Baseball

People often ask me about my youth and how my whole baseball career got started. I thought I’d give our readers a little background on myself and how it all began. This article will focus on the time period leading up to college, so stay tuned for part two to follow soon. I started playing baseball at about four or five years old. My cousins and I, along with my brother, would play for hours at a time in our driveway. Games like “strike out”, “2 on 2,” etc. We had no instruction at that point, we were just Giants fans pretending to be our heroes (i.e. Bobby Bonds, Willie McCovey, etc.) as we played away the afternoon. My first formal experience in baseball started with Davis Little League at age six, and my Dad was the coach for my brother and me. There was no tee-ball back then, and I remember hitting off a pitching machine. My Dad would always make us play catcher to toughen us up, and he coached us for our first two seasons. We then moved to Sacramento and were coached by my uncle. That same uncle coached me all the way through my senior year of high school. People often think I must have specialized only in baseball to go as far as I did, but quite the opposite is true. We were athletes first, and therefore played all sports. I played football all the way through high school as a fullback and strong safety, played basketball through my freshman season, and replaced that with indoor track and field my last three years. I really think playing football helped me more in baseball than anything else. It gave me a mental toughness that really served me well at the plate, and also in proving all doubters wrong at every major turn of my career. I think the other advantages to playing many sports rather than specializing in one sport is the development of different motor skills, and the prevention of “burn out” both mentally and physically, that can occur by doing the same things all the time. I’m also often asked at what point I started to separate from my peers in baseball, and how many awards and accolades I received along the way. Surprisingly enough I wasn’t All-City, All-State, etc. In fact, I wasn’t even the best player in my neighborhood growing up. It wasn’t until I left high school and decided to focus solely on baseball in college (on the advice of coaches, family and friends), that I started to separate from my peers. I entered college with good coordination, speed, and power, but I didn’t refine my skills until I started playing at Sacramento City College and later at the University of Miami. In summary, I started playing baseball young, but just for the love of the game. I played many sports and developed many skills and attributes from doing so, but credit much of my success in baseball to mental toughness. Much of that mental strength I learned while playing football, but also from a stubborn, unyielding desire to succeed no matter what the odds, and no matter how many people told me I couldn’t. Doubters just fueled my inner drive. Again, stay tuned...

Every year Major League Baseball migrates south for spring training. When visiting Tucson, AZ during the spring time you may want to catch a pre-season game. Teams to watch that train in Tucson are: Colorado Rockies, Chicago White Sox, and Arizona Diamondbacks’ as well as their AAA affiliate the Tucson Sidewinders. The White Sox, Diamondbacks’, and Sidewinders all play at Tucson Electric Park and it is located at 2500 East Ajo Way, in the Kino Sports Complex. The Tucson Electric Park is a great place to bring the family for spring training games and is considered to be one of the nicest spring training facilities in the country. For more information call (520) 434-1021. The Colorado Rockies call Hi Corbett field home during the spring time. USA Baseball also uses Hi Corbett field. Hi Corbett field is located at 3400 East Camino Campestre and for more information call (520) 327-9467. Whoever you cheer for, you are sure to see them play in Tucson. Baseball is exciting for all members of the family and yet one more reason to visit this great city.