Movember 2013

Hi All,

That wonderful time of the year when Movember returns and peace is restored across the galaxy....

Due to popular demand I have decided to alter the Mo design slightly as we move towards gaining more sponsors, a few designs came into mind but two stood out for me.

The Mini Mo, this is where I will grow my normal over the lip but then have a smaller one etched in under my bottom lip without touching the other.

But the one which got the vote this year and makes me think of Star Wars all over is..... The Dual Mo. Every time I think of the name Dual Mo it makes me think of the epic Star Wars battle between Qui Gon, Obi Wan and Darth Maul. The soundtrack to this battle was named "Duel of the Fates".

The Dual Mo is just that, two mo's instead of one, here's an early photo. I've carved one in the normal spot and another underneath my bottom lip.

So far its been received with mix reactions, majority from my work are shocked but hey - I'm not doing this for approval, this is for charity!

This year I've started off a little slow as I was interstate for the first week until now, so all my normal emails pleading for donations went out rather late and subsequently my donations tally isn't looking healthy at the mo.

I'm confident though of it moving towards the $1k mark, I've been participating in Movember now for 8/9 years and in all that time I think I've missed raising $1k only once. So it makes me proud that I've been able to raise approx $7k to this fantastic charity, one which is growing in popularity at a rapid rate. When I first started Movember then was in its infant stages, not many knew of the charity - now its all over the media and expanding all over the world!

Looking on the website the Movember event started with as little as 30 people back in 2003 and has propelled into a massive 1.1 Million participants in 2012. Back then the idea was born but no real funds raised, in its first real fundraising year, 2004, Movember raised a total of $54,000... Compare this to a staggering $141.5 Million in 2012 and you have yourselves a massive event!

So, with those stats now comes my plea. As I mentioned I've raised approx $7k in the history of my Movember, This isn't enough and I aim to push towards $10k and beyond. I do this for the charity only, no personal gain - One month a year of having a Mo which most will laugh at is a small price to pay for this great event.

Please, hop online by clicking this link: http://mobro.co/TonyRogers This is the link to my Mo Space, please check out and donate anything you can - remember everything over $2 is tax deductible and greatly appreciated.

Regards

Bo_Gas

Round 7 - ETPBC Div 5

I'm hoping my article isn't going to sound weird today, I'm writing this after a solid night on the PS3 checking out the latest Call of Duty installment, Black Ops II. Safe to say after a 5 or 6 hour stint playing it both my eyes and brain aren't functioning well with hardly any sleep...

Anyhow.. Last saturday we hosted Glenelg at home, we expected tough opposition from them and thats what we got.

It was a slightly different team to what we played last year and a new pitcher I hadn't seen before. The Glenelg pitcher must be given some credit for the score and the hit count, watching the first few batters I thought he was extremely hittable as there was no heat and it was coming very slowly into the box.

But, we should have learned from the last slow pitcher we faced... When a slow pitcher comes in it really throws you off guard and makes you chase the ball more and lose patience.

So after a few weeks off of the starting role, Robbo returned to weave his magic. For a pleasant change we held the opposition for a scoreless first inning, lately we've allowed runs in the first inning then have to battle for the lead back...

Our boys started off well with a few runners on bases in the first however couldn't capitalise and the first two innings went scoreless.

Glenelg managed to snare the lead in the 3rd and held onto the lead for the next few innings until Redsox finally got a runner over the line to square things up.

Redsox worked extremely hard in the field and snared the winning run in the bottom of the 6th, Robbo stepped up to the mound in the 7th and lights out, Redsox win 2-1.

Offensively, probably wasn't the best day for either side but thats what happens when two finals contending sides match off against each other in the regular season. Defensively, Redsox were awesome.

The previous week our team made a minimum of 8 errors (I stopped counting halfway through the game), Golden Grove scored 6 runs from errors in the field.

This week - Redsox had zero errors, that was the difference, our infield was solid with Angus having a game at 1st base, Hung moving over to 2nd, DR at Shortstop and yours truly at 3rd.

Outfield also boasted some strong defence with Jonesy at Left, Cummo at Centre and Ralphy dropping out to Right.

