Hey Everyone,

I enjoyed a nice day off today. The weather was beautiful and I actually had the chance to lay out at the pool for a couple of hours.  It was very nice, unfortunately we do not have another off day until August. 

This week I purchased an iphone, and it is probably the coolest thing that I have ever bought for myself.  The app store has got to be one of the best inventions that I have come across.  There is literally an app for everything you could possibly want.  I couldn't be happier with the new phone.

I also saw the movie the Hangover this week, and it was one of the top 5 funniest movies I have ever seen.  I laughed for 2 hours straight, it was an awesome movie.  Anybody who has not seen it yet, I would reccomend going to see it as soon as possible.

As most Pirate fans already know, we have had some promotions, and have some new faces in Altoona.  Brad Lincoln and Hector Giminez were promoted to Indy, and Dustin Moelleken, Mike Dubee, and Pedro Alvarez were promoted to Altoona.  I am excited about the new teammates, and really excited to get to see Pedro play everyday.  He is also a really good guy and a great teammate.

Now onto the U.S. Open, even though I was pulling for Phil today, given the whole situation that he and his family are dealing with, I have to say that I was excited to see a Clemson Alum win the tourney. 

Well alright guys, thats all I have for today.  We head to Erie for s quick  3 game road trip, and I throw on Friday when we get back into town.  I am gonna go finish watching this insane college world series game.  Its been a great game so far.  Everyone take care.

Moskie

Hey Everyone,

Well I just got back from the gym, and I have a little extra time because surprise surprise its raining in Altoona.  I walked into the gym at 9 45 and it was beautiful outside, the sun was shining.  I come out of the gym at 11 and what do you know, it looks like the day after tomorrow storm has arrived and its pouring outside.  I swear the Northeast region doesn't have seasons.  Anyways, onto the topic of the post.

I know that it is a little late, but congrats to the Pittsburgh Penguins.  They took home the Stanley Cup, in Detroit, and got to rub it in the face of Marion Hossa while they were at it.  They showed alot of toughness being able to pull this one off, and it is a great thing for the city of Pittsburgh.  Two world champions in one year.

Now onto my outing from last night, if you just look at the box score it looks like a pretty rough night for myself.  But that wasn't necessarily the entire story.  Now it wasn't a great outing by any means, but it was quite frustrating.  I gave up 8 hits in 5 innings, and honestly only 2 of the balls were hit well.  Four of hits were from broken bats, and resulted in flare singles, and 1 double.  I did a pretty good job of limiting the damage because things could have been worse, and I wanted to make sure not to waste the effort that our hitters made.  They did a great job last night.  I was also back to my normal self with 13 groundball outs and only 2 fly outs.  While I was a little wild, walking four batters, I was missing down and not up in the zone which I can live with.

Well thats all for today, time to grab some lunch and then head to the field.

Moskie

Hey Everyone,

Yup the subject should tell it all, we are in Mystic, Connecticut.  What a name for a town.  The hotel in New Britain didn't have internet, so I have been out of the loop for the past few days.  They didn't have internet, but they did have great beds, so I will take that. 

Ok so some good news to start this post off.  My mom and my sister are coming to see me on this leg of the trip.  I haven't seen either of them in about four months, so it will be good to spend some time with them.  Also we are only fifteen minutes from the largest casino in the world if I am not mistaken.  So we might actually have something to do while they are here. 

So my last outing was a pretty decent one. The longest of the year so far, and I am pretty happy with the way I pitched.  I was also very happy with my mechanics and my arm slot because that is what has caused inconsistency this year.  I gave up 2 runs, one of them on the longest home run I think I have ever given up, and the other on a bloop single.  I was also getting alot more fly balls the other day, which is prety abnormal for me.  However, it was not indicative of the way the game was going.  Usually if I am giving up alot of fly ball outs its because I am up in the zone and probably getting hit hard.  These fly balls were more of the lazy variety and were a result of fastballs in on the hands, and change ups low and away. 

