Feb. 29, 2008
Senior Jeff Thomas will be blogging throughout the season about his experiences as a member of the Huskie baseball team. The outfielder from Loves Park, Ill., has made 93 career starts as the starting leftfielder the past three seasons. In Thomas' latest posting, he talks about the team's trip to Arizona that included a Major League experience and the team's first two games.
Hey everybody, how's it going? Our team had a great opportunity to play baseball in perfect weather the past couple days in Surprise, Arizona at the Kansas City Royals/Texas Rangers spring training complex. The scenery out there puts you in a laid back and relaxed mood, so pretty much nothing could go wrong. Waking up to mountains and sunshine on the horizon made me appreciate what those involved did to get us down there. Our first outside practice of the year went well and we finally got some fly ball practice in.
Our team was treated very well our first full day in Arizona. The fields out there were just amazing, grass cut low, infield even, and no holes in the outfield. We went to see the Royals-Rangers spring training game and I personally enjoyed all of the food we were served there. We were honored before the game and Danny Reed and I got to throw out the first pitch. I'm not going to lie; we both had some butterflies in our stomachs! Having everyone watching you and waiting to see if you overthrow the catcher, which I almost did, or bounce it in was real nerve wrecking. I really did enjoy that moment in the spot light.
After the first pitch we got to our seats and right when we sat down the news guys were there asking for an interview. I'm not one for the cameras, so I was trying to avoid them, but I could not say no to them in this situation. The local news interviewed both Danny and I at the same time, but I felt like the guy was directing the questions at me. That was a good time ... probably botched the whole thing up, but hey you only live once.
Later on that day we got to practice on one of the many well groomed fields in the complex. Our first outside practice was a lot of fun, I felt like a kid again. That sun will get you because at the end of the day I was just about beat, but you can't sit inside when you don't have that many opportunities to be outside in nice weather at this time of year. At the end of our practice the Royals manager Trey Hillman came out to speak to our team. He gave us a good message and informed us that there are bigger things than baseball in life. He described himself perfectly as a "regular guy with a cool job."
Finally the second day in Arizona was game day. Strangely, the first game did not even feel like a first game for me. The first game might have been the longest game of my life (16 innings), it just wouldn't end! Being down there made it seem like we'd been playing for at least a couple weeks. I think we had a good showing for being our first two games, my only wish is that we could have held on to get a win. But, we got the first games out the way and now can roll on with our season. Congrats to "Etch" (Joe Etcheverry) for getting his first collegiate hit, and [Tom] Zelasko, and [Zach] Oates for making their first college appearance on the mound.
I want to say thank you again to the people who supported us while we were down there and made the trip possible. It was truly an incredible experience.
Until next time...
JT