Defensively it was the best we've been all year, especially error wise, this is what we need to nail against the top sides - each game and practice we spend time improving facets of our defense, practice paid off for this game.

"Time and Game" was called and for the first time this year we played a full 7 innings before time was up.

For me personally, with the bat I had a not too good game, was 0 from 2 and didn't look like getting the hit I was looking for - part of me kept thinking of my hamstring which was feeling tight - need to forget that for this week and just hit hit hit.

Defensively I was very happy with my game, zero errors which is something i've been trying to do since my first couple of games where even though I made some really good plays I also fumbled the ball a bit. Made a nice throw in the 6th to remove the runner at 1st after a line drive which backed me away from the base - with cannon like precision I flamed it to 1st and runner sits down.

Ok - Glenelg we have met and worked hard to win the battle, this week we're away to Goodwood who in the past have always been strong, expect a tough game this weekend - especially for the pitchers who chuck the cleats away for the game and whack on runners.... the diamond we will be playing on doesn't have the usual dirt mound but has a plastic moulded mound which can get quite slippery...

Round 5 - ETPBC Div 5

Great day for baseball yesterday, only peaked around 26 degrees which was ideal, hardly any wind and most of us had been boosted by the Adelaide Xmas Pageant earlier that morning...

Suprisingly we were one of only a few at the ground with the game before cancelled due to a forfeit by Kensington Div 7...

So the ground was all ours and ripe for the taking.

We were bouyed by recent results for our opposition where a few runs had been scored against them, a definite change from prior years where although they weren't like a Southern Districts or Goodwood they were still fairly competitive.

Positions were set, Cummo got the nod as starting pitcher after showing some real good form the week before, Ralphy, still sore from previous weeks pitching... lined up at centre field and Robbo shuffled in at 1st. I was happy keeping my 3rd base whilst Jarrad slotted into right field after returning from paradise!

Sadly no Kym Ashworth this week but here's hoping we can snare him out again soon...

Gawler got off to a good start with their lead off driving a deep ball out to left field but some great pitching and work in the field ensured no runs came across.

The first three innings were tight with both teams getting the odd hit but no-one scoring the first run.

4th inning our team unleashed, many hits and we ended up scoring 7 in the inning and enforcing the mercy rule (7 runs only allowed each inning), myself still smiling smartly after I hit a bases loaded double scoring all three runners.

Up until that point in the game I didn't have much to do as weirdly the ball didn't come to 3rd during the first half of the game, I usually see the ball atleast 5 or 6 times...

Half way through the game Robbo asked me to sit out for Beggy to come in, shortly after whilst our team was batting lightning struck twice...

Whilst standing at 1st doing 1st base coaching duties Scoop came in to bat. After a few pitches Scoop hit a line drive to short stop which was fumbled, yelling at Scoop to keep running he's just made it to 1st and pulled up suddenly, his famous hamstring had gone again. Not as bad as previous ones i've seen however he knew straight away he was done.

Umpire allowed myself to be re-subbed back in so I took Scoops place at 1st base after he managed to beat the throw. The Gawler pitcher overthrew his second pitch so I decided to sprint (my version of sprinting...) to steal 2nd, made it fairly easily however just as I reached the base I felt a slight pull also in my right hamstring....

Wasn't as bad as Scoops and I could still jog, but jog was all I could do... Luckily for me two batters later a long bomb was hit and I managed to get home on a slow jog scoring the run.

Without anyone on the bench I stayed in the game and went to 2nd base.

The next inning was the sealer for us, another 7 runs came across including me after getting hit by the pitch and hobbling home after a play ruled as a double.

Robbo came in to relieve Cummo in the last inning and proceeded to shut the door completely by only throwing a total of 4 pitches with myself laughing as I took the final catch of the game.

By then I think we were in the bottom of the 6th and no way Gawler could draw or win so the umpires called it Time & Game!

With two straight wins we now look to a rare away game out at Golden Grove which should be a good game. Hoping to be available for it even if off the bench...

Round 4 - ETPBC Div 5

We were expecting a much different Flinders side to what we faced last year and we were pleasantly suprised.

