Ken the Intern

We decided to see how long we could get Ken the Intern to hold a pullup in the dugout. He lasted way longer than anyone thought he would. Stay tuned for more Ken the Intern fun....

IMG00046.jpg

Bot 5, 7-1 Indians. We batted around in the 2nd and put up all 7. I was eating some seeds and instead of spitting them on the ground, I decided to put them on top of the hat of Joseph Ortiz. Ahh, the little things that entertain.....
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Spokane Athletic Training Room

Here are some pics of the home clubhouse athletic training room in Spokane. This is where I do the majority of my work. Athletic training rooms are safe havens for players. They are one of the few player-only locations in clubhouses. At the short-season A ball level we don't have to worry about media, but the higher you get the more media there is. In the big leagues no media are allowed in the athletic training room, but are granted clubhouse access so this is where guys can go to get away. Also it serves as a good hang out spot with our comfy tables and friendly staff. This one is pretty small so it's generally pretty quiet. Anyway....on to the pics

From the doorway looking to the left. Denny Duron taping up for the game. Scale right there along with small area with tape, powder, sunscreen. Mostly things that guys just pop in for.

Looking to the opposite corner of the room. Jason Ogata and Robbie Ross prepping. You can see Duron there on the left. That back counter has all of the creams, OTC meds, band aids, etc. I can keep a closer eye on who is taking that stuff since they have to come all the way in to get what they need.

Looking straight in from the door. Ken Masumoto and Nap Pichardo sitting in front of my locker and the strength and conditioning coach's locker. And my desk. No fancy office here.

View from the back looking toward the door. As you can see, not a lot of storage space......or space period for that matter. It's cozy. Gotta make do with what I got.

There you have it. My "office"

Friday, July 31

So last night was a hectic evening. We got down early and battled back to tie it up at 6. Lucky us, we headed into extra innings. Finally in about 3 and 1/2 hour game, in the 11th inning, Aja Barto hits a game winning single. After the earlier closed door clubhouse meeting, Indians get off to a 1-0 record. Obviously I can't discuss what went on in that meeting, but the general idea was taking responsibility and being accountable. It seemed to work last night so hopefully we keep that mentality going and finish strong. Right now our record sits at 15-25. Not so hot, but we can easily finish above .500 with a strong finish.

There is nothing much going on today. Pitching coordinator is in town, so the staff went to Olive Garden for lunch today. Grilled shrimp caprese for me. Today is payday so we got players pounding at the training room door to get their checks ASAP. Funny thing is that they can't cash them in the clubhouse, so who knows why they need them so quickly. Makes it easier for me so I don't have to track them down.

Our starting pitcher for tonight was climbing into his locker yesterday and when he was climbing down he stepped on a shoe and twisted his ankle. He is adament that he can pitch today and will be coming in soon to get checked out. That is pretty much all that I am waiting for right now.

Our strength and conditioning coordinator is in town and his entertainment for this series is to mess with the Japanese s/c intern here. He told him that he had to remember that the muscle connecting the balls to the heart is called the "sputinator". He told him that some guys have it and some guys don't, but it can be developed with hard work and dedication. This intern is struggling as it is and now has to deal with having to learn things that don't exist. It is pretty funny though.

I'll try to take some training room pics later today and post for everyone to see the great area that I work in.

Indians v Emeralds, game 3 at 6:30.

Batting Practice

Trying to see if this works now. Here is my view at home of BP and Reinier Bermudez doing some cuff work.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

I think I signed up to be able to post from my phone. I'm out watching the pitchers do pfps and the position players stretch. We'll see if this works.

Game #39

I'm bored.

I like reading blogs, so I decided to start my own. I'm not really going with anything intellectual or mind-stimulating. I will just give you some insight as to what I am doing and my life as a minor league baseball athletic trainer.

I am in Spokane right now for the 3rd game of a 5 game set against the Eugene Emeralds. They are the NW League affiliate of the San Diego Padres.

Today is a pretty typical day. Got in about 12:30. Guys started filtering in around 1:00ish. Pitchers stretch at 1:50 and position players stretch at 2:50. Over the last 2 days I have finished organizing our upcoming road trip to Salem, OR and Pasco, WA. That pretty much consists of finalizing the itinerary and making copies for anyone who wants one, finalizing and faxing rooming lists to the hotels, and coordinating bus times and meal money.

We don't have too many injured players right now, so I haven't been doing a whole lot of treatments. The daily routine involves pitcher's cuff work and maintenance. Anyone who is unavailable for tonight's game will do maintenance during BP and starters who throw bullpens and game pitchers will do their work after they finish.

Well, gotta head out for the stretching and BP.

Enjoy......