A Lot To Be Thankful For

I am thankful for a whole lot of things...

Thanksgiving Day is a special day to look back and be thankful for all those things and special moments we had throughout so far in our short lives.

Thanksgiving 2012 in Iowa with my teammates

The Nation gives us a day to celebration at least one day where we allow most families to take a day off of work to gather around the kitchen table from distance or close by to have one big feast with the ones we love most.

This Thanksgiving, I was lucky enough get work off (since I work in the sports industry and sports never sleeps) and spend time with my family which I haven't got to in 3 years. 

In the past 3 years, I spend those 1st year spending Thanksgiving at my desk at school catching up on school work all day. The 2nd year, I had my first dysfunctional Thanksgiving with my teammates since we all couldn't go back to our respective places we call home. And the 3rd year, I spent it at work at a desk watching the Texas-Texas Tech game.

This year, I am thankful that I get to spend thanksgiving with my family (although I wasn't home for most of the morning and afternoon). Just being around them makes me realize I could have it much worse than where I am at right now.

I am thankful for a whole lot of things, not just on the day of Thanksgiving, but everyday of my family, all the things I have, the people I've met and the journey they have been through with me to become the person I am right now.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Jun

"Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough." -Oprah Winfrey

Never let it rest

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Until your good is better and your better is best.”

Lately, I feel like I've been over working my body.

Since mid-August, I've been going to the gym 5 days a weeks after working unusual hours at work that usually go from 3pm to 12 am and sometimes later.

In July, one of my childhood friends asked me to work out with him because he wanted to get into shape. He was working out at a small gym in on the outskirts of Gardena and since I was told that a membership there was $100 dollars for a whole year, I felt like I found a gold mine. 

During that month, We decided to go to the gym at 8 or 9 am religiously depending on if we had work that morning or not. We also talked about setting a goal of some sort rather than just going to the gym to just lift.

In the same month, he took a little time off and went on a little vacation he had already planned out. During that time, I decided to go join Deuce Gym in Venice on top of having a gym membership in Gardena already.

A little crazy for some, right? Well, here's a little more craziness.

After my buddy Mason came back from his 2nd year of professional baseball in August, during my off days from work, I would go work out either at Deuce Gym or that gym in Gardena, then go to Mason's house to lift with him. 

Then on top of that, sometimes, I go hit at the batting cages or play basketball with some high school friends at the park.

The other day, I was at one of my high school friends house watching the World Series and Lakers game. I probably left an hour after I got there and he knows most of my routine I go throughout the day. Once I was heading out the door, he told me, "You gotta learn how to relax, man."

Once I got home, I thought about that.

Relaxing.

I honestly don't know what that is. For about 9 years starting from high school to college, I felt like I always had to prove myself to my peers and coaches to move my way up on the baseball team. IT felt like a never ending grind for those 9 years. Even on days off, I would either be working or at the gym trying to get better.

I feel like taking a day off is overrated. Granted, some days your body is going to need rest, some more than others. But for me, if I can help someone get better everyday of my life, I would sacrifice some sleep to wake up early for that.

As one of my coaches would say, "Always be better than yesterday."

Jun

Get to Know: Alicia Spurgin

During my time in Iowa, I have been grateful with all the friends I've made out there. But here is one in particular...

Alicia and I at some bar in Omaha, Nebraska

This is Alicia.

Why is this person special to me? Well, here's why...

Probably a month before walking at graduation, I found out that I had to do an internship in order to get my degree, which I could still walk at graduation but would have to get the internship done within the summer.

 I tried to find something out in Los Angeles but I couldn't reel anything in. 

Later when I could;t find an internship on my own, I talked to my advisor about an internship out in Iowa. He knew some connections and helped me get one at the Cedar Rapids Gazette in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. 

So that meant one thing: finding a place to live for the summer.

I asked my roommate from my 1st year at Mount Mercy University since he lived in a house and had a room opening up.

At first, I was all set up to move in with him, his now fiancée and a another roommate but he wanted me to stay there for a whole year which I wasn't planning to do.

So as it got closer to graduation, I was still homeless for the summer.

There was a house across the street from my school, which was the baseball house during the time I was there, I asked if I can live there but that fell through because the house because all the room were taken.

So one day I was with Alicia, talking to her about my situation for the summer.

When I mentioned that I needed a place to stay, she insisted of taking me in to her apartment for the summer. She said I would have to sleep on the futon in the living room but I couldn't refuse because she said I didn't have to pay rent but just pitch in for groceries every once in a while.

So on the day after my graduation, I packed everything in my car and moved in to Alicia's apartment.

