Day 3

10:15 a.m., Wednesday

Dear Diary,
I'm sitting in the Patriots dugout -- well, its not dug in anywhere so its more actually more of a bench behind a chain-link fence -- watching the Patriots get loose for practice.
Matt and I went to the Yankees-Tampa Bay Devil Rays game last night. Tropicana Field really is ugly from the outside and the playing surface -- I think it's the carpet from my old college apartment -- is hideous.
But the actual inside of the ballpark is pretty nice. The restaurant in center field is a good touch, there is plenty of room to walk around, its very clean and there is a bathroom every 5 feet. It might be the only stadium in America where it is impossible to wait in line for the bathroom. That's an underrated amenity.
That's the end of the compliments. The parking situation is reflective of the public's opinion of the organization as a whole. Very sloppy, confusing and mismanaged. The stadium was about 3/4 full, but every lot we tried to get in was pre-paid passes only or full. One attendant wanted us to park 18 blocks away from the stadium. FOR A DEVIL RAYS GAME. We got them in the end, however, as we parked close to the stadium in one of those pre-paid lots for free. The only "free" lots in the Bronx cost you your hubcaps.
As for me, I got a whopping six hours of sleep last night. That's a lot after the night before. I feel like a new man, which is a good feeling considering I watched Desperate Housewives on the Internet earlier.

Love,
Ryan

Day One/Two

12:04 p.m., Tuesday

Dear Diary,
I got to Lakeland at 11 last night and fulfilled my need for Steak 'N Shake immediately. I scarfed down a cheese and bacon double and oreo shake before even moving my luggage from the trunk of the Chevy Cobalt to my room -- which overlooks an IHOP.
The plan was to go to bed early since Courier News photographer Matt Apgar and I had to be at the ballpark for team photos by 8 a.m.
For the first time in my life, however, I got no sleep. You know how someone says, 'I got no sleep last night,' and you assume that means they slept very little. Well, I got NO SLEEP. I laid in bed starting at the bumpy patterned ceiling for 6.5 hours.
Not sure why I couldn't sleep. Excited? Nah, I came to spring training last year. Stressed? I'm pretty on top of my REALLY HEAVY work load right now. Not tired? I had trouble sleeping the night before, too, so it wasn't that.
Either way, here is a list of some of the extremely random things that raced through my mind while laying in bed.

Jerry Lewis' telethon; calling my mom and complaining about how I can't sleep; my mom's panicked reaction to that news; calling my girlfriend and telling and complaining about how I can't sleep; my girlfriend getting mad that I woke her up at 5 a.m. to complain; how many other people in the hotel were up and about (2, I checked at one point); Arena League Football; Patrick Ewing's blown layup in Game 7 against the Indiana Pacers; chicken wings at Hooters; how to throw a curveball; potential fantasy baseball sleepers; the movie Flashdance; why Pepsi Co. does not have a bottled water product.

I am very tired now as I prepare to head back to the stadium for 1 p.m. practice, BUT HERE IS SOME BASEBALL NEWS.

Patriots pitchers Josh Stewart and Tony Mounce, both former major leaguers, reported to camp Tuesday morning and promptly quit. Both informed the team's coaching staff that they "did not feel they belonged" there.
Pitching is always short in the Atlantic League, but being shorthanded before the first practice pitch of the season does not bode well for the future.

I wonder if Stewart and Mounce lost any sleep over their decisions. If they did, I certainly did not find any of their lost sleep.

Love,
Ryan

Lakeland, Fla.

For those who don't know, I am stationed in Lakeland, Fla. for Atlantic League spring training from April 23-30. I will be writing this blog as a diary. It's an experiment. Hopefully a funny one. I've had some past success with writing schtick.

Rutgers' Brownlie in Atlantic League

Former Rutgers University star Bobby Brownlie will sign a contract with the Newark Bears this weekend. A 26-year-old former first-round draft choice of the Chicago Cubs, Brownlie had electric stuff -- a hard fastball and a 12-6 curveball -- in college but really never panned out with the Cubs. This is a very, very good signing for Newark. The Bears are always strapped for pitching, and if Brownlie is 85% of what he was in college, he'll be a solid Atlantic Leaguer.
Here is my story on Brownlie.
Here is a much more in-depth story on Brownlie from Home News Tribune writer Greg Tufaro, who has been covering Brownlie since he was a 16-year-old stud on Edison High School.
The Somerset Patriots made a play for Brownlie, but the right-hander and his agent choose Newark.
“We had interest in Bobby and had some discussions about him," Patriots president and general manager Patrick McVerry said. "We’re disappointed, but we wish him the best with Newark.”

