BOYS WILL BE BOYS:

In this video, Chris is on his last day before his next start.  This is a day to recover and get ready to take the mound tomorrow.  His work routine…the conditioning, workouts, and bullpen…have allowed him to keep his body in shape and adjust some of the flaws he had with his delivery.

Now we get to talk with Chris’ roommate, Nick DeBarr, and find out some inside information about Chris.  Nick talks about Chris sleeping all day long and eating lots of hot pockets each day.  As with many minor league baseball players, Chris loves to play video games.  He is the man with the new Nintendo Wii.  Nick offers Chris some words of advice, telling him to keep working hard and “maybe” get some more sleep.  As all baseball players now, the journey is very long and difficult at times.  There are many highs and lows throughout the season, but ultimately the ones who succeed are the ones who keep their emotions on a straight line.  Never let your highs get to high or your lows get to low.  As Nicks says, “Stay the course.”

BULLPEN SESSION:

In this video, Chris is going through the one of the most important, yet underrated, aspects of pitcher: the Bullpen.  Pitching greats such as Greg Maddox and Roger Clemons worked out the kinks in their bullpen sessions.  Chris works on keeping his mechanics in order.  As his coach states, Chris has an unorthodox delivery which makes his timing all the more important.  If he loses his release point or his shoulder flies open, Chris will have a hard time getting out of trouble.  With that being said, Chris has decent stuff.  His fastball is consistently at 87-88 mph and tops out at 91 mph.  He has a good breaking ball and a decent change up.  His deceptive delivery makes it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball…one of the reason why Chris has been successful throughout his career.

Sportsgist.com gets to talk with Tampa Bay Ray pitcher Chris Mason down in Durham, North Carolina the day after his start. Just in case you forgot, Chris is in Durham pitching for the Durham Bulls, the AAA affiliate of the Rays. Our objective was to hang out with Chris and learn exactly what a pitcher does both on the days he pitches and on the days that he does not pitch.

PITCHER’S FIELDING PRACTICE:

In this video, Chris is going through the monotonous routine of pitcher’s fielding practice.  All pitcher’s hate PFP (the baseball term for pitcher’s fielding practice), but they understand that repetition will only help them when they need to make a play.  Making the play could be the difference in winning the game or losing the game.  After PFPs, Chris gets to run around the outfield and shag some BP.  All pitchers’ think they’re Andrew Jones, but running down fly balls actually helps them in their recovery.  After BP, Chris runs a bit to get the blood circulating through the body and then it’s off to the showers.  He watches the game from the stands where he charts every pitch for his time and one inning from the opposing team.  He charts what pitch was thrown, the location, and speed of the pitches.  The life of a pitcher…gotta love it!!!

STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING:

In this video, Chris is going through his off day workout routine. He will do his leg work out on the field with the strength coach and then will go inside to do his upper body lifts. His leg workout is a continuous circuit which will help Chris to develop strength in his legs and at the same time to work on his endurance, both key elements for a pitcher to be effective throughout a long season. Unfortunately we were not able to go inside with Chris, but you do hear his strength coach talk about the importance for a pitcher to focus more on his back and pulling exercise then his chest and pushing exercises.

Chris Mason is one of the top pitching prospects in the Tampa Bay Rays farm system.  It has been quite some journey for him as he gets closer to reaching his ultimate dream: making it to the big leagues!  He has coasted through the minors…dominating at every level he pitched at.  Chris began his first full season of minor league baseball in Visalia, CA.  He finished the season with a 12-10 record, which was very good considering it was his first full season of professional baseball.  The next year was Chris’ coming out party.  He pitched at the Double A level in Montgomery, AL and was voted the Southern League pitcher of the year and Co-MVP of the league.  He was 15-4 with a 2.57 ERA and 136 strikeouts. 

Chris is currently pitching in Triple A for the Durham Bulls.  Chris takes us through his gameday routine…from start to finish.  He tells us about when he wakes up, why he shaves his arms, and what happened during the game.  The video gives you a good idea about who Chris Mason is and how he prepares for his starts.  The video also shows what a great minor league baseball town Durham is. 

It’s scary to think that with the way the Tampa Bay Rays are playing this year that they have yet another first pick. This season they are playing like a playoff team and are beating up on teams in the powerful American League East. The Rays’ first pick of the draft was Beckham. Not the pretty boy soccer player but Tim Beckham from Griffin High in Georgia. The shortstop may complete an already impressive team in a few years and give American League teams more to worry about. Beckham wasn’t the only solid pick in the draft as I’ll break down the first ten picks of the MLB draft for you.

1.Tampa Bay Rays-Tim Beckham SS: Griffin High School, Georgia-Exactly what the Rays needed to complete their team. If they can hold on to him and not trade him the Rays will be set for the next ten years as they build around Rocco Baldelli, Evan Longoria, and Crawford.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates-Pedro Alvarez 3B: Vanderbilt University- Arguably the most talented player in the draft Alvarez could become a perennial all star in the MLB. The question is who will he be an all star for? Alvarez’s contract demands may be too much for the Pirates to handle and could end up somewhere else.

3. Kansas City Royals- Eric Hosmer 1B: American Heritage High School, Florida- An all-around player who is a solid player in the field, and the lefty has one of the strongest bats High School. If the Royals can keep him he can be a great power hitter with solid defense. I would compare him to a Tino Martinez, a great player who can make a tremendous impact.

4. Baltimore Orioles- Brian Matusz LHP: San Diego University- The Orioles desperately need starting pitching and nothing like a 6′4, 200lb lefty to do the job. Matusz has four pitches and can be very dominating with his size. One worry is the slow start he had to last season and that could impede his road to the Majors.

