g into the Phils game he was hitless in 11 at-bats. But hey, he's playing in the big leagues!! In an interview with a sports reporter for the Lancaster newspaper, he said that the biggest difference between playing in the majors and the minors is the speed of the game and the savvy of the pitchers. Some of the pitchers in the minors throw just as hard as the pitchers in the majors, but the major leaguers know what they want to do with each pitch and can execute better. He wasn't starting the Phils game tonight, but I was hoping he would get in sometime during the game. Well, the Phils fell behind by a bunch and I turned off the game and went to sit with Carol and read. About an hour later I made a visit to the bathroom and decided to check out the final score so I turned on the game again. There was #14 playing shortstop for the Brewers and the Phils had just taken a lead. I was hoping they could add to the lead, since the bases were loaded, but Pence hit a sharp ground ball ..... directly to Bianchi who made the play at second for the final out of the inning. Jeff was scheduled to lead off the inning for the Brewers, but he was lifted for a pinch hitter. I guess the Brewers coach was a little leery of the 11 ABs without a hit and didn't want him to have to face the Phils #1 reliever so he opted for a more experienced hitter. Sometime in the future Jeff might be the one who will pinch-hit for some rookie in a pressure situation. Here's wishing him the best in his major league career. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo was from the AP and was shown in the Lancaster Newspaper. It shows Jeff celebrating a win with the Brewers a few days ago.
Friday, July 27, 2012
The "Makin' It To The Bigs" Story
It was an ordinary day. 7:00 PM and turning on the TV in the living room to watch the Phillies. Most every night that they have a 7:00 game I do the same. I would rather watch it on the HDTV in the family room, but Carol and I have an agreement that I will watch baseball in the living room while she watches in the family room. At least that is her agreement. So, I turn on the game and they are talking about Jeff Bianchi who plays for the Milwaukee Brewers. Nothing unusual about that except he is from Lancaster and I taught school with with his dad in the Manheim Township School District. Tim taught woodshop in the middle school while I taught Photography and Graphic Arts in the high school. Jeff was drafted in the 2nd round of the 2005 Major League draft by the Kansas City Royals and went to the Chicago Cubs before landing up with the Brewers this year. The announcers were talking about Jeff being called up recently from the Brewers Nashville minor league team where he was playing shortstop and batting .305. His promotion couldn't have come at a better time, since he was having a very stressful year. His sister had been diagnosed with a brain tumor and his mother had recently undergone surgery. He got the call on July 10th and three days later made his Major League debut as a pinch-hitter against Pittsburgh. Two days later he got his first start for the Brewers. Heading into the Phils game he was hitless in 11 at-bats. But hey, he's playing in the big leagues!! In an interview with a sports reporter for the Lancaster newspaper, he said that the biggest difference between playing in the majors and the minors is the speed of the game and the savvy of the pitchers. Some of the pitchers in the minors throw just as hard as the pitchers in the majors, but the major leaguers know what they want to do with each pitch and can execute better. He wasn't starting the Phils game tonight, but I was hoping he would get in sometime during the game. Well, the Phils fell behind by a bunch and I turned off the game and went to sit with Carol and read. About an hour later I made a visit to the bathroom and decided to check out the final score so I turned on the game again. There was #14 playing shortstop for the Brewers and the Phils had just taken a lead. I was hoping they could add to the lead, since the bases were loaded, but Pence hit a sharp ground ball ..... directly to Bianchi who made the play at second for the final out of the inning. Jeff was scheduled to lead off the inning for the Brewers, but he was lifted for a pinch hitter. I guess the Brewers coach was a little leery of the 11 ABs without a hit and didn't want him to have to face the Phils #1 reliever so he opted for a more experienced hitter. Sometime in the future Jeff might be the one who will pinch-hit for some rookie in a pressure situation. Here's wishing him the best in his major league career. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo was from the AP and was shown in the Lancaster Newspaper. It shows Jeff celebrating a win with the Brewers a few days ago.
g into the Phils game he was hitless in 11 at-bats. But hey, he's playing in the big leagues!! In an interview with a sports reporter for the Lancaster newspaper, he said that the biggest difference between playing in the majors and the minors is the speed of the game and the savvy of the pitchers. Some of the pitchers in the minors throw just as hard as the pitchers in the majors, but the major leaguers know what they want to do with each pitch and can execute better. He wasn't starting the Phils game tonight, but I was hoping he would get in sometime during the game. Well, the Phils fell behind by a bunch and I turned off the game and went to sit with Carol and read. About an hour later I made a visit to the bathroom and decided to check out the final score so I turned on the game again. There was #14 playing shortstop for the Brewers and the Phils had just taken a lead. I was hoping they could add to the lead, since the bases were loaded, but Pence hit a sharp ground ball ..... directly to Bianchi who made the play at second for the final out of the inning. Jeff was scheduled to lead off the inning for the Brewers, but he was lifted for a pinch hitter. I guess the Brewers coach was a little leery of the 11 ABs without a hit and didn't want him to have to face the Phils #1 reliever so he opted for a more experienced hitter. Sometime in the future Jeff might be the one who will pinch-hit for some rookie in a pressure situation. Here's wishing him the best in his major league career. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy. PS - photo was from the AP and was shown in the Lancaster Newspaper. It shows Jeff celebrating a win with the Brewers a few days ago.
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