August 17, 2008
Here is my crew of catchers. From left to right they are…Chris Howard (Germany), Aschwin Rokx (Netherlands), Sytse Visbeen (Netherlands), Marco Sabbatani (Italy), Mattia Reginato (Italy), Robin Lausen (Sweden), Andreas Lastinger (Germany), Martin Cervanka (Czech Republic), and Markus Efferdinger (Austria). Remember these names, there may be a future big leaguer in this bunch. At the very least these guys will be bringing home fresh baseball knowledge that can help the future generations of ball players in their respective countries. This academy is spreading baseball around the world (and if it’s not already, making MLB some pretty good money). After all, it only takes a couple of Italians or Czechs or whatever to get the whole country excited. And that means t.v. money and so on….you do the math. Its obvious to me that, just like in the N.B.A., there will be a number of Europeans in the big leagues soon.
August 17, 2008
Big day off today. I’ll tell you what, everyone, staff and players alike, have been really looking forward to this day. We’ve all been working very hard. I’ve got to apologize for the lack of pictures on the blog…still haven’t quite figured out how to do it. Been learning a great deal about infield play and game management from the instructors here. I will share some of the nuggets with you soon. I also have some great images to share when I finally figure this thing out. Thank you all for your patience and thank you all for buying the book. I hope it helps out the baseball community.
August 13, 2008
Alright games have started as of yesterday (intersquad) and I’m a little tired. Players are doing great, playing hard and super receptive to coaching. More on them in a different post. Right now lets talk about whats important….me. Just kidding. Anyway, here is my daily schedule. Maybe its interesting, maybe just skip this post and catch me on another day. Wake at 6, workout a little, breaky, ride bike to the field (2mi), email time, coaching meeting at 830, dress, on field at 9 till 1230, break for lunch, back on field from 2 to 530, shower, bike back home, begin play time with kids and family, either intense pool time or sightseeing stuff, dinner, and drop into bed about 11. Now, if you do the math, I’m only getting 7 hours of sleep. One hour shy of my personal minimum. And its catching up to me a little. I’m getting a little tired and could use a half day or a day off to nap. Not happening. On the book note, Scott Walter, a baseball coach at Loyola in Los Angeles, bought the first book. Thanks Scott, your a brave man.
Brent
August 10, 2008
Alright, the baseball adventure has started. Where to start. I’ve got 8 kids from the age of 15 to 19. Apparently the scouts at MLB went young this year. They are from Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, and the Czech Republic. All of them speak good english or can speak good baseball. They all know all the baseball slang and many of them have alot of the big leaguer mannerisms. I would say talent wise they could all play at the junior college level in the States and a few of them have even more upside than that. Generally the most talented players seem to be from Italy or the Netherlands. Also, there are a number of coaches from all over the world taking notes and watching over our shoulders as we coach. I don’t blame them when you’ve got instructors like Rod Carew teaching hitting and bunting and Barry Larking teaching infield play and Bruce Hurst handing the pitchers. I’m learning as much about other aspects of the game as anyone. All in all a great coaching staff and a group of kids who are really eager to learn and have no problem working hard. I will try to provide some photos of the action for you all and keep you informed to the progress of everyone as this thing progresses. I would like to add that as far as the catchers go and the techniques that I’m teaching, they are taking to it like a duck to water. This just confirms my belief that this stuff can be taught to anyone regardless of skill level or what you’ve been taught. It just works. More later.
Ciao,
Brent
August 6, 2008
Well its been 4 or 5 days since I got here…kinda lost count. In those days I explored Lucca twice, Florence once, the coastline north of Pisa and took a couple days of rest. Went to the grocery store and still have no idea what I bought. All the packaging and sizes are different…not to mention the language (which I don’t speak or read). I think I got some milk and something that looks like rice but it might be risotto. Anyway, having a ton of fun mixing it up on the roads and going 100MPH on the autostrada, getting lost and exploring the towns. The people are nice and helpful. Baseball activities start tomorrow IF the equipment gets through customs. You never know. The Italians aren’t scared of taking a day or two off from work. And they aren’t scared of three hour lunches either. Pretty cool. My family is coming in today minus one. More news to come when the ball starts.
