Monday, July 19, 2004
Catching up and freaking out
Back from Europe and catching up on posting.
There were some cool Jeff moments while I was gone, most notably the awesome take-out slide.
My birthday was Saturday, and my husband got me another autographed Jeff picture, and this incredibly strange Baseball Card from the Michigan Whitecaps (?) Where Jeff looks 12, is wearing a Jets hat, and also seems to have mislaid his cleats and is instead wearing boat shoes. Like I said, strange.
To get my autographed Jeff picture, my husband braved some event last week at ESPN Zone, where he said Jeff answered questions about what he did during the break, etc. I guess Jeff spent the break with his family at home, and emerged with new respect for his wife (their baby was born right before spring training , so he hasn't spent much time with Luke) the baby was wearing him out, he doesn't know how his wife does it. When asked about his playing time he said "I would never complain about playing time. I'm just really happy to be on the team." Contrary to how Jeff fans will happily interpret that statement, there was absolutely no implied "unlike some other people I could name".
Sunday was photo day, where they let us circle the warning track in the sweltering mid-day sun and use our own personal cameras to capture photographs of the players "in their natural environment". It's like a safari or a no-cage zoo or something. You can easily tell the veterans from the newbies. Percival, after years of study, is sufficiently knowledgeable about the fact that cameras don't do a great job of taking pictures of people that are moving, so he actually stands still. They weren't supposed to stop for pictures with fans, but several ignored that rule, including (yay) Jeff. So later on I'll post the nice picture I got of the two of us, I was so nervous I don't even think I introduced myself, and afterwards I briefly wondered if I should sit down, the combined heat and excitement making me a bit dizzy. I can't believe I just admitted to acting like a 13 year old girl in the presence of a Backstreet Boy-- the shame. Josh Paul seemed confused by the fact that I wanted his picture (reducing me to yelling "Josh! Josh!" like the paparazzi) and Shane Halter elevated himself immensely in my eyes by asking me if I had gotten the picture I wanted of him and Quinlan and offering to bring Quinlan back if I didn't. (Really I just wanted Quinlan, but you don't tell the zebra to get out of the picture you are taking of the wildebeast). Also, can I add that the green mascot beast from Fujifilm just kept flirting with me and it was *way annoying*.
Let's not speak of the game on Sunday. Once again, a pitcher was left in a little bit too long. Once again, hitting seemed to be a problem. Vlad looked like he had never played outfield before in his life (but took out his frustration with some kick-ass throws). Jeff did something he absolutely never does, and took serious issue with the home plate ump's definition of a strike zone- when he was called out looking he expressed his frustration, unhappily disposed of his batting accessories, but ultimately had the good sense to walk to center field (where he started, yay!) before the official lost all patience with Jeff's demonstration. Jeff was not the only player to show displeasure with the strike zone, so I guess the guy was at least uniform. Salmon started in Left (huh?) and batted no better than Jeff, plus he was sort of sad defensively. Interesting choice to have them both play in the outfield, making it less of a competition. I really do get that Salmon has done more for this team than Jeff ever will, but I don't have this deep affection for him, so I get frustrated by his continued presence.
There were some cool Jeff moments while I was gone, most notably the awesome take-out slide.
My birthday was Saturday, and my husband got me another autographed Jeff picture, and this incredibly strange Baseball Card from the Michigan Whitecaps (?) Where Jeff looks 12, is wearing a Jets hat, and also seems to have mislaid his cleats and is instead wearing boat shoes. Like I said, strange.
To get my autographed Jeff picture, my husband braved some event last week at ESPN Zone, where he said Jeff answered questions about what he did during the break, etc. I guess Jeff spent the break with his family at home, and emerged with new respect for his wife (their baby was born right before spring training , so he hasn't spent much time with Luke) the baby was wearing him out, he doesn't know how his wife does it. When asked about his playing time he said "I would never complain about playing time. I'm just really happy to be on the team." Contrary to how Jeff fans will happily interpret that statement, there was absolutely no implied "unlike some other people I could name".
Sunday was photo day, where they let us circle the warning track in the sweltering mid-day sun and use our own personal cameras to capture photographs of the players "in their natural environment". It's like a safari or a no-cage zoo or something. You can easily tell the veterans from the newbies. Percival, after years of study, is sufficiently knowledgeable about the fact that cameras don't do a great job of taking pictures of people that are moving, so he actually stands still. They weren't supposed to stop for pictures with fans, but several ignored that rule, including (yay) Jeff. So later on I'll post the nice picture I got of the two of us, I was so nervous I don't even think I introduced myself, and afterwards I briefly wondered if I should sit down, the combined heat and excitement making me a bit dizzy. I can't believe I just admitted to acting like a 13 year old girl in the presence of a Backstreet Boy-- the shame. Josh Paul seemed confused by the fact that I wanted his picture (reducing me to yelling "Josh! Josh!" like the paparazzi) and Shane Halter elevated himself immensely in my eyes by asking me if I had gotten the picture I wanted of him and Quinlan and offering to bring Quinlan back if I didn't. (Really I just wanted Quinlan, but you don't tell the zebra to get out of the picture you are taking of the wildebeast). Also, can I add that the green mascot beast from Fujifilm just kept flirting with me and it was *way annoying*.
Let's not speak of the game on Sunday. Once again, a pitcher was left in a little bit too long. Once again, hitting seemed to be a problem. Vlad looked like he had never played outfield before in his life (but took out his frustration with some kick-ass throws). Jeff did something he absolutely never does, and took serious issue with the home plate ump's definition of a strike zone- when he was called out looking he expressed his frustration, unhappily disposed of his batting accessories, but ultimately had the good sense to walk to center field (where he started, yay!) before the official lost all patience with Jeff's demonstration. Jeff was not the only player to show displeasure with the strike zone, so I guess the guy was at least uniform. Salmon started in Left (huh?) and batted no better than Jeff, plus he was sort of sad defensively. Interesting choice to have them both play in the outfield, making it less of a competition. I really do get that Salmon has done more for this team than Jeff ever will, but I don't have this deep affection for him, so I get frustrated by his continued presence.
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