Im sitting here getting ready to watch the results show of American Idol and I have to say that this year is a solid group of singers. I have a couple of favorites, but I cant spill the beans yet. While I am sitting here making my predictions of who will still be here next week, I thought I would take you through the first week of the season.
It's been two weeks now since I have arrived in Columbus, Ohio- the new AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Let me tell you that from a fans perspective it is everything you could want in a minor league ballpark. Not to mention, its not too shabby for the players either. It has a clubhouse/bar feel with a pool table, dart board, shuffle board, numerous card tables and televisions. Plus, we have a full kitchen, tons of food and anything else a ball player could need.
Despite all of the excitement surrounding the new ballpark, we started the new season with a 9 day road trip that took us to all of the other teams in our division. With this first road trip there was a lot of excitement and nervousness floating through the locker room, and for good reason. The relief of getting out of spring training and playing games that really matter makes things more exciting all around. We started off the season on a great note with a big first win. We had a huge offensive run, which is something this team is capable of doing through out the season.
The rest of the trip didn't go as originally anticipated and ended up being a long road trip. We had plenty of highs and lows from myself getting hit in the head and requiring stiches, to other guys stepping up with some big hits and very solid pitching performances. During the second game versus Indianapolis, I got hit in the head with a bat while catching and ended up with 5 stitches. I was out for a couple games and it wasn't exactly the way I would have liked to start out the season. On top of that, the start of this season didn't exactly go as I had anticipated either. I started out the year batting 0 - 22. But besides that, we ended the road trip 4-5 and were more than ready to head home for the first game at the brand new field, Huntington Ballpark.
The home opener festivities in Columbus were awesome. We started with a parade and had a pretty solid fly-over before the first pitch The new park is really neat because it has a ton of baseball history. I also got my first hit of the year on opening day. Better late than never. We are all looking forward to a good and productive season.
Catcher Chris Gimenez will be blogging on this site a few times this season, and tonight is his first entry into the blogosphere. Good luck this year Chris.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
A New Era
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3 comments:
Nice post, Chris, and best of luck to you. I really think there's a spot for you on this team in the future with all the versatility you bring, and I know the bat will come around. Hope to see you and a lot of your Columbus buddies in Cleveland soon.
This is the beauty of baseball....whenever you are struggling, there are always those "turn the page" moments you can look forward to to clean the slate. Be it a new series, going on the road or coming home, the flip of the calendar to a new month, the all star break and so on. There is always *some place* you can turn to and say "I'm gonna turn it around." This is one of the most agonizing parts of baseball though, which is when your team or a select group of players start slow....everything is so damn magnified because it is such a stat driven sport and small sample size or not we all are guilty of putting too much into early results.
Chris' bat will surely come around, and I can't wait to joke with him about it when I get to Columbus again in a month or so and he is back to his normal numbers. Many know I am a big fan of Chris, and he does as well, and not just for his talent but because of who he is.....I can't wait until he is unleashed on the Cleveland fans and gets to play there, he'll be an instant fan favorite.
Good Luck this year Chris. You've been a good friend and great catcher for our son, and we very much enjoy you playing "his" game, calling pitches for his style of pitching. You always bring your "A" game to the field and we appreciate you being the consummate professional.
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