Captains Corner Week Two
2/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Every day leading up to the season opener, and weekly once the season begins, the 2009 University of Michigan baseball tri-captains -- Chris Fetter, Kevin Cislo and Tim Kalczynski -- will take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of the U-M program. Everything from practices, game preparation, student-athlete life and of course all the ups and downs of the grueling season.
Captains Corner with Tim Kalczynski
FRIDAY, FEB. 13 -- Day 11 of Practice, FungoMan
Here at Michigan, we have some of the best coaches in the nation. There's Coach Maloney, who's had success everywhere he has gone. We have Coach Keller, who is one of the most organized and passionate pitching coaches around. There's Coach Ust, who gives us everything he has ranging from knowledge to ground balls. There's Coach Husted, who uses every resource we have to make us better. And finally, teetering the fine line between coach and machine is FungoMan.
FungoMan was born in Shreveport, Louisiana with a ball in his hand (or ball reservoir). The son of an engineer, FungoMan had baseball in his blood. However, he never quite fit in as most of his teammates shunned him due to appearance (pictured below).
As he grew older, it soon became apparent that he could never be a major leaguer. For one, he was slow. In fact, he couldn't move unless someone pushed him (literally). On top of that, he could never go outside when it rained. He would complain about his joints stiffening up (probably due to rust). As the picture became clearer, a new dream was born; he decided that he would be better to the baseball community as a coach. He started small, throwing batting practice for his local grade school.
As time passed, his reputation grew. Soon, he had scouts and coaches coming out to watch him work. Through a stroke of luck, former Michigan volunteer Coach Aaron Hepner made a call that would get FungoMan closer to his dream.
He joined the squad in the Fall of 2007 and his impact was immediate. Over the fall, he proved that he could start practice by hitting moon shots to the outfielders, switch gears by hitting groundballs to the infielders, and finish by throwing batting practice. Since then, he has earned the respect of everyone on the team.
I had a chance to ask infielder Anthony Toth about his experiences with FungoMan.
"He frees up the coaches so they can walk around and help the players," Toth said. "Plus, he's more consistent than Niagara Falls."
That's very astute Toth. You should be a poet.
Coach Husted works closely with FungoMan on a daily basis. He had this to say, "Everyday, he proves that he belongs, and I for one am excited for his future. If he's able to see his dream through, his story will be one of inspiration and hope for the others like him."
His role is selfless and we are better off for having him on board. FungoMan, thank you and good luck.
Timmy Kal
Captains Corner with Chris Fetter
THURSDAY, FEB. 12 -- Day 10 of Practice, A Look Michigan Baseball
There are many arguments out there about how much better southern and western baseball is than the north. Other than the fact that their weather may be warmer year round, there are not too many other advantages they have over us here at Michigan!
First of all, it stays in the 70's here until late October/early November, which allows us to get through all of our fall baseball in the same weather as the other climates. While it is a comfortable 70 degrees here, the weather may be closer to 90 and 100 in August and September in other areas of the country, which to me is not baseball weather.
After fall ball, everyone in the country goes into a weightlifting and conditioning phase. Each week you get two hours with coaches on positional work during that time, so while they may spend some of that time on their field, at Michigan we have utilize a brand new indoor facility with huge cages and great dirt mounds that compare to any on-field experience in the country. Weight rooms are pretty much the same everywhere around the country so there is no great difference between those schools and us when it comes to lifting. With fall ball completed in great weather and our weightlifting/conditioning period not being different from other schools around the country, there seems to be not too many differences so far.
At Michigan, we have the luxury of having one of the best indoor football facilities in the country to practice on. We can simulate every play we will see when we compete. With the new uniform start date for all of Division I baseball implemented this season, we get to start playing at the same time as the southern and western schools, which has been great for us. My first few years here, we would be starting our first weekend against teams that were competing in their 10th and sometimes 20th games. Needless to say, at that time we were far behind.
The first month of the season, we have the opportunity to travel to great places to play like Tampa, Fla., Jacksonville, Fla., and Tucson, Ariz. These trips are great to build team chemistry and camaraderie, because nothing builds a team better than being on the road and going into battle with your brothers.
When we start playing home games in March, the weather will be in the 60s and extremely comfortable to play in and watch. Last year, we had an attendance average around 1500 and there were numerouse times when we took the field at our state of the art facility that the stands were over-flowing with Maize and Blue supporters. Overall, our attendance ranked in the top 25 nationally last season, so we have no complaints when it comes to fan support.
Every year we have a chance to compete for a championship in one of the most nationally known conferences in all of sports, the Big Ten. The history of Michigan baseball goes way back into the 1800's. It is the oldest sport on campus here at Michigan and has seen it's fair share of all-time greats such as Jim Abbott, Barry Larkin, Rick Leach and current Major Leaguers such as Chris Getz, Clayton Richard, and J.J. Putz. These are just a few of the great players that have worn the Michigan uniform. If I sat down and named every All-American, All-Big Ten performer and players that have gone on to play professional ball or become hugely successful in their chosen profession I would be typing all night long!We all aspire to add our names to that list and continue on the winning tradition that they have created before us.
