he's chasing dreams hitting seams.
she's chasing dreams talking sports.
There are around 10 days left of spring training. And yesterday that fact finally hit me, and I had a mini panic attack. We've been in Arizona for six months which is a very long time for us to be in one place. Besides visiting Tennessee for Christmas, Matt going to Georgia and a short trip to California we haven't left Arizona during those six months. We've loved it here, but we're both ready to get baseball season going again. But with that comes the stresses of moving. Plus the stress of we still haven't heard officially where Matt is starting the season. So no, we still don't know where we're heading. And no we don't have a place to live yet. And no I haven't even started packing yet. People that don't understand the baseball life cannot wrap their heads around that whole we're-moving-in-two-weeks-but-have-no-idea-where-we're-going-to-be-moving thing. It is difficult, but we've learned to just go with it. I've called the apartment we stayed at in Tulsa, and they will have units available. And I've called a couple places in Oklahoma City that will have units available. Last spring training, Matt already knew where he was going by this point. His first spring training (2016) he didn't find out where he was going until two days before camp was over. I don't have a very good reason to share as to why they wait so long or when they tell the guys. The Dodgers have several new people in place so I think they're trying to get all the marbles in place if ya know what I mean. Also there are a ton of guys in camp so they're going to be making a lot of releases soon. They have to evaluate the newer guys and all of those things. And I know there are a lot of guys to assign to teams but for guys like Matt they know where they're going to send them so I wish they would just confirm. So for now, I'm trying to get as much in the works as possible for Tulsa and Oklahoma City for when we do know. And trying to figure out if we want to get a small U-Haul and take the little furniture we have with us. Just the usual. Matt was sent back to minor league camp a little over a week ago. He has a minor injury (muscle strain) that has kept him from playing games. But the past two days he's played defense and been swinging off the tee. Everything should be all good; just taking it slow. I gave his stats while at BLC at the end of this post. So just keep Matt in your prayers that he's 100% by the end of camp, and pray for my sanity (and all the other baseball families) as we wait to get our team assignment and move out and in! Stay tuned for the madness coming!
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If you guys follow the blog on Instagram (@dreamsandseams_), you saw my first taste of big league camp fails on Feb. 20.
So those instances made me think I should just go ahead and start a running blog of my big league camp struggles and lessons. 1) On Feb. 20, the Dodgers did live batting practice for the first time. (Live batting practice is where the pitchers throw to hitters in a game like situation.) I decided I wanted to go see Matt at camp before the actual games start. He sends me the schedule to let me know what field he will be on. I get to Camelback. After walking around trying to figure out how to get to field three, I asked an usher how to get to field three. He tells me to keep walking around the path I get to the field. So I keep walking around — keep in mind I'm watching field three from a far and it is literally the only field in the complex you can't get to. I get around to the minor league side and ask that usher how I get to field three. He says I can't unless I have a wristband. I then proceed to ask what a wristband does. He says members of players family get wristbands that lets them go freely throughout the complex. The players have to get the wristbands each day for the member of the family. OHHH that's new to me and to Matt. Lesson number one, get a family wristband. Otherwise you'll be creep-ily watching from the space in the outfield fence...oh and you missed live batting practice. 2) Trying to pick Matt up is a struggle. This only happened once, and I haven't went to pick him up again. The entrance into the big league player parking lot is fenced from the top of the regular parking lot down to the gate that enters the player parking lot. The fence is there to keep the fans out and allow a clear path for the players, personnel, etc. to come in and out. Anyway, I go to pick up Matt, and the attendant at the start of the path wouldn't let me in because I wasn't on the list. And I even dropped him off that morning. Granted it was a new guy at the start, and we got it worked out but I was still just laughing at how different this process was than what I'm used to on the minor league side. *I should also say I am VERY thankful for the security and protocols because it keeps Matt safe. But I'm just out here learning.* From the Stands is a series where WAGS share their journeys in baseball.
Stephanie was a senior at the University of Miami, and Harold Martinez was a sophomore third baseman at UM when they met. Stephanie explains the two met through a group of friends after…a baseball game, of course. “We didn’t see each other for a little bit,” Stephanie said. “We reconnected through friends again, got to know each other and have been together ever since.” Harold was drafted by the Phillies in the second round of the 2011 draft after his junior season. “At the end of a dream season Harold’s sophomore year, he got hurt and never really felt the same during his junior season,” Stephanie said. “So, going into the draft we weren’t really sure what was going to happen. When the Phillies reached out in the second round, we were really surprised but excited and grateful. And then began the craziness of minor league baseball.” Following the 2011 season, Stephanie and Harold got engaged. The following offseason the two were married — Nov. 2012. In 2013, Harold started the season in High-A. “High-A was interesting. He could never seem to get out of there for different reasons,” Stephanie said. “I’ll never forget when I left a few days before spring training ended, and they still hadn’t posted the team assignments. Everyone had been talking to him like he was going to AA. We knew you couldn’t really plan on anything in this career, but then he called me and told me he was going back to Clearwater (High-A) for the third time. It was really frustrating.” Harold faced several injuries and other setbacks. Stephanie says they realize how those hard times really made them stronger in their relationship and in their relationship with God. “Without our relationship with God, it would have been impossible to make it through everything.” If you’re reading this, it means the Dodgers – finally – announced their 2018 Big League Camp (BLC) non-roster invites.
Anddd guess who is one of them? Yep, Matty B. We’ve known (unofficially) through Matt’s agent he was getting an invite since the winter meetings. He got a call from the Dodgers a couple of weeks ago, which made it official. And I’ve been waiting for the Dodgers and media to announce the invites to the public before sharing with you guys. I wanted to write this post and explain what exactly getting a BLC invite means. Just slow your roll before you start freaking out and telling everyone Matt is officially with the Dodgers. Because he isn’t. Every Spring Training each MLB team invites players to BLC who are not on their official 40-man roster. The number of invites varies each year and between each club. The Dodgers invited 22 players this spring training. Essentially the non-roster invites are competing for a spot on the 25-man/opening day roster. Matt and I know he isn’t really competing for a spot this ST but to earn an invite is a great accomplishment in and of itself. Also, having a strong ST at BLC will help him make a case to be put on the 40-man roster after next season to save him from the rule-5 draft. (Future blog for when that is happening.) I’ve thought labeling prospects is a dumb concept for as long as I can remember. But I never thought I could really write that because Matt wasn’t on a prospect list. BUT now he is AND guess what…I still think labeling prospects is dumb. And now I’m going to write why I think that.
In sports, prospects are labeled all the time, but in baseball labeling prospects is most common because there are so many minor league players. Usually each MLB organization has a list of 30 prospects then there is a Top 100 prospects list, which is just the top 100 players throughout the entire minors. First things first — according to Wikipedia, “a prospect is any player whose rights are owned by a professional team, but who has yet to play a game for the team, or is not established with the team yet.” Second thing, you’re probably wondering who makes these prospects lists. So Baseball America and MLB Pipeline each make lists. Baseball writers are the main people who are making these lists. And I’m here to say as a writer I’m not dissing those writers who make the lists. I’ll be the first to tell you I think it’s so cool that Matt is on the prospect list — mainly because he earned it/deserves the recognition. But that also doesn’t mean I still can’t think labeling is dumb. I will say though I would love to know how many of the people making the lists have actually seen Matt (or a majority of players on the list/considered for the list) play a game of baseball. Sure they’ve watched him on film, right? But that’s minimum to me to get the whole picture of what kind of player he is. And again I know they’ve done their research and definitely know what they’re talking about. They really go off numbers — especially with someone like Matt. But anyway, the people making the lists aren’t the point of this post. |
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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