What Are They Thinking?

The first WATT goes to the Nashua Pride, who, according to this story, want to unretire Glenn Murray's number. Murray, a hitting coach for the Lancaster Barnstormers, arguably is the best hitter in Atlantic League history. He is the league's all-time home run leader and he dominated pitching pitching staffs for seven seasons. Now, after the team made a huge deal about retiring Murray's No. 34 last season, the Pride want to give it to former Red Sox reliever Rich Garces. Simply put, this is a disaster. DON'T RETIRE SOMEONE'S NUMBER IF YOU WANT TO GIVE IT SOMEONE ELSE LESS THAN A YEAR LATER.
The second WATT goes to Murray, who fulfilled a journalist's dream with some of his quotes in the story. As a preview:

“I basically said if you have to ask me, then use it,” Murray said. “But (Garces) doesn’t have the big-league time to pull my number from Nashua. Maybe from another team, but not from Nashua. I just left it as is. He (VP of baseball operations Chris Hall) was like, ‘It’s up to you.’ But it’s not up to me, because if you’re asking me, don’t ask me. You’ve already retired it. If you let him use it, don’t put it back up there. Take it down. That’s my attitude.“What’s the question? There shouldn’t be a question. Rich Garces, OK, yeah, he’s a big-league player, but even if he plays four more years in the big leagues, he’s not going to the Hall of Fame. They’re not going to retire his number. Michael Jordan came back (from retirement) and used 45. He didn’t even use his own number.”

It's good to see Murray cares that much about the Atlantic League, but let's keep things in perspective here. It's not like the Red Sox retired his number. Plus, the Pride are in a different league now, so it's almost like a new franchise without a history.

Ducks at it again

The Long Island Ducks -- the same team who brought you John Rocker, Henry Rodriguez and Juan Gonzalez -- are at it again.
This year the Ducks have added former Mets Richard Hidalgo and Edgardo Alfonso, and much more is likely on the way.
Alfonso played a handful of games for the Bridgeport Bluefish last season before returning to the Mets organization.
The Gonzalez and Rocker signings backfired big-time for the Ducks, while Henry Rodriguez was a solid Atlantic Leaguer for two seasons.
My take is that Hidalgo and Alfonso also will be good additions.
But as the league has shown us time and time again, big stars do not always mean big victory totals. The Somerset Patriots have won three Atlantic League crowns without any true stars.
The Ducks have won one, and were swept out of the playoffs last season by the Bridgeport Bluefish.

Looking forward to spring training.

Major-league flavor in Somerset

The Somerset Patriots signed their first big newcomer of the season Monday when they announced the addition of former major-league infielder Danny Garcia, who played 77 major-league games with the 2003 and 2004 Mets and spent last season at Triple-A for the Yankees.
I spoke with Garcia on Monday night, and he seemed determined to make his first trip to independent baseball a short one. Garica is 23 months removed from surgery on his labrum.
Former Patriot Charles Poe, a coach in the Toronto Blue Jays organization, set up Garcia with Patriots hitting coach Kevin Dattola and the rest is history.
Two weeks shy of his 27th birthday, Garcia certainly is young enough to be an appealing candidate for a major-league team. It only took him 2 1/2 minor-league seasons to reach the majors the first time, so he clearly has the tools.
"I really just want everybody to remember that that's what I was right before this surgery happened," Garcia said. "That's who I am and it's where I'm going again."

Here are some of Garcia's thoughts on other things:

On May 17, 2005, the day he underwent surgery:

"That's the day my life got thrown off track."

On the Mets organization:

"My heart is always going to be with the Mets because that's where it all started. They're the team that gave me opportunity to be a big-league player."

On the Yankees organization:

"They are run how you think they would be run. Kudos to the Yankees in terms of how things are run. They gave me the chance to get back into baseball last year."

***With Garcia in, former Patriots second baseman George Sandel is out. Sandel, who spent the past two seasons with Somerset, said Monday that he is working on a contract with the Northern League's Edmonton Cracker Cats. Former Patriot pitcher Mike Johnson already signed with Edmonton, and Sandel said the two might not be done recruiting other former Patriots.