This Week in Baseball: The Official
News of the Donnell Insurance Burlington Blue Jays Baseball Club: Lots of baseball left to play Baby!!
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 1:12 PM
Subject: All Burlington Parks have been closed. No Game tonight, sorry
folks.
Sorry gang the City has just
closed all the parks as per the weather so we have our first official rainout!
Please reply so that I know you
got this message. I wont be
able to make any calls until I get home.
I will be trying to make this
game up and am chatting with the Oakville coach, perhaps next week, thinking
Tuesday or Wednesday as we play Thursday and Monday is the Holiday.
Practice is still on of course
so we may also sneak the game in there. Stay tuned, stay close to your email
and our website.
See YA,
k.
Sent: Monday, May 16, 2011 8:34 AM
Subject: This Week in Baseball, 4th edition
Good Morning Sports fans and Welcome to this week’s edition of This Week in Baseball with your Donnell Insurance Blue Jays!
First off was that an amazing session yesterday at Field House Athletics! I was so pleased with the turnout and the workout, we are getting better no one threw up! Big Joe ran a great exercise at the beginning of the session that forced each player to call out who was throwing the ball to them, we had 5 balls circulating and the guys are getting to know each other!
Captain Jack walked up us through some balk and steal situations. We then split the team and Instructor Lee worked with our pitchers (sorry about the type) and Instructor Alex worked with our batters, I drew the short straw and tossed to the kids in one cage as the pitching machine threw fastballs in the next cage. Folks we spent 90 minutes with 2 Team Ontario high end instructors and 3 coaches with 9 kids! As a coach I was thrilled with the caliber of the facility and the instructions while all other teams were rained out and gaming!
Couple points I heard Alex mention with the batters were about balance and transferring your weight from back to front. Lee called out a couple fielding tips we worked on, instead of the traditional crow hop we have all been teaching we jump back foot forward to throw, as he said it’s a game of seconds and numbers, we need to find a way at every opportunity to shave a second here and there! Of course we ended off with some running and sprints, I had a soaked athlete in the car on the way home! We also talked about how we need to reach inside and pull a bit more out of each of these guys, we need to push and if each of us gives and extra 10% it’s kind of like having 10 players on the field. We do this in hockey and once it becomes the norm you will see these guys do stuff even that will surprise them, more on that later one! Joe did an exercise where the kids crossed their arms, then he told them to do it the other way, interesting, give it a try, we need to find ways to break the mold and do things differently in order to reach our goals! (I can vision 30 or so folks doing this in their offices or place of work right now ha-ha).
Was an amazing session folks I have hopes that we can visit again. Just so you know if we do there is a cost associated so any ideas on fundraising out there? It runs about $300 plus per hour with instructors. If we rent it without instructors a bit cheaper but we need to cover the cost. If the interest is there I can look to quiet weeks or the occasional Sunday. Please let me know your thoughts. I am all over it so have hopes your kids came back telling you how much fun they had and how much they learned, we can do some really great stuff this year folks if we can stir up the interest, for some this may be their last year so let’s get it cooking, I can take it if you can! We have a rep style program in a house league system!
Re tonight I am thinking we may have a rainout but as I look out my go train window there is currently no rain. If you are unsure or you have not heard from me please get to the park, sometimes the decision is made at game time and if it’s a go and we have less that 8 kids we lose and the game is not made up. I will send an email the minute I get the news but if driving on my way to the park I won’t be able to phone every one, will do my best to save you from scrambling and then having no game. Also as we are playing Oakville I will try to get the news out early to save them from a wasted trip!
Stuff Coming Up:
|
Date |
Time |
Home |
Away |
Location |
Game Code |
|
May 16, 2011 |
6:15 pm |
Blue Jays |
Oakville Red Sox |
Ireland C |
177380 |
|
May 22, 2011 |
9:00 am |
Blue Jays |
Practice |
Millcroft C |
|
|
May 28, 2011 |
~9 - 5 |
Picture Day |
Mountainside Arena |
That’s about it folks. Hopefully see you tonight, if we are rained out I will try to get the game in next week but need to see when Oakville is not playing.
I have updated the web with maps and some other stuff, I took a few pics of Sunday and will get them up there when I can figure out how to get them off my BlackBerry!
