Brackets, Baseball and Ogle that Vogel!

As an assistant coach for a high school baseball team I've been hearing a lot of chatter about college basketball. All my players are talking about Duke, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant. It sounds like each player has at least different brackets filled out!

I did fill out a thoughtless bracket, but I haven't watched one minute of the action so far. My hometown Bradley Braves made the tournament for the first time since 2006 and they had a strong showing against Michigan St. in the first round. Unfortunately, the Braves game started while I was teaching and finished during the middle of batting practice. The other assistant coach was the listening to the audio feed and reported with updates during BP, but that's as connected to the madness this March as I've been.

It's been a fun couple of weeks for a baseball fan like myself and basketball hasn't been able to captivate my interest. Here's a list of recent baseball happenings and my take:

• Machado and Harper signed . . . 
• I'm happy Harper went to a "hitter's park" in Philadelphia. I think MLB needs to market its stars better in an attempt to keep/recruit a youthful fan base. Bat flips, home runs, and flashy play are what attracts attention . . . Harper seems to enjoy the spotlight and I hope MLB and the Phillies take advantage of that.
• I'm even happier that Manny Machado is playing for a small market, west coast team that is largely forgotten by the national media. Good for San Diego for landing the big fish, but personally, I'm not a Machado fan . . . There's a line between hustle and dirty play and another line between showmanship and immaturity . . . and Machado showed on a few occasions last season that he doesn't know where that line is.
• Extensions have been signed by Trout, Goldschmidt, Sale, Bregman, Snell, Eloy Jimenez, Brandon Lowe and Verlander.
• The deals for Bregman, Snell, Jimenez and Lowe seem to make sense for both the young players who desire financial security and the teams who believe in their talent. I suppose the Verlander extension makes sense as well because it's only for two years and the Astros have everyone already locked up for the duration of his contract. They know their short-term budget and know how Verlander fits into the puzzle.
• But, wow, that Trout deal! I get it, Trout is the best ballplayer and should be paid like it, but you'd think the Angels would be somewhat snake bitten after the Josh Hamilton and Albert Pujols deals? If Trout wanted to play for a winner, then why handicap the team you're going to be playing with for the next 12 years with such a big contract? I have no experience as a millionaire, but how exactly does the lifestyle and priorities change for someone who makes $430 million versus "only" $200 million? 
• Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel still haven't signed. Personally, I feel Kimbrel will go to Milwaukee, but I could see the Braves swooping in. I still don't quite understand the way the baseball markets have played out the last two off seasons and the driving force behind it. The players' union is talking collusion, while the owners are pointing the finger back at the players. Go figure. 
• Baseball in Japan!
• Seattle won a couple of games and lots of homers were hit! But the big show centered around Ichiro, and rightfully so. Players of his caliber and character don't come around everyday.
• I also thought it was cool Yusei Kikuchi was able to make a start in front of his countrymen.
• Lastly, did you see who replaced Ichiro in the first game of the season? The VOGELMONSTER! In his only at-bat he was plunked on the elbow and eventually had to be removed from the game. It sounds like Vogelbach will be alright, but I heard the baseball suffered from internal fraying and a lacerated core. 

Hey, another low-numbered Vogelmonster arrived in the mail this week. 

This one comes the 2018 Panini Chronicles set. I already have the "base" auto of the Select Signatures card and the gold (numbered 09/10) only leaves me chasing the 1-of-1. "Only" two parallels for the base? I can get behind that!

Good luck on your brackets and fantasy baseball drafts!

I Finished a Rainbow of Sorts

Gleyber Torres is the Cubs next BIG prospect. (You know, outside of The Vogelmonster.)  He's a soon to be nineteen year old shortstop, who hails from Venezuela.

When I picked up this first card Bowman Chrome or Heritage Minors had not yet hit the shelves and this was the only licensed card of Torres'.

 Torres played for the South Bend Cubs of the Midwest League before being promoted to High-A Myrtle Beach at the end of the season.

He was the eastern squad's starting shortstop for the Midwest League All-Star game held in Peoria and made a nice jump throw from the hole at short to get the runner at first base, which my friend was able to capture with a camera!

Torres was named Midwest League Prospect of the Year back in late August.

The autograph card was my last pickup.  I usually don't purchase non-certified autographs from Ebay, but the seller seemed to check out, the signature looks consistent with the Bowman Chrome autographs, and the price was right.  Plus, it completes my quasi-rainbow!

Thanks for stopping by!

You know it's basketball season when...

Yep, I started coaching basketball again just a about two weeks ago.  How can I tell?

Well, here's what I've been coming home to each evening after practice:

Yeah, Gus is awfully cute in my discarded basketball shoe box. 

For the record, this is only the second time a head coach has purchased shoes for me, the freshmen coach.  It was a nice gesture that Gus and I can both get behind.  Well, in his case, inside.

Awwwwww, for me?

Last Friday I had six jubilant freshmen basketballers approach me between class periods.  Normally when I see a group of them coming at me, I make like I'm going to try to avoid them by briskly scurrying to the nearest exit.  You ever try to hold a conversation with a half-dozen hyper teens?  It's very difficult to keep up!

Bad news:  they came through the only exit and there was no way I could circumnavigate them on my route to the door.

Good news:  they came bearing a gift basket!

It's been a good long while since I was given a thank you present for coaching.  It's not something I come to expect, but it is nice to know you're appreciated as a coach.

Inside the popcorn bucket were six boxes of candy, gift cards to two restaurants, and a gift card to a movie theater.  That's not even the best part!  All of the sides of the container had team photos taped to them, and there were a dozen more pictures of the team and I underneath the boxes of candy: action shots, teams photos, and pictures of us in huddles during time outs.  I never really have a chance to take pictures during the season (too busy coaching), so I couldn't have been more happy to have some snapshots for myself!

The gift cards and candy won't last long, but I've already found a few safe places for the photos.  Good times and great memories!  Thanks girls! 

One season ends & another begins.

I've been following a countdown for the past couple of months very intently: the day in which pitchers and catchers report to spring training.  Thankfully, that day is today.  The regular season may not have started yet, but in my eyes it is baseball season once again.  Perhaps this year is "Next Year" for my Cubs.  There weren't many that correctly predicted the success the Athletics and Orioles would have last year. So why not the Cubs in 2013?

It just so happens that another season would end on the eve of the reporting date for pitchers and catchers: my freshmen girls basketball season.

It started in early fall.  The Cubs were completely useless by September, so I had no qualms about staying after school to put the girls basketball program through off season workouts and conditioning.  Before long, tryouts kicked off in late October and I was fortunate to have nine players for my squad. 

Time became scarce once the game playing schedule got into full swing, especially since I helped coach the sophomore and varsity squads as well.  Basketball is the longest sports season of all the school sports, but the freshmen girls were a pleasure to work with day in and day out.

In all, we played a twenty-two game schedule which culminated in a freshmen conference tournament yesterday.  The team lost the first game yesterday morning, but they rebounded well (figuratively and literally) and won the next two contests by a total of thirty-seven points.  In all, we finished up with a record of 11-11 on the season and we were crowned Consolation Champions of the tournament.  Hey, we even got a trophy!

I've taught and coached many, many hours the past four months, and I'm excited to get some free time back.  I always feel like family, friends, exercise, and my hobbies play second fiddle when I'm in a coaching season. 

Go Cubs, Go!