I think comparing the two sides they seemed to have lost alot of exchange students from previous year - bad for them, good for us!

Saturday we had Ralphy on the mound giving Robbo a rest, Ralphy pitched well all game only giving up I think 2 runs over 4-5 innings. I started calling him the 3 out specialist, as soon as Flinders were 2 out Ralphy would strike out the last batter to end the inning - happened in 4 straight innings!

Cummo came in (hahaha just re-read that) late in the game to test the arm and looked the goods holding Flinders to just the one hit. Like Ralphy he pulled out the 3rd out Strikeout to end the inning.

2 outs seemed to be when our team shined the most, if it wasn't the pitchers working hard and getting a strikeout it was our batters rallying. Most of our runs came whilst we had 2 out.

One batter really shined for us yesterday, Kym Ashworth, never met Kym before but he comes with a big reputation. I can see why, Kym hit 3 for 3 on the day which included a double, triple and a Grand Slam out to right field. After the game we tried to lure him into playing more, a big bat like that is exactly what we're looking for - an offer of a carton per game was tabled by the team...

I was pretty pleased with my fielding for the day - not one error which was good, usually at 3rd I have atleast one or two a game. Really enjoying my 2nd year at 3rd base, starting to get used to the groundballs and my arm is starting to really pump the ball over to 1st to get the runner out.

I think overall apart from Kym's standout batting, all played really well, errors were down, batting was up and all were really enjoying the game.

I've said it before but i'll say it again, the new group of Div 3 players which have come down to 5's this year have really breathed life into our team. Last year it was turn up play and get beaten, now, we train solidly on Wednesday nights, we get to the game and meet before we head out for warmups and we play as a proper professional team.

Like Matt often says, get out and have fun - no point playing if we're not enjoying it..

So a great win by the boys as we trumped Flinders, now we look to taking on Gawler at home 3pm. Gawler is another team struggling this year so we look to get out, have fun and improve our hitting for the coming games.

Movember!

We are right into the start of Movember and its already gearing up to be a great one.

My Mo last year at a 60's party - I went as Chopper

Its now day 4 and growth is already there after the shave yesterday and in a week or earlier i'll shape the Mo.

Alot have asked if i'll go to a new style this year, that i'm not yet sure of. Historically I have had a massive mo that stretches from he top of my mouth down similar to a trucker style, however I let mine go all the way down my neck. Its the one that has won me three Man of Movember titles at my work so i'm not sure if i'm ready to part with that style...



Movember to me is an awesome month, i'm not usually one to have a Mo, goatee or beard throughout the year but its a chance just to look silly (no offence to full time wearers...) for a month whilst getting much needed $$'s for charity.

One of the favourite parts for me is playing baseball with my Mo, when the uniform is on it makes me look like a very old school baseballer from the 70's!

The other thing is too, this takes bugger all effort for us to make a real impact to charity:

1. I join a Movember team (Team IOOF)
2. I shave on Movember 1st - Groom a couple of times throughout month
3. I send emails asking for donations and run Melbourne Cup Sweeps

My new razor for Movember

Really thats all I do each Movember, so if you're reading this blog and have once considered joining this great event then do - your input to helping the cause isn't much and you can take great pride in what your doing.

I've heard all types of excuses, the one that gets me is "It's too much work"... Not really, if you take out the Melbourne Cup part all you do is join, shave, groom and send emails for donations. Zero - little effort, "oh but I have to groom and shape it all month".... no more effort than you shaving normally throughout the month...

Each year I have my list of sponsors who send donations my way and I manage to get the $1k target I set each year - if not close too it.

Me & My lovely wife at the 60's party - Chopper!

To help the target being reached I also run Melbourne Cup Sweeps at my work, I'm lucky cos we have around 150 staff at my office. So I run $2 & $5 sweeps with the prize money being split 50/50, so for a $2 sweep Movember gets $24 a for a $5 sweep it receives $60. We usually end up organising around 7 sweeps which is a great result.





So, day 2 and I'm up to $110 - so if you're reading this blog and donating to Movember is something you've thought of doing, then head to: http://mobro.co/TonyRogers and donate.

Remember - no matter the amount, high or low, every donation counts!

