he's chasing dreams hitting seams.
she's chasing dreams talking sports.
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.* 3) Introduce yourself to Bob, the parking attendant. More than likely every organization has that one guy or gal that has done his or her job for a very long time and everyone knows them. Introduce yourself to them cause they'll tell you allll you need to know. The spring training home opener I went to pick up my ticket at will call, and the guy tells me I have to walk around to the "Dodgers building" to get my ticket. Having no clue what the Dodgers building is, I start walking. The first person I get to that I think might know what direction to lead me in is Bob, the parking attendant. He tells me I'm in the right place and to just walk through the glass doors and ask for Steve. I find Steve, get my ticket and try to look like I halfway know what I'm doing/like I belong in the process. On the way out, I introduce myself to Bob, and he asks where I parked. I told him around on the other side of the stadium. He just shakes his head and laughs and tells me from now on to pull over to the Dodgers side and he'll either get me in the players lot or if there isn't any room there are extra spots for players families and friends. Thanks, Bob, good to know!
4) Anything can happen at big league camp. I mean anything — like the Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, calling you from the clubhouse on Matt's phone...yeah, really. At Dodgers camp, the minor league guys have to get up and introduce themselves. Well somehow Matt introducing himself, turned into Dave Roberts asking more about me and then telling Matt to give him his phone so he can call me. I answered thinking it was strange Matt was calling me. A voice that I didn't recognize at first said hey and good morning, and I responded with "good morning even though I don't know who you are". I hear the clubhouse erupt into laughter. I was so embarrassed. The voice keeps talking and I realize it is Dave Roberts to which I say "wait, is this Dave Roberts" again laughter. Then I realize I'm on speaker phone with the entire Dodgers clubhouse. The conversation goes on to me saying Matt can bark like a dog as his special talent. I then judge a barking contest between Matt and two other guys. (The strength coach won with his Sandlot dog bark.) I hung up the phone like what the heck just happened and pretty embarrassed. But Matt said I didn't embarrass him too much so I guess it was okay. (Also if you don't believe me I have a little video snippet I'll show you for proof.) Matt got sent back to minor league camp which we knew was going to happen. He played really well, and we enjoyed the experience! His stats from BLC: 11 games played .333 Batting Average (6-18) Two Home runs (One over the fence, one inside-the-park — no seriously) Four RBIs Positions played: First, Third and Second
1 Comment
Lilly Perez
3/5/2018 06:51:49 pm
You Lady's are Amazing!!!! Enjoy it very much
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
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
All
|