During the time I moved into Alicia's and was her roommate for 3 months, one of my best memories I had with her was going to the College World Series with her and one of my teammates David.

Alicia, David and I with Mississippi State fans from Mississippi

When we were in Omaha, she wasn't a shy person so I knew she was going to talk to random people (And plus, majority of the midwest and southern people are super nice). Some people from Mississippi approached us and she started to mingle with them. Maybe if it weren't for Alicia being there, we wouldn't have made new friends from Mississippi. 

I never would have thought of going to Omaha during my life time, but thanks to Alicia and David, I could check that off the bucket list.

In brief, I couldn't be more grateful to Alicia with the kind act she has done for me. She provided me with a roof, food, and hospitality for the 3 months during the summer I was in Iowa. 

There's never a day that goes by where I don't think of how fortunate I am for having a friend like her.

Thank you Alicia for everything you have done for me!

Jun

Post grad: One year later

I remember packing my things and leaving the place I temporarily called home like it was yesterday...


August 15th.

That's when I left the small city called Cedar Rapids in Iowa for good. Well, not for good but wouldn't be living there anymore.

I packed everything I can in a tote, stuffed every clothes I have in a suitcase and threw whatever I couldn't put in the tote or in the suitcase anywhere I can in the car.

Right before I left, one of my teammates, David, bought shooters because everyone else was going to go out that night. He handed me one and said, "This might be the last time we might have a drink here together....To this summer." We raised the little shooter of fireball and I was on my way out.

Before I headed out the door, two of the girls that we hung out with all summer were also there. They both gave me hugs and teared up as I let go of them.

I never had someone cry for me because I was going away for good.

I want to say I left around 9 o'clock at night so I can get home to Los Angeles during the day.

The drive was pretty long. A 16 hour ride to Boulder, Colorado and slept for about 1 hour at my friends old apartment parking lot. Then, 14 hours to LA.

I came back to Torrance with no life plan drawn out.

...

One year later, I am now a full time highlights production assistant for Fox Sports 1. In other words, I cut/produce highlights to a certain game I am assigned.

During my time at Fox Sports 1 so far, I am not going to lie, it was tough (for me at least). I would try to put extra time in even though I knew I was going to get in trouble for it, didn't complain when I got assigned to cut a highlight for a fringe sports I never knew about until it forced me to watch it. In short, it was a daily grind with unusual hours.

Yeah, I put in the time and labor to get to where I am at today, but I can't take all the credit for that; it was everything in-between within this year that got me to where I am.

After coming back home to Torrance from Iowa, I just sat around and helped out around house, well I tried to.

Then I remembered my buddy Mason messaged me earlier that summer I was Iowa if I wanted to play on a summer team in Torrance. So I messaged him and asked him what he was doing.

Then, he was recovering from Tommy John surgery.

After a short talk with him, we decided that we would work out and hit together. In the hope of his arm getting better and me finding a independent baseball team to play for.

This all started in September and continued all the way April until he had to leave for pro ball in Rockford, Illinois. We would work out on religiously on Tuesdays and Thursdays, even if we were hung over from during the night before. It was something we didn't want to miss.

During those 7 months or so of training, we both saw improvements on our lifts and felt stronger. I think I lost about 10 pounds at my peak during this stretch, and of course, also because I was going to Venice to go workout at Deuce gym with my good friend Taylor every Wednesday of the month since I want to say November.

PR'd deadlift at 315#

Waking up at 7:15 a.m. every Wednesday morning was rough, especially after getting off work at 11:30 at the earliest! I would get ready, drive to Taylor's and he would drive both of us from there. And some time on the day of the work out, we both would have work afterwards.


I put my body through a lot of stress throughout that time and I'm not going to lie, I never felt 100% during that time.


Besides from those two things, I got to hang out with some friends from high school and the junior college I went to. Some more than others now, but it was good to see some faces at a least once within the year I got back home.


Also within the year I got back home, I received an email from a professional baseball team in France and asked me if I wanted to play for them. I would have no doubt left Fox Sports and played if I didn't just get hired as a full-time employee there. So I was in a pickle in that situation. Long story short, they signed another guy, probably because I was pretty indecisive with if I really wanted to quit my job or not. There was another time that I was told I could possibly play in Austria but I never got to the bottom of that.


One thing I did during the 12 months after graduating that I wanted to do for a while was go visit my relatives in Japan. It's been a decade since the last time I visited them, only because it was after one of my grandfather passed away. But when I finally visited the motherland during the month of March,    it was still for an family emergency.

