance between taking pitches and swinging at a pitch that you want. The whole idea of hitting is to get a good pitch to hit and put a good swing on it. There is definitely a happy medium when it comes to pitch selection and how many pitches you take in an at-bat.

As far as fielding statistics go, I really have never checked them before. I came up in baseball when the "error" was really the only stat infielders would use to judge their defensive performance. I don't even understand all the new statistics like UZR or TZR or whatever it is. I think fielding is something that is very tough to judge simply by looking at all these different formulas. I feel a lot of times defensive numbers can highly depend on your pitching staff. If you have a lot of ground ball and sinker ball pitchers on your team you are going to get a lot more defensive opportunities than you would if your staff was filled with fly ball pitchers. I think your eyes can tell you a lot about a player's defensive ability. I understand that baseball people want numbers to justify everything that takes place on the field, but I really think defense is tough to judge solely on numbers.

If I was looking at hitting statistics there are a few different things I would look at to determine what type of year I was having. I think it is also important to realize that every player is going to be a little different when looking at the numbers. Certain guys are called upon to get on base, certain guys are called upon to move those guys around the bases, and certain guys are called upon to drive those runners in. I'm a guy that has mostly hit lead off, so my important statistic is obviously on-base percentage. I've always tried to have an OBP of .400. I know that if I'm getting on base at a 40% clip then I'm doing a good job at setting my team up to score some runs. I think runs scored is also an important statistic for me. Obviously that has a little to do with how successful other hitters around you are, but if I'm getting on base at a good clip with my ability to run I should be scoring runs no matter who else is in the lineup.

Looking at offensive numbers in general, on-base percentage and slugging percentage seem to be the big statistics to look at to judge most players success. I think all the best hitters in baseball show a great ability to get on base and also do damage when they put the ball in play. With all this being said, there are some players that you need on the team that are going to do the dirty work. It's not always strictly about the numbers, and sometimes the numbers don't tell the whole truth. I have seen a lot of players that sacrifice their personal numbers for the good of the team. Ultimately these guys are the ones that help you win ball games. When a guy is on second base with no outs and you give yourself up to hit a ground ball to the right side to get that runner over the 3rd. Your statistics are going to go down, but you did your job and helped your team. When there is a guy on 3rd with less than two outs and the infield is playing back and you hit a ground ball to the infield to score the run. Your batting average and OBP is going to drop, but you did your job and you helped your team score a run. Like I said, these are the guys you want on your team. Guys that put the team above personal statistics. I had the opportunity to play with David Eckstein, and he really comes to mind as one of these guys. I really don't think he cared about his personal statistics at all. He just wanted to do whatever it took to help the team be successful. I've seen him put the team ahead of himself over and over and over again.

FIRST DAY OF WORKOUTS...KIND OF

2011-02-25T20:55:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning I woke up at 6:30 AM and took the twenty minute drive over to a local hospital to receive my Spring Training physical. Every year before you are allowed to get out on the field you have to go through a list of tests to insure your healthy enough for action. The tests I had to do today are pretty much the same as the ones I've had to do in the past. First you give blood, then you're given a drug test by peeing into a cup. After that you will do your blood pressure, get an EKG done, take a chest x-ray, get your vision tested, and have a sit down meeting with a doctor to go over any past injuries or current ailments. Today's meeting with the doc obviously went a little longer than usual, as I had to explain my last two surgeries and how I'm feeling now. We went over my MRI to make sure nothing is showing up that shouldn't be there and everything checked out fine.

I wasn't allowed to do any on field activities yesterday, just to make sure my hand was 100% ready for action. Our first official practice isn't until tomorrow, but today the infielders went through an informal workout where we stretched out, threw, and fielded ground balls for about thirty minutes. We also performed some of our conditioning tests, including the 300 yards shuttle and the sit-up test. Because I wasn't allowed to do anything I will perform those tests tomorrow. I'll also be able to participate in team practice at that time. It felt really weird to not be allowed to do any baseball activities today, and I kind of felt like a waste of space out there, but sometimes you have to err on the side of caution.

Although I wasn't able to practice with the team, I can already tell I am really going to enjoy getting back on the practice field. All I heard about our organization before I signed with them was that they had a bunch of great people throughout the organization. After meeting most of the managers, coaches, and instructors today I can see why people were saying that. There was a great atmosphere out at practice, and it was only considered an "informal workout." I'm looking forward to tomorrow's first practice.

AND TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!

2011-02-24T21:41:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I have successfully arrived in Viera, Florida for the start of Spring Training with my new team, the Washington Nationals. Yesterday I spent most of the day driving around town and learning my way around my new home for the next month and a half. Because I am such a picky eater, my first objective anytime I arrive in a new city is to make sure I find three or four "go to" restaurants for dinner. The first one I always look for is Chiptole, but unfortunately the closest one is more than an hour away. I did find an Outback Steakhouse, which was where I went for my first dinner of Spring Training. The over/under for dinners eaten at Outback over the next month is set at 12, and I'd definitely put my money on the over. I'll spend some time tomorrow looking for more places to eat out at.

I spent some time in the morning heading over to our complex and meeting some of the medical staff. It definitely felt weird pulling into the parking lot and having no idea where the hell to go. Luckily there was a player just getting out of his car at the same time as me that helped me find my way around. I had to fill out some questionnaires on my past surgeries and injuries for the staff. It was a lot more fun a few years ago when I just checked "No" on every question, but unfortunately after last year there are a lot more "Yes" check marks now. After that I received my uniform and equipment, and strange enough I received my favorite number 9 without even asking for it. I guess that's a good sign.

I finished off the day by driving to a local hospital and taking a thirty minute MRI on my hand. Our doctors here just want to make sure that everything is looking good before they let me get out onto the practice field. It was probably my tenth MRI over the past year, and boy do they suck. The hand is a really tough thing to MRI, so I have to lay on my stomach with my arm stretched out over my head. It may have been the most uncomfortable thirty minutes I've ever experienced in my life. I'm just glad I got it over with, and hopefully that will be the last MRI ever.

Finally, before I head out I want you guys to watch this video and witness one of the most amazing things to ever happen on this earth. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating a little bit, but I still thought it was pretty cool. For some reason it isn't allowing me to embed the video on here, but click the link below to see it.

Youtube Video

GLORY DAYS

2011-02-22T12:00:00.000-05:00

Back to the good ole' days. Yesterday I was back on campus at Wake Forest for the first time in around four years and a lot has definitely changed. For one, the baseball field I spent three years playing on has been blown to smithereens, and replaced with a putting green. It was a little sad that the field was no longer there, but the new field that it has been replaced with is amazing. I found myself wishing I attended college six years later than I did. The field, locker room, and batting cages all made me feel like I attended school back in the stone age. I remember wearing cotton shorts small and tight enough to fit my twelve year old sister. Now they are decked out head to toe in more Nike apparel than I've seen since playing professional baseball. Where did I go wrong?

One of my former teammates Grant Achilles is now an assistant coach with the baseball team and was nice enough to take us on a tour to see the new renovations and also introduce us to the new coaching staff, all of whom were great guys. After speaking with the coaches and viewing the facility the future is looking bright for Wake baseball.

Laura was amazed at what school is like down here. We pulled in and the first thing she saw was a girl wearing a prom dress and high heels shoes and a guy wearing slacks, a collared shirt, and a sports coat, and she asked, "where are they going?" I said, "to class." I was probably a little out of place when I used to roll into History in my sweatpants, cutoff sleeves, and sandals, but I was damn comfortable. Another thing we both noticed is, we are really, really old. You know you're an old bastard when you walk onto a college campus and ask, "Is it just me or do college kids look a lot younger than they use to?" I guess I have to accept my role as, "the creepy old guy."

Anyways, we had a great time and would have liked to stay longer, but we had to get back on the road to our final destination of Florida. Below is a quick video I took of campus. I hope everyone enjoys and go Deacs!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

2011-02-21T09:19:00.000-05:00

Hey what's going on guys? I just woke up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina after arriving late last night around 11:30 PM. We left Boston around 8:30 AM yesterday morning and started our journey to Viera, Florida for the start of Spring Training. A lot of people are telling me I'm nuts for driving my car all the way down there for only a month and a half of Spring Training, but I drove the 45 hours to Peoria, Arizona last year, so driving 22 to Florida will be cake.

