Literally just sitting around in the house each day for the past seven months or so has made the old body expand in such a manner that’s worrisome ... a good 20 pounds or so of worry 🥴. So ... since it’s approaching our cooler month period of the year here in FLA the Mrs. has coaxed my 2020 lazy being into at the least pursuing daily walks ... hard to believe that when we first retired to the Clearwater area five years ago we walked five miles a day as a normal routine ... even in spring training and watching off season practices the steps accumulated when walking the outer edges of the property walkway from Spectrum Field to Carpenter Complex as our routine ... gotta get back to steppin 🚶
This morning we ventured over to the Complex to walk the trail behind the fields ... and perhaps sneak some baseball viewing in as well with my trusty binoculars in tow 😎.
The trail behind the fields goes under Route 19 and turns into a single width walkway ... I believe it’s called the Ream Wilson Trail and that if one is truly ambitious and in much better shape than I currently am you could actually walk it all the way to Safety Harbor some 13 miles away 😰. We lasted about an half hour or so ... perhaps partially due to my desire to get back by the Complex for some more baseball peeking 🤓.
We saw a few of the pitchers on Roberts and Carlton fields doing their weighted baseball work ( plyometrics ) as well as flat ground tosses. Starlyn Castillo, Jordan Fowler, Christopher Soriano, Victor Vargas and Jhordany Mezquita were the fellas we saw the most of.
On Ashburn Field the catchers were practicing pop up drills in the area down the right field line ... it impresses me every time I see it ... the pitching machine is used to toss baseballs high into the sky ... the last part of the drill is having two baseballs go up in sequence and the catchers catch them each ... pop ups always drove me batty as a first baseman ... maybe that’s why I marvel at this drill 🤷♂️.
Sliding and bunting drills were being conducted in the work areas between Ashburn and Schmidt Fields. BP then took place on those two fields afterwards. We were fortunate to meet Billy Sullivan’s parents ( he was signed as an amateur free agent pitcher out of the University of Delaware this June ) ... they were down here to watch him pitch ... unfortunately due to the bubble their vantage point was the same as ours ... beyond the fences. They did get to see him throw a live BP this past week and a side session bullpen today. Nice folks.
Some of the fellas appear to have added a few “lbs” like myself ... just not as many and in better form ... it seems as if Outfielder Johan Rojas added weight .... it also appears to be all muscle. We got a glimpse of him on Ashburn Field and he looks to be in great shape, bigger, taller and more muscular than when we last saw him. I think the young man ( 20 yrs old ) has a great deal of talent and I am anxious to see him back on the field in games once again ...
While we were peering through the Ashburn Field right field fences a baseball ... I think perhaps hit by Luis Garcia ... cleared the wall, came down thru the tree we were under and smacked me wife 😳 ... no worries, she’s ok, but it was startling as we didn’t see it coming ... the perils of being a fan 🤪.
Scrimmages are being held this week in the Stadium ... no admission to anyone ... is what it is in these times of caution ... today after lunch the first intra squad game took place.
That was our morning ... was good to get out of the house for a bit ... will see what tomorrow brings 🤔.
Happy Day, Happy Baseball ⚾️
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