Category: baseball

Catch up (all over the place)

Sports (spectator)

No live football this weekend but a couple of Chiefs games on tap. Ok, I saw one last night; the Timberrattlers pitching kept the Chiefs at bay and allowed no hits through 7 innings; the Chiefs got 2 in the 8’th and even loaded the bases, but could only get one run. Still it was 2-1 going into the 9’th when the visitors got 2 more and won 4-1.

But there was at least a little bit of excitement. And it was fun to have the wife along.

TV football: I missed Illinois State getting run over by Wisconsin 38-0; I didn’t miss Navy getting outplayed by Delaware and losing 14-7. First 3 plays told the story: play one, Navy fumbled it to Delaware. Play 2: pass interference on Navy (obvious call). Play 3: Blue Hen touchdown.

I also watched Illinois lose to Indiana 23-20. The Illini were hurt by a bad call on a pass in the end zone

but still lead 20-16 with 2 minutes to go and the Hoosiers 75 yards away with no time outs. But the defense, which had switched to more blitzing to stop Indiana’s passing, played soft and allowed a march down the field.

Time and time again, the Illini made bad decisions and mistakes. Here, they passed on a field goal and went for it on 4’th down..leading by 1.

The positives is that the running game and short passing game looked decent for most of the night, and Virginia, the next opponent, gave up 170 rushing yards to FCS Richmond. But the problem will be Virginia’s passing: we don’t defend the pass well…not without blitzing. I still think this match up favors Illinois and I expect a hard fought win.

Workouts

Saturday: PT, walk 1 (hard 5K), weights. Then a slow second walk after watching a football game on TV.

The first one tired me out a bit; I went pretty hard.

Pull ups: 12 sets of 5 with either 30 seconds rest or PT rest, push ups: 3 sets of 30 incline, 10 flat

bench press: I found that I still had back issues with my feet on plates; legs up is the best:

5 x 156, 4 x 156, 10 x 134, 10 x 134
curls 3 sets of 10

high incline: 3 sets of 10 x 94

Then came the 2 mile walk (after watching TV); first 1.5 was very pleasant ..some issues in the final 0.5

Today still some stuff with the back; I have to remember to NOT arch when I roll.

Went out for a walk intending 1-2 but felt good enough to do a slowish 5K; some issues in the final 0.5 miles or so.

Note: my Garmin recorded my watch stops to cross roads; those amounted to about 30 seconds or a 10 seconds per mile faster pace, but it does not matter.

After that, shoulder PT and deadlifts:

low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184
backed off the heavier sets: 10 x 234 4 inch

10 x 260 8 inch (easy)

My back won’t allow for true strength training; I am working to keep tone in my glutes and legs.

Back: sometimes I get the radiating pain on my back when I roll, and I think it is because I am used to arching my back when I roll.
I need to work on that, and I need to figure out a nice posture for my downhill walking. Flat walking and uphill walking is progressing nicely.

Busy…

It is the last week of the season for Chiefs home games. I made last night’s game and Harry showed up.

Our rally caps didn’t help; the Chiefs lost 4-1. Hits were pretty even but the Chiefs stranded several runners (loaded bases) whereas the Timber Rattlers did not; their runs came off of a solo home run and a 3 run home run.

Note: their starter had an 0.79 ERA; ours had a 5.8 …that told the story. Still a gorgeous night for baseball and I have 3 games left.

I’ve had to buy 2 more tickets this season.

Workouts Yesterday the university pool was closed (again) so I drove to the YMCA and used he 50 meter; turns out we get a few more weeks.

Swim 2000 meters; couldn’t get into it. 11:44 for 500, 500 of strokes (lots of back, side, 50 meters of breast), 500 of drill/swim with fins then I tried some 50’s and 100’s: 50’s were 55-56 each; 100’s were 1:57-1:58. I gave up after 400 and finished with 100 easy with fins.

Walk was kind of rough; second half was achy in spots. Downhills are still a challenge.

Today: I decided to lift…PT, Walk 1, weights. Then over lunch, a therapy walk (to practice keeping my abs tight); I think Mapmywalk missed some miles (1.13 by this app, but I got credit for 1.03.) It doesn’t really matter; 17:28 of walking that was a bit more painful than Monday but not bad at all.

PT, and the first walk; (went great)

Mile 1 was 12:59; mile 2 was a better 11:47. I was adventurous enough to try a different route.