On our drive to Spring Training last year we made sure when we mapped out our trip we selected a bunch of cities we thought it would be cool to stop at and do a little sight seeing. This year we're only really stopping in two cities along the way. Yesterday, we decided to make an hour pit stop in Baltimore, Maryland. We'd never been there before, but the main reason we decided to go a little out of our way to stop there was for the food. Spending most of my time in the Southwest over the last few years we've grown very fond of the restaurant Ra Sushi. If you've never been there and like sushi you have to make sure to stop by. I'm not crazy about the real sushi with the raw fish and stuff, but the Tootsi Maki rolls are to die for.

After making an hour stop there we jumped back in the car and continued our trip down to Winston-Salem, North Carolina to make a stop at Wake Forest University where I went to school and played baseball from 2004-2006. It has been about four years since I've been there, and even though everyone I went to school with has now moved on to the real world I am still excited to go back and see how much things have changed. Also, Laura has never been to Wake, so she was also excited to see what life was like for me back in my college days. We will probably take a little tour around campus and then stop in and say hello to the new coaching staff. When we're done we'll be getting back on the road for the remaining ten hours to Florida. I'll speak with everyone when I arrive to camp. Have a great day!

FANGRAPHS

2011-02-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I wanted to throw up this interview I did a few days ago for Fangraphs, a website dedicated to all types of baseball statistics and data. Check it out and let me know what you think. Only one more day until the weekend! Have a great friday.

FanGraphs Audio: Matt Antonelli, Washington National

by Carson Cistulli - February 15, 2011

Episode Sixty-Three
In which the guest is a real-live baseball player.

Headlines
Some Notes on Plate Discipline
The Case of the Declining BABIP
The Art of Blogging
Matt Antonelli: Real or Olive-Garden Italian?
… and other super-serious matters!

Featuring
Matt Antonelli, Baller and Blogger

Finally, you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes or other feeder things.

Audio on the flip-flop. (Approximately 40 min play time.)

Click here to listen

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

2011-02-15T17:58:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody, what's going on? Man, I haven't been on here in a while and I apologize about that. The last week or so has been crazy busy, and I'm just trying to get everything done before I take off for Florida this weekend. The good news is, the bathroom paint job is finished, most of the meetings I had to go to are over, my equipment is ordered and on its way to Spring Training, and I even finished all my chores AND my mom gave me my weekly allowance and a gold star on my "Daily Chores Calendar." Things are looking up from here!

I want to wish everyone a very happy Valentine's Day. I know all you people out there with a significant other enjoyed the holiday, and those without one say the day is even better that way, so woohoo to all of us! I celebrated my Valentine's Day on Sunday night by accompanying Laura to a good meal of calamari and steaks. Man was it good. Last night I spent my time at the batting cage trying to get my swing ready to go for next week. I'll put a few swings from the end of the workout below for everyone to see. Every time I put a video up of me swinging I usually get 100 emails from people letting me know what I need to change in the swing to become the next Albert Pujols. I appreciate everyone's help.

Anyways, it is getting a little late and I need to head out for some dinner. I hope everyone has a great day and I will talk to you all later.

PROCRASTINATION

2011-02-11T08:57:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Right now is probably one of my least favorite parts of the year. It is about a week before I head out for Spring Training, and because I have procrastinated with many of the things that needed to get done before I leave, I am busy doing everything over the next few days. I have to finish painting and fixing my bathroom which was a disaster area, get all my taxes together, bring my car to the shop to fix some dents and scratches, get all my equipment orders placed, finish up my last few lessons with guys, continue to train and hit five times a week, do some interviews for the upcoming season, pack up my car with everything I need for the summer, and about 2,000 other things. I don't know why I wait until the last minute to get everything done each year. It will feel great when everything is done and I'm able to head down south without anymore worries. Anyways, I probably won't write too many times over the next few days just to make sure I get everything done, but once I get down to Florida I will be back to writing a bunch of times each week. Talk to everyone soon!

CAMELS MAKE ME LAUGH

2011-02-06T09:39:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Thanks to all that chatted with me on Ustream a few nights ago. It gave me a chance to answer a bunch of questions for everyone and also an opportunity to just have a relaxed talk about all types of different things. I'm pretty excited to watch Superbowl XLV later on today between Pittsburgh and Green Bay. It will definitely be tough watching two teams that the Patriots beat this year, but both the Steelers and Packers deserve to be playing for all the marbles. I've been racking my brain over the past few days trying to decide who is going to win this game. I know everybody and their grandmother are on the Packers bandwagon, and I can't really blame them. Aaron Rodgers looks unstoppable and the Steelers have some injuries, but I just can't make myself pick against a Steelers team getting three points and going for their third Superbowl in six years. I think I may stick with the Black and Yellow.

I'll be leaving for Florida two weeks from today, taking the twenty-plus hour drive down south and finally getting out of the snow. My report date is February 23, and our first workout is the 24th, but I'm going to take a few days to drive down and visit a few places I haven't been in a while. Anyways, I hope everyone has a great Superbowl Sunday and good luck to whichever team you cheer for. Also, below is what I feel should be a new Olympic sport. I am the last guy in the relay team, so check out my skills. As you can see I've been working on my speed over the off-season. I'm wicked fast. Enjoy.

BLOGGING FROM THE BLEACHERS

2011-02-02T19:51:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone is enjoying their week. I received a call last night informing me that my report date for Spring Training is February 23, so my trip to Florida is fast approaching. I've decided that instead of flying I will take the 24 hour drive down south so I will have my car for the month and a half of camp. I think where I am staying is about a ten minute drive to the park, so being without a car and walking probably wouldn't be the best idea. Plus I think I may make a stop at my old stomping grounds, Wake Forest, to see how much things have changed since my departure from school five years ago.

I did an interview with a website called Blogging From The Bleachers that I thought I would throw up here today. Below are some of the questions I answered, but if you would like to read the entire article click here Blogging From The Bleachers.

Before I get to the article, I'm thinking about going with this look below, so let me know what you think. The only difference is my beard is really red. I think it would still look pretty sweet, and would probably be worth 20-25 home runs. Anyways, I hope everyone has a great rest of the week and I will catch up with you all later.

Now, I know there aren’t many players in the history of the game to originate from Massachusetts (649 in total, according to Baseball Reference). Going back to your high school playing days, do you remember being scouted much? Anything specific the scouts might have advised you to do if you wanted to really stand out?

I definitely don't run into too many professionals players from my home state of Massachusetts. During my high school years I was scouted by a decent number of teams and ended up being drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers. Being a northeast kid who didn't really get to play a whole lot of baseball year round I was considered a "raw" type of player by many scouts. I knew if I wanted to succeed in professional baseball I had a lot of developing to do, which is one of the reasons I chose to attend Wake Forest University in North Carolina instead of deciding to go pro.

That summer, the 2003 draft, you were selected by the Dodgers in the 19th round. What made you decide to go to college instead of signing? Would you have chosen that route regardless of what might have been offered?

I guess I should have read question # 2 before I answered # 1 ha ha. I think if I was chosen in the 1st or 2nd round my decision would have been a lot tougher. I always wanted to play professional baseball, but I understood that I could always go to college, get my education, continue to develop as a player, and re-enter the draft after my Junior year. That is the route I ultimately chose.

After your career at Wake Forest, you were taken in the first round of the 2006 draft. Take us back to that day for a moment. How’d you find out? What was your reaction? How did you feel being a first round draft pick?

We had a get-together at my house for draft day where a lot of family and friends attended. I found out I was drafted when the Padres selected me and called to inform me of their choice. It definitely felt great being a 1st round pick. One of my goals after being selected in the 19th round out of high school was to be a 1st round pick out of college.

Just two years after being drafted you were named as #50 on Baseball America’s Top 100 prospects going into the 2008 season. Did you feel the ranking put more pressure on your shoulders to perform at a high level that year?

I actually had no more pressure on me after the 07 season than any other season. I haven't played well since 07 after a combination of things have occurred. I have had unfortunate injuries over more than the last two seasons and somehow lost my swing during that time. I would have loved to cruise through the Minor Leagues and straight to the Major Leagues for good, but I think every person that wants to accomplish a goal is going to be met with adversity at some point along their journey. I feel very good heading into this year.

Despite having an off year at the plate for AAA Portland, you made your debut that September for the Padres. What was it like to find out you had been called up? Were there any nerves or did you feel completely confident in yourself?

I felt very weird being called up in 2008. I was in the middle of my worst baseball performance of my life. I was obviously very excited to make my Major League debut, but it definitely wasn't the way I had envisioned it a few years prior. My next call up will be much different from that in 2008.

Your debut came on September 1st against the Dodgers. Greg Maddux was the opposing pitcher. You singled to center field in your first at bat for your lone hit on the day. Maddux is one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history. So how’d it feel to get your first career hit off of a legend? Did you get to keep the ball? Do you still have it?

