The Waiting Game

Yes, I get it, selfies in the mirror are a horrible teenage girl
thing to do, but I had to.  The new BP cage jackets have zip
off sleeves so that they can be worn in all weather.

Well, I'm still in Arizona, I still haven't heard about my visa and so I remain in limbo so to speak.  Prior to Thursday's practice I wandered around the clubhouse on my phone with my agent, Blake and the scout that selected me Jim Bretz.  All of us were trying to figure out what the latest news was, trying to see who had the most information about a situation that has proven to have very limited information available.  I got off the phone and was a little bit upset by the fact that nobody really knew anything.  It's very frustrating having to wait for paperwork to get approved, while knowing full well I'm ready to play. I also took the extra time I had at the clubhouse to make myself a purchase in the equipment room.

I was scheduled to hit in a live batting practice off of one of the new high school draft picks Walker Lockett.  He's a big ol' right hander who throws an easy 90 mph.  In baseball there are two types of pitchers, those with easy motions, and the max effort guys.  The easy arm, easy 90 mph guys are tougher to face because as a hitter the ball tends to get on you faster than you expect.  Lockett was no different.  The ball seemed to jump at me, and he had good sink, two things that made my second time seeing live pitching since Omaha very difficult. I grounded out 3 times and didn't really hit the ball hard.  I headed back to the clubhouse to hang out and walked in to find that every athlete's favorite event was underway.  Three tables were set up in front of the bathroom blocking the entrance, and there was a line of players heading toward the first table.  ID's were in hand, as players paced about, chugging bottles of water, cups of Gatorade or any other liquids that might make the experience easier.  It was a surprise drug test.  Every player on the roster (which meant Cade Krueter, Walker Weickel and myself were exempt) had to go through the process of checking in, selecting their cup, labeling it under the watchful eye of the check in guy and then waiting for the ultimate in awkward experiences.  Once inside the rules are simple, shorts below the knees and shirts tucked under the chin, while a second man stares to ensure that "everything" is real.  I'll avoid the gory details but I will say there were some rather funny moments.

I made my AZL coaching debut in the game against the Mariners, coaching at first base.  I did my best to make sure I had coaching swag, blowing bubbles in between pitches, giving the occasional "humbabe" with a clap and wandering around near first base trying to look occupied.  I must not have done a good job because I was only out there for two base runners in my four innings.  They didn't want to over work me in my first outing, so I came out after four, tipped my helmet to the crowd that was giving me a raucous standing ovation and went into the clubhouse to ice my shoulder.  Okay, slight exaggeration but I was done after four.  We lost the game, in an ugly display of striking out too much, and making weird base running mistakes.  The post game meal was steak and potatoes and was surprisingly good.  I headed back to the hotel and went to sleep.

Friday was our day off, so me, Max, his girlfriend Cami, Efflin, Cam Stewart, Christian, Mike Kelly, Kelly's girlfriend and Griffin all went to the water park.  We went on all the slides, we raced down the mat slide (it was the first time I've lost, thanks in large part to a bad false start).  We finished the day by getting Dip'N'Dots, the ice cream that is served in tiny little dots.  I had a LOL sized (lots of layers) cup with cookies and cream, strawberry and cookie dough.  It was delicious.  We packed up and headed back to the hotel.  I took a nap and then ordered chinese food from PF Changs.  I ate at the hotel, and then met up with Otto, Krueter and Boss for a 10 o'clock movie.  We saw Savages, a really cool, sick, twisted action movie.  It was good, but rather mind boggling.  We walked back to the hotel and that was all she wrote.  I was asleep by the time I got through the door of my room.