21 all over again

The big series sweep was behind us as we were at home all week in preparation for our first home games in three weeks. Between traveling places to coach the youth teams, and playing on the road we find ourselves moving quickly, and many times we don't stop to breath. Especially since we do not spend the night anywhere and we constantly find ourselves in the vans traveling 2-3 hours to different destinations.

The weather continued to stay unseasonably cold and the rain came with it from time to time. Apparently this has been one of the coldest springs Northern Europe has seen in the past century. Highs were in the mid 40's all week and it really made me miss springtime on the west coast.

I watched the San Francisco Giants play on Wednesday through MLB.com and it was so beautiful in the Bay Area. I felt warm watching the Giants play at home in the California sunshine at AT&T Park and for a moment I was vicariously back in California. As my California dreaming continued I soon talked to Erin via Skype and the weather was amazing in Portland, which at this time of year is not only necessary, but well deserved. That also put me back in Portland, and made me think about the anticipation of moving bak this October. I couldn't help but miss both places, my girl, my family, my friends, and my favorite baseball team. Needless to say I felt homesick for the first time. On top of all I want to feel spring so bad, and although I got a taste of it when Erin visited a few weeks ago, it was very short lived. The weather feels like it would in the Northwest United States during late February and early March. Cold, damp, overcast, and very unpredictable. A five day warm spell like we saw is definitely not unheard of in the Northwest in February, just like it is not unheard of in Northern Europe in April. All we can do it wait for the cold spell to end.

Monday was a good recovery day because I had caught 21 innings the day before and was really stiff and sore. I felt beat up, especially my bruised wrist and throwing arm. I rested all day although I went for a two mile run to help myself deal with any pain I felt I had. I have always found that it helps to exercise when I am sore anywhere. I figured if I could run the day after a catchaton then it really wasn't too bad.

With the weather being the way it has been, Danny and I have been trying to stay creative with our free time. We work on our German with the Rosetta Stone program, we read, I write the blog, and we watch movies. Last week was a perfect setup to our week ahead. On Monday we watched the movie "Beerfest," which is a movie about group of crazy American's who want to beat the Germans at beer drinking competitions during Octoberfest. This made for some highly entertaining stuff considering a cast of American's played the evil German's, speaking in ridiculous accents that were for the lack of a better term "dead on." I enjoyed every second of it because of the metaphors and snobbiness towards American's that we seem to encounter every week.

So, after watching the silly movie where the American's beat the German's at their own drinking competition it set our week up for the BIG UPSET that would later occur, and the sampling we would do with the different types of European beer.

The truth of the matter is that I enjoy beer as much as the guys in this movie, although a bit more responsible. I give myself that much credit at least. Each week, I try my best to travel about 200 meters from our house to the Loche Depot (A German beer store) and I pick out a different beer or two to try.

One of the best parts about being in Germany is the different beer we get to try. The German's have all sorts of laws and standards that make any kind of beer made in this country a delight because of the quality. Nothing but hops, barley, and water. The first time I walked into this store I was overwhelmed with joy. Keep in mind I have been in a warehouse at my former job in San Francisco that houses over 300 beers. I sold, traded, promoted, and even lived beer for a year in San Francisco because it was my job and I had a passion for it. I quickly began to lose my passion for it because I was around it all the time and didn't appreciate the industry. I wanted nothing to do with the American beer trade after about a year.

When I began coaching I stayed away from it for the most part. I wanted to appreciate it again one day because in all of reality I loved beer and the art behind making a good beer. This was the reason I did such a good job selling it. But like I said, I couldn't handle the inevitable treadmill of the workweek that surrounded it, and although I was able to sample most of the stuff I sold, it was no longer my ideal job out of college. I wanted back in baseball, and I got what I asked for.

So, seeing that I am in the greatest part of the world to find, sample, and enjoy beer, I take my opportunity to do it responsibly and walk/bike to the store every week. I walk through the store admiring the fact that every bottle that contains the hundreds of different brands and styles has at some point been recycled and used over and over again. In Germany, recycling is mandatory because the deposit from the bottles is around 10-30 cents. Not to mention the best part about recycling bottles is the fact that it keeps beer cost down. Including the bottle deposit of 8 cents, we roughly pay between 50-90 cents per .5 liters (1 pint) at any store. Where in the US can you find a pint of GOOD bottled beer (aside from PBR) that costs less than a dollar?

I am in Germany to play baseball, enjoy some traveling, and of course taste the culture both through food and drink. It just so happens that Beer and Bratwurst are in the title of this story, so I find it appropriate to write about.

Later the next day Danny and I were on our way to coach our youth game when we passed by the castle about a mile from our place. There were different tents, portable stations, and seats all around set up like a festival. Inquisitive about what the event, we wandered in after our game and found that it was a "Beerfest." Excited about the sampling opportunity, we planned on braving the cold and visiting the next evening.