My family and I found out one of my aunts (my uncle's wife) had cancer and had a couple months to live back in 2013, so we knew time was short for her. Also, my grandmother is very ill. She lives in a nursing home with bunch of other elderly, which they all taken of very well but when we visited her, she couldn't remember who we were at first. After we sat down and talked with her, she started to recognize who we were. I mean, I don't blame her because she hasn't seen us in 10 years or so.

Couple of weeks later after my family and I return to the states, I remember telling one of my cousin's husband to tell her happy birthday for me since she old school and doesn't seem to be in the social media world.

After a couple of hours passed by, he replied saying that my aunt has passed. I remember how everything went down because I was at work and was everything just turned upside down that day...


I've done other things throughout this 12 months as well, such as go to Las Vegas for the first time since I turned 21, actually signed up for a membership at a CrossFit box, went to my first postseason Dodger game, visit San Francisco for the first time just to name a few.

The futon I sleep on at my mom's apartment

I think I am in a good spot right now. I can't really be complaining about little things. But I am still living at my mom's apartment with my two sisters, sleeping on a futon in the living room which sucks but not having to pay rent is nice (I do help out around the house and buy things for the house from time to time).

Hopefully in the next 12 months, I hope for bigger and better things to come my way.

I still hope to look to somewhere to play professional baseball weather if it's a small independent team or overseas. If not, I hope I've gotten a promotion and found a place to live on my own.

Until then, I just have to keep plugging away.


Jun


"Success is about dedication. You may not be where you want to be or do what you want to go when you're on the journey. But you've got to be willing to have vision and foresight that leads you to an incredible end."

Breakfast: The Meal of a Champion

I wasn't really a big breakfast guy.

When I was younger, my mom would make me 2 egg done over easy and serve it with rice. She would make this for me couple of times a week in the morning but I would never finish a whole plate of it every time.

She stopped making breakfast for me some time when I was in elementary school and started to buy cereal instead. And even then, I never really ate breakfast. The only reason I would eat cereal was because one, I loved the Flintstones and two, I absolutely loved eating the marshmallows from Lucky Charms (who didn't?!).

Also, when I used to go work with my dad at his job, he would always stop by McDonald's when ever I went with him. I would always order a Sausage McMuffin and would only finish half of the sandwich.

In middle school and high school, I wouldn't eat anything until after lunch because I knew I would have to go use the restroom right before my mom would drive me to school or have to go use the restroom during school hours, which I despised doing.

Even for half my time in college, I never woke up early to make and/or eat breakfast.

My mom would always tell me every morning, " You have to eat something in the morning. You not going to have enough energy for the day."

And honestly, in retrospect, I don't know how I had the energy to play baseball everyday during those times.

I think it was back in May 2011, I met Logan (one of my best buddy, Taylor's older brother) in Santa Monica at his Functional Fitness at the Bluffs. I asked him about protein shakes versus eating. There, he talked about his foundation of nutrition and how University of San Diego, where he played 4 years of  college baseball, they had a program that consisted of CrossFit training and had a nutrition program.

After the conversation, it really made me think about how I should eat, but of course when during college, we make the decision to eat fast food because it is convenient.

But during my senior of college is when I started to make breakfast, which would only consist of 3 eggs scrambled every other day.

Now fast forward to 2014, I can't go without a day without having breakfast, especially after I workout in the morning.

A daily routine

Now my breakfast will usually consist of 3-4 eggs, 3-4 bacons or a rib eye steak and 3-4 breakfast sausages with 2-3 cups of coffee every morning after I workout. 

On a day I don't workout, I usually have the same amount of coffee but with 2 eggs, 2 bacons and 2 breakfast sausages.

After I started to make and eat breakfast religiously, I feel the energy difference between not eating anything in the morning compared to eating in the morning everyday; I feel more confident with myself throughout the day whether if it's going to work 8 hours or going to the batting cages to take some hacks.

It's not on everyone's agenda to eat what is called the most important meal of the day. I was there too. Then, I rather sleep for the extra hour or two so I can relax. 

But now, I can't wait to wake up in the morning to eat breakfast.

For those of you who don't eat breakfast, I recommend you to take a chance and eat breakfast in the morning for a month, even if it's just a piece of fruit.

You'll start to notice something different throughout your day.

Jun

#HalesYeah

First off, I want to thank all of you who suggested some topics I should write about. I'll try to get to some of them in the near future.

...

The other day (July 24th, 2014) I had a meeting with my boss about an interview that my co-workers and I had for a different position.