In our history we have won two National Championships and made seven College World Series appearances. Our 35 Big Ten Championship's is the most of any other Big Ten baseball program, and just two seasons ago in 2007 we advanced to the NCAA Super Regional by beating the #1 team in the country (Vanderbilt), only to lose to the eventual National Champion.
Most importantly though, we attend one of America's top 3 public universities, and nothing will take any of us further than a degree from the University of Michigan. Each man on this team is proud to wear the blcok 'M' on our chest and when it comes to competing on an elite level team while attending one of the top universities in the country, Michigan is one of the best.
Northern baseball will continue to be put down as long as the game of college baseball is played, but it only motivates us to work that much harder and fight to earn the respect that we deserve. Great baseball is played everywhere in the country, North, South, East or West and it is exciting to see the different teams in our conference put up some money towards quality stadiums. Big Ten baseball is getting a buzz and we are all very fortunate to be able to play in such a great conference in a great region of the country!
Until next time,
GO BLUE!
Captains Corner with Kevin Cislo
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 11 -- Day Nine of Practice, 1953 National Champs and Jason Cole's Soul Patch
Ill be quick about todays practice. We started off inside Oosterban Field House doing our typical defensive drills. We then moved into hitting stations, where the pitchers that were throwing live threw exceptionally well.
We were then privileged to have two members of the 1953 National Championship team come and speak to us. They told us about their personal experiences while playing at Michigan. They didnt try to impress us with how good they were, but more of how proud they were of the direction that the program had taken. It was great to hear stories from people who have accomplished a goal that we strive to achieve. After out chat, we were fortunate that the rain outside stopped long enough for us to go outside and take fly balls for a second straight day on the outside practice football field.
I would like to take time now and then to focus on some people who mean a great deal to our program and are always there to help make us better, both on and off the field. Today's focus is on the man, the myth, the legend Jason Cole. J is our strength trainer who has helped boys on our team become men. We work with him three days a week in the weight room and any question of Jasons contribution to our team can be refuted by the mere sight of Nick Urbans biceps.
Jason is a guy that doesnt want or need recognition, but truly deserves it. He makes us into physical specimens (not really, were baseball players) and helps us prevent injuries through lifting. His soul patch puts others to shame, but I am going to attempt to compete with his facial hair by growing a moustache throughout the season.
Jason Cole, youre a real man of genius and I think I speak for all of us when I say that your hard work is a major factor in our success!
Stay tuned for my next blog on Ms. Kimberly Hill, our athletic trainer and surrogate Mom.
Go Blue!
Captains Corner with Tim Kalczynski
TUESDAY, FEB. 10 -- Day Eight of Practice, Heat Wave, Practice Outside, and Sunbathing
Ann Arbor is an interesting place. It's usually pretty cold around this time of year and students are dressed in layers of sweatshirts, jackets and hats. However, when the weather warms up just a hair, parts of Ann Arbor turn into Miami Beach. When I was walking back from class around noon, I saw a guy running shirtless (in his defense he had the chest of a sasquatch), a homeless man eating an ice cream cone (outside) and a girl sunbathing on the roof of one of the sororitiesand yet I was not the least bit surprised. It was 55 degrees, partly sunny, a bit windy and a perfect day to practice baseball outside.
Now the astute reader might ask, "Hey Timmy, how could you practice outside Even if it was warm and the snow melted, isn't the ground still soaked" Brother, in most cases, you would be right. However, as Coach Maloney would say, "This is Michigan, man. We have people and resources here."
Thanks to coach Rich Rodriguez and his renovations of the football facilities, we now have state-of-the-art field turf outside. For those of you that don't know, it's similar to the fringe at Pebble Beach (or so I am told) except it has these rubber black pellets that stay in your shoes for days.
We started practice outside with throwing and fly ballslots of fly balls. Coach FungoMan (our special volunteer assistant who I'll do a special on later in the week) got the rust out as he hit the catchers some high pop flies. Coach Ust hit to the outfielders and Coach Maloney hit to the infielders. After a few great catches from freshman Kevin Krantz and junior Mike Kittle, we moved inside and the pitchers did pick-off drills with the infielders. Freshman pitcher Bobby Brosnahan looked especially sharp as did Kolby Wood.
Besides being outside, practice was pretty routine. We hit live and we conditioned at the end. We are 10 days from our first game. See you in Clearwater.
Timmy Kal
Captains Corner with Chris Fetter
MONDAY, FEB. 9 -- Day Seven of Practice, A Look at Academic Life
In this installment of the Michigan Baseball Captains Corner, I would like to delve into what the average day in the life of a baseball player is like during the season! Being a spring sport in the north, you can imagine that we will travel quite a bit at the beginning of the year. While this is fun for us, it can wreak havoc on our academic schedules.