Pull ups: 6 sets of 5 on 20-30 seconds rest, 4 more done the same way, 5 wide, 5 chins (bad)

push ups: 2 sets of 30 incline, 4 sets of 10 flat in between more PT

bench: 5, 6, 6 reps with 156, 4 with 161

dead (all low) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 230.

curls 3 sets of 10 x 50

high incline: 3 sets of 10 x 94 Swiss bar.
Finished right about 7:35-7:40 AM

Lunch walk (not 100 percent comfortable) 17:38

And the Raccoons beat us

Last night: 2 hour delay to dry out shallow left field.

And it ended 6-2, Quad Cities. The Chiefs starter, recently from low A, gave up two 2-run home runs in the 1’st and 2’nd inning, and 2 more runs (3’rd and 4’th); the relief pitching was good but the Chiefs only mustered 2 runs in the bottom of the 8’th.

Then today: kind of the opposite. Chiefs were down 2-0 early but then rallied to seem in command at 6-2 through 6. Then came the relief pitching..walked the bases full and gave up 2 runs..so 6-4..then with a new relief pitcher, 3 more (1 HR) and now it was 7-6..one more in the top of the 9’th to lead 8-6.

Bottom of the 9’th..2 outs..and the Chiefs get a run and put runners on 1’st and 3’rd! But…called third strike (looked inside to me) ended the game.

Workout notes: PT, deadlifts, then 2 mile walk (12:55 at Moss and MacArthur )

The GPS screwed up again..gave me way too much going out (1 mile at the Church) and shorted me badly (note the parallel legs) on the way back. Turns out it gave me 2.1 for a 2.05 course…so overall, cancelling errors. Not bad for me at this stage on deadlift day.

Deads: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low

10 x 250 4 inch

10 x 280 8 inch.

Swim, hike and Chiefs

Last night, the Chiefs beat the Bandits 5-0; one player hit two home runs and everything went well.

It did not start that way; the starting pitcher loaded the bases on walks in the very first inning, but then settled down to give 5 good innings.

This morning: got the pool at 6:20; that gave me time to swim but I would not have had time to walk. I should probably aim to get there at 5:30; try that on Monday.

How it went: sore shoulder last night (mildly…mostly felt it during the baseball game..NOT during sleeping). I stretched it some and made sure to do PT this morning before driving to the pool.

500 of side, back, breast, side, back

500 of drill swim (fins)

200 in 3:58

100 drill swim (fins)

2 x 100 on 3 (1:54, 1:55)

100 fins

4 x 50 on 1:30 (54, 55, 56, 55)

100 fins
200 “cruise” in 4:07 Crystal blew past me here (ok, she had fins on but still..)

Then the hike/walk: some discomfort (very, very mild) during the latter part of the single track (25:20) then some mild ache during the grass/gravel with a tiny bit of pavement part (17 min pace: too slow to help with stabilization )

Quick game

Last night, the Chiefs beat the Bandits 2-1 in a game that took just less than 2 hours. It was quite entertaining, even if few where there to see it.

Workout notes: PT, walk, pull ups, push ups, walk, weights.

The walks: ready to quit both times; the first, longer walk, I started to feel it at 1.6-1.7 but, in fairness, I gave thought to going further.

Pull ups: 8 sets of 5 with 30 seconds rest between sets, then 10, then two sets of 5 mixed grip.

Push ups: 2 sets of 30 inclined, walk 10 with band (55 reps) for 115 reps total.

high incline: 10 x 94, 10 x 105, 10 x 105

dead (all low) 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 228

curls 3 sets of 10

bench: 2 sets of 10 x 134

One week and counting

Last night: Chiefs game with Vickie and Harry. Chiefs fell behind 5-1, were down 6-3 in the bottom on the ninth and tied the game! It was 6-6, bases loaded …0 out…and ….spectacular catch by the short stop to rob us of a game winning hit..then a pop infield fly for 2 outs…and then…full count…strike out. Argh.

Quad cities got 2 runs in the 10’th to win.

Workout notes: got to the pool late; swim team was there (grrr) but I got a lane anyway.

600 of strokes (breast,side, free)

400 of 50 drill, 50 swim (fins)

200 of 50’s on the 1:30 (fist) 59, 59, 57, 60

200 of 50’s on the 1:30 54, 55, 56, 55 (tired)

600 of alternating 100 fins, 100 free in 13:12 (10:58 for 500) (time ran through equipment changes)

Then a slightly different 2.2 mile walk.

