With the sun poking through the Spring clouds you could taste baseball in the air. Coca-Cola Park was abuzz and Media Day 2012 only served to further whet the appetite for the 2012 season to start.
The afternoon began with a meeting in The Board Room with light-fare served. Following a bit of conversation of various topics it was time to move on to the clubhouse. The new elevator skin is very cool – check it out when you get the chance.
As I gazed across the room I spotted Noise Nation friend Michael “Phear the Phro” Schwimer – at 6’8″ he’s not hard to miss.
I first congratulated Michael on his recent engagement to IBFF Fitness Competitor Missy Coles and inquired as to when the date may
"Phear the Phro" (click to enlarge)
be. Michael and Missy will tie the not sometime in January 2013 and we certainly wish them luck.
Since Michael made his MLB debut back on August 21, 2011, I asked him what was going through his mind just before his very first pitch.
“It was a crazy, crazy frame of mind and everything was happening so fast which is probably not good and wasn’t good the first batter I faced.” (Nationals Danny Espinosa (2B) , sailed a 1-0 fastball over the CF fence on Michael’s second pitch ever) “I then took that big deep breath and kinda enjoyed the moment and pitched well.” (He retired nine of the final 10 batters he faced, including striking out the side in the seventh.) For him it was a “heart racing”, “ton of fun”, moment that he will never forget.
I told him we are glad he’s here but wish he wasn’t – he replied “Me too”. Watch for Michael to pitch hard as he surely wants to breathe that Philly air again.
Schwimer has an interesting approach to pitching. Each pitch is planned as if he were playing Chess and thinking three moves ahead. But how does he prepare, what does he study in order to formulate his strategy?
Fortunately he’s faced most of the batters in the IL and he has film of all of them. He records every at bat after each outing. From the film and his pitch journal Michael then “formulates a solid game plan”.
He feels his advantage is his mental approach to pitching by “attacking and exploiting any strengths or weaknesses he may discover”. Michael is a true student of the game and will surely be a force to reckon with as his career progresses.
Rich 'Richie T' Thompson (click to enlarge)
Media Day wouldn’t be complete without speaking to IronPigs – IronMan Rich ‘Richie T’ Thompson. Richie looked fresh, strong and ready to fly. He said Spring was good but he was looking forward to playing games that matter. While the playoffs are a long way off Richie T and the rest of the club’s goal is certainly to return to the playoffs. Rich stated” anything short of that would be disappointing”.
I asked Rich what it was like to play for Hall of Fame, Coach Ryne Sandberg and Richie obviously appreciates Ryne’s aggressiveness which feeds right into his skill set.
The greatest lesson Thompson will take with him is the humility of Coach Sandberg. As Rich explains “he’s accomplished just about everything you’d want to accomplish on the field and he certainly has you know – I guess you could say an air about him but it’s certainly not a look at me type of person” – “he’s accomplished what he’s accomplished and it’s never all about him”.
Sandberg had this to say “Rich is a spark plug and it seems anytime he get’s on base it’s a threat that we have a chance to score a run but he also brings excitement to the base paths, he’s a great defensive center fielder.” “With the amount of time he’s spent here I know he enjoys coming here and enjoys playing here so that’s a good combination and he’s a great guy to have on the team.”
There is an obvious air of respect for Coach Sandberg throughout the organization but most of all among the players. The Lehigh
IronPigs Coach Ryne Sandberg (click to enlarge)
Valley has been fortunate to witness “Ryne Sandberg Baseball” first hand and 2012 hopes to be just a thrilling as last year.
Coach Sandberg is looking forward to 2012 and hopes to continue the winning ways of last season. While Sandberg is still awaiting the final 3 roster spots to be revealed he has seen enough in Spring Training to feel confident in the scouting that has brought him the current group of players. Ryne spoke of closing by committee and the bullpen looking strong to start the season. He feels any of the pitchers in the starting rotation have the ability to help out the Phils at anytime.
With three catchers on the roster Ryne sees Eric Kratz and Tuffy Gosewisch sharing the duty to start the season and will then let them separate themselves. Left-handed hitting catcher John Suomi will also be available. Coach Sandberg is looking forward to the increase to 25 roster spots and is already anticipating the moves and double switch possibilities – it will be fun to watch.
Last stop on the clubhouse tour was local product and perennial All-Star Erik Kratz who played ball as a kid in Souderton. The Noise Nation was fortunate to meet up with Erik during the road trip (to the woods) of Rhode Island for the game in Pawtucket.
While Erik enjoyed his Spring with the 82 sometime 86 degree weather (he was keen to point out he did apply some extra lotion) the anticipation of opening day was what he looked forward to most and he’s clearly eager to go.
I wanted to know what Erik felt when he got the call up to the team he grew up watching back in Telford, PA as a kid. “To have the opportunity to play in the big leagues is a life long dream.” While it wasn’t his first call up (Kratz appeared in 9 games for the Pirates in 2010) after the first game was over he was able “to reflect on and kinda look and say wow but when I got in the game it was the game and I felt like I belonged, I felt like I could play there…” “To get called up and have the opportunity… you can’t describe it really.”
At 31, Kratz will spend his tenth year in Baseball after being drafted by Toronto in 2002. Since Erik has had many coaches throughout the years I inquired what he felt playing for Coach Sandberg.
Returning catcher Erik Kratz (click to enlarge)
“To play for him it’s awesome – he’s not a rah-rah coach, he’s not going to sit there and degrade you.” “The one thing that I think he helps and it shows with all of the wins with all of the different teams is the positivity – positivity towards the team and towards this group of guys and how he wants us to act with each other and portrays it in the clubhouse, on the field, in the training room – everywhere and he kept us away from bad losing streaks and everyone had this feeling of success even if they didn’t get a hit that at bat – I’m gonna get it this time. ”
Kratz had high praise for Sandberg as a highly successful player with the ability to come back and have the success managing, he attributed this to the work ethic of Coach Sandberg.
Lastly I asked, “So when you’re behind the plate, you got all your gear on – do you ever hear the Noise Nation bells?”
“I hear the bells every once in a while – yes.” “Not all the time and I think it’s something where you slowly – the more you play here – the less you hear it – so I’ll probably hear it the first few days.”
I replied, “We’ll make sure you do!”
Erik chuckled, I thanked him and that was the conclusion of the clubhouse portion of Media Day 2012.
Stay tuned for part two – workout and BP photos
Go Pigs!
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