Have a great day and please let me know your thoughts, I am walking with a bounce in my step today because of the great session Sunday and also because There’s lots of Baseball left to play Baby!
See Ya.
Coach k.
Sent: Friday, May 13, 2011 11:26 AM
Subject: Weather Update: Please Read and Reply :
Important Donnell Insurance Blue Jays Update re Sundays Practice
Folks as we are expecting bad weather this weekend we are planning an indoor event on Sunday instead of the outdoor rain out at Millcroft.
We have secured a 2 hour indoor session 10:30 – 12:30 at Field House Athletics this Sunday May 15.
5230 - B harvester Road Burlington 905-639-3421
Kids please make sure you wear your Blue Jays hats (to all events of course) as well as gym shorts running shoes etc.
We have a pitching instructor as well as 8000 square feet of indoor baseball training. There are pitching machines and we will be working on hitting as well.
I do need a yeah baby or you will get a call on
Saturday so please replay.
To be absolutely clear. The practice this Sunday May 15 has been moved to Fieldhouse Athletics 10:30 – 12:30.
Nobody said it was easy, we are going to work and will hide it in some fun stuff. The journey begins, we are filling the tanks and have a long way to go!
I have hopes of opening the official Donnell Insurance Blue Jays pool this weekend as well and be sure we will all take a dip this summer! Date TBD but park it up there!
Please please please reply because there’s lots of baseball left to play baby!
See ya.
Coach k!
Sent: Thursday, May 12, 2011 8:26 AM
Subject: This Week in Baseball 3nd edition
Good Morning Sportsfans and Welcome to the
third edition of This Week in Baseball!
Just a quick update from our first game! What did you think? You have taken your first look at our new team and the menu for a fun summer!
Pitching was amazing, again we wanted to look at as many as we could get in, catching was excellent as well and the fielding was looking sharp. Of course we have lots to work on and the message to the kids was we are happy as long as we get better!
Was great having our rep guys (Big Joe and Leisure Suit Larry) on the corners. We need to stress to the kids that we need to make sure they are aware of the signals. Larry is sending one to the batter and base runners. Last night more than half the kids missed the signal, please share this with the kids over the fruit loops or while walking the dog, we must be smart and we all must know what’s going on at all times. Have the kids ask if they don’t understand. Bunt, steal, take and indicator is pretty much it! We also need to work on primary and secondary positions in the field, I think we struggled a bit understandably which is kind of what we were expecting.
I am very cool with all of this as it gives us an opportunity to get better, which of course is one of our goals. Had we hit a hot team (which we will) I think the outcome would have been different, we must learn to play at our level and not bring ourselves down to an opponent’s level yet rising up when we need to! I am also looking for more than 4 hits next game if you catch my drift, but again lots to work on.
We are also keen on discipline and routine, look em in the eye and travel like a team, and this is not optional. It will be the norm and will take a bit of work to get where we want to get.
In general I really like the fabric, the kids are pushing each other in a positive way and the parent crew has some jazz which of course I promote, we are all in this for the same reason and what else do we love to do than hang out with our kids playing a game.
Watching the Big Jays last couple innings last night Johnny Mac was interviewed and his comments were “man we are just having fun out there”, good words to go by folks!! Will keep it light, get batter and have some fun, at the end of the day it’s a game, we push some stuff up front and it becomes fabric, won’t get in the way and we have some fun and a great summer!
Thanks for the support so far folks. Please continue to share your thoughts and let me in on everything!
Its gonna be a long hot fun summer (will sneak in a couple pool party’s at my digs of course) and we have begun our journey, long road ahead that I think can lead to some pretty great adventures!
On behalf of all you coaches keep smiling and see you on Sunday (9:00 at Millcroft C) because there lots of baseball left to play baby!
Coach k
Sent: Monday, May 09,
2011
Subject: This Week in Baseball 2nd edition
Good Afternoon Sportfans and Welcome to the second edition of This Week in Baseball!
Happy Mother’s Day moms! Bet your kids were pretty crashed all day after that workout, what an amazing group of kids we have here folks! Great attitudes and great intensity! We were really impressed with the effort. We saw some kids throw up, and we say lots of kids so out of gas! We did push the guys and will continue to work to get the most out of each athlete! We need to shake off the xbox PS3 and Wii, turn them off guys and get some exercise! For this team we need to be in shape and a 2 hour practice and a couple games is great but not enough! Don’t worry, ask them about the fun factor! its there as well! I have had a few comments this morning from folks that had some fun! Please continue to share your thoughts.