Round 3 - ETPBC Div 5

 

Tough game was on the cards last weekend with a rejuventated Adelaide Angels side already accounting for some big teams from last year.

With the loss of Matt to a calf injury and the unfortunate news Hung (not sure of spelling...) who had to fly back to Korea due to the passing of his grandmother, Robbo brought in the services of the experienced Darren Roberts.

Personally I was still experiencing the effects of my throat infection that hit me hard at the start of the week - ended up home three days from work and was still about 85% healthy.

Divvy 5 took to the field however with high expectations, Adelaide had accounted for us twice last year and quite simply we wanted to win at home.

Robbo started off well however some really good hitting from Adelaide saw them take an early 3 - 0 lead.

Hits were few and far between for our side and the runners we were able to scramble onto bases were left there as we weren't able to capitalise. My first at bat was a near disaster as I went from normally watching the first pitch to jumping at it and skying it to 2nd base.. Would have been ok as it was a nice fastball down the middle - but... I decided to go after it way too late and result was it getting more air than distance...

Kicking myself now but a costly error I made at 3rd resulted with extra runs scored when I could have closed the inning out with a double play. Hindsight I should have stood closer and been ready for a bad bounce but geez - not a good feeling when you make an error and the runners you should have gotten out then cross home plate and score runs..

Unfortunately batting wise it wasn't a good day, East Torrens Div 5 brought in a run but it was all too late and we went down 9-1. First half from the team prob wasn't our best and we recorded our first loss for the year.

So we head to Wednesday training full of momentum to work on the plays we should have nailed on the day - more importantly, we hit the diamond to work on our hitting. Not sure how many hits we recorded for the day but it was definately not enough and personally having 0 hits from 3 at bats is not ideal...

This week we're at home again 3pm againts Flinders who were strong last year so expect a good battle!

Round 2 - ETPBC Div 5

 

Winners are certainly grinners!

Our Div 5 team entered the day with 10 players including myself who wasn't 100% with a dodgy throat. High in confidence however, we headed into warm ups, the 7 all draw last week against West Torrens built us with rage that a victory so close then had to be shared.

I felt fine to play so jumped back into 3rd Base, which built me with confidence that Robbo and the boys are happy with me in that position.

The boys breezed through warm ups and confidence was there we would play well and take the points.

Through the first couple of innings it was adament early that our team was on top, we put Woodville away without scoring whilst whacking 3 runs to our tally.

Matt managed to get on 1st early on however almost appeared to be shot in the league and hobbled very badly. His calf muscle went on him and sadly power hitting and our captain of the field is now limping to the bench - down to 9 players.

What was a concern however was the runners left on bases, Matt pointed out we should have had another 6 runs on the board.

Woodville suprised us all knocking on some batters and loading up the bases with none out, errors in the field also allowed some of them to reach the base - salt in the wounds. Robbo fought hard however this inning was all Woodville as unlucky bounces and some good hitting allowed them to tack 6 runs and double our score.

The boys looked shell shocked and Matt & Robbo called a quick chat, everyone was gutted we were in this position however noone was ready to give up.

To our teams credit we fought and fought, eventually reclaiming the lead - from there on we never looked back and ran out winners 15-9.

Our first win for the year and first win as a new team!

Robbo pitched well all day and was unlucky to get the runs scored against him. Our batters found the first pitcher to be a dream come true - wasn't hitting the zone all the time however when he did it was like plucking cherries.

Cummo & Jonesy took some really great catches out in the outfield with one Cummo sprinting in to dive and just take the catch - clutch catch as Woodville had a heap of runners on base and could have meant more runs if it passed..

I had a great day overall, some minor fielding bungles butmeans  more hard work at practice - was able to throw out another runner with inches to go and ended up going 3 hits from 4 at bats for the day, including a double and some RBI's to add to the tally.

So - we look next week to another home game against Adelaide 1.30pm - Heres hoping we can continue the win streak!

Will try and get some pictures up next week of each game

Round 1 - ETPBC Div 5

Round 1 came and went as quickly as the lead we worked hard to maintain late in the game.