After the meeting was over, as I was opening the door on my way out, my boss asked me about the purple bracelet I have on my right wrist.

My first thought was, "He probably thinking it's purple. It's probably inappropriate for work." So on and so forth.

I explained who and what the bracelet was for, and after I told him, he said "I'm glad I asked about it."

...

For those of you who don't know, I have a purple bracelet.

The purple represents the favorite color of the person who is engraved on this bracelet, Haley Rinaldi.

Haley was one of the student-athletes at Mount Mercy University, which is where I met her.

Personally, I didn't really know Haley that much. I probably had a handful of conversations with her.
I remember one conversation I had with her was with one of my roommates, and that we were all going to go visit her hometown one day, which is Aspen, Colorado.

Another time I kind-of, sort-of talked to her was during the summer of 2013 in Iowa, on the day before she left to Aspen for a little bit during the summer. She told some of us she was going to hang out with her family and would be back in a week or so.

Couple of days later on July 26th, 2013, everyone in the Mount Mercy community heard horrible news that Haley was involved in a freak boating accident and her life was taken away.

It was terrifying when my friends and I heard the news just a couple of days after we saw her. All I saw was everyone sitting on the couch with their faces dragging to the floor with sadness along with mine...

Now every time I look at this bracelet, I think of how I could have talked and became better friends with Haley. It's a personal reminder for myself to not be shy and not be afraid to talk to someone because you never know if you can make an impact in their life or not and vise versa. And from what I know and heard, Haley was that game changer.

Thanks for watching over every single one of us, Haley.


Jun


"Life is too short. Hug the people you love most and tell them "I love you" because you never know when you'll get to tell them that and see them again."


R.I.P. Haley Rinaldi 9/20/91 -7/26/13

Memorial Day for Murph

Memorial Day...

Some people take it as a day off of work. Some take it as another day to drink. Some just take it as another day in life.

I would admit that I am guilty of being the person. I would usually shoot a text to my friends and ask what they're doing and probably go out to drink with them for the whole day.

But this Memorial Day, I did something different.

Logan and I after completing Murphy on Memorial Day 2014

I found out via Facebook on Sunday that Deuce Gym, the Strength and Condition garage I go to work out at was having community work out on Monday.

The workout called Murph, named after Lieutenant Michael Murphy (originally called "Body Armor") was the workout for the day, which consisted of:

- 1 mile run

- 100 pull ups

-200 push ups

- 300 squats

- 1 mile run 

I was pretty hesitant to go at first because I just wanted to sleep in on my day off of work.

I asked my buddy Taylor if he was going to the work out but he said he wasn't going for his own reasons.

Right after I talked to Taylor, I watched the Lone Survivor because one, Mark Walhberg is a boss, and two, the Michael Murphy was one of the main characters in the movie.

To sum up the movie in four words, it was pretty nuts. 

After I watched the movie, which was around 2:00 on Monday morning, I made a decision to go to Deuce to work out.

I woke up Monday morning, drank coffee, cooked three eggs sunny side up and drove off the Venice to the gym.

Around noon, Logan, one of the coaches at Deuce, gathered the 40 some odd people that were there for the workout.

As Logan talked, he would do his pep talk on what the work out is and motivate people to give the drive they need to do their best in the work out.

But today was different...

As Logan was talking about the workout and Michael Murphy, he paused for a few seconds and started to break down a bit. Then after a few more seconds, he gathered himself and told us, "There are people out their serving and protecting our country. They don't have the privilege to live a life like we do."

I never seen this man break down in my life until now. I have to say it was one of the most powerful speeches I have heard from anyone.

...

When the work out was going to start, Logan broke us up into 3 groups. I joined in with the second group. 

As I did the work out, I would have some part of the pull ups, push ups and squats done to a certain amount. After I felt like I was going die or pass out, I went to the white board where the workout was written out in different modifications. I started to look at the workout with about a quarter of the repetitions taken out from the RX (the prescribe recommended weights or standards for what is typically your best athletes in the class.) As I stared at it, I was thinking of just stopping at where I was at and just finish the mile and call it a day.

But the little part of me was basically telling me, "all those guys serving for our country would rather be working out here than being out on duty right now."

So I took my inner conscience's advice and finished the workout in 79 minutes and 43 seconds. It was probably the hardest workout I completed since I started to train with Logan in 2011. I couldn't feel my arms or my legs afterwards but the feeling of completing the workout was rewarding, knowingly you put everything you had into that workout to cross the finish line.

I sat around after I finished my last mile and looked around as members of the gym socialized with each other. Then out of no where, I just thought to myself, "I do really take my life for grant at times."

