REBELOG: Alex Yarbrough's Cape Cod Experience 07.27

July 27, 2011

Wednesday, July 27 - After making 4 or 5 starts at the position, I have gained a newfound respect for all 1st-basemen. If you asked me before this season what the easiest position on the field was, I would have responded 1st base without hesitation. Playing there has changed my opinion drastically. Simply receiving throws from the other three infielders is a much more difficult task than it appears to be. Throws are rarely right at your chest, and it takes some practice just getting to the base and getting your feet set correctly. Add in throws in the dirt and balls between you and the second baseman that require a lot of communication, and it makes for a very challenging job. Luckily for me, the pitchers on our team have been very accurate with their pick-off throws, or else I would have been in real trouble. I will never again consider a first-baseman's job easy.

On Friday, all of the players realized just how pampered we had become playing here in the Cape. We traveled to play at Yarmouth-Dennis for the last time, but had no idea what was in store for us: heat. Temperatures got up to 95 degrees, which was at least 10 degrees hotter than any other day since we had been here, and many a player was put on heat-exhaustion watch. This "heat" would have been a gorgeous day in either Mississippi or my native Texas, but created real problems for all of us, many of whom are from hot-weather states just like me...Since I'm on the topic of playing at Y-D, I feel it necessary to pay tribute to the sandwiches known as the Hurler and the Sinker. A few years back, someone at the concession stand there decided it would be fun to put a hamburger patty between one of three donuts: plain glazed, jelly filled, or Boston cream, and add cheese whiz. Whether the idea excites or disgusts you, I found out from their head coach, who in 14 years coaching there has never tried one, that they sold their 6,000th a few nights ago.

To finish up, I'd like to congratulate Bobby Wahl on his Cape League All-Star selection. He has had a ridiculous season up here and has really made a name for himself as one of the most dominant pitchers in the best summer baseball league around. It is really fun to be out in the field while he is pitching, a) to see the scouts do double-takes on their radar guns and b) because you know it's more than likely going to be a 1-2-3 inning. He is a very deserving All-Star and I am really excited to see what he does next season at Ole Miss.

-AY

Wednesday, July 13 - The last couple weeks have seen the Kettleers really hit their stride on the field. After a slow start to the season, everyone has settled in nicely and has made great contributions to the team. Our full roster has finally arrived, as we had several guys miss the first few weeks of the season due to either being in Omaha for the College World Series or playing for the collegiate Team USA. We've won or drawn (because of darkness) 5 out of our last 6 games and have found ourselves right in the thick of the playoff hunt. Luckily, there are only 10 teams in the league, five in each division, and eight of the 10 teams make the playoffs. Our chances of making the postseason are looking better and better.

Last Tuesday my parents finally got to make their trip up here to the Cape. It was great to get to see them and have them see what a day in my life here consists of. But most importantly to them, they got to see me play. My team offers a webcam broadcast of every home game so they had been able to watch some of my games through that, but I was glad they were finally getting the chance to experience a few games all over the historic places and ballparks here in the Cape. Luckily, I was able to have some good games, including my first walk-off hit with Cotuit, a double in the bottom of the 11th against Hyannis. It was great to be able to do it with my parents there to see.

Baseball wasn't the only reason my parents were here though. Over the course of their week here, I was lucky enough to have a scheduled off-day as well as a rain-out. We ate at some great places all over the Cape, including an Italian restaurant called Siena's in Mashpee, a great fish and chips place called Kreme and Kone in the Chatham area, and a breakfast spot, the Daily Paper, which we ended up going to 3 mornings in a row. Perhaps the ultimate highlight of our eating exploits, however, was our seemingly daily trips to various ice cream joints. The most impressive of our findings may have been a place called Four Seas ice cream, which is nationally regarded as one of the best places anywhere, and was conveniently located a 20 second walk away from my parents' hotel. Among other great ice cream spots is the Polar Cave, which is only 10 minutes from my host house. The waffle cones are only made upon order, and that sets it apart from any other place I've been to. By the time my parents left, I was cringing at the mere suggestion of going for ice cream.