The last note for the the day, has anybody seen the movie the hangover yet.  I haven't seen it, but everybody says its the funniest movie they have ever seen.  Anybody with some input feel free to let me know.  My next outing is back at home in Altoona on Tuesday.  I will be back around then as always. 

Moskie

Hey Everyone,

Well we are finally back home, and it is for only three days.  Surprise, surprise it is raining here in Altoona.  We did get our game in tonight, but it also reained the entire game.  Its getting to be pretty ridiculous how much it rains here. 

Tomorrow we have a double header against Akron, the first game features a match up of Brad Lincoln versus Jake Westbrook.  That should be a fun one to watch. 

We have also arrived at another favorite time of yearof mine in terms of sports.  College baseball playoffs.  The two teams I will be pulling for this year are the Clemson Tigers of course, and the Florida Gators.  My pitching coach from college is now the head coach there and so I wish him the best.  College baseball is played with so much passion and energy that it is hard not to love watching it. 

The last topic for today is going to be my last outing.  The best word I can think to describe it is erratic.  My stuff was pretty good for the most part, but my command just wasn't very good.  This led to alot of strike outs and alot of walks.  The hits came too, but there weren't that many of them that were hit well.  A couple ground balls with eyes, and a few bloop singles.  The hardest hit balls of the night both went for lineouts to the second baseman. 

One mroe final note, how bout Randy Johnson, still doing it.  He had to wait through a couple rain delays that lasted for several hours, but he did get win number 300.  At this point its just another notch on his belt of a hall of fame career, but good for him.

Well that is all for today guys, my next outing will be in New Brittain, and I will probably have another post sometime around then.  So until then, take care.

Moskie

Hey Everyone,

So we are here in Erie, Pa, we got in last night, or this morning at about 1 30 or 2. It was a 7 hour trip from Trenton.  We did not have any internet in Trenton so I am sorry about the delay in posting.  My most recent outing was probably my best of the season, and a very encouraging outing.

So in my last outing I got 17 ground ball outs, which is exactly what I try to do.  That is what is so encouraging.  There was only 1 ball hit in the air all night, and that was a foul out.  Even their hits were all groundballs.  I have to give some credit to my catcher Steve Lerud, we were on the same page for the duration of my outing.  The only thing I struggled with was my command in the first inning, there was a huge difference between the bullpen mound and the game mound. So it took a couple batters to make an adjustment.

Something funny that happened during the game was that I got hit with a bat.  While its not a funny issue, since I wasn't seriously hurt, I found it to be pretty funny.  With Colin Curtis hitting, I threw him an inside fastball that broke his bat. It was also a ground ball to the right side, so I immediately ran to cover first base.  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the barrel coming at me, and I tried to make a last second effort to dodge it. But it hit me in my right forearm.  Fortuantely I escaped with just a bruise and a minor laceration.  Definitely a new experience though.

Just a quick side note.  I have been getting alot of questions about strikeouts.  So in reference to them, I really don't care about strikeouts, I am not a strikeout pitcher, and I don't think that you have to strike hitters out to be a good pitcher.  The only time a strikeout is important is when a situation calls for it.  Like with a runner on third and 1 out, other than that I just try to get ground balls.  When I have a hitter in a 0-2 or 1-2 count, I don't waste a pitch with a breaking ball in the dirt.  I go for weak contact, putting pressure on the hitter, that is our organizational philosophy, and that is what I have had success doing.  On or out in 3 pitches really allows you to pitch deeper into ball games, that's what I am all about.

Well I have to wrap this up so I can get to the field, but the last thing I will say is that the Trenton Yankees have a great stadium and a great field.  Also, they do a really good job drawing fans.  The game that I pitched had several thousand fans at it, and it was a great atmosphere.  Well I pitch again on Thursday, barring any weather delays, which is always a possibility in the northeast.  So everyone take care.

Moskie