Given how slow the walk was, pain was low..not really noticeable until the 1.7 mile mark or so.

Note: right shoulder slightly sore..afterward.

Day after day…

I hate to obsess over my back so much, but, well, I am a bit worried, or at least I was at midweek this week. It turns out I had a great weekend. Not sure: slight weight loss? Better management of activities? New PT exercises (bringing back some of the Williams Set)

I’ll take it..whatever it is.

Today: walk, some pull ups (5 sets of 10), walk, push ups, weights.

The walks were ok…not that much afterward, but they WERE enough.

The sequence:

PT, then 1 set of pull ups, walk 1, 4 more sets of 10, walk, 1 set of banded walks with “walk 10” push ups (walk 1 step, 1 push up, 2 steps, 2 push ups, etc, up to 10), 2 sets of mixed grip pull ups, 4’th set of banded walks (sideways) with 20, 15, 15 push ups.

Then inside: 4 sets of 5 x 155 bench press, deadlifts:

10 x 134, 10 x 184 low, 10 x 245 high (taking care of the back)

3 sets of 10 curls

3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline with Swiss Bar.

Peoria Chiefs baseball

last night with Tracy: a back and forth affair and the Chiefs were down 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth. Speedster gets on base by an error, and then BOOM..moon-shot home run to left field to get a walk off win.

Good crowd.

Today: not as good of a crowd, 8-2 loss, though the same batter smacked a huge home run in the 1’st inning.

Overreaction

First last night’s baseball game. Going into the top of the 8’th, Peoria had a 1-0 lead. But the first relief pitcher had let 2 on base so with 2 outs, the coach replaced him. BAM: home run, 3-1 lead for the Tin Caps.

I do feel for coaches; had the tired relief pitcher given up that HR, the coach would be seen as an idiot. But replace him and the new relief pitcher gives up the HR, then the coach is seen as an idiot. I don’t envy the coaches…they get second guessed by fans who don’t know what they are talking about (like me).

It got worse; the Chiefs got a solo home run to cut it to 3-2, but in the top of the 9’th: double and 2 more runs to get to the final score 5-2.

We did see this nifty double play:

Workout/back

I did more stretching than usual this morning..included some rolling on a baseball. The plan was to do four 1/2 mile walks in between pull up sets.

What happened: started the walk prior to the pull ups: ok, not bad, not much pain. And I made it 1 mile.

More pull ups (5 sets of 10) with banded walks, shoulder PT, psoas marches…

Second walk: even better than the first.

Then mixed grip pull ups, push ups, upper body weights:

pull ups: 5 sets of 10, 2 mixed grip sets of 5

push ups: 30 incline, 30 decline, then a “walk 10” set with banded walks: 55 reps total for a grand total of 115 reps.

downstairs: bench: 4 sets of 5 (used a stool for my feet for 3 of these) with 155 lb.

curls: 3 sets of 10

rows: 2 sets of 10 (dumbbell)

shoulder: 3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline.

More rolling.

Regression

I had trouble with yesterday’s walk. More trouble with today’s second walk; I think I dinged my piriformis again.

PT, walk 1 (ok..but ..well, glad it was just one mile), PT then walk 2 and that was a struggle. Not really terrible but not as good as a short one should be.

Then more PT (shoulders) then a swim: 2200 yards.

600 of back, side, free (100), 400 of drill/swim with fins.

1000 alternating 250 free, 250 pull in 18:41 4:44, 9:22, 14:11, 18:41

free: 4:44, 4:49, pull: 4:38, 4:30.

200 back cool down. Note: this was back to back.
203.2 before, 202.0 after.

Baseball: Chiefs won 4-1! They looked good in doing so.

Misjudging

Ok, my walk didn’t go well..had to quick stretch at mile 1.65. But that came from misreading my symptoms..I was doing ok at mile 1 and decided to push for another instead of sticking with my plan.

The PT and swim felt better.

Swim: usual 600 of side/back, 400 of drill/swim (fins)

6 x 100 on the 2:20 (1:44, 43, 43, 43, 44, 44) kind of discouraging

100 back

2 x 50 swim, 50 back (48, 49)

100 in 1:39 (honestly) ..the rest helped.

200 in 3:36 (pull)

203.2 before, forgot to weigh afterward.

Baseball: went with B and J to the ball game yesterday. Chiefs lost 11-4 in game that was never close. Upside is that I got to see a monster home run.