Shifting gears a little bit, I am working my first baseball camp for the Kettleers this week. There are 6 weeks worth of camp, but players can work anywhere from 2 weeks to the full slate of 6. The kids attending the camps are anywhere from 7 to 12 years old, so the camps are less about teaching technique and more about just having fun (and keeping tears to a minimum). My first day, I was assigned to the soft toss station, which was fun but stressful. It doubles as a "make sure one of the small children with a bat in his hands doesn't club another one of the small children in the head" station. Luckily, I was able to escape the day crisis-free. Today I managed to draw the ground ball station, a much easier task. It's fun to see how much energy and enthusiasm the kids have for being there; if nothing else they're excited just to get to hang out with some of their friends for 3 hours. It takes me back to my days of attending camp throughout my younger career all the way through high school.

While writing this, I'm getting the rare opportunity to watch the MLB All-Star Game. This is one of the few nights in the last several years that I haven't had a game myself on the night of the ASG. In my opinion, it's tough to find a much more entertaining night for a baseball fan. I was pulling for the American League squad so that my Yankees get home field advantage when they make it to the World Series, but that didn't happen.

-AY

Monday, July 5 - For this entry, I'm going to focus on my team's trip to Fenway Park for the Cape Cod Baseball League's Scout Day. It was an awesome day and one that I will certainly never forget when I think about my baseball career.

The day began with the whole team meeting at Cape Cod Community College to board the charter bus, which we shared with our cross-town opponent Hyannis. We had to be there at 8:30 a.m., which was several hours before most of us have grown accustomed to waking up. None of us could complain too much though, as we knew we were up for a good reason. It only took about an hour and fifteen minutes to make it to the park, which was good time considering the unbelievable traffic that you usually come upon when entering or exiting Boston's city limits. We pulled around to one of the entrances in center field, and made our way into Fenway.

We arrived an hour or so before we needed to, so we were able to watch the two teams before us take batting practice on the field while we sat near Pesky's Pole in right field. It was unbelievable to finally make my way inside the park that I had literally watched thousands of games at on TV. After 15 minutes or so, an announcement was made over the P.A. system that there was a concession stand open behind home plate. A few of my teammates and I decided that it wouldn't be a true trip to Fenway without getting our hands on a few Fenway Franks. They were excellent, as advertised, but they were also the only unfortunate part of the day, as it ran me $10 for 2. Either way, I was happy to have tasted a piece of baseball history. Thirty minutes later, it was time for us to make our way down onto the field.

The first thing we were required to do was run a 60-yard sprint on the right field warning track, but before stretching and loosening up we were given some time for picture taking, which we all jumped on. I got several pictures of the famous Green Monster in left field, and made sure to make my way all around the fence in the outfield. After that, we preceded to get the 60 out of the way. My team had three guys run the sprint in 6.5 seconds or faster, and several others who ran a sub-7 second time. The scouts timing the runners said it was collectively one of the fastest Cape League teams they had seen in quite some time. Once everyone had run, it was time to head to the Red Sox dugout and get ready for batting practice on the field.

It is hard to describe the rush I got when I stepped into the batting cage for the first time. It really hit me hard when I thought of just how many Hall-of-Famers had stood in the very same batter's boxes I was standing in. And on top of that feeling, we had the legendary baseball writer/reporter Peter Gammons sitting behind the cage watching us hit. Luckily, I was able to shake off the nerves and have a good round of BP. And on my last swing of the day, I was able to hit a home run into the first row of seats on top of the legendary Green Monster. It was one of the prouder moments I've had on a baseball field, and really capped off a great day on the field at Fenway.

After our round of BP, we were taken upstairs to the press box area of the stadium. In the hallway leading from the elevator to the room we went to, there were a bunch of unique pictures of the Red Sox players, past and present, many of which I had never seen before. Among those was a photo of my dad's favorite player, Ted Williams, in one of his first years in the Majors, wearing only a towel, posing in his batting stance in the middle of the locker room. I was sure to snap a photo of it to send to my dad. Once into the room, we were put through a series of reaction time tests on laptops. A few were just based on pure reaction time, and others were based on hitting timing and pitch recognition. After the tests, our heights and weights were taken and it was back to the bus for the trip back to the Cape. Our day at Fenway was one that neither myself or my teammates will ever forget, no matter how far any of us make it in our careers.