Just being able to get my first hit in a Major League uniform would have definitely been a tremendous highlight in my baseball career, but to be able to do it against one of the better pitchers of all-time was something very special. I did get to keep the ball and have it at my house in Massachusetts.

Unfortunately an injury struck during the 2009 season that caused you to miss most of the year and then nearly all of 2010. How’d it happen? How’d you feel about the situation? Did you ever feel like the doctors were wrong in their diagnosis? Did you think you could return faster than they estimated?

Over the past two years I have had two different injuries that have cost me a lot of playing time. The first was a minor leg injury that kept me out of the lineup for about 40 games or so. It took a little while to figure out what the problem was, but once we did it healed pretty quickly. The major injury I had was a broken hamate bone in my hand and the removal of a cyst that had formed. It is kind of complicated to explain, and may take a couple of pages ha ha.

After sticking with you through your rehab the Padres let you go at the end of this past season. Was there a part of you upset or disappointed by their decision?

Well, I definitely enjoyed my time with the Padres over the past five years. They were the team that selected me in the draft and got my career started, so I appreciate the fact that they put their trust in me. Things didn't go exactly the way I would have hoped over the past few years, but many times baseball is like that. I respect their decision and am really looking forward to continuing my career with my new team, the Washington Nationals.

Take us through the free agency process. Did your agent do most of the talking with teams or were you involved? What kind of opportunity were you hoping for or would just simply looking for a chance to play again?

During free agency my agent would handle all of the negotiations with teams and then report back to me on what was said. It was the first time in my life where I had to chose between a bunch of different teams and decide where I ultimately would want to play at for the upcoming season. I was basically looking for an opportunity where I would be able to get my at-bats and prove to the team that I chose that my injuries were in the past and I could help their Major League team at some point during the year.

Coming from MA I presume you grew up a BoSox fan. Were you hoping they’d call you about joining the organization?

I did grow up a huge Red Sox fan until I was drafted by the Padres in 2006. It would definitely be pretty cool to wear a Sox uniform, but I think they are pretty set at the 2nd base position with that guy Dustin Pedroia ha ha.

What made you choose the Nationals? Will you be attending Spring Training with them? Rumor has it they’re still looking for a utility infielder. Do you think you could fill that role if given the chance?

The Nationals seemed to be one of the teams that was most interested in me, so it is always nice to go somewhere that really wants you. After speaking with a bunch of baseball people they all had nothing but great things to say about the Nationals organization and the people that ran it. They were a team where I could go to the minor leagues this year and get my at-bats to show I am fully healthy and can contribute. I will do whatever it is they ask of me, so if they want me to try and play a few positions I would definitely be willing to do that. Whatever it takes to get me back to the Major League level.

What made you start your blog?

My blog started as a way to let my family and friends know how things were going during the season since I was playing across the country and was at the field pretty much all day long everyday of the week. I started to realize that baseball fans had found my blog and were following my writing. It gave me a pretty cool way to interact with people and fans from all over the country, which is something new and fun to do.

What is it about being connected to the fans that you enjoy? What do you dislike about it?

I think what I really like about being able to interact with fans is that I am a huge fan of baseball myself. I would have loved to be able to talk and ask questions to some of my favorite players growing up, so having the chance to talk with fans of mine is very rewarding. I would say that 99% of my interactions with fans is positive, and that's why I have continued to do it. Every now and then I will receive an email, Twitter or Facebook message, or blog comment letting me know that they think I am a horrible baseball player, but that just comes with the territory ha ha.

I’m a big autograph and memorabilia collector. I’ve always been curious, do any players collect autographs and memorabilia? Do you? Have anything cool and unique in your personal collection? What is accepted in clubhouses as far as asking for items? What about asking a player in the opposite clubhouse for an autograph?

Actually a lot of players collect autographs and memorabilia from other guys in the league. I would say the majority of players are fans of the game of baseball and enjoy collectibles. I have a few collectibles at my house, my favorites probably being my baseball signed by Roger Clemens that I got as a little kid at Fenway Park and a signed hockey stick by Bobby Orr that I received from him at one of my hockey games as a youngster. As far as asking players for autographs, usually the first day you get to an opposing teams park or the first day they get to yours, you can ask the clubby to grab you an autograph that you may want from an opposing player.

How do you approach fans who request items from you?

I'd say I sign most of my autographs during Spring Training, but usually before any game I will sign autographs or take pictures for fans. I find it fun and don't have any problem taking a few minutes out of my day to sign autographs. Hey, I think it's pretty cool that someone would actually want me to sign something for them in the first place!

What are your goals for 2011 from a professional standpoint?

I have a lot of goals for myself this season. My first goal is to stay healthy. I went my entire life up until 2009 without ever being injured, so I never knew what it was like to not be healthy enough to play baseball. I think if I can stay healthy I will have a very successful 2011 season. Ultimately, I want to get back to the Major League level and help the Nationals win a World Series.

Thanks for the questions!

SNOW, SNOW GO AWAY

2011-01-29T21:40:00.001-05:00

My low back hurts. No, it's not because I'm getting old, although I am closing in on 26 in a few more months. Man, does that sound depressing. My back hurts because I went outside and shoveled yesterday for about two hours. It has been a bad winter so far for the northeast part of the United States. We have had three snow storms, each about a week apart starting three weeks ago, and each storm is dumping more than a foot of snow on us. I feel like I live in one of those little snow globes that you shake and little bits of snow go all over the place. Well the guy that owns the one that I live in doesn't seem to want to stop shaking the damn thing! Apparently we could be getting another storm this Wednesday, which would make it the fourth week in a row. I took some video because first, I thought these snow banks were ridiculous, but mostly because it gave me a break from shoveling. Hopefully this is the end of the snow, and I hope everyone enjoys their weekend!

INSIDE THE MIND OF A FREE AGENT

2011-01-26T20:26:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great week. A few days ago I did an interview for The Biz of Baseball, a website that covers a lot of different aspects of both Minor League and Major League baseball. They wanted to know what it was like to be a free agent for the first time in my baseball career. Below is the segment of the article that I wrote, but if you would like to read the entire thing check it out here www.bizofbaseball.com I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

I received a call from my agent while eating dinner at my favorite local Mexican restaurant. I had been non-tendered by the San Diego Padres, the team that drafted me four years earlier in the 1st round, and would now be a free agent. When he first told me, I really didn’t understand what the whole “non-tendered” business was about, but I’ve been around sports long enough to understand what “free agent” meant. I guess it’s just a nicer way to let you know you’ve been released. To keep things simple, I was taken off the 40-man roster, allowing any of the other twenty-nine teams in the league to pick me up. It meant for the first time in my career I could go anywhere I wanted. That didn’t seem like such a bad situation. It also meant for the first time in my career I didn’t belong to a team, or even have a job for that matter. That was something I wasn’t used to.

There are a lot of different feelings that come with being let go by the team that drafted you, the team that you made your Major League debut with, and the team that you were planning on building a long and successful career with. For a lot of guys, including myself, it’s the first time in your life you’re told by someone in some way, shape, or form, “sorry, but we are going to go in a different direction.” I had never been cut by a sports team from the time I was a little kid, and I washed dishes and bagged groceries well enough in high school and college to avoid the dreaded call into the bosses office. Although I’ve had hundreds of teammates and friends released, traded, or ultimately call it quits, I never pictured myself having to go somewhere other than San Diego to play ball. It took a few days for me to fully comprehend how different 2011 would be.

I had gotten into a routine over the past four seasons of professional baseball. February was Spring Training in Peoria, Arizona. I knew the apartments I would stay at. I knew the locker room I would dress in. I knew the guys who would be my roommates. I knew the players I would take the field with. I knew the food I would eat, the coaches that would lead us, the trainers that would heal us, even the fans that would cheer us. I started to realize that would all change this time around. New places and new faces for the first time in a long time. The guys I was used to spending more than half of my year with would be different. That’s the harsh reality of a baseball player. You spend everyday for more than eight months establishing relationships with people, many of whom turn out being some of your best friends, and then one day they are gone. The truth is, it may be the last time you see someone once they leave your team. I can’t count the number of guys I have met and become friends with over my career that I haven’t seen since they left baseball and went on with their normal lives. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game and you get used to it.

