I've been getting a flood of baseball related questions both on twitter and facebook along with myspace. 

I'm here to help you out to the best of my abilities.

what I need from you guys is some backstory on your situation- stuff like:

what position do you play?

what grade are you in?

how many games a year do you play between HS/summer ball/Travel ball/etc

what are your future goals?

what kind of diet and exercise plan do you follow?

what are your strengths and weaknesses as a player?

stuff like that.

people say "yo bro help me out I want to make the majors"

well yeah no shit dude, it's the best job in the world!   if you want a generic response, then ask a vague question.  if you want me to think about it and really answer specific to you, be specific about yourself and your questions!

Please also reference my previous blog # 50 or so from 2006 or 2007- "Advice for Junior Ballers"

cj

twitter is really surpassing facebook which surpassed myspace a while back for activity...

we're almost out of here now...real games start on monday!

holler

it's funny that I'm more excited about watching Formula 1 races than about my ERA...spring training doesn't count for anything other than blurbs on MLB.com

MLB network rules. Baseball on all the time.

we make the best two trips of spring in the last few days of our schedule- @ scottsdale vs giants and @ tempe vs angels. FINALLY we can escape the west side of town.

I will miss being able to get jamba juice, baja fresh or in-n-out burgers as we have none of those anywhere near where I'll be living off the grid in Texas

I will not miss the WORST traffic light in the entire state- Bell Road and Grand Ave.

throwing from the windup is so much better than stretch only.

REAL baseball starts soon!

the racing season is upon us as well! American LeMans and Formula 1 (pronounced "oon" like jean girard in talladega nights)

spring training is 2 or 3 weeks too long for my attention span

neck tans are still hard to defeat

so far I've got more twitter updates than barry zito, nick swisher and CC sabathia combined. not that it's a competition, but I'm just trying to keep my followers in the loop.

I can't wait to see the new improved Rangers Ballpark in Arlington

well we had an offday yesterday, which as my friends know are always welcome- I'm not too much of a fan of the alarm clock in the morning here in AZ.

so-

slept in til about 930am, did some brunch at Mimi's cafe, hit up the firing range, then off to old town scottsdale for gelato and a walk in the park, then mini golf, followed with a savory gut busting dinner at mastro's ocean club (ribeye with spinach and lobster mashed potatoes).  

today was a bullpen, and I throw in a game again on saturday.   I'll be debuting my windup- which I'm bringing back into effect to get me ready for possibly throwing more than one inning if needed.   Since it looks like I don't really have a chance at being the closer (the team seems very happy to name Frank Francisco as the 9th inning dude) I figure it can't hurt me to increase my versatility.  who knows, maybe in a few years I'll be a starter again since I won't be able to get the job back...

here's an interview with TR sullivan.

http://texas.rangers.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200903123973073&c_id=tex

here are a few pitches from my bullpen today...I threw about 40 and this is all the star telegram got- exclusive youtube footage!!!!

lol

people ask me what spring training is like- well you can tell, the mood is electric

well things have been going pretty well for me out here in AZ- I get free internet at the hotel and have been throwing really well every time I get on the mound, so what more could I ask for?


-bell road is still a mess and the cycle of doom that is surprise, az dining is finally over- thanks to Alex @ Elite Nutrition and BodLabs.

I got my mega foods (calorie calculated, all organic ingredients, etc) in the mail via UPS and it looks like I can stop wasting time and gas hustling up towards the 101 for more refined dining than my chipotle, pei wei, carrabas triumvirate with occasional peoria allies ah-so, cheesecake factory, and baja fresh.

my hotel room is looking more like an apartment every day, which is to say I really really need to do some laundry. 

yesterday was an offday and I went to the Scottsdale Gun Club with Beau from Bless the Fall (formerly of Take the Crown), ate some amazing Froyo @ Mojo over by desert ridge mall, and then hit fashion square mall for some essentials purchases...or T-shirts as I like to call them.   Overall it was a fantastically spent offday.

I really try to avoid buying clothes in general as I've already got enough and I know a lot of people in the industry but every once in a while I've got to update my Obey closet-mountain.   

The girl @ Hub kept trying to sell me jeans yesterday, until I said- look don't you see I've got these thunderthighs?  put the diesel jeans away girl.   I've got a ghetttttttto booty.   I'm just here for some T-shirts- aiiiight?!


btw Lakers are pwning again this year. 


follow me on twitter! 

http://twitter.com/str8edgeracer

there are a lot of cool celebs and athletes on there like shaq, snoop, barry zito, lance armstrong, ashton kutcher, etc.

cj

well some days you have it, some days you don't. Back in 2006 when I was pitching with biceps tendonitis, I realized (which should have been obvious, but hey- good to know now) that it doesn't matter how you feel on a given day, just that you get out there and do your job. whatever you have that day is whatever you have that day...no sense in whining about it really, that doesn't get anyone out. Last year my elbow hurt most of the time but I just kept pitching because I really didn't want to stop, regardless of the results

A lot of people are unfamiliar with the intricate workings of the pitcher, so I'll try and bring some light bulbs to you through your computer monitors...

As a pitcher, some days your body feels amazing, and your arm feels amazing.

some days you feel like your body has the flu or something and you have no adrenaline at all, and you couldn't break glass with your heater...

I'd put it at about 20% each.

the rest of the time, you're somewhere in between. your arm might feel awesome, your legs might feel crappy, maybe you didn't get any sleep last night, or the ball just feels heavy, etc.


none of it really matters, because not one person other than your girlfriend is really going to care about your excuses. if you go out and hit your spots, take control of the pace and take the initiative, it won't matter if you're sleepy, nauseous, or are throwing 10mph slower than your normal fastball.

pro sports is about results for the fans, but just about the process for the players- and spring training is a funny window into that world. today I didn't really care that my stuff wasn't tearing the glove off the catcher in the bullpen, because I knew that all I had to do on the field was hit my spots...which I did. I'm here to get my pitches in shape, so I threw a few changeups, a few sliders, some sinkers, and a cutter or two. just putting in my work regardless of the results...after all it's not even March yet!

well here we are in AZ again, and I'm back to my old routine of being online too much and not reading enough.  

positive things- there is a real good vibe so far in the clubhouse.  it's awesome to see the team give Salty and Teagarden the shot they deserve and the chance the pitchers need to grow together to create a long term solution at catcher.

if you're not in shape now, you will be soon.  the running has stepped it up a notch and I'm happy about it.   guess all that work on the bike paid off this offsseason for me!

food!  we have  chef for breakfast, and the lunches have been super varied and healthy.  finally finally finally the team decided that giving us high quality fuel will be a good investment into the team.

my arm feels great and I will be doing the best I can to open eyes. 

undecided so far- the new uniforms.   I will miss my blue shoes and am really worried about getting a red glove.  we'll see how that goes.

bad things- traffic is even worse now.  bell road is a straight up parking lot every afternoon.   who the hell designed the timing on the lights here?