The first thing our baseball players must consider when choosing their schedule for the spring is our usual departure dates. On travel weekends, we usually leave early Thursday morning. It is hard to create a schedule with at least 12 credits that does not include both Thursday and Friday, but that is what is recommended. Most everyone will find a way to get Fridays completely off, but both Thursday and Friday is near impossible. Also, when scheduling, we have to prepare for our practice times. On Mondays and Wednesdays, we practice from 12:30 until 3 with a lift afterwards, taking us to 4:30 before we could possibly take another class. Tuesdays and Thursdays, our practices do not start until 5:00 and last until 8:00. But before we can load all of our classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays up to 5:00, Coach tells us to consider that when it gets nice outside, we will start all of our practices, no matter what day it is, at 1:00. If you are still with me, we really need to have all of our classes in the mornings between 8 and 11:30 in order to be at every practice. To take the classes that most of us need, this is also nearly impossible. This is just one of the many reasons why the life of a student athlete is not as glamorous as it sounds.
When we do start our travel, we are gone from Thursday morning through Sunday evening, where it is not uncommon for us to get back in the early hours of Monday morning. This means that most of the work we have to do on the weekends is done during our down time between our games, practices, and meals on the road. After a long day when we get to the park three hours before game time, then go through another three hour game, and at the end of all of that go to dinner for another two hours, we become extremely exhausted and picking up a book can sound like the seventh level of hell. The last dreaded occurrence that happens to most of the team members is the exam on the road. Most teachers at Michigan do not waver in the day they give the exam, whether we are able to be in class or not. This means that one of our coaches will receive the exam from the teacher, and then we have to take it while on the road. Imagine waking up at 7 am while your teammates are asleep or enjoying a nice morning filled with relaxing and television, while you are in a hotel conference room taking an exam.
Now that I have put this feeling of shear dread when it comes to being a student-athlete in your head, I will admit, I would not have it any other way. Being on the baseball team at Michigan has been the best experience of my life. Most students out of state come to college knowing nobody and have to seek out opportunities whether it is Greek life or other groups to make friends and have something to do. Being a Michigan baseball player, we all came in and had instant friends and family. I consider each one of my teammates as a brother (no one could come close to you Phil (Fetter), don't worry) and would do anything for anyone of them. Being on the road with my teammates is such a great time because that is when we really become close and bond. On our spring trip, we spend a week and a half with just our team, usually with no work to do because it is spring break. While Michigan is a great school and each one of us is proud to attend school here, we all would be lying if we did not say we chose Michigan for the baseball. Baseball season is the best time of the year for us, and even though our schedules become cramped and our time is at a minimum, being on that field and a part of a group competing towards a common goal is the best feeling in the world!
Until next time, thanks for checking in again and GO BLUE!
Captains Corner with Kevin Cislo
SATURDAY, FEB. 7 -- Day Six of Practice, Crack of Dawn Style
Unlike most college students who look forward to Friday so they can have the weekend off, my roommates and I were up at 5 a.m. on Saturday morning eating breakfast and getting ready to head over to the locker room. Upon entering the locker room we heard music blasting from the speakers, intense games of ping pong being played, and the overall atmosphere was filled with excitement. All of this before 6 a.m. is something that very few teams experience.
At 6 a.m. sharp we began to stretch in Oosterbaan Field House. Typically the day after practice and lifting it takes your body a little longer to get loose, it doesn't help that you just rolled out of bed an hour ago. After stretching we went into our 15 minutes of throwing and proceeded to go into defensive breakdowns. A couple of pitchers hit fungos to the infielders at their individual positions. The rest of the pitchers did work with Coach Keller and the outfielders did their work with Coach Ust.
Following the defensive portion of practice, we worked on base running, focusing on steals of second base. We worked off of right handed and left handed pitchers trying to anticipate the pitch and get the best jump possible from various types of pitchers and pitching styles. With a lot of power gone from last year's lineup, it is critical that we master other aspects of our game. We won't be able to rely so heavily on the long ball, and base stealing is going to be a dimension of our game that is critical to our success this season.
After base running we moved into hitting. This is also a very interesting experience so early in the morning. Hitters always wonder in the back of their mind if their teammate on the mound is fully awake. If he's not, you're in the batter's box facing a 90 mph fastball that might see its final destination in your ribs. Seeing live pitching is difficult enough as it is, but is even more challenging at 7:30 a.m. To make matters even worse for hitters, Coach Maloney wanted us to practice on "battling" with a 1-2 count in some of our at bats. "Battling" is an at bat situation where you try to put the ball in play and get something to happen in order to get on base. In all nine of my at bats I started off with two strikes. Let's just say that the pitchers did what they are supposed to do in these situations, they were getting guys out.
To end practice, we did 2-2-2-1's. All you need to know is that this stands for a lot of base running/conditioning. After practice we headed back to the locker room and a lot of guys went to breakfast together. I know that when most guys get back from breakfast, it's time to relax (playing video games) or fall asleep in the living room with the rest of your house teammates.
I hope you are enjoying these inside looks at Michigan baseball. Make sure you check back every day as we lead up to opening day on Feb. 20.
Until next time, enjoy you weekend and Go Blue!