Our Div 5 team travelled down to West Torrens last Saturday for the Round 1 "Torrens Clash", rivalry has always been strong with the two clubs and this game was one neither side wanted to drop.

East Torrens Div 5 this year is a completely new outfit, new coach at the helm Robbo and his band of merry men, brought a wealth of experience and power into our side which last year failed to win more than 3 games and struggled both on the mound and with the bats.

One of my best mates Jarrad is one of the players from last years squad, both he and I agree we both need some work and we've struggled in the past couple of seasons (where coaching individuals for improvement hasn't been the focus). But both Jarrad and I agree the new coach and squad coming down has been a breath of fresh air.

This has been noticable throughout training and before warm-up's on Saturday, Matt our new catcher (and Robbo's right hand man) is everything about winning, but, he wants the team to win, not individual glory. He speaks to us all with respect and helps every batter out as much as possible to better their game.

So, Saturdays game a number of us had pre-game nerves, myself included. I spent all morning working through my bevy of songs to help calm down and not get worked up too early, songs including Layla (Eric Clapton), Bella's Lullaby (Twilight), The Back of My Head (Short Stack), Paparazzi (Lady Gaga) etc.

Yes the list above includes a song from Twilight and Lady Gaga, I am definately not a Lady Gaga fan but just like this one song... Twilight, well, have to admit I do enjoy watching the saga but that song and its melody I really love listening too.

The above worked for a while but the nerves kept coming, normally I'm not nervous before a game, Game 1, under a new coach, new team, this was a different scenario. So a swift change to "Fire Up" music was in order, special thank you to Linkin Park, Blink 182 & Good Charlotte for helping me out there.

I have everything to prove to the new guys, I cemented my spot at 3rd base last year (but thats easy when your the coach haha..). I had a great year last year and wanted to return so I had to prove myself worthy of staying in the infield. I also won the batting trophy last year so I wanted to show why and that I wanted to be a threat with the bat again this year.

My first at bat came before the first chance at fielding, felt ok out there but my timing was out... I found I was swinging late. Finally on the fifth pitch I claimed the ball with my bat, unfortunately I deflected it straight into my left foot, just below the shin... The ball kicked out to short stop and I hobbled to 1st base..

With that painful experience came the embarrassment side, my first fielding error. With a Double Play looming the ball was hit to me at 3rd and a late unexpected bounce left the ball hitting the top of my mitt and fumbling onto the ground, once I finally retrieved the ball it was too late to get any runners out.

Now with my head down and cursing myself came the new players in our team, never have I received so much encouragement after a bad play - Wazza at first, Hung at SS, Matt at catcher, all yelling out.

This lifted me quite well, spent some of the game still a bit jumpy but gathered my nerves to start fielding well and getting the runner out at first without overthrowing or misfielding the ball.

Both teams went tit for tat over the next 5 Innings, I enjoyed two hits from my next two at bats and also helped bring some runners home (We won't talk about me getting thrown out at home whilst attempting to slide - or as my son says, fall over the plate...)

In the 5th inning we were tied at 5 all with 1 out and my nerves came back to haunt me, I gathered the ball, an easy play to attempt to throw the runner out at first, routine play... Not sure why but my throw didn't have as much in it as required and it bounced to first base only just getting the runner out. Again my head down not happy - but like an alarm went off in the other fielders heads, the encouragement began to flow like crazy.

Last batter of the inning came to the plate and after watching a few balls he hit a grounder to me at 3rd, unfortunately this was one I couldn't wait for so I plunged forward. Gathering the ball whilst on my knees I looked up, rocketed a ball to first and just claimed the runner in time. This one play renewed my huge passion for baseball as it was one of those plays you hear in the big leagues the announcer screaming out in joy as the player dives for the ball then throws to first from his knees... Something i've always wanted to do.

Fired up we went into the last inning with confidence we could win this and just like that our boys brought home two runs and we went into the bottom of the inning 7-5 up.

Sadly West Torrens had their big hitters up next and they managed to tie up the game 7-7, luckily for us their last batter skyed the ball to me at 3rd and I was able to take the final out with a routine catch.

