Happy Halloween everyone,

 

I hope you all enjoyed the holiday weekend as much as I did. I don't think it could have gone any better for me. The Dogs had a great week, winning four games out of five. We got rained out of action on Thursday as did the rest of the league.

 

 

 

Saturday's game was especially fun. We were trailing the Saguaros late and Jeremy Brown hit a homer off the left field foul pole to tie it up. We headed for extras and in the top of the 11th the Saguaros scored on a solo homer to go up by one. But we rallied in the bottom half to score two runs on a Mark Teahen single to left and take the game. No doubt a great way to head into an off day. And not to mention we had some fans in the stands! I've actually had some questions about the crowds at our games and I will get into that later.

 

Also, my rehabbing is coming along very well and I should see the field again on Monday or Tuesday. And most important, how 'bout those Steelers? Fans in New England needed some grounding after all the great things that have happened to them in the last week and it's great that the Steelers were there to provide it. Bring on the undefeated Eagles!

 

So aside from all that, I'm still having a lot of fun out here in the AFL. The team is really starting to come together and the guys are getting to know each other better which makes it that much more fun. All the new people you meet out here and new friendships that are formed help make this league one of the most fun to play in. It's also a more laid-back atmosphere than a regular season, which I think helps the personality of our team. Everyone seems to be playing to have fun and not pressing and that certainly has helped us keep winning.

 

So now we stand at 14-6, I believe with 16 games left to play. I think the only thing that could be better right now is the weather. It has started to get a little chilly at night out here. I know that probably sounds bad coming from a kid from Pittsburgh where it is often snowing by this time. But it seems like it has gone from 90 degrees to about 65 without warning. And it was especially cold last night in Scottsdale at a Halloween block party that a bunch of guys went to. Needless to say we had a lot of fun and I saw some pretty good costumes, too. That's pretty much all from this past week in the AFL, so let's get to a couple of questions.

 

About the crowds we get, pretty much at all of our games you could hear a pin drop. Most of the people in attendance are scouts and die hard fans and autograph seekers. But we occasionally see around 1,000 people come out to a game. Usually Saturdays are the biggest draw and this past weekend we had the biggest crowd of the year so far. I would say around 1,000 fans. So that is always nice to hear some cheers, and even jeers if that is the case. When you know you have people watching, I think you just lock in a little bit more without even realizing it.

 

There are also some e-mails from fans wondering what helps a team win in a league like this. I think it really comes down to which team meshes the quickest and also I think it comes down to the manager. From the very beginning, Dean Treanor has helped this team feel comfortable with each other and with the situation this league puts you in. It is a showcase league and a lot of guys are playing for jobs and roster spots for the next year. There is some added pressure for certain guys. Dean has done a good job of keeping everyone loose and relaxed and focused more on enjoying the experience of this league rather than performing and winning. The level of talent on each team is pretty even, I think, so it's hard to say that the team with the best players will win. To me, everyone has ability and the guys who just play and enjoy themselves will perform the best and the team will benefit. I think that is how we have been successful thus far.

 

Well that concludes another week. Happy Halloween everyone. Send more e-mail!!

 

Josh

 

 

 

http://florida.marlins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/..._news&fext=.jsp

He's a good guy, responds to the email really quickly too.

 

I had asked him if he were going to be doing this on through the season next year because I thought it would be pretty cool to here the inside perspective of someone in their first year of Major League experience(Assuming he makes the team as a utility type guy), but he said he was only doing it for the Fall League.