After taking a few days to think about how different things would be next year, I ultimately put all that behind me and started to become extremely excited and motivated for a new season to start. I wanted to return to the field and show the Padres that it wasn’t the right decision to let me go, and the Nationals that they made a great choice in signing me. Like anything, when someone tells you they don’t really need you anymore you want to prove them wrong. Now I’m not saying I can’t see where the Padres were coming from. I’ve hardly played baseball over the past two seasons. After two surgeries and enough cortisone shots to kill a small horse, I’ve been limited to about fifty ball games in two years time. When I was healthy enough to play, things didn’t go the way I wanted them to on the field. I was constantly in search of my swing, which seemed to always allude me. I struggled to find any success, any consistency, any anything. Injuries and lack of production are two things that can be overlooked for a short amount of time, but do it long enough and there will be consequences. Baseball is a “what have you done for me lately” business, and unfortunately for me, I hadn’t done much.

The good news is, although the last few years haven’t gone my way, those years are in the past. After all that time on the DL, I’m finally hitting again at one-hundred percent. After completely losing my swing for two years, I have been taught what happened, why it wasn’t working the way it once was, and most importantly, how to fix it. Everything is finally starting to come together for me at just the right time. This year will be a fresh start for me, and what better way to start off fresh than with a fresh new team. In the end, everything that has happened over the last few months is part of the game. It happens everyday to guys from all over the world. You have to learn from it, and no matter how it makes you feel, it’s your job to move on and do the best you can do. I’m still playing baseball and it will be with a great organization. I’m feeling good things for 2011.

WHAT SHOULD I DO?

2011-01-24T16:44:00.000-05:00

Can you believe that Spring Training is less than a month away? I can't believe how fast the days are going. I'll be on a flight to nice, warm Florida in about three weeks, and I can't wait to once again see that big orange thing in the sky that some people refer to as "the sun." I've been doing all of my preparation for the upcoming season inside a giant building for the last three months, so it will feel great to finally be able to get outside and see real grass again. Here is some footage of me hitting last night, where my swing is getting closer and closer to game ready. Right around the corner.

OK, before I finish, I am just as sick and tired of watching the Brett Favre soap opera unfold on TV as all of you. I'd rather watch the Golden Girls with my Grandmother than have to turn on ESPN to hear about whether or not Favre would return for the 2008, 2009, 2010, or now the 2011 season, who the new recipient of a picture message is, or what message therapist is currently suing for sexual harassment. I will however watch this video a couple hundred times, and then maybe a few more. Whoever this guy is, he deserves a Golden Globe. Check it out!

*Warning, fake Brett Favre's vocabulary probably isn't for kids*

Have a great day!

WATCH THAT FIRST STEP...ITS A DOOZY

2011-01-21T17:12:00.000-05:00

I believe I have officially seen it all. Last night I was flipping through the channels on TV and turned to one of the news stations. It was a story about a woman who isn't very good at doing two things at once. Before I continue, check out the video below to see what I mean.

Now that you are done laughing, well probably still giggling a little, this really isn't even the best part of the story. First, I have no idea how you can possibly walk straight into a giant swimming pool in the middle of a mall. But the story gets worse, when it was later revealed that this woman actually works there. I guess during her 10,000 trips to and from work over the last few years she has failed to notice the insanely large Slip and Slide in the middle of her place of work.

Second, she is now suing the people you hear in this video for recording it and putting it on Youtube for millions to see. She says the embarrassment is just too much for her, and no one deserves to be humiliated like this. I guess I have to agree with her, nobody deserves to be humiliated on Youtube in front of millions of people. That is unless you happen to be caught on tape texting through the mall while taking a nose dive straight into a giant swimming pool!

Third, if you are that traumatized that 2,000,000 people have now seen your video on Youtube, it probably wouldn't be a great idea to take your ranting straight to every news channel in the country complaining about how these security camera workers should be fired and sued for what they have done to you. Youtube is no doubt an extremely popular website, but I'm pretty sure if she had just left the issue alone it wouldn't be getting broadcasted on people's TV sets across the country. Way to think things true.

Anyways, I better stop now before I receive a letter in the mail informing me that I am being sued for causing her further embarrassment. Good day people, and please don't try to text and swim.

MY TRIP ACROSS THE WORLD

2011-01-19T16:12:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. I hope everyone is having a great week. Today I wanted to throw a video up about some interesting things that happened to me when I was on the other side of the Planet. I hope you enjoy!

DON'T COUNT YOUR CHICKENS

2011-01-17T23:38:00.001-05:00

Have you ever been so confident in something happening that you convince yourself there is no possible way it of not happening? One of those things where there is a better chance of you getting struck by lightning three times, winning the lottery twice, and answering the doorbell for a yellow polka dotted elephant all in the same day. Well the Patriots winning yesterday's game against the hated New York Jets and eventually playing on February 6th in Superbowl XLV was one of those things. I was sure of it. I had already mentally planned for what I would do Superbowl Sunday. What type of snack foods I would buy. Who I would invite over. What team would have the honor of losing to the Patriots as they won their 4th Superbowl in franchise history. And what dance I would do to celebrate it all.

I woke up this morning in a cold sweat and kept asking myself, "Is there really no more football for me for another eight months?" This cannot be! It is too soon! It had to have been a bad dream and nothing more. I didn't mentally prepare myself for watching four other teams play next Sunday and not my beloved Pats. Things ended to abruptly and I think the shock of it all still hasn't worn off yet. The fact that I am sitting here typing this more than twenty four hours later proves that fact. I should have listened to that very fitting old adage, "don't count your chickens before they hatch."

This will be my last statement on the NFL until the draft roles around in April. I now believe, and also hope, that the Green Bay Packers will win this year's Superbowl. Aaron Rodgers seems unstoppable, and I really wouldn't be able to watch either the Jets or Steelers hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Go Cheese!

Now that football is over I will be concentrating very hard on my baseball swing this week. There are a few things that I want to work on as far as my swing is concerned, so I guess all this free time I will now have will serve me well as I continue to prepare myself for Spring Training. I can't believe it is only a little more than a month away before games officially get started. The winter's seem to be going faster and faster each year. I'm looking forward to getting into the nice warm Florida weather and getting the games going!

Well it is starting to get late so I better get going. I hope everyone has a great week back at work and I will talk to you later.

THIS IS DEPRESSING

PLAYOFF TIME!

2011-01-14T13:03:00.000-05:00

Hey guys, how is everyone doing? I haven't been blogging as much lately as I have in the past, and the main culprit has been Call of Duty Black Ops. I usually don't spend a whole lot of time playing video games, but after being convinced by some of my buddies that I need to join the Call of Duty cult, I obliged and purchased a copy. The last few nights have been spent with my XBOX headset present, talking trash to little kids around the globe. I'm actually not really the one talking much trash. These kids obviously don't spend much time doing chores, or anything other than sitting in front of their television sets for days on end playing 1st person shooter games. They are some of the best gamers I've ever seen, and it's really starting to piss me off. I hate the fact that I'll never be as good as these kids, unless I want to dedicate most of my days for the rest of my life to XBOX. I guess I'll just keep being the shitty kid that nobody wants to pick for their school recess dodge ball team. Damn you all.

On Wednesday we received almost fifteen inches of snow. That's the second time in only a few weeks that we have been absolutely crushed with more than a foot of the white stuff. I still can't take my car out, which is horrible in snow, because a lot of parking lots have still not been completely cleared. I learned this the hard way last night after visiting one of my favorite eateries, Outback Steakhouse. The roads have been plowed pretty thoroughly so we decided to take my car out to eat. It wasn't until I entered the parking lot that I realized I had made a big mistake. I spent the next twenty minutes trying to push my rear bumper while Laura took over the wheel. It felt a lot like a scene from Rocky IV where I was training in the Soviet Union before going toe to toe with my arch nemesis Ivan Drago. Pretty embarrassing considering there was probably only an inch of snow in the lot. Lesson learned, don't buy a rear wheel drive vehicle if you live in the northeast.

The NFL football playoffs have officially started and I am super pumped up for tomorrow's showdown between the Pats and Jets. I've never seen so much trash talking revolve around feet in my life. I feel like I'm watching an episode of All My Children every time I turn on ESPN. I do have to say though, one of my all-time favorite press conference was presented by Wes Welker a few days ago. I've never seen Wes publicly make any comments that could be construed as trash talking, but his last press conference was classic. It is pretty impressive that he could go through this whole thing and never once crack a smile. Here is a condensed version of it in case any of you missed it.

I hope everyone enjoys the weekend, and go Pats!

THE MAN, THE MYTH, THE LEGEND

2011-01-11T14:55:00.001-05:00

Hey guys! Today I wanted to take some time to pay tribute to the man, the myth, the legend, Mr. Mark Cinelli. Mark is the Performance Director at Catz Sports Performance, and is my trainer along with all of our other professional and college baseball players. OK, enough of my mumbo jumbo, lets see the man in action. And keep in mind people, Mark once visited the Virgin Islands. They are now referred to as "The Islands."

