Do the Japanese players in the MLB get lonely?

This past week most Red Sox fans were concerned with the outing that Dice-K had on Friday night. Simply put, it was terrible. If you missed it, be glad you didn't see it, and if you saw it, I was scratching my head too. Here is a guy who pitched fantastically in the World Baseball Classic, but then comes back to the Sox and can barely muster up any strike-outs. 

Francona puts him on the disabled list, and then everything seems okay.

But a couple weeks later Dice-K has fallen again, and no one can give an answer why.

Wait--one person can.

His translator.

Maybe I am too concerned with the wrong things when I watch baseball sometimes, or maybe I just pick out details. 

Does anyone else think that maybe the guy is ready to go to Japan? It must be hard to play on an American team and not be able to communicate with your own teammates or manager without a translator.

When I traveled to Italy and attempted to play field hockey there, I had a really hard time. A lot of the practices turned into two hour runs for me, rather than 2 hour games of field hockey. Baseball is slightly different as it doesn't require talking each second of the game, but it still requires communication with your team on and off the field. The only person I felt a real bond with playing field hockey over in Italy was the one girl from Spain who could speak English with me. Other than that, I had no one. Who does Dice-K have ? Is he getting lonely? How do he guys deal with not being able to communicate? Does it hurt him and the team? 

You got to wonder what is going on inside his head when he wants to crack a joke with the guys...and he just simply can't. 

Phillies Stadium

A Tiger in the Rough

Just when you get a little bit skeptical about if a comeback is possible--Tiger Woods proves that it is beyond possible.

When the scores of round one of The Memorial Tournament were released, I expected to see Tiger Woods at the top of the list.

1. No Tiger

Then after that a bunch of people tied for 2nd and 7th place. Still no Tiger.

I kept scrolling.

Ah there you are Tiger. Way down below the guys who are in 17th place.

I think to myself, "Man...I really wanted to see him win."

I don't know what I was thinking.

Yesterday, Tiger Woods won The Memorial Open. The guy is just unbelievable. I have several friends who have gone as far as to say that golf is not a sport. But looking at the way Tiger plays, I don't know how anyone can say that. First, the guy is a class act. He is modest, determined, and friendly. He goes out there and he does his job. He loves every moment of it. He is in shape. He possibly the best looking guy on the field. And he is simply nothing short of an extraordinary athlete.

People say that watching LeBron James is the highlight of sports.

No.

Watching Tiger Woods is the highlight of sports.

Watch here as Tiger makes an Eagle shot yesterday at the tournament. This is possibly the turning point in the entire match.

Tiger

In the conference room.....

There are days where you wake up and go to work thinking, "What great thing could happen to me at work today?"

The answer earlier tonight, for me, was having the opportunity to go down to Fenway for the pregame press conference with Manager Terry Francona.

There has been never a great--or more intimidating--opportunity in my life. Just this past week, for the first time, I saw a press conference room. That conference room was at ATT Ballpark where the San Francisco Giants play. I saw that conference room during a stadium tour. Tonight, I saw the Boston Red Sox press conference room, at Fenway, when the spotlight was on.

Francona fielded questions from a number of reporters including ones from Fox7, the Globe, and NESN. 

Oh, and one from a WBZ intern as well.

Unfortunately, much like the first time I ever pitched in a softball game (when I was 10), I choked a little bit. My words were a little rushed together, and the name of the player I was asking about was a little muffled. Nothing like nerves. 

I became live bait, and Francona ate me alive, but it's okay because prior to responding to me, he ate another reporter alive who decided to keep attacking the issue of Julio Lugo, one of the two shortstops for the Red Sox. 

In my mind, I kept standing up for everything Francona was saying. Francona told the guy that he won't ever talk about a player and his place with the public because the media can change what they say each week. Francona said that he doesn't have that opportunity. Where as the media can go on the air in a week and just say "Well we were wrong," a coach cannot take back what he says. And for that I give Francona a great deal of respect. Some coaches will go out there and put their players under a bus, but he respects his team, as they respect him, it appears.

Of course the reporter continues to get at him, and Francona seemed a little angered--so I should have known better than to open my mouth. 

But that's okay because it is all in the experience, and tomorrow's another shot. 

Oh and after choking in my first ever softball pitching experience, I led my team to a 10-0 victory the second time around.

--I think that's good news for the next time I have an opportunity to sit in on a press conference.

Over-pitched

Last week Boston College played Texas in the NCAA Baseball Playoffs, but this wasn't just a simple 9 inning game.

Nope, this turned into a 25 inning marathon--7 hours long. To date, it is the longest NCAA baseball game ever. 

As I was browsing around the latest releases on MLB.com I took notice to a piece about college pitchers being over worked. It discussed the closing pitcher for the BC vs Texas game for Texas, who had pitched 169 pitches.

Last night Brad Penny was taken out shortly after he pitched just over 100 pitches.

Another pitcher during the game pitched around 139 pitches in 9 innings, an amount he was marked to have never reached.

Last night Kevin Millwood of the Texas Rangers barely made it to 120 pictures.

Arms get tired.

These college kids are def. over pitching, but I think the article I read was concerned for the wrong reasons.

In general, over pitching isn't good for anyone. LIttle leagues even have rules about how many innings a pitcher can pitch. (I think this rule would be better if it was how many pitches a pitcher could pitch). But the writers of the piece on the college pitchers were saying how the college coaches weren't concerned with their guys getting drafted and that the college coaches weren't looking out for the best interest of their player's futures. IE. if a guy is throwing up to 169 pitches, how will his arm fair in the long run for an MLB team that he may never play for? 

My question is, especially at a time when jobs are so slim, would a college coach be MORE concerned with an individuals future in the sport than their ability on the field for them. College coaches, especially football, baseball, and basketball are kept because of their accomplishment of having a winning season, going through the playoffs, and winning a championship--anyone else is on the chopping block.

This of course sounds unfair to the athletes who are--at least thinking about--trying to make it big. But when the guys sign up for college baseball, they sign with a team--they get paid to play for that team through scholarship money (most of them anyway) and it becomes part of their job. They are to represent their team just the way they would represent a team in the job field. Lots of people work more hours than they are supposed to, so throwing a few extra pitches shouldn't be a reason to say that a coach "isn't looking out for its players best interest."

169 pitches would be way too many pitches for anyone though.

However, when you have no one left, by the 25th inning of the game,--who do you put in? 

There's No Crying In Baseball