Re the practice we wanted to look at our pitchers and catchers, base running. Infield and outfield as well as hitting and we covered it all. Ron Lambert has forgotten more about ball than I will ever know and it was a treat seeing him in action with the guys. I said to the kids when this guy talks make sure you listen and take it all in, Ron will be joining us every now and then and when he does we will step back and let him drive!
Really sorry about the park mix up, I should have just kept us at Millcroft to get everyone together, a few missed out on the fun as a result but I really needed to get a practice in prior to Wednesdays game and was told by the City Millcroft was closed so couldn’t risk being turned away!
I have heard from a few re pants being too small or too big and have contacted BOMBA to switch before Wednesday, we are not alone lots of emails going back and forth. Anyone else have any issues? I have 2 pairs of really big pants we need to switch for the smalls. Let me know and if we can trade internally it may get us there quicker! Nice looking uniforms I must say, in the past I have never worn but maybe this is the year! I am heading over to the office tonight to see if I can get in! Also off tomorrow and trying to hookup so let me know.
Regarding drinks Big Joe will be bringing water for the first game for all. We will be rotating this player to player. Let me know if you have any questions about this. We explained it to the kids at practice.
Wednesdays game will be experimental, we want to look at all players and figure out who likes to play where and will take some time to settle. I asked the kids if there was any spots they didn’t like and will help out where I can, The fair-play rules are not as they were in Bantam and below where you couldn’t play in the outfield 3 times until all had twice and you couldn’t sit twice until all has sat once etc. I will be building the lineup with fair-play at heart, I do know of some players that don’t wish to play in certain spots so if you see a player only in one spot its by choice, we would like to work kids in certain positions and I won’t set someone up to fail, give us some time to figure our stuff out. I will make sure that all the players are playing an equal amount, I don’t want to sit anyone more for example. Regarding our pitchers we have 7 or 8 kids that can really throw the ball and we want to have a look at all of them so you will see a lot of kids pitching, bring a chair, a cold drink and get ready to have some fun!
Stuff Coming up:
|
Date |
Time |
Home |
Away |
Location |
Game Code |
|
May 11, 2011 |
6:15 pm |
Blue Jays |
Georgetown Navy |
Ireland C |
177383 |
|
May 15, 2011 |
9:00 am |
Blue Jays |
Millcroft C |
Practice |
Thanks folks, please reach out if you have any questions or concerns, I am huge on email, carry the BlackBerry so flip me a message anytime. Cell is 416-454-2778. I will be sending at least 1 email per week, you will never not know what’s going on with this team. Please flip me a message with your info as I have very little, the kids email addresses, your cell numbers etc. I think I have captured those that have forwarded to me, let me know if not.
Please check the web as I will have lots of stuff up there, www.krhproductions.com
I hear we are in for some nice weather this week, works for me because there’s lots of Baseball Left to Play Baby!
See Ya.
k.
Sent: Monday, May 09,
2011
Subject: This Week in Baseball 1st edition
Good Morning Sports fans and welcome to the first edition of This Week in Baseball!
Nice chatting with you folks over the last couple weeks!
My name is Keith Heise and I am the head coach of the Midget Blue Jays this year. I have been coaching baseball and hockey in Burlington since my 3 boys could hold a ball or a hockey stick so a couple years! Couple things I like to do and look for I will call out right up front. I always travel in numbers and makes sure I have good people around me. So this year your assistant coaches have been selected each for a separate reason.
Jack Tryburski: Captain Jack a very strong practice coach has been with me for years as I have coached Chris in hockey and ball. A very strong baseball guy who will show his skills on and off the field and during practices.
Joe Donnell: Big Joe and I have been together since the early days of ball as Liam was always on my early Blue Jays teams, we separated for a couple years as Liam was promoted to Rep where Joe assisted as a coach with the Bulls. Joe brings a football look em in the eye type attitude and a huge baseball guy with discipline right up front.
Larry Kerr: Leisure Suit Larry set the tone at our Blue Jays coaches meeting last Saturday by arriving in style wearing a Sergio Armani suit, looking good coach! Larry a rep coach and player in his younger days will bring game experience and the rep attitude to the bench!