BEST VIDEOS OF 2010

2011-01-08T23:04:00.000-05:00

Since we are now in a new year I thought I would take a day to pick some of my favorite and most popular videos that I've made over the year and post them up here for everyone to watch. If you want to watch my other videos go to my Youtube page here ---> My Wicked Cool Video Collection I have some pretty good ideas for new videos, and because it's now 2011 they will have to be bigger and better than any videos I did to date. I hope everyone enjoys the videos and has a great weekend!

DAMN TURKEYS

2011-01-06T21:24:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a great week and is ready for the weekend. Since this week hasn't consisted of too many exciting things for me, I figured I would have some story time today. While eating Chiptole yesterday with my friend Alex he told a story that I thought I would share. My retelling of the tale will not do it justice, but I'll try my best.

As I was in the middle of stuffing my face with a Fajita Burrito with rice, extra veggies, chicken, mild and corn salsa, sour cream and cheese, Al was still preoccupied with what happened to him the day before.

"Dude you're not gonna believe what happened to me yesterday!" he said to me. If you knew him, you'd be used to hearing this type of beginning to his stories. For some reason really weird shit always seems to happen to him.

"I was going to visit my grandmother, so I went to buy her some donuts at Kane's." (Kane's is a local donut shop that is famous for pretty much all of their breakfast treats, but I love their honey dip donuts. They really may be some of the best in the world. If you haven't gone and live in this area I suggest you do. OK, Back to the story)

"I park the car and walk down the sidewalk towards Kane's. As I turn the corner of the building I look up and see this HUGE turkey standing at the door staring right at me. We made perfect eye contact with each other for like ten seconds. I didn't want to piss it off so I started to turn around to head back to my car. All of a sudden I heard feathers flapping furiously. I look over my shoulder and the thing is running right at me making crazy sounds. I said Holy Shit and start sprinting back to the car trying to open the door as fast as I could before the thing got me. The doors were locked and I didn't have time to find my key. I dove onto the hood and slid across to the other side. I took my keys and starting waving them at the thing to scare it away. It stopped for a minute so I dove in the passenger door. The thing was staring at me right outside the window so I started the car and took off down the street. I'm gonna get that turkey back though don't worry."

I wish I actually had a tape recorder while he was telling the story because it was way funnier the way he told it. Anyways, I didn't really believe him at first, but who the hell would make up a story about a giant turkey chasing you down the street when you're trying to buy your sweet old grandmother donuts. The thing that made me laugh the hardest was what happened next.

This morning I opened the paper to a random page while eating my breakfast. I couldn't believe what I saw on the page in front of me.

Enjoy your weekend, and if you're in the area watch out for the damn turkey.

JUST FOR KICKS

2011-01-03T16:18:00.000-05:00

Hi guys! How is everyone doing today? I hope you all had a great New Year's Day and are excited to get 2011 started off right. I really can't believe that it is already January. I feel like I just got home from Arizona only a few days ago and it's already been more than two months. In less than two months I will be at Spring Training in Florida getting ready for the 2011 season.

I've received a lot of questions lately about what I will be doing for my New Year's resolution. I honestly have never made a New Year's resolution before. I know it's a tradition, but for most things that I want to change I have to do it right on the spot and can never wait until the new year to change it. I guess I am a little anal when it comes to some things. Plus, I feel if I'm making a change just because it's a new year it probably isn't that important to me or I would have changed it already, and I'll probably quit on it after a few days. Here's kind of an example.

One thing that makes me laugh every year, and especially today, is my gym. I do my training at a place called Catz Sports Performance, but every now and then I stop into Planet Fitness to get a quick workout in. On most days I park three spots from the front door, walk in, and jump on the first treadmill I see. But every year on January 1st I pull into the parking lot and can't find a space within a quarter mile of the place. I have to park across town and battle my way through the cold and wind to get inside, where I'm met with a line longer than the one at the Apple Store when a new Iphone has just been released. I'll usually take a week or two off before I decide to head back there for a workout. By about January 20 I'll show back up, park three spots from the door, and jump back on my favorite treadmill. So much for that damn New Year's resolution.

Switching "geahs" for a minute, I was looking through my closet today and saw a few pairs of my favorite sneakers. I don't know what it is about shoes, but I have a few pairs that I think look so nice that I've never wore them. I've decided to have a little fun and have everyone post their coolest pair of sneakers online. Go to my Facebook page here ----> Matt Antonelli Fan Page and upload a picture of your sweetest pair. Here is a pair I'm digging big time. I bought these about a month after the Celtics won the NBA championship in 2008. I still haven't worn them yet.

Send me your pictures of some sick kicks and have a great Tuesday!

CHRISTMAS CAMP

2010-12-31T13:33:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! The past few days I have been pretty busy with a Christmas hitting camp that we do every year for many of the local Little League and AAU players in my neck of the woods. It is always fun to teach the little ones some of the things that I've learned over the past few years of playing professional baseball. It is also fun to listen to the stuff that comes out of some of the kids mouths. We always have a question and answer segment at the end of camp where I get to answer questions from the kids. One five year old all-star asked me approximately fifteen times if I liked to eat chicken for dinner. Not only do you get quality baseball advice, but we care about helping our countries youth with their eating habits. You can see why we are one of the best camps in the country!

Anyways, on a serious note, I hope everyone has a safe and happy New Year! Below is some highlights of our camp.

P.S. Anyone that is driving outside tonight, watch out for the snow. The roads around here are wicked slippery. See!

BO KNOWS

2010-12-28T16:29:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! Today's blog post is for the kids. Listen, there are a lot of baseball people out there that give great advice for how to be a better hitter. They teach you how to take a stride. How to transfer your weight. How to drive the ball for power. And how to look pretty while doing it all. But what happens when things aren't going your way? Baseball is a game of failure you know. If you fail 70% of the time in the Major Leagues, chances are you're going to the Hall of Fame. But what do we do when we are failing 80% of the time? Some coaches will tell you to stay positive. Focus on the good things that are happening. It's all rainbows and butterflies and compromise. I think that's a Maroon 5 lyric, but you get my point. Some will say your last resort is a good ole' slump buster. Actually I take that back, I forgot, this is for the kids. Well, I say all that stuff is for the birds. Sometimes you have no choice but to resort to plan B. Here is a friend of mine demonstrating the proper action to take when you've gone 0-4, can't even sniff a fastball, and your bat has a hole in it. Good luck kids!

TRIVIA WINNER

2010-12-27T21:45:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone that participated in the trivia contest. The correct answers were #9 for the Storm and #23 for the Missions. There were a lot of people that answered correctly, and also a lot of people that answered one but not both correctly. The first two people to answer correctly were Alexander T. and Shelley from New Mexico. Congratulations to you both! If you won please send me an email with where you would like me to send the shirt and if you would like me to sign it or not. Thanks again for playing and good luck to everyone next time we play again!

WIN A PADRES SHIRT

2010-12-27T19:53:00.000-05:00

Here is how the game is played. The first two people to answer this question correctly will receive a Padres shirt that many of us wear under our uniforms during the season (seen below). You can send your answer to mattantonelli9@gmail.com, on Facebook, on Twitter, in the comment section below, or any other way you can think of. If you think a carrier pigeon will get it to me the fastest you can try that. Like I said before, if you would like me to sign the shirt I will, but by no means must you get it signed. Maybe you live in the San Diego area and would like one of my other buddies on the Padres to sign it for you. That would be just fine. Good luck to everyone and let's do this!

In 2007 I played for both the Lake Elsinore Storm of the California League and the San Antonio Missions of the Texas League. The question is, what number did I wear as a member of the Storm, and what number did I wear as a member of the Missions? You must get both numbers right to win the shirt. Remember, it is the first two people to answer correctly, so hurry up!

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

2010-12-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

What's up guys? I hope everyone had a great holiday season and really enjoyed Christmas Day! I spent Christmas Eve eating dinner and exchanging presents at both Laura's family's house and at my relatives. Nothing like trying to get your holiday travel plans in order to make sure you can get to every one's house before the night is over. The good news was we ate chinese food at both places. Jackpot!

Santa was pretty good to me come Christmas morning. Even though I'd been trying to cut back on my video game time over the past few months, it didn't stop me from receiving Call of Duty and NBA 2k11. I figure everyone has to make a little time for video games every now and then no matter how old we get. One thing I have been really interested in lately is learning a new language, so my girlfriend bought me Rosetta Stone Italian. My generation is the only generation of my family that doesn't have a member that can speak Italian, so I figure I'll just have to start the trend and be the first. If anyone out there can speak it fluently I expect you to stay on my case and make sure I'm putting in the time to learn. Maybe we can have a pop quiz at some point in the future.

