Starting Pitcher vs. the Giants

On Sunday May 3rd, my baseball team played against the Giants in our MSBL league. They were undefeated at the time and averaging 18 runs a game.

When I arrived at the field for the game and started getting loose they asked me if I wanted to start the game. As in be the starting pitcher for the game. That was awesome. Of course I said yes. After not getting to pitch at all last year I had worked my way to be one of the top 2 pitchers on my team this year.

The game went well. I ended up pitching 6 complete innings and gave up 5 runs, but I think only about 2 or 3 were earned. I also had a very good day hitting. I went 2 for 3 with 2 rbi's. This raised my batting average after 4 games to an impressive 0.545.

Cetainly playing well helps make the game a lot more fun. Although we lost, I am having fun playing this year. Michelle laughs at my kid-like desire to try to get the team together to practice on our off days.

This is real competitive baseball. I've got to enjoy it while I am able.

Here are some pictures taken by Julie Lane who is a professional photographer and the wife of one of my teammates.

Running the Go Far 5K

Last Saturday Madison and I ran a 5k race. For Madison this was her second 5k race that she had competed in. The race was conducted in conjunction with the High Point Marathon in downtown High Point.

Madison's school participates in a program called Go Far. During this program 4th and 5th grade student spend 10 weeks practicing to prepare themselves for the 5K race. This is a great program that stresses "doing your best" and "completing the race" more than worrying about who has the fastest time.

This was a busy weekend as Madison was already spending the weekend camping with the Girl Scouts. I had to pick her up at 7:45 am at the camp to take her to the race. Afterward I brought her back to camp to join the rest of her troop, ready to tackle the climbing wall.

The race, as always, was a struggle to make it to the end. After some words of encouragement, Madison persevered and successfully completed the race. She finished nearly two minutes better than her time from last year with a time of 35:57.

Overall she finished 256 out of 526 runners. Not bad for a 10 year old.

Here we are posing with our medals after completing the race.

She is ready to start training for next year to make her time even better. I guess I am going to have a new hobby.

The Busy Week That Was for Life in J.T.'s World

This past week certainly was a busy one for Life in JT’s World. There were two baseball games with a Spelunking adventure thrown in between for fun. Combine that with the semi-annual High Point Furniture Market and you have quite a week.

Let’s recap all of the excitement:

Thursday: Night Baseball Game Against the Reds
The Reds are the best team in the 14 team Triad MSBL baseball league. They had the best record in the league last year and they recruited more players for this year’s version. We played in the wonderful Stoner White Stadium, but that did not change the outcome. I went 0 – 3 at the plate, hitting into 3 ground outs. The highlight was that I pitched 2 scoreless innings of relief and struck out 2 batters.

Friday – Sunday: Boy Scout Campout to Lost World Caverns in WV.
We got on the Troop bus around 6:00 pm and arrived at the campsite in WV sometime after 11:00 pm. We set up camp and were in bed just before 1:00 AM. Around 28 of us in all were camping on this trip

At 7:00 AM we got up and prepared breakfast. J.T. was his patrol’s cook for the weekend, meaning that he had to cook for 7 boys counting himself. He made very good Ham and Cheese Omelets for that breakfast.

Around 9:30 am we got back on the bus for the 20 minute ride to the Lost World caverns. ( http://www.lostworldcaverns.com/ ). After we arrived, we got our initial briefing and put on our Spelunking equipment: gloves, kneepads, and hardhat with headlamps. They took a “before” picture of the group in case we didn’t all make it back from the adventure.

We headed into the caverns around 11:00 am for our 4 plus hour, underground adventure. The first part of the tour we followed the normal tour path, viewing the Stalactites and Stalagmites and other interesting formations. Then our guides told us to cross over the railing and follow them. This is where it got interesting. For the next 4 hours and 3 ½ miles we walked, climbed, crawled, slid, and shimmied our way through the caverns. It was an amazing experience. There was one section that lasted about 100 yards where the ceiling was probably no more than 2 – 2 ½ ft high. I had to lay out flat and pull myself along with my arms. James did great and usually was the first person in line behind the lead guide during our trek.

There were areas with names like “The Sewer”, “The Drain”, & “The Birth Canal”. This was not for the faint of heart by any means.

I decided to pass on “The Birth Canal”, so I was rewarded with another football field length arm pull on the alternate route.

Everyone made it out successfully and had a good time. It was quite a work out. You could not believe how muddy the kids were at the end of it all. I just threw my clothes away, since washing them would have been a lost cause anyway.

The Guides (3 in all) took pictures of us during the tour and will send them to us on a CD in a couple of weeks. I will post some then.

The rest of the campout was rather uneventful after that. James cooked another great meal for his patrol and we packed up on Sunday Morning and returned back home.

Sunday Night: Baseball Game.
After resting for a couple hours, it was time to play a night baseball game. This game was against the Orioles. Although we played them closely, we lost again. This time I was 2 – 3 hitting, with 2 rbi’s. This brought my batting average back up to 0.500 for the season. I also pitched in relief again. I pitched 3 innings this time. The first 2 were scoreless, but after some errors they score a few runs in the last inning I pitched.

All in all it was a very good week. Now all I have to do is great ready for this coming weekend’s 5K run with Madison.

Baseball Season Is Underway!

It's April and that means the conclusion of March Madness (now I'm torn between my Big 10 Roots and my new Tarheel home), and of course baseball. Baseball has always been my favorite sport. To me it really is America's National Past Time. The smell of the freshly cut grass and the feel of Spring in the air means baseball.

As many of you may know I joined the local adult baseball league here in the Greensboro area last year. This year at age 42 I am doing it again!

Even as major league baseball starts again today, so did my season. Since my season started a few hours before the Major League season, I get to talk about me first.

Today my team, the Pirates, of the Triad MSBL league played against the Padres. Although we did not come out victorious today, it was nice to be playing baseball again.

I batted twice and went 2 for 2 with both hits being line drive singles to the outfield. A great way to start off the year.

I started at First Base, pitched an inning of relief, and even played an inning in right field. Not a bad day.

This was the first time that I have pitched in a "real" league game since playing in the Warren, OH AA League in 1986 (Some current Major Leaguers weren't even born yet). I wished I could have done better, but it was fun to be on the mound again. I struck out one batter, did not walk anybody and gave up a couple of unearned runs.

Hopefully I will get to pitch some more this year. Last year, I didn't pitch because I hurt my shoulder early in the season and it took most of the season just to throw a ball without pain (It's tough getting old!).

Now that I am leading the league in hitting after the first weekend with a 1.000 batting average I will be a little cocky. It can only go downhill from here.

No matter how the season turns out, I will report how each game goes and update you on my stats as I blog my way through the year. It will be interesting as we had a large turnover from last year and only 4 players returning from last year's team.

We have 18 days until our next scheduled game, due to the Easter holiday, so I will bask in my glory and turn my attention to the Cleveland Indians and hope they get the year off to a good start.

New Wood Floor for Family Room

Michelle Makes the Dean's List

Great News to Announce: During her First Semester of full time college, Michelle has made the Dean's list!





























She took 17 credit hours this past semester and worked very hard so we are all very proud of her.

She even got her name in the Greensboro News and Record today to recognize her accomplishment!

She has now completed her transfer to UNC - Greensboro and is taking another full set of classes this Spring in pursuit of her Elementary Education Degree. Some of the fun courses that she is taking this semester include: Introduction to Earth Science, Introduction to Philosophy, Infant and Child Development, Teaching as a Profession, & Survey of Western Art

Now that Michelle is a full time student, she is on a path to graduate in Spring 2011.


Congratulations Michelle on Making the Dean's List!