-AY

Monday, June 27 - The team has been together for over 3 weeks now, and as a result everyone has become really good friends. I think in some ways summer ball teams come together more quickly than a college team at the beginning of a new year simply because everyone is a new face and is forced to get to know everyone else. The worst part about becoming a tight-knit group, however, is that several people must be released from the roster every summer. In the Cape Cod League, and other leagues I'm sure, there are players that arrive with full contracts that last the entire summer, and there are players who are given "temporary" spots on the team. If all you have is a temporary position, you can be released at any time, until a deadline is reached where all roster spots are permanent. Over the last 5 days or so, several guys have been released. It is really hard to see them go, as it is a strange idea that one day they are a contributing member of the team, and the next they are on their way home. The good news is that they can now go to a different team in the Cape league or to another league altogether, and they will all certainly do very well for those teams.

On the positive side of friendships in summer ball, it has been fun so far in the season to see guys you have met in your college or high school career on other teams in the league. It seems like on a nightly basis, you are playing against at least two to three guys on the other team who you have become pretty good friends with over the last few years. A great example are two guys from Tulane, who we have played against in the school season each of my two years at Ole Miss, that now play for Bourne in the Cape. Preston Beck, one of my best friends from high school summer ball who now attends Texas at Arlington, plays for Brewster, so it has been fun to get to see him twice already this season. Those are just two examples among many. On the same note, many a conversation with my teammates has started with the phrase, "Oh, so you played with...?" whenever you find out where that teammate goes to school or where they played in previous summers. The connections between players and teams everywhere is pretty astounding.

I have not been an everyday player so far for Cotuit, simply because of the level of talent on the team. Every infielder is very skilled and playing time is divided as best as possible. But even on days that I am not in the lineup, I am working to get better. The biggest thing I have been working on so far is my throwing. Coach Roberts is a big proponent of "getting behind the ball" when you throw. Simply put, this means creating as much backspin as possible with the ball when you throw, as opposed to getting on the side of the ball with your fingers when you release it. Back-spinning the ball gets more carry on the ball, and helps you avoid throwing a ball that loses pace and dives away from the first baseman and potentially into the dirt. His help with throwing has been very beneficial for me this summer. Before the games, several of us go through a 5-step throwing program that promotes getting behind the ball. So far, I have seen great results from the program and am throwing farther and farther each day. I think it will really help my defense for the spring season at Ole Miss.

I'll finish up with a neat story from a game this weekend. Neither Bobby nor I were in the game at the time, and between innings we were looking through the stands at the crowd as we always do. I noticed 2 men in red shirts in the stands on the side opposite from us, one of which was wearing a gray hat that looked like the M logo on our Ole Miss hats. I pointed them out to Bobby and he agreed that they looked like they were wearing Ole Miss gear. After the game, the 2 men came down to meet us, and sure enough they were loyal Rebel fans, who had made the trip up to the Cape just to see us play. Bobby and I were really taken aback that they would take their own time and money to take a trip to see us play a few games. It's extremely cool to see something like that, and to see just how much people care about Ole Miss baseball.

-AY

Saturday, June 18 - The Cape Cod Baseball League is only a week old, but the biggest star of our team has definitely already emerged. His name is Victor Roache and he goes to Georgia Southern University. He led the nation in home runs with 30. No, that's not a misprint. 30. When you see him in person, though, it's a little easier to believe. The batting practice sessions he takes are a sight to behold. He hasn't missed a beat in the transition from the spring season to summer ball; he hits the ball hard nearly every time he comes to the plate and hit his first home run here in the Cape last night, a homer that very few in this league could manage. It will be fun to get to watch him this summer.

Victor is certainly not the only talented player on the team. Patrick Biondi of Michigan, Jimmy Bosco of Arkansas, and Kyle Wren from Georgia Tech, who already has 2 walk-off hits here, have all played very well so far, all hitting well and using their speed both on the basepaths and in the outfield. Biondi and Wren may be the toughest 1-2 punch in the league at the top of the lineup. In the infield, Micah Johnson from Indiana and Kevin Mager from Rollins College in Florida have both performed very well. Torsten Boss from Michigan State is also a very skilled member of the team, playing 3rd base in most of the games. I have also been very proud of my fellow Rebel Bobby Wahl and his pitching so far this summer. He has been lights out in his 4 or so innings of work, none more impressive than the 9th inning of our last game, where he struck out the side with ease to earn the save.

Off the field, Dunkin Donuts has quickly become a large part of my diet. It's kind of hard to avoid when there is one literally every 2 blocks. Yet somehow, they are always crowded no matter which one you go to. It's easy to understand the popularity though, I may never become tired of it for the 2 months or so that I'm here.

