he's chasing dreams hitting seams.
she's chasing dreams talking sports.
There’s a lot that I need to catch up on writing about. Honestly, I get a little overwhelmed when I think about all the stuff I want to say and talk about. It’s hard to figure out where to start especially since a lot of time has passed since some of the events have happened, etc. Also I think Matt deserves to be included in a lot of this dialogue, but that’s just not very likely during the season…especially with how this season is going. With that being said, one of the most asked questions I’ve gotten is what it’s like going up and down and up and down. Again, Matt has a huge say in this, but I still think right now this is one of the questions I want to address the most. I have a pretty clear idea of how he feels so I think I can articulate it well. Matt has been recalled and optioned (aka sent back down) three times now, seven moves total. April 30 - first recall aka debut May 5 - optioned to OKC May 17 - recalled to LA June 21 - optioned to OKC June 22 - recalled to LA July 10 - optioned to OKC July 15 - recalled to LA Matt also spent 10-day on the injured list when wasn’t sure if they were going to put him on the IL or not. Those dates might be one off because we usually find out the day before the move is actually made. I put the dates the moves were actually made. I’ll say that many times isn’t even that many compared to some… If you didn’t know, any time someone is optioned they have to stay in AAA for 10-days unless someone goes on the injured list. Clearly only one of Matt’s options went the 10 days. I would lying if I said going up and down wasn’t frustrating and hard. Especially when being sent down had nothing to do with performance. Matt has killed it in every opportunity and done more than enough to prove he belongs. But at the same time that’s baseball. Major league sports are a business. The Dodgers are such a special team and organization because there is so much depth. Especially the last option during all-star break there just wasn’t any room with three key players coming back from the injured list. There are other factors besides playing well that go into moves being made. No disrespect to any of the guys on contracts, but simply guys that have contracts/guys being paid more (from arbitration) are going to fill the spots on the roster. Period. They’re getting paid above league minimum to be in the big leagues and perform. When contracts are signed when drafted, three options are in that contract and each option is over one year. Meaning the Dodgers can option Matt as many times as they want this year and that only burns one option. Make sense? Matt’s one of the only position players with options. Meaning the Dodgers can send him down, and he will stay there until they call him back up again. Whereas guys that don’t have options and get sent down, other teams have the opportunity to pick them up. We know how the business works and what to expect to a certain extent. But that still doesn’t mean the options don’t sting a little when they happen. The first two especially because they kind of came out of no where. Sometimes you can guess (which you should never do because whatever you guess the opposite will probably happen hehehaha) what might happen if you know a player is going to be activated but still wasn’t really expecting to be optioned the first two times. The hardest part about going up and down is I think just never knowing day to day what is going to happen. Even when Matt spent the better part of seven weeks with the Dodgers, I still wasn’t sure if after every game he was going to tell me he was being optioned or not. That’s the big reason we will not be getting a place in LA this season. Too unknown so for now we live out of hotels when Matt is up. We have kept our apartment in OKC to have as well to come back to but mostly all of our belongings have been just sitting there for most of this season. :) As far as Matt’s mindset, he has been so steady. Truly. He’ll take the day to be upset but then moves on. He really has done a great job of taking it day by day and just taking every opportunity to play whether up in LA or down in OKC. For that, I’m so proud of him because it’s not easy. But SO much of this is mental and he’s done a good job of pushing negativity out. As for me? :) I’m working on it. I never really experienced the roller coaster of emotions in the minor leagues. But the competitive side of me is low when low and high when high when Matt is up here, but I’ve really taken this experience to work on that and just trust the process and God’s plan. I think the element of thinking that every at bat and play when up is him trying to prove he belongs so that adds another layer of pressure and me just wanting him to do so well. Baseball is such an up and down thing in terms of the moves AND play on the field that I have to do a better job of not riding that wave cause that’s not healthy. In the moments, I’ve struggled but every time I get a chance to step back and breathe I’m just so grateful for every experience we’ve had so far and can’t believe I let myself get down about things we can’t control most of the time. I was going to say something about this being long winded, but if you’ve been here before you know that’s really all my posts are. (Sorry not sorry) I hope that answers that question for you guys. At the end of the day, we’re just always flying by the seat of our pants in this journey and trying to choose joy along the way.
9 Comments
Christopher
7/18/2019 08:06:13 pm
Love following this blog, it’s interesting to read your posts about everything going on in your lives.
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Erika
7/18/2019 08:39:24 pm
I love reading about you and Matt's journey in baseball. Everyone thinks (I did too) is, they get signed up and they are living the dream. No one thinks about the hard work all these players have to endure, the traveling, having to prove themselves are worthy, time away from their families. All the anxiety, the stress and those long endless nights.
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Bucky Forrester
7/18/2019 08:33:19 pm
I have not followed the MLB so much like this year. It has been amazing following both you and Matt. I know he will keep working hard I remember the first that I ever met Matt it was when Brennan moved back in with me from living in Colorado. He decided to play babe ruth and started helping with one of the practices and seeing this one kid off to himself completing working his own set of drills not goofing off like some of the other players but actually working. I had to asked who that kid was I was told that’s Matt Beaty. After watching him at that age I new he was different. Then he took the time to help Brady with catching and hitting he did not have to but he did and he was such an influence on Brady’s baseball career. Brady wanted to be like Matt, Brady later in high school became both all district and all regional. Brady also lead his high school baseball team to its first state tournament ever. So I want to thank Matt for being such a good roll model for not only Brady but for all the baseball and softball players from Dresden. I truly believe that Matt had a huge role in the travel ball program in Dresden getting started because the players wanted to be the next Matt Beaty. Thank you Bucky.
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Randy Potts
7/18/2019 08:35:18 pm
Cheryl & I love to watch Matt when he gets the opportunity to play. He always shines when given the opportunity. He has proved he belongs in the majors. We are proud of him. I appreciate your Insight and posts. We are proud of you too!
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Linda leach
7/18/2019 10:10:06 pm
Love this
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Taylor
7/19/2019 06:05:02 am
Love this journey. So happy for you guys. How will take care of y’all! Loving the blog.
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7/19/2019 06:20:34 am
I HAVE TO SAY YOU ARTICULATED THAT VERY WELL... THANK YOU FOR OPENING UP ENOUGH TO ALLOW ALL OF DODGERS FANS TO UNDERSTAND MATT AND YOUR LIVES... I LIVE IN N TEXAS AND WOULD LOVE TO GO SEE GAMES IN OKC AND SUPPORT OUR BOYS WHO HAVE GONE LOW FOR A MINUTE...
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7/19/2019 07:18:23 am
I’m so proud of both you and Matt. This has been a season of growth for both of you. Keep hanging tough and watch those stats grow!
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Debbie Mitchell
7/23/2019 09:18:50 am
Girl I want him to stick so bad. We cant say he's not giving them something to talk about. Go Matt!
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Matt & Jesica BeatyWelcome in to dreams and seams! A tell-all blog about our career dreams and path to reaching those dreams with some commentary about sports and life plus some videos too. "Strive for the impossible because it makes the possible seem effortless." -Matt Beaty Categories
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