The good news: the Town opened all grass fields today for the first time this spring. The bad news: the fields are still very wet.
I went over to Newman at about 3:30 this afternoon to check on our digs for Thursday's practice. The rain was coming down at a pretty good clip at that point. The entire infield was under about a half inch of water. Fortunately, the water was clear and running off the infield dirt, which indicated to my completely untrained eye that it's coming from above rather than below. This is good, right?
Open fields today are a good omen for us as we approach what could be our first practice on a real diamond. According to accuweather.com, we are due to have dry weather Wednesday and Thursday, which makes me even more hopeful.
The Town's fine print on its open fields announcement said that we can't play on any diamond with standing water--even if the field is officially open. If there's standing water on the infield, we'll practice in the outfield. If there's standing water on both the infield and outfield, we may have to cancel. But, with two dry days between now and Thursday evening, I'm inclined to think we'll be okay.
I will keep you posted with all the latest. Keep fingers crossed.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Sunday, April 3, 2011
The "Rite Stuff"
Red Wing dad C.J. Kaplan (Alex's dad) wrote a hilarious piece for The Globe Magazine last year about a certain rite of passage we have now all witnessed. Check it out:
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/06/13/the_rite_stuff/
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/magazine/articles/2010/06/13/the_rite_stuff/
Red Wings Flying High after First Team Practice
Who needs grass? Or a diamond? With the grass fields closed, nine eager Red Wings claimed a corner of turf at Memorial Field and put in a very promising first full-team session.
Infield coach L.J. Gage put our boys through dozens of reps at SS, 2B, and 1B and was very pleased with what he saw. There is always more work to be done--you can never field it cleanly or consistently enough, you can never fire it hard enough or hit the target often enough--but the boys were flashing the leather pretty well for this early point in spring training.
Hitting coach Charlie Patsios oversaw a productive batting practice at the cages. Good mechanics and good contact with soft pitches today, and the boys are ready to hit a bit more heat on Thursday.
As far as pitching, we'll have some depth this season. We've got a handful of guys who can really pound the zone already and many more with the potential. And from what I saw yesterday, we have at least two skilled catchers to support our top-notch rotation.
Most importantly, we've got a wonderful group of boys who love baseball, work hard at it, and support each other. We have the makings of a great team.
I look forward to seeing everybody on Thursday, 5:30 at Newman.
Infield coach L.J. Gage put our boys through dozens of reps at SS, 2B, and 1B and was very pleased with what he saw. There is always more work to be done--you can never field it cleanly or consistently enough, you can never fire it hard enough or hit the target often enough--but the boys were flashing the leather pretty well for this early point in spring training.
Hitting coach Charlie Patsios oversaw a productive batting practice at the cages. Good mechanics and good contact with soft pitches today, and the boys are ready to hit a bit more heat on Thursday.
As far as pitching, we'll have some depth this season. We've got a handful of guys who can really pound the zone already and many more with the potential. And from what I saw yesterday, we have at least two skilled catchers to support our top-notch rotation.
Most importantly, we've got a wonderful group of boys who love baseball, work hard at it, and support each other. We have the makings of a great team.
I look forward to seeing everybody on Thursday, 5:30 at Newman.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
First Full-Team Practice Tomorrow
Our pitchers and catchers put in a very productive session this afternoon at Frozen Ropes. Tomorrow the Red Wings will hold their first full-team practice of the season at Memorial Field (the high school football field) from 12:00 to 2:00.
Players should have baseball pants, cleats, a glove, and yes, the cup. If your son has a batting helmet, please bring that as well.
We are look forward to seeing everyone there!
Players should have baseball pants, cleats, a glove, and yes, the cup. If your son has a batting helmet, please bring that as well.
We are look forward to seeing everyone there!
Frozen Ropes Session: What to Wear/Bring
Today's pitcher/catcher session at Frozen Ropes will be a little different than a typical baseball practice. We will be focusing only on pitching and catching. We will be indoors, on turf.
At a typical practice, we want all players to wear baseball pants, a protective cup, and cleats. However, for this Frozen Ropes session, players may wear sweats or shorts if they prefer (baseball pants are fine, too). Players should wear sneakers--no cleats. Only those players who want to do any catcher work will need to wear a protective cup. A cup is not required today for those players who only want to focus on pitching, but it may not be a bad idea for today's pitchers to begin the habit of cup-wearing, too.
All players should bring their glove. They will not need a bat or helmet as we will not be hitting today.
Please arrive 10 minutes early if you can to take care of any necessary paperwork.
We're very excited about today's session!
At a typical practice, we want all players to wear baseball pants, a protective cup, and cleats. However, for this Frozen Ropes session, players may wear sweats or shorts if they prefer (baseball pants are fine, too). Players should wear sneakers--no cleats. Only those players who want to do any catcher work will need to wear a protective cup. A cup is not required today for those players who only want to focus on pitching, but it may not be a bad idea for today's pitchers to begin the habit of cup-wearing, too.
All players should bring their glove. They will not need a bat or helmet as we will not be hitting today.
Please arrive 10 minutes early if you can to take care of any necessary paperwork.
We're very excited about today's session!
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