I thoroughally enjoyed the game, Robbo pitched all the way through and really controlled the plate well - never looked like tiring either. Matt controlled the plate like a real captain of the team, Hung the new boy was kept busy at short stop (I like to yell out Hit it Well Hung when he's batting hahaha) and Left & Centre fielders Jonesy & Ralph were kept busy too.

All our players hit very well and I think majority of us were able to grab a couple of hits on the day, sadly, like Matt spoke of at the end, 7 runs is great but leaving 10 runners stranded on base is something we need to work on. Looking back at the game our team played very well considering we only trained 3 or 4 times prior to Round 1.. This is also the first time our team has played together as one.

I was sore the next few days but Saturdays Round 1 game really ignited the fire inside of me to push to be the best for this team. I want to train hard and learn from the guys like Matt and Robbo as I feel they can really teach Jarrad and myself alot about our batting and the game.

One thing was also apparent to Jarrad and I, the need to also drop some kg's, so we now have a goal - 10kg's to be dropped, hopefully before Xmas. 10kg's off will help us compete more, run harder and be fitter for the team and family life.

This week we play our first home game of the season against Woodville @ 3pm. If this Woodville team is anything like we played two years ago then we will have our work cut out for us. But this team has the confidence that we can do it so I think this will be a very good game to watch - if your past Pattersons Reserve (Payneham) on Saturday then check it out, canteen will be open with some awesome hot food and drinks available!

Baseball Update - Div 5 ETPBC

Well we are almost to the season opening, our Div 1 & Div 2 teams kick off this weekend along with our Junior teams.

The rest will follow the week after including my team.

As you would have heard previously, we were looking more likely to move down to Div 6 as our team finished bottom the year before and we were super depleted in key positions.

However like the Oakland A's recent turnaround our fate did also, only 4 of us returned from last years team but its the additions from 5 players coming down from Div 3 which is the key.

In that group comes a Starting Pitcher, Relief Pitchers and a full time Catcher as well as a couple of Outfielders. Adding to the list we have now I believe we have a very formidable team, one worthy enough of pushing for a finals berth.

I'm hoping to slot back into my 3rd base position as I feel I played very well in that spot last year however will play wherever needed this year as its enough about favourites and where we want to play, its where we need to play to better the side and serve it best.

For years our Div 5 side has been very laid back and casual, I feel this is about to change. We need to me more thorough with our approach, more determined to win at all costs.

The addition of the Div 3 players also gives us that stability and familiarity, by this I mean we now have 9 full time players who will be playing majority of the season, last year we were hurt by part time players that played every now and then, not when required...

So, if your a sponsor reading this thinking should I sponsor this player or team I would urge you to consider absolutely. Personally, I had one of my best seasons last year after moving from Right Field to 3rd Base, batting I won the trophy with highest average and enjoyed some success bringing home the bacon against West Torrens. As a team there is alot of upside, the addition of Robbo's boys will be a major boost to not only our defense but also major boost to our offense which struggled badly last season.

Get onboard while you can, the East Torrens Div 5 team is about to take off!

Sponsors Needed!

You've heard me harp on about baseball and how I'm just about to enter a new season in Division 6

But what I haven't mentioned is the urgent need for sponsors.

Local clubs survive on massive generosity of local sponsors, this helps keep fee's down for players which inturn helps the sport survive and encourage juniors to join without having to pay too much.




The club I joined, East Torrens Baseball Club, is a great club with volunteers that work super hard to make this club work. One of the wives Barb, volunteers most of her weekends to run the canteen - even when none of her family are playing at the time or ground...




 I would love a sponsor to make proud at the end of this season however would be very happy if I could just entice some sponsors to the club to help us out, more money though the club enables us to upgrade facilities, buy better equipment (rather than using broken batting helmets haha), encourage more juniors through the door etc.

Ok I only play in Division 6 but its still a very competitive division regardless how you look at it... We all want one thing, a premiership!

There are different levels of sponsorship that are available, Player Sponsorship, Team Sponsorship or overall club sponsorship.


So, if your apart of a business and think you can be involved with my club via sponsorship please contact me. If you do sponsor the myself or the club from this article, you won't just get great featuring through the club and via our website but I will dedicate a blog article too!