Q&A Weekend: - The Return of Teddy Joo-Ba

Mack my man,



My hiatus from writing is unacceptable, and for that I apologize. It's been a busy year in the office, and coupling that with my triumphant return to beer league baseball (from ACL surgery), I simply haven't had the time to put any of my baseball related thoughts on paper. I'm hoping that will change.

Having recently completed my first full season of baseball since 2007, I've been on a major nostalgia kick. As much as I wish I was still playing in front of big crowds in games that have some level of importance, its really the little things that I miss...things that didn't seem so eventful at the time, but in looking back, made the whole experience of playing professional baseball that much more special

I miss changing in front of a locker with my name on it



I miss practicing broken Spanish with my young pitching staff, and then feeling a sense of accomplishment when they actually knew what I was saying

I miss the look of excitement on the face of the bank teller when they would cash my paycheck that prominently displayed a Mets logo



I miss blasting the air conditioning in my hotel room in Port St. Lucie without the thought of paying a utility bill ever entering my brain



I miss having people around who took the time to learn the correct spelling and pronunciation of DZIUBA (Joo-ba). And I miss seeing my name displayed on stadium jumbotrons


I miss having a walk-out song



I miss free yogurt and rice krispies in the clubhouse



I miss getting to watch major league tools on a daily basis - including, but not limited to:



Carlos Guzman's arm


Carlos Gomez's wheels


Zach Lutz's swing

Nick Evans' approach


Jon Malo's glove


Eric Brown's change-up


Jon Niese's curveball

Drew Butera's everything behind the plate



I miss free bats



I miss stealing extra free bats



I miss giving away my stolen extra free bats

I miss breaking used bats on purpose to get new bats

I miss leaving tickets at will call for friends and family



I miss having a reason to wake up and go to the gym. Working in finance simply doesn't get my athletic juices burning the way being paid to play baseball once did...and I am considerably more "doughy" because of it



I miss hitting white baseballs

I miss signing my name on anything but legal documents (I especially miss signing my own baseball card)

I miss playing cards in the clubhouse next to a bright orange sign that says "No Gambling"

I miss alot of things about professional baseball. There are alot of things I don't miss about professional baseball, but maybe I'll leave that for another post. Bottom line, I miss being a ballplayer first and foremost, and I hate that at Age 25, I'm already looking back on my career

Mack:  Was there a question here?