We had our first full off-day since I've been here, so Bobby and I made the hour and a half or so journey into Boston. Before we made it into the heart of the city, we made it to our favorite restaurant, Chipotle. We weren't about to miss out on that opportunity. After lunch we parked in a garage near the heart of the city and walked around for several hours. As tough as it is for this long-time Yankees fan to say, Boston is a really cool city. Just walking around in the middle of a Thursday afternoon, it was buzzing with people. Every store we went in was packed.

Although we parked a good 5 miles away from it, we decided we couldn't take a trip to Boston without making it to Fenway Park. It turned out to be a great decision. We're not positive, but Bobby and I are pretty sure that the street we walked down to get to Fenway was the same street that Drew Barrymore's apartment was on in the movie Fever Pitch. It was blocks and blocks of apartments and townhomes that certainly cost a pretty penny.

When we finally arrived, Fenway did not disappoint. It was awesome to finally get to see the park that is widely considered the most storied in all of baseball. You kind of get chills thinking of all the great events in baseball history that have taken place right there. Thank goodness we were able to catch a cab from Fenway back to the garage; I'm not sure I would have been able to walk those 5 long miles back.

-AY

Monday, June 13 - I've only been in the Cape for a week now, but I've already made plenty of memories. After a week of 2-a-days and getting to know my teammates, I'm definitely feeling settled into my new surroundings.

Coach Roberts, the head coach of my team, is certainly a character. He prides himself on the technique of base stealing and bunting. The six hours a day of practicing was tough, but Coach Roberts clearly cares about winning, getting better, and helping all the players get as ready as possible for professional baseball. You can tell that every player, and their development, is extremely important to him.

The season began on Friday night, but before that was the initiation of sorts that is skit night. I thought I was being messed with the first time I heard about it, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I ended up in a group with Bobby Wahl, and players from Kentucky, Arkansas, and Southern California. Our skit was a dating game show, in which Bobby and I were contestants, accompanied by Luke Maile from Kentucky who played our head coach who was also a contestant. People were hysterical, saying it was one of the best skits in Cotuit history. We were extremely happy with the way it turned out. I was nervous going into it, but it turned out to be one of the most fun nights I've spent in a long time.

I've played three games so far in the Cape, and I've figured out why it's considered the toughest league to hit in: there are no lights! That's just a joke, but in all seriousness it does get extremely tough to hit when the sun is setting and there's a guy on the mound throwing 96, which was the case for me in my first 3 at-bats here. Luckily for me, in one of the at-bats I got the sacrifice bunt sign, and in another the game was called due to darkness in the middle of my at-bat. That is definitely a first in my career. Thankfully, only 3 of the 10 parks are without lights. All jokes aside, it is clear that the talent level here is extremely high and every team is filled with guys that can really play. This summer will certainly be a fun challenge.

-AY

Tuesday, June 7 - It's been a great few days so far here on Cape Cod. It was certainly a long day of travel on Saturday to get up here. I was up at 6:00 to catch my first of 2 flights, one from DFW to Charlotte, North Carolina, and from there to Providence, Rhode Island.

Once I was on the ground for good I was picked up by one of the great host parents for my team, the Cotuit Kettleers. After an hour and a half or so drive, I had arrived in Cotuit. I met the GM and head coach, and was given all of my gear. Somehow I ended up with #2 for my jersey number, very surprised it was still left!

By 8 o'clock or so I finally got to meet my host family, the Mulones. They are an awesome family, some of the nicest people I have ever met. The parents are Tony and Joyce, and they have twin boys in the 6th grade named Evan and Nathan, as well as a daughter named Megan who is entering her junior year at Skidmore College. They treated me to a great day on Sunday, which was one of the few days I will have off all summer. I got to see the boys' lacrosse game in the afternoon, followed by a trip to Coastguard Beach. For dinner, we went to a great place called the Black Cat.

Monday was the first day on the field for me with the Kettleers. We had practice sessions from 10 to 1 and 2 to 5. All of the guys on the team are great, and I think we are in for a great summer. We are all looking forward to the first game on Friday. To finish out the day, I watched the MLB draft. It is kind of surreal to be watching this, as it seems like it was just yesterday the whole team was gathered around Drew waiting for him to get picked.

I'll write more throughout the summer, but that's all for now. For now, though, it's back to the draft.

-AY

The University of Mississippi Athletics

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