Today had a unique experience to my part of life. It really opened my eyes to what life could actually be instead of what it is. 

You might have job that you might not really like or hate the workout that is posted for the next day, but there are people all around the world that rather be in your shoes. 

Getting through Murphy, like I said, was probably the most difficult workout I've completed. But like in life, you have to keep pushing through it when times are tough.

Jun

Shout out to everything serving in the military to protect our country. I salute to every single one of you.

R.I.P Lieutenant Michael Murphy (May 7, 1976 – June 28, 2005)

Get to Know: Mason Morioka

2nd up, Mason.

Mason and I at Lake Mission Viejo

This is Mason--------------------------->

I knew of Mason since we were in middle school. We played against each other in baseball and basketball. But we didn't know each other then.

Mason was born in Bellflower, California but was raised in Torrance where he went to West Torrance High School and lettered 4 years in baseball. during those 4 years, he's received the accolades of 1st Team All- League 3 times and 1st Team All-CIF 2 times.

After his high school days, he signed a letter of intent with the University of San Francisco to play baseball and earned All-West Coast Conference Honorable Mentions his senior year.

Shortly after he returned home to Torrance after graduating from USF, my buddy Taylor was on his rough journey of couch surfing until he found a place to live in Los Angeles and was spending the night at Mason's one night.

This was the first time I talked to Mason. That night, we talked about what his situation was since he had just graduated and told us he was waiting hear his name in the MLB First Year Amateur Draft.

Later that night Taylor, Mason and I met up some of my teammates I played with at El Camino for a get together. But after that night, I didn't keep in touch with Mason for a while.

Then 3 or 4 months later (still in the year 2012), I found out he was in Wichita playing professional ball for the Wichita Wingnuts. We had a brief conversation and that was pretty much it until after I graduated from Mount Mercy.

One day during the summer I spent in Iowa, out of no where Mason messaged me on Facebook asking me if I wanted to play on a summer team in California. But as I mentioned earlier, I was in Iowa at the time.

Fast forward to August when I came back home after graduating, Mason and I met up to talk about my pursuit of wanting to play professional ball with an independent league and what it's like playing professionally.

He said, "It's a lot different than college. You play for yourself as well as for a team. Although you meet some amazing baseball players and learn as much as you can from them, they are still trying to make it to affiliated baseball as well. It's different, but it's an amazing opportunity." 

As we talked I learned that he had Tommy John surgery in October 2012 and was still looking to play once he was fully recovered. 

"It happened playing long toss with another player on a team. It was with my first day of pro ball."

Since he was looking to play after recovering from surgery and I was in pursuit of looking for a team to play for, we made a deal that we were gonna work out until he found a team to play for.

Then after what it seemed like a long 9 months of lifting weights in his backyard, staying up past midnight to hit batting practice and occasionally playing catch, he signed with a team from Rockford, Illinois in the Frontier League and met the one year mark since the Tommy John Surgery (It's usually estimated a year to recover from the surgery with physical therapy) in-between that time.

"I was really limited on what I could and couldn't do for about the first month couple of months; I was in a cast for a month, then a brace that only allowed me a certain amount of mobility. It was difficult doing every day tasks such as brushing my teeth, changing my clothes, and doing my job. While giving lessons, I had to learn how to throw left handed which came in handy with some of the kids I was giving lessons to. I was doing a lot of lessons so it made the transition easier. It also helped me with my own ability to come back to playing baseball. Teaching kids how to hit and catch sharpened me as a player as well. Since I was teaching it daily, I learned more about myself and my capabilities."

Mason temporarily resides in Rockford, Illinois where he journey to reach the dream of one day making the roster for a Major League team.

"I continue playing the game I love for the people I love. My parents, family and friends who continue to support and love me throughout my triumphs and hardships. It's those people who inspire me to continue pushing forward and giving back to those for the game I love."

During his free time he continues to find a way to better at baseball and  can find him at The South Bay Refinery Baseball and Softball Facility teaching athletes of all ages the game of baseball who could use it to further their own careers, which is in his future plans.

"I think the end game is to continue teaching baseball and helping others. Whether that's at a college or on my own. I love this game and I want to see others succeed at this game as well."

Since I've became friends with Mason, I learned that this guy is big hearted and really doesn't take anything for granted in life. One of the hardest working guys I've met. 

Good luck to Mason this season as he made it past the last cuts and was put on the 25-man roster for the Rockford Aviators

Thanks for your time Mason!