Today I am enjoying my time in the house watching the Patriots beat up on the Buffalo Bills. It is 34-3 right now so I think I can start to relax. It also just started snowing outside and we are going to get hit with a blizzard of up to two feet of snow. I'll probably be spending most of my night by a candle once we lose power playing Clue or Monopoly. Nothing like the good ole' days.

Before I sign off, I want to remind everyone that tomorrow I will have a trivia question and the first two people to answer correctly will receive a signed San Diego Padres shirt. They will be the dri-fit shirts that we wear under our jerseys. Send your answers to mattantonelli9@gmail.com or in the comment section below. Good luck to everyone tomorrow and have a great remainder of the day.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

2010-12-22T21:27:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone is having a great week and happy holidays to all. I haven't been writing as much on the blog the last few days because of everything that's going on this week. I've been trying to do some last minute shopping for a few people, which always takes up more time than you anticipate. I actually still have no idea what I am going to buy for my girlfriend. It's OK though, since she doesn't know what she is going to get me yet either. I still have another two days to figure it all out.

Over the last few weeks I have been hitting like usual, and things seem to be going well. The swing feels good and the wrist is feeling even better. I'll throw a video below of a few swings I took today.

I wanted to let everyone know that I will be having a holiday giveaway this coming Monday. Since I am no longer with the Padres I thought I could sign a few of my shirts and mail them to the winners of a trivia contest. If you don't really like me, but really like the Padres, I don't have to sign it. It is totally up to you guys. I will give everybody a heads up what time the question will be posted on Monday. The first two people to answer it correctly will win a shirt. Just to clarify, it isn't an actual jersey. It will be the shirt we wear under our jerseys with the SD logo on it. I would love to give a jersey away but I only have one of those.

Anyways, I hope everyone has a great holiday and I will speak with everyone after Santa gives me some wicked cool stuff.

I LOVE THE HOLIDAYS

2010-12-20T09:26:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I went to Barnes and Noble to buy a new book, The 4-Hour Body, by Tim Ferriss. I usually would never go shopping anywhere close to Christmas, but the book had just come out and I was looking forward to reading it. I realized pretty quickly that I had made a huge mistake. I'm not sure what people eat or drink before they decide to leave their house to do their holiday shopping, but it reminds me a little of that movie I Am Legend starring Will Smith, where when the sun goes down those scary looking things come out and try to eat your head off. People walk around and shop 10x faster during the Holidays. Even little old ladies on motorized carts turn into Ricky Bobby and want nothing more than to go fast. People are so afraid to miss something or let someone else buy something before they do. I'm not sure if they realized this, but Barnes and Noble has about 10 million books, and I'd bet they have more than one copy of their favorite literature.

I felt like a squirrel trying to cross a busy highway to get to all my buddies on the other side. Every time I took three steps I would have to stop and quickly look around before someone ran me over. At least in that case, most drivers would do whatever it takes to swerve quickly out of the way of our furry little friends. People shopping don't give a crap during the holiday season. I personally think they are looking for contact. If someone were to bump into you during a random day in July they would stop, apologize, and then walk slowly on their way. What ever happened to the Christmas spirit. People bump into you a week before Christmas, mumble to get the @&*% out of their way, lower their shoulder to get the all important Yards After Contact, and stumble their way into the end zone. Oh look, they have 48 copies of Harry Potter's volume 14 The Magic Wizard Stick, Touchdown!!!!

Outside there was an accident, about every fifteen minutes. Not only do people walk faster inside the mall, but they have no regard for any speed limit signs or any human life form in the parking lot. Yield to pedestrians on the cross walk? Yeah right. No passing over the double yellow line? Bite me. It's every man for himself out there, and if you get in some one's way you will pay the consequences. Pain! The damn parking lot is huge, but god forbid you would ever have to park and actually walk outside to your car. If holiday parking lot etiquette has anything to say about us, well, it says we're a bunch of assholes. The shitty part of this whole thing. I still haven't done my Christmas shopping yet. Shit.

This was actually one accident I saw when leaving the mall. I video taped it for you.

THE DECISION...

2010-12-17T15:11:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! The weeks seem to be flying by the last few months. I really can't believe Christmas is only a week away. I still haven't gone shopping yet, but that isn't anything new. When it comes to holiday shopping I rank towards the top of the list of procrastinators. I figure I will let everyone else battle it out for shopping mall parking spots and I'll sneak in the night before Christmas Eve.

I know I've been MIA the last few days when it comes to my blog. I have had a lot of different things on my plate this past week. I'm working out everyday during the week, started hitting and fielding more, and been weighing my options when it comes to free agency.

Over the past week my agent has spoken with a bunch of different clubs about the possibility of me joining their team come February. It really is an interesting experience when you are a free agent and have to weigh different options and ultimately decide where you are going to play. After looking through the potential destinations last night I decided this morning that my best opportunity was to sign with the Washington Nationals. I am really excited for Spring Training to get back to playing again and being a part of their team. It has been a while since I've had the chance to be out on a baseball field and I know it will feel great when I'm able to do it again, especially this time being fully healthy. I've received a lot of emails and messages from Padres fan letting me know they will continue to follow me and cheer for me even though I'm no longer with their organization. I really appreciate that and thank you to everyone that has read my blog or shared a chat or two over the past few years.

Anyways, thanks again to everyone for the good luck wishes. I've got a date at the batting cage in a few minutes so I will talk with everyone soon. Enjoy the weekend!

FANTASY FOOTBALLS FOR GIRLS ANYWAY

2010-12-14T15:22:00.000-05:00

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a good weekend. I thought my weekend was going great, with the Patriots beating the Bears and my fantasy team up by 26 going into the Monday night game, until I woke up this morning. I found out that Andre Johnson scored 26 points exactly, meaning we tied 84-84. Our league never ruled on what the tie breaker would be, so apparently it was determined today that because I had lost to my opponent in the regular season he would advance to the playoffs. As you can see I am still pretty upset about the decision, but one day I will get over it and move on. Just not today.

Some interesting things happened over the weekend that I thought I would talk about today. I woke up today to a bunch of messages from Phillies fans letting me know that Cliff Lee signed with their team. Not really sure why people were writing to tell me this, considering I'm not really a Philadelphia fan, but I guess they just couldn't contain their excitement and had to let everyone know. I won't lie, that is one bad ass pitching rotation. I wouldn't want to see them in a playoff series that's for sure. I found it crazy that for the past few weeks it had been nothing but Yankees and Rangers talk, and then all of a sudden you wake up and hear the Phillies were the team. In today's world where Cliff probably can't even pick a booger without Buster Olney reporting on it, I'm surprised nobody really was reporting that the Phillies were in on the running. Good for them though, that's a great signing.

If anyone watched the Eagles vs. Cowboys game on Sunday night you know that after the game Tashard Choice ran over the Mike Vick and asked him to sign his gloves. I know that Tashard has since said he wanted the autographed gloves for his nephew, and I really don't care who they were for. What I don't understand is why I had to watch them talk about this for the last day and a half on SportsCenter, ESPN 2, and every other sports channel. It was a stupid autograph. Players do that stuff all the time. At the end of soccer games players take their jerseys off on the field and trade with each other. Baseball players send the clubby over to the opposing team's clubhouse before the game to grab some of their favorite player's autographs. It happens in every sport. I agree, from the time the game starts until it ends players need to forget about their friendships and do whatever it takes to win the ballgame. But after they have laid it all on the line for 60 minutes, I don't care if they all want to hug each other and sing kumbaya together.

The last thing is with regards to me being a free agent. I can't count the number of emails I have received from people asking where I will be playing next year, and if I have heard anything new about my situation. Over the last few weeks we have talked to a bunch of different teams, including the Padres, and are about to make a decision in the next few days. People have asked me to explain what will be the determining factor when it comes to deciding on a team. The main thing for me is opportunity. I want to pick a team that gives me the best opportunity to play in the Major Leagues. Everything else is pretty much secondary. Right now there are some opportunities that are better than others, so it will be my job over the next few days to decide which opportunity looks the best for me. I should know more about what's going on in the next 72 hours or so and I will keep everyone posted. Have a great week and I'll talk to you soon.

P.S. This bird has better rhythm than the majority of people I've seen out at night.

YOOOO ADRIAN!!!!

