The Dog Days Are Here
The All-Star Break has come and gone and it’s now time to buckle down for the “dog days of summer” and an exciting playoff race up ahead. Baseball is in full swing and will put each ball player’s mental and physical stamina to the test.
For the players who don’t make the All-Star Game it’s an opportunity to remove themselves from the daily grind of the game and all the pressures that go along with it. Each player relaxes in different ways and it’s interesting to find out how many guys spend these precious days away from the field.
Let me give you some important information so you can see just how important these three or four days (some teams had games scheduled on Thursday while others enjoyed a scheduled day off added to the end like we did) are to players.
Pitchers and catchers report to spring training in the middle of February while position players usually report around the February 20 — give or take a few days. We play 34 games during spring training, and including those extra weeks of practice, only get 1 day off. The regular season started this year for us on March 31 and will end on September 28. We will play 162 games and, not counting the 3-day All-Star Break, will get 17 days off. Basically, it is nonstop baseball for 7 months because many of those days off are travel days or make up games because of rainouts.
With such a grueling schedule how do guys spend the most precious free time they receive all year?
I went home to visit my family and took a trip to my fishing camp in the Gulf of Mexico with my Dad, nephew and a few friends. It was the first time I had been back to Louisiana during the summer in many years. It was hot but I loved being able to relax, fish, and visit my family and to not have to wake up thinking about who was pitching that day or prepare to leave for the field at 2:00 PM. It was weird at 7:00 PM because my body knew it was usually playing at that time but instead it was eating dinner.
Many players went to their offseason homes away from the cities they play in. Shortly after the game ended, the Cleveland Airport was full of umpires and ball players headed out as quickly as possible. A few of my teammates flew to their hometowns as far as Puerto Rico and Santa Domingo.
Some players went to quiet locations around the city they started the break in or the city they start their second half games in. Two years ago, I spent an All-Star break in Napa Valley because our first games back were in San Francisco. Some guys took their families to Cedar Point Amusement Park just outside of Cleveland.
A few players stayed at their in-season homes and spent time with their wives and children. It was an opportunity for some to take on the responsibilities that they’ve been missing out on because of ball games and travel. Players with young children and babies found out what a difficult job it is for their wives to be the caretaker while they are working.
No matter what ball players do or where we go for the All-Star break, we will relax. We may shut down our baseball mindset and relax our brains more than our bodies, but in turn, that will help energize and rejuvenate us to give it all we’ve got to finish the season on a high note personally and to help our teams try to go all the way to the World Series.
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Thanks for sharing David! Tell us about your fishing camp! Is it open to the public? Do you spend time there in the offseason?
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