Jun

"Every day is a new opportunity. You can build on yesterday's success or put its failures behind and start over again. That's the way life is, with a new game every day, and that's the way baseball is." -Bob Feller






 

To all the under appreciated coaches

After my high school days were over, I stopped by my high school's baseball field occasionally and still do, but mostly in the summer to help out with the summer program with the incoming freshmen.

Throughout those year, I got to meet many new coaches to the program that came through the gates onto the field. New coaches as in probably 10 different coaches, maybe more. Some were a new face to me. Some I have already known from the past.

But what I want to talk about is not the varsity coaches, the assistant coaches, nor the junior varsity coach. But I want to talk about the bottom of the system, the rookie ball of coaching: the freshmen coach.

So far this year, I had the chance to help coach along side a friend of mine for 2 games on the North Torrance High School freshmen baseball team. And yes, we did win those 2 games I was there.

But as I helped coach those two games and some practices when I wasn't scheduled in for work, I didn't actually realize how hard of a job it was to coach the freshmen team.

During my high school days, I started on the freshmen baseball team as a freshmen. Sure they were a few kids in my grade that made the varsity team but I guess the varsity coach saw something in them that might be a spark plug for the team that year. On the other hand, being on the freshmen team meant we had our own field we could practice on. Sure it wasn't the best field in the world but it was better than nothing and better than practicing on the same field with the other levels at the same time.

But 9 years later, that field we practiced on is being used for construction.

So, now the freshmen team has to practice on a small, all dirt softball field on the other side of the left field fence of the varsity field, with the track and field discus team practicing in the outfield at times. There are a couple of soccer posts sitting by the right field fence and right next to 3rd base is where some of the school construction is going on. Not only they have all that going on, but they practice with about only 10 baseballs and take batting practice maybe once a week in the cage when all the other varsity and junior varsity kids do.

On top of that, every game is away (good thing is that you don't have to do any field work after the game). But not having your own actually field in not the greatest thing.

With all the hardship the freshmen coach goes through, they don't get recognized as much.
They are the ones that build the foundation of the team for years to come and have to deal with all the adversity of building the characters and fundamentals of the incoming student athletes of the program.

I'm going to be honest, the pay isn't great to be a freshmen coach or the assistant coach of any program, but those guys that are putting their dedicated time to help out because of their love for the game. If it was for the pay, they probably wouldn't in the position they are in now.

And after the season is over, the kids that are now going into their sophomore year isn't really going to remember much of the freshmen year, unless something ridiculous happened.

Local newspapers gives recognition to some of the varsity coaches in the area at the end of the season, but where is the love for all the coaches that dealt with all the underclassmen since their first year of high school?

I know I didn't really appreciate my freshmen coach then (which I do now), but like some kids, I came in thinking I was hot stuff, knew everything and took things for granted.

Helping out with practices and coaching the freshmen team in those 2 games made me really appreciate what the freshmen coaches go through on a daily bases. It's not easy to have practices with limited resources and with the talent some of the coaches get that year.

So I wanted to thank all of the under appreciated coaches that put in their dedicated time to make the kids better in their respective sports and in life.


Jun

Playing for a small town

Bernard. Zwingle. Peosta. Cascade. You probably never heard of these towns right? Unless you're from the state of Iowa.

About 2 years ago in the summer of 2012, right before my senior year at Mount Mercy started, I played in a summer game for a small town team in Iowa called the Bernard Indians. According to the 2012 Census, the town of Bernard had 112 people living there.

I got a call from one of my teammates on Mount Mercy one morning and asked if I wanted to play in a summer game with him. To be honest, I wasn't up for it because I was feeling a little sluggish from the night before. But he said they needed someone on the team so I agreed to go.

When he came to picked me up at my on-campus apartment, I wasn't feeling the greatest. All I wanted to do was just sleep.

We arrived at the field 10 minutes before the game started. The field was about an hour 15 minutes away in a small town surrounded in nothing but corn fields.

The coach was yelling at us as we were putting on our baseball pants and getting ready at the car.

Once we got to the dugout,
1. We drank a whole can of Rockstar to get our day going.
2. Put cleats on.
And 3. Play catch for maybe a minute or so

We did those three thing in about 5 minutes.

I remember Shep, the coach, came up to me and asked me where I wanted to play and if I was a good hitter.

He ended up putting me at shortstop and batted me in the 6th spot in the line up.

I remember going up to bat and the guy on the mound was a tall lefty. I want to say he is about 6'4" to 6'5" from Upper Iowa University with a good run on his fastball.

Before he got taken out, I went 2 for 3 against him with a single and a double.