Ron Lambert: Ron will be joining us as a practice coach, Ron is the ultimate baseball guy and a good friend of the coaches. Ron will be joining us in the earlier stages and working with us during practices. A technical player and coach that we are really looking forward to working with. Ron will be coaching the Midget Select team as well.
Our sponsor is Donnell Insurance, this is the only place in town for all your insurance needs folks, I have all my stuff here and they are the best, tell all your friends and mention the Blue Jays sent you, without the support of Big Joe and our sponsors we wouldn’t have a game, thanks pal for the support!
That’s us. I am looking forward to meeting with you folks, I do like to take the best of what we have and push all in a positive direction, each of these guys have an angle and an approach, My role will be to hold it together and get the best out of each of us and the athletes. We all kind of decided to co-coach so you will see leadership from all of us! You put good folks around you and great stuff is gonna happen!
Speaking of fun lest discuss our goals. We coaches all got together to discuss our plan, general thoughts and talk baseball, we asked each other what do we want to get out of this season, what are our goals? I like to set reasonable obtainable goals and stick with them for the duration of the season.
We all kind of looked at each of the and said the same thing:
· Fun: personally that’s why I am here, this is our summer activities and we are all in this together, let’s have some fun!
· Discipline: right up front, these guys are 15-19 years old, young men and minor sports is a great development tool and we as coaches are interested in assisting the young men along their journey
· Attitude and Intensity: we will be pushing intensity, the want to win, the effort must bet there and we must always learn for next time.
We do wish to set the bar pretty high and will be pushing these guys. So to sum it up I think our statement will be: Work hard, get better and have some fun! Sound fair?
Baseball is a respected game and we are looking to act and look like a baseball team on and off the field. We will be looking for hustle and attitude, run on and off the field together as a team etc, we will be working on several areas but we will always look like team! I can guarantee you will see emphasis in this area!
This year we have 10 teams in the loop, 4 Local Burlington teams, we are joined by Georgetown, Milton Campbellville and Oakville as well. We will be playing each team twice, one home and one away. Game times are 6:15 and 8:30. We are looking to have each athlete to the park 45 minutes before each game for our warm up pre-game routine. I will be publishing the roster with numbers and addresses to facilitate carpooling. Please do what you can to get to the park on time. There is one away game at 6:15, other than that one the away games are 8:30 under the lights to give us time to get there in good time.
We will be running structured 2 hour practices Sundays 9 AM at Millcroft C. The first will be this Sunday. As its Mothers day, we give the moms the morning off, sneak out of the house for practice and let the Queen sleep in, back in time for the Moms day brunch! Happy baseball-Moms Day ladies!
I have attached the schedule I don’t have park maps yet but will publish shortly
Key Dates:
· Season starts Week of May 9
· May 28 Photo day Mountainside Arena
· June 18 All Star Day
· August 13 Minor Baseball Day
Stuff Coming Up:
|
Date |
Time |
Home |
Away |
Location |
Game Code |
|
May
8, 2011 |
9:00 am |
Practice |
TBD |
||
|
May 11, 2011 |
6:15 pm |
Blue Jays |
Georgetown Navy |
Ireland C |
177383 |
Gear pickup was last night and I am picking up the uniforms on Saturday so we are ready to take the field for the first time!
I will have a web site posted shortly at www.krhproductions.com with schedules info etc, have not retooled from hockey but will shortly and let you know. I am the guy on the left, hit the Gator Teds link!
I can be reached anytime at this email address keith.heise@cibc.ca, cell is 416-454-2778 and home phone is 905-315-7367 but email is best for me, home phone worst as with my 3 boys and my crazy household I usually don’t get the message!
Thanks folks, you will see I like all to be involved and contributing, coaches and parents, I am the most approachable guy in the world and nothing is more important than your sons success with this baseball team. I will be sending a This Week in Baseball message early every week with stuff coming up team news etc.
Please share your thoughts and communicate, if you are happy tell your friends, if not tell me!!
Please let me know of any email addresses that you wish added to the mailing list.
See You on Sunday folks, please flip me a quick reply and say hi so I know you got the message!
There’s lots of Baseball left to play!
See Ya.
k