I just got off injury but the flu’s been bugging me and that’s why I haven’t written in here in a week or so, so once again don’t mind me. The ACL is feeling a whole lot better but it has hindered me a little bit in my swing and it has shown in my play. My batting average has slipped to a .282. Despite that Coach has been having me steal a bit more and since I last wrote I’ve up my steals stat up to 9 on the year. I’ve knocked in a bunch more runs as well and now have 32 but the number I like are my doubles. 11 of my 71 hits on the year are doubles and got 2 triples also.
At this point the team is one of the best if not the best single-A club in the NEBL. We’re 66-54. I’ve been lucky enough to contribute a lot of my play to that this year and who knows, maybe we’ll win the single-A championship (if there even is one; to be honest I don’t know).
Lots of crazy things have been going on in the NEBL, a little scary but too be honest I like the drama. Mike LeClair is having a baby, the NEBL is no longer expanding after this season but will post-2012, and suddenly Elmira is atop the NEBL again. WHAT?!?! Yea…
Till next time ladies and gents, peace and love! Stay safe and keep reading because I’ll be writing. This is my life.
Well it happened again…I’m injured. This time it’s a pulled ACL and to be honest it hurts like a bitch. When it happened I thought for sure I tore it, it just did not sound good at all but the Doc said it’s just a pull and I’ll be back and playing in 4 weeks…I guess that’s better news than I thought I was gonna get, right?
I have to admit…I’m miserable. 4 weeks of no baseball? At this rate I’ll never get to the majors with all these damn injuries. No one’s gonna want the Kerry Wood of second basemen on their major league squad. I was doing so well too, hitting .316 with a homer and 24 ribbies. Been showing off my speed too with some crazy doubles and triples. That last triple is actually what got me. I pulled it right before I went in for the slide on my second triple of the season. I still made it, it just hurt a shitload. I finally got my walk to strikeout ratio to improve and it sits at 26:24…not bad I guess considering where I had been a few weeks ago.
Eh…4 weeks, I honestly don’t think I can do it. I’m gonna go nuts in the clubhouse unable to play. The Doc’s got me wearing a little soft brace on it and doing all these weird stretches and stuff…I hate it. I just want to play. God, I’m bitching like a little girl. Whatever…I’ll talk to you guys all soon again I’m sure…once this injury goes away…
With the season in full swing and entering its second half, a lot of drama seems to have sparked among players and GM’s alike in the NEBL. Over what you ask? Expansion.
As it seems the NEBL as a whole voted sometime before the season on the topic of expansion and whether or not to have it after this 2011 season. The vote was 20-10 in favor of expanding after this season. Now, months into the season there’s a different tone coming from the players and GM’s of the NEBL. We’ve got all-stars threatening retirement (including Oceanhawk pitcher Shannon Young), GM’s stepping down, and everyone arguing over an idea of how to settle this.
In all fairness this is LeClair’s league which usually means he should be able to do whatever he wants especially since looking at the league I think it could be a good thing but it could also be a bad thing. Could it hurt trying? I don’t think so. Teams are worried about money and players that they’ve been working so hard to earn and argue that it is not fair to what they have been trying to build of their team. One aspect you feel for them, the other you say…drop the dead weight. Each team does have plenty of players to drop 5 major leaguers and 5 minor leaguers or so it seems but they don’t think it’s fair. To be honest I don’t know much; I’m just the new guy who doesn’t know anything about the real business about this game so maybe that’s the truth. Maybe it’s not fair to the “smaller, less successful” teams to get rid of 10 players, I don’t know. Hell if it needs be, I’ll go to one of the new expansion teams. As much as I look forward to playing for Hartford someday, I’ll take a shot with a brand new team anyday. What better way to begin my career than with a new team to the NEBL? I don’t know, all I know is all this bickering is distracting and all I want to do is play some baseball.
Isn’t that what this is supposed to be about?
Well I hadn’t written in here in about a week and for that I apologize. Thing is I was tending to an injury I got in the last stretch of games to my shoulder and had that on my mind over writing in here for you fans.
I didn’t miss all that much time so that was a good thing but it was definitely weird the first game back with my shoulder still tightening up a bit. Despite that I’ve played great and definitely can’t complain. Through 33 games I’m batting .325 with a homer and 22 RBI’s. I’m really hoping for a call-up soon but I’m not sure it’ll be coming unfortunately. Besides all that we’ve been winning which is way more than I could ask for at the level I’m at right now. Winning is always most important to me so I take pride in playing for this strong, young Norwich team.
Probably the best game of my stretch was my 2-out game-winning double the other day vs. Halifax’s A squad. Nothing feels better than knocking in the game-winner so it was definitely something worth enjoying.
Well I’m out, all I know is…for Hartford…Patriot Cup or bust!
10 games down and I’ve started out well. I’m still down in single A but that’s fine with me for now. I’ve met a couple cool people on the team down here in Norwich, too. The best friend I’ve probably made so far is our shortstop Julio Suarez. He’s been on the single A club for awhile but hopefully pretty soon he’ll be called up to Greenwich to play some double A ball. He’s helped me a lot so far with getting used to Norwich and everything and we’ve made a pretty sick duo on double plays in the infield maybe we can keep this duo going into double A, triple A, and maybe even the majors!
Thus far as I said I’ve played well. Through 10 games, I’m batting .281 with a homer and 11 runs batted in. Picked up a couple doubles and stuff but what I’ve really been looking to do is steal some bases; impress these scouts with my speed. It’s what got me around in high school and I want to transpire it into the pro game, just haven’t got the chance yet.
I’ve set some goals for myself this year, at least for the minors; if I get called up to the majors my goals will change. My goals are to hit at least .300 with 5 homers since I’m not much of a power hitter, pick up 50 RBI’s a long the way and a couple steals. Most importantly though I want to win. That’s really what I play for…yea a lot of this stuff is personal but I’ve got do great so I can get to the majors, reach that milestone. That’s always been my dream and I’m going to make it.
Man it’s late and I’m tired, better be off to bed for the upcoming set of games. Goodnight readers!
Hi, my name is Salvatore DaVinci; you can call me Sal or “Sally Baby” if you’d like as many of my friends do. I turned 17 just a month or so ago but today I got the best late birthday gift I could ask for: a contract to play professional baseball.
Probably since the second I was born I loved baseball. I can remember as far back as being 3 years old, watching Sports Center and taking down the stats from all the games that were played the night before. At 5, I was in little league smacking the ball off the tee and just a year ago I was a sophmore at Tottenville High School in Staten Island, NY starring on the field for the Pirates. I was an All-State Second Baseman and finished my sophmore campaign with a .427 batting average, 1 homer, 32 RBI’s, and 21 stolen bases in my team’s 26 games last season. Now I’m a part of a real professional baseball team and not just any team, currently the best team in the New England Baseball League, the Hartford Oceanhawks. For now, I’m going to be a part of their Single-A squad Norwich Sparrows but I’m more than honored to work my way through the system to get to where I want to be.
I can’t wait to get my chance in the majors. Hopefully I can earn my spot on their roster this season but if I’ve gotta wait it out, it’s no big deal to me. I’m one of the few lucky people who doesn’t have to wait through high school and college to get to where I want to be, I’m already almost there. The road has just begun.