The game was fairly close and it came down to the bottom of the 9th inning.

In-between innings, I remember talking to the guy that was doing the stats book for the day. Really cool guy in his 30's and he's told me that he's been through the major league umpire camp. He said it didn't work out for him so he decided to live out in Iowa.

Shep called him up to pinch hit before me.

He didn't even have time to get lose and just went up to bat saying, "Well, we'll see what I can do."

At this time, the tall lefty pitcher was out of the game; a right handed pitcher was up there with some run on his fastball too.

I think it was 1 out and a runner just got picked off at 3rd.

I just thought, "Oh great. there goes the game." I think a couple of pitches later, stat book guy got a base hit up the middle.

So, I was up to bat. I could potentially be the last out of the game. The new guy, the guy that just shows up for one game, the only Asian guy probably to ever step foot in the town of Bernard.

Before I walked up to bat, I said to myself, " Just hit the ball hard."

I step into the batter's box...

First pitch, ball 1...

Second pitch, ball 2...

Prior to this at-bat, I swung at every 2-0 and 3-1 pitches I got to even if it was in the dirt and I was doing well that day so I just stuck with my approach (which I don't know what it was til this day).

So as the pitch was thrown, I lifted my legs and got my foot down and swung the bat...

The next thing I saw was the ball clearly jumping off my bat over the fence in left-center field into the corn fields.

I remember the crowd roaring and seeing some of the guys on the team jump off the bench from the corner of my eyes.

I have to say, that was only the second home run I hit over a fence in my lifetime thus far. The first time was my senior year of high school during league play.

I jogged the around the bases as other players on the team congratulated me.

As I round 3rd base, Shep gave me a handshake and was jumping with joy and the guys were waiting for me in front of home plate.

That has to be one of the best feelings in the world.

But little did I know, it was the last game of their season and the game I was playing in was Bernard's own tournament and it was the championship game.

Talk about ending the summer with a bang, I literally did.

Shep asked me where a small Asian guy gets his power from after the game and the first thing that came into my mind and said was, "I eat a lot of rice."

...

Lets fast forward to the summer of 2013. I was in Iowa for the summer so I thought I make the best of it by playing for Bernard for a season. Shep kindly allowed me to be on the team and couldn't be more greatly for the opportunity to play, travel, and meet new people along the way.

I was playing in a game at Bernard once again, I think it was the first home game of the season. I was up to bat and I hear someone in the stands say "Go Jun! Get a hit!"

As a baseball player, when you step up to the batter's box, you want to be focus on one thing: hitting the ball. But that moment when someone I never met before, and heck I didn't see who it was, yells my name in a small town I only been to once in my life, You stop and think about it for a second.

This is really a small town...

After the last 2013 summer game I played with the Bernard Indians at Dyersville, Iowa (Photo Credit: Anna Weber)

Playing for the Bernard semi pro team made me appreciate the small towns I came across that I've never heard before. It gave a "homey" feeling playing games, even if it was an away game. The people for the town would always be there. And I could tell you this because everyone one from Bernard was at championship game of the tournament I played in Dyersville, Iowa.

And it's crazy how people still remember who you are after being there for less than one day a year ago.

And to be honest, I wish I was playing for them again this summer. The guys on the team are awesome and the fans are great.

Bernard, the town of 112 people, I hope to see you guys again soon.


Jun



http://m.cpioneer.com/sports/article_bfce66e4-f75f-11e1-a896-001a4bcf6878.html

Get to Know: Jennifer Valliere

I thought I would start a blogging about people I know. We all build new friendships throughout our lifetime but not every one of your friends necessarily get to meet each other. So I thought I would tell everyone about one my of friends each week (if I can keep it up)...

First up to bat, Jenny...

Jenny and I at Mount Mercy's Thanksgiving dinner

This is Jenny. ------------->

I met her in Cedar Rapids, Iowa when I moved out there to go to school at Mount Mercy University. Everyone thinks she Hawaiian, but really she's a mixture of a Korean, French, Irish, Czech

I would say she is one of the most genuine people I know. I couldn't tell you when the last time I saw her mad at anything. She always bring that positive attitude everywhere she goes.

Before I knew who Jenny was, I remember I had a class with her my first year at MMU and all I could think of was, "There's are asians in Iowa." Ha.

I didn't talk to her until the end of the semester when we had to do presentation a class. I'm pretty sure the conversation went like "Hey, how do you think you did on your presentation?" "I think I did ok."Pretty boring, right? But you have to start somewhere to meet new people.

Throughout the years, I got to know Jenny a little more and I could relate to her in many ways, one of them being we both had goals in life that are bigger than us.

