Hey everybody,
I come to you this time from my couch in Salt Lake City. I was optioned to join the Salt Lake Bees a week ago, and luckily I went from one pennant race to another. Although you don’t see us on Sportscenter every night, we still play some good baseball down here. I had a blog entry prepared regarding our east coast road trip, the signing of Tex, and Lackey’s bid for a no hitter, but when I was reassigned it was lost in the shuffle of trying to reorganize my life for a bit. This is the reality of being an up and coming player in such a talent laden organization. Chuck went ahead and created an email address for you guys to send me questions. Feel free to email me at [email protected], so you can point me in the right direction. The one condition is that there will be some clubhouse questions I can’t answer. The locker room is a sanctuary, and some things must be kept sacred. Thank you for reading and I look forward to hearing from all of you.
What hazing type incident did you have to do as a rookie? As a new bullpen addition? – Bruce N.
I haven’t really endured any “hazing” as of yet. There is however a yearly tradition of dressing the rookies in embarrassing costumes in September. Hopefully I am with the team so that some of you get to see me in a skirt or something similarly ridiculous. The veterans get to choose the outfit and we are then paraded in front of the fans in the parking lot and at the airport. Last year the Yankees did a great job dressing their rookies in Wizard of Oz costumes……I thought Joba made a great cowardly lion.
I’m sure some of you might be familiar with the famous bullpen snack bag. It is pink or purple, with the most embarrassing theme possible. We fill it with gum, seeds, and candy to tide us over during the three hour games, and the bullpen pitcher with the least amount of MLB service time is responsible for its upkeep and transportation. You can imagine the attention it gets in places like Boston, Seattle, and Philly…. My first bag was a My Littlest Pet Shop rolling backpack in neon pink. On opening day, I was told to roll it all the way from the locker room to the bullpen in the Metrodome. Minnesota might not draw the crowds we get in Anaheim, but on opening day it was packed. My rolling form was so outstanding that Sportscenter even featured me (and my bag) in it’s opening clips that night (picture seen below). That, along with a couple articles and blogs featuring my stylish luggage, was enough attention for Hasbro to notice my free advertising I was doing for them, and send me a nice letter and care package. The letter thanked me for choosing My Littlest Pet Shop and it came with a lunchbox, and couple t-shirts, a pail and shovel, and tons more pink stuff. I was pretty surprised when it showed up in the clubhouse, and we all had a few laughs about it. Franky did a good job picking that one out for me, and since Arredondo’s arrival he has been sporting a purple My Little Pony backpack.
I intended to answer a couple more questions, but I have to be up early for a flight to Sacramento. Hopefully I will get to a couple more while I’m there. – Darren O’Day
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