August 17, 2009
Just finished my first week here in Italy and I’m really enjoying myself. First off, this country is amazing on a lot of different levels. The food, the history, the beaches, the style, etc, etc.
It’s a pleasure to see how the Italians navigate life. They seem to have a nice pace to the day. Let me say one thing…they’re not scared of a two hour lunch and then a nap. It’s great, and such a change from that in the States.
As far as the baseball goes, that has been great too. These kids that we are coaching are unique. Geez, you have to be a little eccentric just to play baseball if you’re from a country like Uganda…and you have to be really interesting to play as much as these kids must have played to be as good as they are.
When I say good, I mean it. There will probably be upwards of 15 kids drafted to play pro ball out of this group, and many of them have yet to turn 16. There are another 20 kids that could easily play at the highest levels of junior college baseball in the States and they’re only the equivalent of high school juniors. A number of them could play for division I programs.
And the best part is they don’t know it. They’re eager and fresh and will run through a wall if you ask them to. They play the game with enthusiasm, joy and passion. You never see a thrown helmet or a bad attitude. You never see a kid who thinks the game owes him something.
As a whole they love the game for what it is, not what they can get from it. It’s really cool.
And it’s gonna be really cool when one of these kids makes it to the show.
August 14, 2009
I just got in to Italy and am battling the jet lag. Like last year, I’m in a town just outside of Pisa working at Major League Baseball’s European academy. Basically MLB takes the 70 or so best players from all over Europe ages 15-20 and puts on a clinic for a few weeks.
Wally Joyner is doing the hitting, I’ve got the catchers, Barry Larkin has the infielders, Bruce Hurst and Lee Smith do the pitchers. John McClaren is the camp organizer. It’s a really well run affair spearheaded by Mike McClellan and his talented, hardworking crew from MLB. I’m really lucky to be here.
Anyway, more on all of that once we start getting into the camp and I’ve had a chance to see the 10 catchers play. I’m sure there will be a lot of instructional type blogs in the near future.
But for now, all I’ve got for you is some boring family shots of our trip to New York. Because my family couldn’t make the trip to Italy with me this summer, we spent a few days in NYC together.
We had a blast. We saw a show, ate well, walked a ton, went to the zoo, went to museums, rode on double decker buses, went in tall buildings, etc.
Here are a few shots from the trip…cheers.
Empire State building from the top of the rock.
Art from the MOMA, reminds me of Empire State.
The most poisonous animal in the world! Enough to kill 10 people in 1 frog.
Noah and Jaya in front of a Pollock.
Jaya and de Kooning.
Noah with Matisse.
The Natural History Museum.
August 9, 2009
This may seem entirely unrelated to baseball and athletic performance, but on closer examination, it is! File this one under, “health, staying healthy, getting every edge you can over the competition, taking your game to the next level.” You gotta take care of the machine and eating right is a good start.
So here’s what happened. A plant died in front of our house and to replace it, we decided to plant some food. This was a few weeks ago and BAM! Now we’re eating. So cool.
The little garden
Jaya fueling the baseball players
So in classic Mayne style, we ripped out the entire front yard and are in the process of planting a garden. I’ve been a vegetarian for many, many years so I’m pretty excited by this development. My neighbors are less than thrilled. I’ll keep you posted on the progress and results.
What's left of the front yard.
For those interested, check out this surprising list of famous vegetarians. Some notables, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison, Leonardo Da Vinci, Mister Rogers, Abe Lincoln, Prince Fielder!!!, Tony LaRussa. Cheers.
August 6, 2009
Not to scare you or anything, but I found this article on catching and permanent hand damage and thought I’d pass it on.
The secret to exiting the game with your hands intact is HAVE GOOD TECHNIQUE.
Yes, you’ll need a dose of luck too. No technique in the world is going to save your glove hand from a freak ricochet from a foul ball or something.
If you’ve got solid glove mechanics and you’re not getting yourself in compromised positions, the effects of catching shouldn’t haunt you.
How do you learn good technique? Easy. Do both these things and I’ll all but guarantee success.
One. Buy my book, The Art of Catching.
Two. Subscribe to my free newsletter.
It’s as simple as that. Here’s the medical article in it’s entirety. Enjoy.
The key to your catching success and safety.
