Blog Archives
Chris Swauger Blog: Swags’ Baseball Gear
Tuesday January 17, 2012
Chris Swauger- MLB reports Blog (Swags’ Hotspot): I was given an idea for this blog and I tried to run with it. I ended up plowing headfirst into a brick wall. The idea was to write about how I choose my equipment. How do I decide on what gear to arm myself with to go into baseball battle? I started thinking about it and writing about it… when I realized something: it doesn’t matter. As a minor leaguer grinding and struggling my way up the food chain, I will take anything I can get. I don’t care if I have the latest batting gloves or the newest cleats. There are no style points awarded in this game. Any and all equipment provided for me is acceptable. If I don’t have to pay for it, that’s a huge plus. One of my teammates and I came up with a saying, “FREE is in the budget.” Truer words have never been spoken.
Contemplating this equipment idea led me to two alternatives. The first was I could talk about the brands I use and prefer, and possibly galvanize any other company into belly-laughing the next time I or my agent called them to talk about supplying me with gear or a contract. So that was out. Then I started thinking about the fact that I have used so much different equipment over the years. So many different gloves, batting gloves and cleats. So many different bats. So many different models. Why? I concluded that I was looking for an edge. I’ve been searching for the next best thing to make me better. I constantly adjusted and changed until I found tools that were comfortable and useful to me and my skill set. I realized that all the time (and money) I’ve spent playing guinea pig and copycat with my coaches’ and teammates’ gear suggestions mirrored my playing career. It’s all about adjustments.
Adjustments are the main reason I am still playing. While I would never be so ignorant as to say I have no talent, I will say that I was not a 26th round senior-sign for nothing. I have always been a productive player everywhere I have gone, but that is definitely not because it has come easy to me. Any success I’ve had has been because of hard work and adjusting to what I see, feel, and hear on the diamond. I believe in and repeat my routines daily, but I am not scared to tweak them and look for alternatives based on what I feel that day. I try to be consistent with the bats or gloves that make me feel confident on the field, but if something is not working- then it’s time to adjust.
I would estimate I have used about 20 different bat models in my four years playing professionally. Sometimes I had to change out of
necessity, because I have a penchant for buzz-sawing bats faster than factories can ship them to me. Other times, it was because I got curious what works for other players. Maybe their “magic sticks” could work for me. While I’ve never been one to completely throw my hands in the air by blowing up everything I have been working on and radically change my approach, I will shake things up when I think it is necessary. I have never been accused of being superstitious, and I think that is because of my willingness to change anything and everything to be successful. I am consistent in what I do and stick to what works. But when it stops working, I grab my gear and move on to the next idea.
That concept is not exclusive to my preparation. Once the game starts, I take the same approach to each play, each at-bat, each pitch. I try to have a solid plan going into the game, but if I feel it’s necessary to adjust- I will. Brad Pitt has a great line in the movie “Moneyball” where he says “Adapt or die.” I love that. There is a constant chess match being played on the field between the managers, the hitter and the pitcher. Between the offense and defense. Falling behind in these tiny point/counterpoint contests usually decides the winner and the lay-HOO-zay-herrr (thank you Ace Ventura). So when I get in these situations, I’m not afraid to flip my game plan based on what the opposition seems to be doing to me or my teammates. No one on the field is going to change just for the sake of changing. Until I prove that I can adjust, players are going to continue to attack me the same way and be successful. Once I evolve, I get the edge and the pressure to change falls back on them. Casual observers don’t always see it, but this happens every pitch. That is why baseball is so fun and interesting. Especially if you pay attention.
I appreciate all of my readers’ attention. If you would like to give me even more of it, follow me on Twitter (@CSwag8). I hope everyone enjoys my insights as much as I enjoy giving them.
Until next time,
Swags
***Chris Swauger (AKA Swags) is an outfielder in the St. Louis Cardinals system. Swags played for the Springfield Cardinals (AA) in 2011. With his own Blog Page on MLB reports known as Swags’ Hotspot, Swags provides a behind the scenes look into the life of a professional baseball player. One of the funniest guys we know, these blog entries are a MUST read for every baseball fan! ***
Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
Chris Swauger MLB Blog: My Offseason (Part 2)
Tuesday January 10, 2012
Chris Swauger- MLB reports Blog (Swags’ Hotspot): A minor league baseball season lasts about five and a half months from start to finish. Add in anywhere from a month to six weeks for Spring training and playoffs and the total time playing adds up to about seven months. Seven months of grinding out games, bus rides, and late-night meals. Days are filled with early work, extra work, batting practice, bullpens, conditioning lifts, rehab, pre-hab, post-hab, and so on. Free time is a precious commodity and soreness is an epidemic. However, when September rolls around, all of us are left with five months to do…absolutely nothing. After days upon days planned to the minute, what am I supposed to do when I don’t have anything planned for months?