2010-12-11T12:09:00.000-05:00

Ever since last week when it was announced that the Padres and Red Sox had come to an agreement to trade all-star first baseman Adrian Gonzalez for four minor league prospects, I've been asked countless times by fellow Bostonians for my Peter Gammons like analysis of the trade. As many of you know, I live a few miles outside Boston, and even though the weather outside is around 20 degrees and there is snow on the ground, Red Sox fever is as alive as ever. The thing I've found surprising is that even though people around here know so much about baseball, many don't know as much about Adrian as they probably should. I guess it makes sense being that Padres games don't start until after 10 PM east coast time, and many people have retired to bed by that time, preparing to beat the early morning traffic. Living on the west coast for the past five years, you forget how big a part the time difference actually plays when it comes to watching west coast sports. I figured since I've been asked a couple million times to talk about the deal I would take a day and go through it here.

The biggest question I've been asked by Red Sox fans since the trade is, "Do you think Gonzalez is worth the $150 million." My reply has always been, "if any hitter in the league is worth that much dinero, he definitely is." I don't know if I can think of anything Adrian doesn't bring to the table with regards to both his baseball ability and intangibles. He is a gold glove defender, maybe the best defensive first baseman in the league. He hits, hits for power, hits for average, drives in runs, hits doubles, hits home runs, gets on base, walks a ton, and does it all while playing in one of the toughest ballparks for a hitter in the league. He is a great clubhouse guy. He is a team player, wants to win, is humble, a leader, and great in the community. I don't know if there is a single thing the guy doesn't do. I guess he doesn't steal bases, but if you need that just go out and grab a guy like Carl Crawford...oo wait, never mind.

Although I have only been able to play with him for three Spring Trainings and a small sample of Major League games, I have still been able to learn a lot from him. Without acting like that Kevin Bacon super fan on the Google TV commercial, I've tried to listen and learn from him as much as I could. Two things stick out in my mind when I think about what I've learned over the past few years.

The first thing is his approach to practice and his pursuit to be one of the games best players. Being infielders, we would spend a lot of time in the batting cages at the same time during Spring Training. Everyone knows that Gonzo is one of the best in the game at using the entire field. He has an unbelievable ability to take an outside pitch, and even a pitch that is off the plate, and drive it to left field for a double or home run. Many people may think this just comes naturally, but I know from watching him that he works tirelessly on this skill. From the first swing in the batting cage he puts a ball on a tee low and outside and hits ball after ball to left field. The crazy part is he rarely doesn't hit the ball exactly where he wants. It is pretty impressive to watch.

He takes this approach from tee work, to soft toss, to batting practice. If he wanted to he could come to the plate during BP and hit home run after home run 450 feet into the right field bleachers. I know if I had his power and ability I would. I'd also stare at the ball until it hit the stands, take a small walk around the batting cage to make sure everyone knew it was me that hit it, maybe take a slight bow or two, and then return to repeat the process. But that's besides the point. Instead, he works on hitting line drives to left field, over and over and over again. He isn't worried about what he looks like doing it. He doesn't need to show everyone the light tower power that he possesses. He is doing what he thinks is going to make him a great ballplayer, and what is ultimately going to help him be successful once game time rolls around. Pretty impressive.

The second thing I've learned is why he makes the hard plays look so easy. The biggest thing I've realized is he is not afraid to make a mistake, or mess up in practice, or even look stupid while doing it. We were on the practice field one day working on taking ground balls and short pop flies. During the pop fly drills he would start on the infield grass and chase pop flies down the right field line. These plays were hard, and he made them even harder by starting way in on the grass and having to run as hard as he could down the line while attempting to make an over the shoulder catch up against the practice fence. When it was my turn to go I stood in my normal position towards the outfield grass. As the pop up shot up in the air I was in good position to take a few steps backwards and make the easy catch as the ball practically landed exactly where I started.

After I made the catch he looked over and told me to move in on the grass so the drill wasn't so easy. Anybody could catch an easy pop up right at them, but the great players can make the tough over the head play into short right field. Where as I was just trying to make sure I made the easy catch, he was challenging himself to make the drill as tough as possible, not afraid if he didn't make the catch, or dropped a tough play. He wasn't afraid to mess up, and I was working on something so easy that I wouldn't screw it up. Although it's a little different when one is a seven year veteran who's job is already locked up, and the other is a minor league scrub just trying to make as little mistakes as possible in chance of making the team, but his statement really made a ton of sense and I'm glad he brought it up. It really made me adjustment the way I was practicing. Just a small example of how he makes his teammates better.

Anyways, there are a lot of other things I could talk about, but the blog post would go on forever and most people would flip over to Facebook to see some one's status update yelling at a former boyfriend that they don't need them anymore and their life is wonderful now that they are gone, all while crying into their pillow. I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'll talk to you later.

P.S. This is for all my Jets fans. Sorry about that.

GREAT STORY, COMPELLING, AND RICH

2010-12-08T12:43:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! A few weeks ago I did an interview that covered a bunch of topics around social media, baseball, and life in general. I thought I would through it up here for everyone to see. I hope you enjoy.

What attracted you to twitter?

I really liked the idea of Twitter for a few reasons. Number one, I think it is really cool how fast information is passed and also how many people you can reach in only one quick click of a button. I am able to follow a bunch of really interesting people and hear what they have to say and what they are doing. That is pretty cool. For me personally, it allows me to talk with people all over the world and fans of baseball so easily, it is awesome.

If you had the talent to do ANYTHING except baseball what would you do?

You will probably laugh, but I would want to play in the NFL or NBA. You can probably tell already that I have a weird fascination with sports, but I think it would be awesome to be able to play any professional sport. If I had to pick something other than sports, it would have something to do with business. I would like to run my own company, or work on Wall Street. Not one of the little guys, I'm talking Warren Buffett style lol.

Please choose only one of the following. Neither is not an option.

A) Win the World Series once, entire team free of injuries and trades. However before and after that you're on a team at the bottom of the division.
Or.

B) You win the League Championship Series every year but end up losing the World Series in game 7.

I'm going with A. The main reason for playing is to win the World Series. I'd rather win it one time than never win it at all.

What is your favorite baseball moment?

I have a lot of favorite moments in my baseball career so far, and hopefully a lot more to come. Being drafted and given the opportunity to play professional baseball would have to be one of them. Making my Major League debut would definitely be another, along with my first hit and home run of my career.

Since you can name your twitter followers. What will you call them.

Haha, I've never thought of this one before. I'll tweet that out today and see what people think I should do and then I'll get back to you lol.

EXCUSES ARE LIKE POEMS

2010-12-07T14:59:00.000-05:00

Hey guys. What a great Tuesday it is. Last night my New England Patriots laid the smack down on the New York Jets to take control of the AFC East and get the inside track to a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Then my fantasy team, which at one time qualified for the "shittiest fantasy football team imaginable" award, snuck in the back door to the fantasy playoffs. I will probably be bounced in the first round, but my motto has always been "just get to the dance and anything can happen." I am pretty excited for next Sunday to see what happens.

I have received a lot of emails over the weekend asking if I have had heard anything from teams or if I had a better idea about where I might be playing come next season. As of right now I am not really sure what is going to happen. I know my agent has talked with teams and he is down at the winter meetings in Orland, Florida as we speak. I should know a lot more once that is over and we have some time to sit down and talk. I will be sure to let everyone know what is going on once I have a better idea.

A lot of people are always asking me for baseball tips. One of my favorite things to do is teach baseball to younger players and offer any advice and wisdom that I have been lucky enough to acquire over the years of playing baseball. Below are some great baseball tips from one of my favorite coaches of all time. Check it out. I know it will make you a better ballplayer, and even if your not, you will get something valuable out of it. Enjoy!

FREE AGENCY

2010-12-03T14:33:00.001-05:00

Hello everybody! Hope you are all doing well today. I know a lot of people have already seen this online and have wished me luck on Twitter and through emails today, but I thought I would take a few minutes to let everyone know exactly what happened yesterday. Turns out I was non-tendered by the Padres, which basically means I am now a free agent and can choose to play for any team in the league. A lot of people have asked me to explain what "non-tendered" means, but I really don't know exactly how it works. I just know that if you are non-tendered, it basically means your contract was not picked up by the team and you are no longer with them. Over the next few days I will be talking to teams around the league and will have to decide where I want to spend next year playing. This is the first time in my career that I haven't belonged to a team, so it does feel kind of weird, but I know I will catch on with someone and do well this coming year. I am really looking forward to it. Thanks again to everyone that has wished me well and cheered for me over the past few years, I really appreciate that.

On my last blog post I said that I was given a drug test a few days ago, and I would make a video explaining exactly how it works since I was asked by so many people. Here you go! I hope I did an OK job of answering every one's questions. Enjoy!

WE TALKIN' BOUT PRACTICE!

