Pools

Most of the team has put in their picks for the NCAA tournament pool, the general consensus being Duke is going to be this year's ultimate champion. I took North Carolina as my pick. Don't ask me why. I follow college basketball as much as I follow the plotlines of Desperate Housewives. I like the state, so I chose their team. Pretty simple philosophy.

I went swimming yesterday. For an hour, I worked various muscle groups to develop strength and endurance. Swimming is a great cardiovascular workout. Plus, it's hard to get all sweaty if you're already wet.

On the drive back to the Fort Pierce complex from the YMCA complex (really just one building), I got a call from my super agent, Jack Perry, asking how I was feeling about what went down the other night, what with Rick announcing to the press before telling me I was ticketed for a full season in the bullpen. I told him I had mixed feelings. It's not worth rehashing my relationship with my manager. It is what it is and I don't see us becoming blood brothers in the near future. And I'm not sure if I care to pitch out of the bullpen all year. It's just not something I've ever done. But the pundits (I want to be a pundit one day) think this makes the team stronger and will work out better for me personally. Dominant 7th and 8th inning guys are more important now than ever, and pulling down some very nice contracts. I saw Tommy Smythe got 4 years and $28 million from Baltimore in the off season to fill that role for them. Last year, Tommy threw 74 innings and appeared in 76 games. I'm used to appearing in 30-35 games and throwing 220+ innings. I can't decide which is more important to a team, the number of games a pitcher pitches in or the number of innings he gives you. There are roto guys who have their theories, but I'm not a roto guy and I'm not a coach, so I'll just sit on my hands, chew some macadamias and spit out my own thoughts.

I entered the clubhouse and saw about half the team milling around. None of them had pants on, apparently making fun of me for my rant in Rick's office the other night as I wore only my underwear. I pretended not to notice until I reached my locker and saw a pile about 7 feet high of pants blocking my view of my deodorant. There were jeans and slacks and overalls, some new, some dusty, some dirty. Most were the size of an elephant, so somebody here raided the closest men's big & tall store stockroom. I didn't want to touch them, so I gave Teddy, one of our "clubhouse boys" (he's 20) $50 to clean up the area. I then asked for donations from around the team to help refund my Teddy tip. None given.

Meanwhile, Johnny Mathis, our talkative young backup catcher, was walking around collecting papers from everyone. I asked Johnny what he was doing. He said a few guys put together a pool about me. The boxes were based upon games and innings pitched for the year. He said I couldn't enter because of "conflict of interest." I told him that wasn't fair. He said I had to take it up with pool management. Who's the manager, I asked. Johnny smiled and told me.

My manager, Rick Churches.

As an FYI, Rick bet that I'd appear in 77 games and pitch 89 innings.

If that's not motivation, I'm not sure what is.