With no coaching on Saturday and the only responsibility of the day was umpiring a 10 year old double header in the morning, we found ourselves conveniently walking through the Beerfest later that evening. Well aware of having two games the next day we responsibly chose wisely amongst the dozens of vendors selling the celebrated beers of the German and European market. As we walked through the 100 or so meters of Hop and Barley Heaven I noticed that they were serving Beer in glassware, and not plastic. Each vendor served their style of beer in their traditional way, with traditional glassware, and if you wanted to keep the glass, well, you had to pay a deposit on them anyways, so I did not mind keeping the ones I liked. At the end of the night, I had collected a few different glasses and decided that we had tried on of the greatest Beers on earth.

Danny had expressed the Belgium Ale we tried as a “Bluemoon on steroids!” The Trippel is a wheat style Ale traditionally made by Monks, and in the Belgium Style can be extremely sweet with a very high alcohol volume. The one we tried was around 12% and very delicious. I agreed that it was one of the tastiest beers around and much different from the same imports we drink in the states that usually have a metallic tasting preservative added in order to assure freshness.

As good as the beer was that night, we had two games against one of the less successful teams in the conference the next day and we needed to go home and sleep. I wish we could have tried more beer, but we did the right thing by leaving early.

The next day was bad, and not due to a hangover or too many beers the night before. We had a really hard time producing any runs against two good pitchers. The German starter for Pulheim was effective with three good pitches and we could not adjust or get anything going. I hit a really hard line drive right at second in my first at-bat and it pretty much defined our entire day. Everything we hit hard was right at someone. We lost the first game by a score of 3-2. Game two was more of the same as we failed to support Danny’s outstanding performance. We lost 2-1 in 12 innings. Danny pitched all 12 innings and in the top of the 12^th gave up a hit to an American with a runner on first and third. Before the hit they were at 1^st and 2^nd base. I let a bad pitch get by me to make the count 3-0 and the runners moved up. I looked over to the dugout thinking alongside our manager that we should put the runner on base to create a force out anywhere in the infield. That and the next hitter had been struggling all day. As I extended my arm outward indicating we wanted Danny to walk the hitter intentionally, he shook me off. “What?” I had never been encountered with this type of situation. Danny was too prideful to walk their best hitter intentionally although it was the smartest and safest thing to do. Conveying his confidence and pride I got back into my squat position called a fastball and said to myself “It’s on us now!” Danny humped a fastball right down the middle and the hitter swung and missed. The next pitch he threw was a changeup for strike two. At this point I was extremely happy because we had an excellent chance to get this hitter out.

I called a slider down and away hoping the hitter would chase the pitch and swing into an out. Plus, if we walked him nothing would be hurt. Danny threw a great pitch down and away and the batter hit a line drive up the middle. Base hit, run scores. “Oh man!” We are going to hear about this for weeks. In the end, I tired to figure out why I sat down on the 3-0 count. We should have walked him. We should have played it safe and put the runner on. I could not figure out for the life of me why I sat down. I found out after the game ended and I let the lose sink in. Danny said it perfectly, and I completely agreed with him.

Danny said “I am not over here to walk their best hitter in the biggest situation of the game, I want the challenge. If I am going to lose, it is because I went right after their best guys. I can live with that.”

I couldn’t agree more. I felt the same way, and being on the same page as Danny means that I knew exactly what he was thinking. The only reason I was questioning myself is because we lost. Twice. Danny’s decision was the defining moment of a bad day, but one we certainly can live with and learn from. I had a lot of people pissed off at me because I sat down and did not make. Nobody really said anything to Danny because he is the most important player on our team and in a sense, he did not loose the game. We didn’t score any runs. I pointed that out when I was approached with the same question over and over.

Danny threw a tremendous game. I have never caught a guy who can throw 12 innings and 200 pitches in one day. Pretty amazing stuff. And like the weekend before, I caught 21 innings in one day. I was exhausted by the end of the day.

We learned a couple of different things during the week. One was that European beer is indeed some of the best in the world. The second was that our team needs to respect every opponent and prepare each week as though we were facing the best team in the league. After the loses sunk in, we got over them, got on with our lives, and realized that baseball is baseball. On any given day, the best team can lose to the worst because of one factor, pitching. The Pulheim pitchers were great on this day. The American who threw in the second game was the best pitcher I had seen by far. He had a devastating curve ball that broke hard and late, and he spotted his fastball and changeup wherever he wanted. We couldn’t score.

Life is still good and we are still in 2^nd place. This coming weekend we have a tournament in Bavaria. The Regensberg Legionare are hosting a tournament at their amazing stadium and it should be fun to play in front of a good crowd with the best teams from the southern league. (The better league according to everyone in Germany) We’ll just have to see about that!