Segal on Spring Break
3/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
March 14, 2006
The Indiana baseball team is in Bradenton, Fla., on its spring trip. IU will play seven games in seven days. Catcher Bobby Segal is on the trip and will keep a daily journal on IUHOOSIERS.com. Below is Segal's third entry.
DAY 4
Trevor's alarm went off at 6:45 a.m. and not one person flinched. It kept going off every eight minutes and finally Herv asked, "Are you going to shut that thing off or what?" Eventually everyone got up, and we were in the vans by 7:30. This morning we decided to stay inside the cafeteria to eat and I had eggs, two pieces of French toast, two sausage links, a hash brown, peach yogurt and a couple glasses of water. I had the honor to sit with my lifting partner and owner of the flying squirrel "Fivel" (who is with us on the trip), Tad Reida. He is one of the quiet kids who doesn't have to say anything but just stares at you and has this grin on his face waiting to joke around with you.
It was off to the fields to get some early swings in and get ready to play Bradley. I made sure to put on some SPF 48 because my skin is almost clear and does not tan for anything. So, Doug Fleenor asks me to go play catch in the outfield with him before the game. He just wanted to work on his pitches and get the confidence he needs in himself to be a great pitcher. No question the talent is there, but it all comes down to relaxing on the mound during the game. We like to refer to it as "Loosefraba," instead of being tense like a boxer grinding his teeth in the eighth round of a match. Next thing you know, he has pitched a couple of innings to me and that change up looks really good. It's all about staying loose. The team executed offensively really well in the early innings of the game. Putting bunts down, getting men over on ground balls, sacrifice flies, stolen bases (fundamental baseball). Defensively we were strong and led by a couple of chased down balls in the outfield and a great "Derek Jeter-like" play by shortstop Josh Richardson in the deep hole at shortstop. Chris McCombs pitched a great game, and we were just unlucky a couple of times in the late innings. It is one thing to lose a tough game, but it is even more important to see how you come back and respond the next day. I hope we come out strong early and often tomorrow to help defend our pitching staff like we have done for the most part this season.
We went to Applebee's for lunch, and I shared a table with David Trager, Chris McCombs and Doug Fleenor. The quesadilla burger was a good choice and sweet tea was great as well (I had about four or five glasses). It was back to Shorewalk when David and Chris decide to get Opie Taylor on me and get their fishing poles. Doug and I followed them and sat in some patio chairs behind them. Those boys can throw the reel, and Doug was giving some hilarious play-by-play of the attempts to catch fish and the reel-ins. We lasted for about 20 minutes before having enough of watching our boys change bait every 4 minutes. If I was a fish, I know I would go after those rubber worms.
It was now over to Doug's place where we played some Mario Kart, Itunes, talked for a bit and went "Durkey Hunting." There are these huge ducks that wander around our complex that have red turkey gizzards on their faces instead of hanging from their necks (hints how they got their name). They were outside of our patio and looked to be hungry, since they were trying to eat the bushes. Doug and I started feeding them chocolate chip cookies, then went to Cheez-It's and eventually went with bread. The idea was to get one in the condo and into Chris Hynes' room to wake him up from his hour nap. We tried and tried and tried, but there was no luck. At least we got some funny videos on Doug's camera.
We concluded the night by ordering medium pizzas from Dominos for five dollars each and playing an impromptu debate game between Doug and Brad Davidson (Hynes was the judge). Doug said he could out argue anyone in the room, and he proved that to be right. After every round, he would say, "And STILL champion of the world........." and I would come in and say "DOUG "Oscar Main" FLLLLEEEEEENNOR!" He loved it, and everyone could not stop laughing. Doug is a character I have known for a long time now, and he can get you laughing when you don't want to knock him out. After three quarters of a pound of pasta, a pound and a half of chicken breast and constant all day snacking, Trevor is STILL eating. I will go do some crunches, brush my teeth and dream about the six pack Trevor has that I will NEVER have. More tomorrow.