I have worked the part-time jobs (Team Sports Associate and near-Employee of the Month at Dick’s Sporting Goods). I have worked the awful jobs (landscaping). I have worked the desk jobs (best receptionist EVER at Sportscenter Tampa Bay). I have done the internships (at the University of Tampa). I have given batting lessons. I have coached AAU teams. In all my experience trying to fill the time between the end of the season and Spring Training, I have done some crazy things and met some strange characters. Still, the two things that I have enjoyed the most in the off-season are playing winter baseball in Latin America and substitute teaching. I have played two seasons in Colombia for Los Caimanes de Barranquilla, as well as this past offseason in Panama for Los Caballos de Cocle. In the interim, between seasons I have substituted grades K-8 in my hometown of Tampa, Florida. These are two very different activities, but they both have some interesting similarities.
The strongest bond that Winter Ball and substituting share is they are both utter chaos. Be it a locker room full of fired up Latinos or a classroom full of sugar crazed 3rd graders, someone or something is bouncing off the walls. Not that I am the calmest person in the world, but these people make me look like a Zen master on adderall. It takes one bikini clad chica to walk across the television screen (which happens about twice every second on Latin American TV) to send every native player into a fist-pumping, chest-bumping, eardrum-thumping frenzy. It takes just the mention of recess, lunch or PE to whip a room full of elementary school students into gymnasts; chairs are flipped, tables are hurdled and cartwheels are performed. I can honestly say that if the world was filled with my teammates and students, I would rule it with a Maxim and a jungle-gym.
Not far beyond the realm of complete disarray are the absolutely absurd questions, answers, and statements I have heard in Winter
Ball, as well as in the classroom. This past season in Panama, we were short an infielder on our team because of an injury. Our coach came to the cage and asked, “Hey [nameless player], can you play third base?” He responded “Oh yeah!” I responded, “Dude, you’re left-handed.” He replied, “Well yeah, but if I was a righty I’d be better than like, Derek Jeter.” I was laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe and ended up with the hiccups. This same player also told his teammates that a pregnant waitress would not be serving tonight because she was on “fraternity leave.” Once again, I couldn’t breathe. I similarly busted out laughing this year when I opened up the floor to questioning in front of a group of 8th graders. I said they could ask any question they wanted. The first question I got was “Do you have a girlfriend?” The second was “How much do you bench?” Such simple minds… and I love it.
One other question I got from a 5th grader was “If you are a baseball player, how come I’ve never seen you on TV?” Yeah…about that…well I am just a minor leaguer right now so I don’t play with the big league Cardinals yet. “Oh so you suck?” was the response. Leave it to an 11-year-old to give me a nice dose of reality; just when I thought I’d gained some status around the elementary school campus. However in all seriousness, he was right. I have only begun to prove myself and in the big scheme of things, I am still just an Internet-streaming broadcast minor league player. It is great motivation to get better and stay humble. The same can be said for Winter Ball. Taking an 0 for 4 or making an error can give a quick ego check and a nice reminder that I still have a lot to prove. There is still much work to be done in my career.
The one thing that has been consistent throughout my career is that I have loved every minute of it. The pure joy that I get out of playing this game is only matched by the happiness that I experience seeing a student light up when he solves a problem- or a concept clicks. When the kids get excited about learning, I am reminded out how I feel when I get a hit or make a good play. It’s that same feeling that keeps me going. I have come to think of professional baseball as a roller coaster: I am just enjoying the ride so far, during the season and out of it. The journey itself has been the reward.
Follow me on Twitter (@cswag8) if you would like to get a daily perspective and interact with me.
Until next time,
Swags
***Chris Swauger (AKA Swags) is an outfielder in the St. Louis Cardinals system. Swags played for the Springfield Cardinals (AA) in 2011. With his own Blog Page on MLB reports known as Swags’ Hotspot, Swags provides a behind the scenes look into the life of a professional baseball player. One of the funniest guys we know, these blog entries are a MUST read for every baseball fan! ***
You can catch Part 1 of Swags’ Offseason report by clicking here!
Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
Chris Swauger Guest MLB Blog: My Offseason, Part 1
Wednesday December 28, 2011
Chris Swauger- Guest MLB Blog: The winter months are an interesting time for a minor league baseball player. When the season ends in September, we all exchange hugs, handshakes and well-wishes, knowing full well some of us will never see each other again. It is a very strange feeling and it carries over into the off-season. Some of us head home to relax and recover from 140 games or more. Some get ready to showcase their skills in the Arizona Fall League. Others, like me, sign up to keep playing in foreign countries. Those of you who have read my previous blogs know about my experiences playing in Panama this fall. It was a great experience and now I am back home, enjoying family, friends, and the holiday season.
While this is a time to have some fun, take a vacation, learn a new skill, and basically live the good life, it is also a time to become a better player. There is not nearly as much communication between the organization (front office, coaches, staff, etc.) and players as there is during the season. Other than an occasional health update, workout/conditioning check-in, or a friendly phone call, players are generally on their own during the winter. It is the responsibility of the player to prepare himself for the spring and upcoming season. This is absolutely the way it is supposed to be because we are all grown men and professionals who ultimately SHOULD be responsible for our own careers. There is no one there every day checking to make sure we get our work in. No one grabs us for extra early work or a quick film study. It is on our shoulders to motivate ourselves and to get better every day. And nothing motivates hungry minor leaguers more than opportunities.
A few weeks ago the MLB’s Winter Meetings took place in Dallas. It was a crazy few days filled with transactions and speculations for the approaching season. It was great for baseball. Sports and social media were filled with reports about baseball, right in the middle of the NFL and NHL seasons and an ending NBA lockout. The game of baseball and its following is as strong as ever right now and I am proud to be a part of it. However I imagine that I, along with every other minor league player, watched and read reports coming out of the meetings with a different perspective than most.
When fans hear that their favorite team signed a huge free agent, lost a big-time player, or brokered a blockbuster trade, their emotions run
the gamut from extremely excited to overwhelmingly unhappy. But the players in the minor leagues think differently. We look at everything positively. We are trained that way. It’s the only way to recover from an 0 for 4 or a bad outing. Everything has to be taken with a shot of optimism. Everything has to be looked at as an opportunity. An opportunity to move up or get more playing time if your team loses a player. An opportunity to make a great first impression if you are changing teams. An opportunity to compete if your team adds a player.
My coach in college used to say that competition breeds winning. That is every organization’s ultimate goal. Win at the big league level. The minors exist to mold players who can help that cause. Every player knew this when he signed or learned it very quickly. We compete on a daily basis against the other team, the game, and ourselves. I have always felt that playing with other good players has made me better. When someone new comes into our organization I have always made it a point to get to know them. They may know something about the game that I don’t. They may hold the key that unlocks MY potential. I may be different from other players in that regard, but I think that has helped me and made me better.
I know for a fact that I am NOT different from other players when I say I want to be the someone who steps up when a player leaves our organization. Be it free agency, a trade, or any other means, when a spot opens up every single player wants to fill it. Even if it’s a bullpen spot, I am convinced I could get outs. A chance to showcase my skills is what drives me every day during the season. And the thought of getting that opportunity, or getting to compete for that opportunity, is what drives me during the off-season.
I genuinely cannot wait for baseball to start again. I love the downtime and the chance to train and recover in the winter, but I already have the itch for spring training. There I will be able to give hugs to those guys I left the previous September, and hopefully get to shake hands with someone new.
Follow me on Twitter (@cswag8) if you would like to get a daily perspective and interact with me.
Until next time,
Swags
***Chris Swauger (AKA Swags) is an outfielder in the St. Louis Cardinals system. Swags played for the Springfield Cardinals (AA) in 2011. A regular contributor to MLB reports, Swags provides a behind the scenes look into the life of a professional baseball player in his Guest MLB Blog. One of the funniest guys we know, these blog entries are a MUST read for every baseball fan! ***
Please e-mail us at: MLBreports@gmail.com with any questions and feedback. You can follow us on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook . To subscribe to our website and have the daily Reports sent directly to your inbox , click here and follow the link at the top of our homepage.
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