2010-12-01T09:22:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody. How is everyone doing today? I can't believe it is already December. I feel like it was summer about three weeks ago. I know I will probably jinx myself with this one, but I am surprised I still haven't seen a single snow flake since returning home about a month ago. Hopefully we can keep it that way for at least a few more weeks.

Yesterday morning I had to wake up at 830AM for a MLB drug test. It was the first time I've had a drug test during the off-season, which is a little surprising after five years. The good news is, that although I haven't been seen in a real game in so long they still know that I am alive. Always a positive thing. I got a lot of questions on Twitter asking how the test works and all, so I made a video about it that I'll throw on here in a few days. If I had to give a one word description of the event, I'd probably go with...uncomfortable. At least now I should be good for the rest of the winter.

Anyways, I'm always receiving questions, especially from young ballplayers around the country, asking what type of stuff I do during the off-season to get ready for baseball in the spring. It is tough to go through absolutely everything, but I figured I would tape some of my workout that I got in last night. I still have about three months until Spring Training, so most of my stuff is very controlled in a batting cage. Once we start to get closer to the season I will start taking more ground balls out on the turf field and also start hitting more live pitching. Hope this helps you guys out that were asking.

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday.

THE OFF-SEASON

2010-11-29T14:22:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a really nice and relaxing post Thanksgiving weekend. A few weeks ago I wrote a blog post for Jeff Bercume, a player in the Oakland Athletics organization. You guys can check out his blog at www.108stitchez.com where he does a great job of writing about all types of various topics.

In the post I wrote a little bit about what a typical off-season is like for me. I tried to go through the things I've learned throughout the past four years, and how my off-season preparation has changed since I was drafted. I hope you guys enjoy!

Over the past few years I've been asked a lot of different questions regarding the off-season of a professional baseball player. For eight months out of the year, fans of baseball get to watch their favorite players lay it on the line 162 times during the summer. Then all of a sudden one fall day, they disappear. I don't know about you, but for the die hard baseball fan, life without baseball just isn't the same. Yeah, we've got Dancing With the Stars and Two and a Half Men to watch at night, but it just doesn't compare to watching Pujols take one deep or Ichiro climbing the right field wall and rob a home run. If you're like me and live north of the Mason-Dixon Line, it feels like an eternity before we emerge from our igloos for the start of Spring Training and a new season. As a kid I always wondered where players go, and what they do when they aren't playing. Well, now that I've played professionally for the past five years, I'm one of the guys that's doing the disappearing. Everyone has a little different way of spending those months from November until February, but I'll do my best to explain what the off-season is like for me in my home of Boston, Massachusetts.

The first day during the off-season is always the oddest. It's the first time in more than eight months that you wake up, and really don't have anywhere to go. It's the first time you probably won't be jumping on a plane, or even worse a bus, and heading to another city for that week's series. It may be the first time you'll actually sit down and have a home cooked meal. Actually I take that back. I can't cook to save my life, so I'll be eating out, just not at my favorite "in-season" restaurant, McDonald's. For a lot of players it's the first time you get to see your entire family since February, lay in a comfortable bed, and go to sleep before 2 AM.

Don't get me wrong, playing baseball for a living is great, and it's what I've wanted to do since I was a little kid. But there are a lot of things you miss out on while away from home, and it feels great to have them all back again. Me personally, I'll usually spend a week or so enjoying all of these goodies while resting my body up for a long season of repeatedly beating the crap out of myself. People may make fun of baseball player's for not being tough or for playing a "non contact" sport, but the season absolutely takes a huge toll on your body. OK, stop laughing, I'm serious. We all need a little time to step back and relax for a while before next season's preparation begins.

I remember watching a video clip a few years ago of Alex Rodriguez having a conversation with Willie Mays, arguably two of the greatest baseball players of all-time. Alex Rodriguez, known for his outstanding work ethic, especially during the off-season, was asking Willie about his off-season workout and conditioning program. He asked how many swings he would take, how many miles he would run, and how many push-ups and sit-ups he would perform. The answer to all three questions was, none.

I, like Alex, was amazed at how drastically things have changed over the years. Baseball has become a year round job, a far cry from the 1950's when almost every Major League player would work a full-time job during the off-season to help support their families. To compete with the millions of baseball players around the globe in today's game, training for baseball has become a year round job. Baseball has truly become a national game, and if you think you can play at the Major League level and not put the work in during the months of October, November, December, and January, it isn't going to happen. There really is no "off-season" anymore.

After being drafted in 2006 by the San Diego Padres, I was thrown into professional baseball without any real knowledge of how it worked. As far as learning what it takes to get yourself ready for the upcoming season, I pretty much learned on the fly as most of the guys do when they arrive to start their careers. After playing my first season in Eugene, Oregon, running from the middle of June until the beginning of September, and then attending fall Instructional League until the end of October, I was given the next four months to myself back in my home town of Peabody, Massachusetts. This was literally the first time in my life where I was on my own to do whatever I pleased. It was my job to figure out what I thought would benefit me the most as a baseball player and go at it. The team gives you a workout schedule that they prefer you do, but nobody is there to hold your hand and make sure you get your workouts in everyday. Some guys take a few months off once the season ends, and some guys get right back at it the day they get home. Some prefer to hit throughout the off-season, and some don't pick a bat up until Spring Training is about to roll around. As nice as it sounds to sleep all day and eat nothing but In N Out "Double-Doubles", it probably wouldn't be the best thing for my career. I'll usually take a week off to rest and then start lifting weights and working on my speed and agility at a local sports and conditioning facility near my home town. I'll begin my baseball work by taking ground balls and batting practice in an indoor baseball facility around the beginning of November.

My off-season routine has changed a lot from my first off-season in 2006. I've learned a lot about what works and what doesn't. During my first off-season I had one thing in mind, to get BIG and STRONG. Thinking I could improve my power numbers I went from my normal 205 pound frame to around 225 pounds, and my home runs went from 21 to 7. Not exactly what I had in mind. My next off-season I learned from my mistakes and worked on my body composition and adding strength, all while keeping my body fat down. That off-season I worked so hard on my body, I forgot to make sure my swing was ready to go for Spring Training. It was another season of disappointing offensive numbers.

It wasn't until last season that I put everything together. I entered that season in the best shape of my life. I hit three times a week during November and December and five times a week in January. In February I hit everyday leading up to Spring Training. I had my best Spring Training of my life and was ready to continue with the best regular season of my young career. Unfortunately, I broke my hand a week before the season started and spent almost the entire year on the disabled list. Now that a new off-season is here once again, I know exactly what needs to be done to put myself in the best position to have a great season, and I can't wait to get everything going.

Well, I hope I did an OK job at helping everyone understand a little bit of what my life is like during the winter. I guess to wrap things up, Rogers Hornsby said it best when it came to baseball off-seasons. "People ask me what I do in winter when there's no baseball. I'll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring."

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2010-11-25T18:11:00.000-05:00

Hey guys! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving today. Thinking back to when I was a little guy fighting epic battles in Mike Tyson's Punch Out and cooking gourmet meals with my sister's Easy Bake Oven, Christmas was definitely my favorite holiday. Now that I'm older and my boy Saint Nick doesn't bring me those wicked cool gifts anymore, Thanksgiving has taken over the top spot on my favorite holiday list. Any day that revolves around football and food is just fine in my book. I spent the morning waking up at 6 AM and driving an hour to watch my high school football team play in their annual Thanksgiving Day game. It's a pretty cool tradition that we have in Massachusetts where you play your rival school every year. We ended up winning, and by doing so qualified for the playoffs. Woopidiedoo!

When I got back from the game I got to watch my New England Patriots beat up on the Detroit Lions while I ate a big ole' turkey over my families house. My Thanksgiving Day meal is pretty much the same as every other meal I eat since I'm so picky, but I still love it. Turkey, mashed potatoes, corn, some cranberry sauce, topped off with a slice of apple pie and vanilla ice cream. That's what I'm talking about! All in all it was a great day. Now it's around 6 PM and I'm just about to hit the sofa for some nap/pass out time.

Before I do, I wanted to throw some videos up. The first one is of me hitting a few days ago. I am glad I put it up here because I can see some things I need to work on a little bit with my swing. I am still pretty happy at how I feel considering I haven't been able to hit very much in a long time. A few more weeks and "look out!"

The second video is me answering some questions I received on Twitter. You can write to me at www.twitter.com/mattantonelli9. I figured I could kill two birds with one stone and answer them while I drove to my workout. I survived without receiving any tickets or hitting any innocent bystanders, so that's a positive. Anyways, once again I hope everyone had a great day and enjoy the long weekend.