5. San Francisco Giants- Gerald Posey C: Florida State University- With the Giants losing their only hitter in Bonds(probably to prison), they need to find an answer. Posey might just be that answer. He has all the tools as a catcher except for power. I don’t think this was the right choice for the lowly Giants as they should be rebuilding with pitching.

6. Florida Marlins- Kyle Skipworth C- Patriot High School, California- Just like the Rays, the Marlins look awfully good this year and have both a young team and a small payroll. The Marlins got a steal with Skipworth because he is better than Giants’ 5th Pick, Posey, who is also a catcher. The Marlins have to be happy with the luck they’re getting and all they need is some luck in holding on to their players.

7. Cincinnati Reds- Yonder Alonso 1B- University of Miami- Not the best defensive player but sports a great bat that may get him into the majors. I don’t see him staying in the National League, but I can see him as a DH in the American. The Reds should trade him to get some good value for their team.

8. Chicago White Sox- Gordon Beckham SS- University of Georgia- Another Beckham!?! Again not the soccer player, but a middle infielder that the White Sox wanted and needed. They lack middle infield depth and Beckham could be a great utility guy who can start every night for the White Sox.

9. Washington Nationals- Aaron Crow RHP- University of Missouri Columbia- With only the second pitcher chosen in the first ten, Crow is a very smart choice for the Nationals. Crow has the best arm in the draft and will be a great piece to build around.

10. Houston Astros- Jason Castro C- Stanford University- The Astros would have been better off choosing Fidel Castro. Not really but Castro is not top ten talent to say the least and is not the right choice for the Astros. The future of Castro staying at catcher is bleak and may move to second base. I think Castro reminds the Astros of Craig Biggio who also went from catcher to second base for the Astros.

So in a Beckham filled draft, who are the winners? The two Florida teams stole the show, with the Rays picking up Tim Beckham first, and the Florida Marlins stealing Kyle Skipworth with the sixth pick. The Astros, Royals, and Giants are sadly the losers making all dumb moves. After this draft I think the Rays have a tremendous future ahead of them.

This season has been strange to say the least. After Memorial day the two teams with the highest payrolls, Yankees and Tigers were in last place in their division. Coincidentally, the two teams with the lowest payrolls, Marlins and the Rays, were in first place in their division. So, it only makes sense that someone makes this season even stranger and ends up at the end of the season with a .400 batting average. That someone could be Chipper Jones.

This is simply great for the game. In recent years we have been watching juiced up fools bash home runs over the fence over taking some of the games greats. Finally we don’t have a home run watch this season. We have a .400 watch. This is so refreshing because Chipper seems legit, (but, you never know) and could bring integrity back to this game. So, when does Chipper’s .400 watch begin to scroll below the screen when you’re watching ESPN? How about now. We hype up home run chases from the first swing that Barry Bonds, or Alex Rodriguez take. So why not hype up a pure hitter’s approach to one of the hardest things to do in baseball?

Chipper Jones is hitting .418 right now. 418!!!! Are you kidding me!! All this in the national league, a.k.a. a pitcher’s league. In the past 50 years there have only been three other players to be hitting as well as Chipper is past May 29th. Hank Aaron in 1959, Rod Carew in 1983, and Rico Carty in 1974. People, a .400 watch is extremely rare and we need to be paying attention. It comes about just as often as Haley’s Comet and we need to marvel at it.

I hate the Atlanta Braves just as much as the next guy. I don’t even like Chipper Jones that much to be honest with you. But, if with one amazing, hit filled, unique season this Brave that I hate can bring back respect to the game I love. I’m routing for you Chipper.

The problem with that argument, of course, is that Johnson like all players are taught to play hard each and every out, Spring, Summer or Fall. As Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon put it: “We try to play the game the same way on March 8 as we do on June 8.” So the question always is what is playing hard and what is playing dirty. What is the right way to play baseball?

Yesterday things turned a whole lot worse for both teams. Shelley Duncan – who by the way was one of the loudest complainers on the Yankees – went into second base spikes high. You can take a look at a freeze frame to see where his left leg and spikes were in relation to Tampa Bay second baseman Akinori Iwamura.

One brawl and a day later there’s no surprise that the Yankees and Rays see the same play with completely different eyes. “I saw it a couple times,” Duncan revealed. “I still don’t understand why they were as upset as they were.” Duncan explained further: “The ball beat me by quite a bit, and when you’re out by a mile, there are only two things to do: try a weird slide around the base or to slide hard into his glove … I slid hard into his glove.”

Maybe I’m missing something here but his spikes are a heck of a lot closer to Iwamura’s groin than they are to his glove.

According to Joe Maddon, “What you saw today is a definition of a dirty play.” Maddon continued: “There’s no room for that in our game. It’s contemptible. It’s wrong. It’s borderline criminal. I can’t believe they did that. That was a blatant attempt to hurt Aki. And it was set up, it was planned, it was premeditated; it was all of the above. I don’t know what the difference is between that and a high stick in hockey. It was that bad.”

It’s always hard to know what an athlete’s thinking in the midst of action but it doesn’t help Duncan’s case to go back a few days and read his take on the Johnson-Cervelli incident: “They showed what is acceptable to them and how they’re going to play the game, so we’re going to go out there to match their intensity – or even exceed it.”

There’s not much doubt that on Wednesday March 12, Duncan exceeded it. Let’s hope that come the real season the Yankees can make baseball, not war. It’s our National Pastime after all – and we’re 5 years into a real war. Enough blood, it’s time for baseball.