But first, here's a little about Jenny.

She was born and raised in Iowa. In 7th grade, she moved out of Iowa and lived in Hawaii for a year with her mom, whom had a sister who lived in the Aloha state, after her parents got divorced. Then due to child custody battle between her parents, she moved back to Iowa and lived with her grandparents until she was done with high school.

In high school at Cedar Rapids Kennedy High School, she competed in figure skating, which she started doing since the 3rd grade, but gave it up after her first year of college and just did it for fun and exercise due to working 3 part-time jobs, being part of theatre and writing the the university newspaper, which became too much to handle at times. She also was involved in theatre, played volleyball, ran track, was a first chair violinist in an orchestra and did the morning anchor news for the high school television news team.

But that wasn't all she did during high school. In her sophomore year, she received a letter from National America Miss. From what she told me, National American Miss is a pretty big system and a good starting point for those girls who want to compete in Miss American or Miss USA in the future. She thought it was a hoax so she didn't compete in it.

Then, the very next year, she received the same exact letter from National America Miss, and she decided to compete in it. That was the first pageant she competed in and didn't win any awards as she competed with 60 other girls. But after one competition, she got hooked to pageantry.

But senior year was when everything fell into place. She competed in the same competition again and placed 2nd runner up. Soon after, other pageants contacted her to compete in their system.

Jenny told me, "I always had a really low self-esteem and I was so shy growing up, but pageantry gave me confidence that I never really had and kind of taught me more about myself and gave me the skills to do a majority of the things I am involved in today."

"I used to get report cards back from teachers saying I needed to volunteer and talk more in class. Now they probably couldn't get me to shut up and I talk for a living."

When she said "I talk for a living," she is talking about her job as a radio personality at the Cedar Rapids local radio station, KZIA, or also known as Z102.9. But her job just doesn't involve talking into a microphone 5 days a week. She gets to work at events like baseball games, ceremony of some kind, etc to promote KZIA.

As she works for KZIA, at the same time, she plans to compete in pageants as long as she can, as she looks to compete in her 5th Miss Iowa pageant this October.

"I am competing in this pageant because I believe it's going to open so many doors for me career wise. I am very career focused and want to always continue to grow. I think miss Iowa USA is the ultimate networking opportunity and can give me even more experience and skills I need for my future career whether it be to stay in radio broadcasting or eventually move to television."

"I love working for Z. It's an amazing company; I enjoy working with the people. I have learned an incredible amount of skills from live broadcast to hosting events to welcoming crowds at the U.S. Cellular center, producing commercials and promos, and also web content development!"

Thought Jenny said she is career focused, she has other things in mind as well.

"Another reason I want to win miss Iowa is to be a role model for those girls who didn't have confidence like I did or grew up in unhealthy environments and don't think they have the capability of going to college or doing all these extracurricular activities because they can't afford it or don't have family support. Because I would be a prime example that you can, and it's my way of giving back to pageants of how they helped me realize that by not giving up."

But her ultimate goals?

"My goal is to win miss Iowa, but career wise, I know I want to work in the entertainment industry. My dream job would be to be someone like Ryan Seacrest! He gets to do the whole shebang: television host, radio personality, producer. I would LOVE to do it all!"

Thanks for your time Jenny!


Jun

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Lao-Tzu

It's all part of the journey

Everyone has a story to tell...

Exactly a month ago, I started my first day as a full-time employee at Fox Sports. I was only a part-time employee for about 9 months there but it was a long 9 months, as people could attest who have been working there longer than I have. It is has been a blessing and I have been fortunate to work with people at Fox Sports who have helped me as I was worked my way up and still am, and I want to thank each and one of you for that.

But lets step back and rewind a few months before I got offered the full-time job.

After I finished playing summer ball in Iowa, I knew that my playing career came to an end. I want to say I wasn't the worst player, but I wasn't the best but I gave it 100 percent every single day when I was on the field. But solely based on my statistics from my senior season at Mount Mercy, I probably didn't really have a chance of playing anywhere afterwards.

So once I got back home from California in August, I landed job at Fox Sports as a freelancer, thanks to a person who I would call my best friend. But even though I knew I had a great job right out of college, I still had the itch to play.

So throughout the first couple of months I started working at Fox, I talked to a couple of my friends and coaches about wanting to play. After having the discussions, I sent out emails to organizations in American and internationally to see what my chances were of possibly living the dream.

I got one email back around October from a League manager in Colorado and he suggested me to do a Spring League in Texas for a month in March to showcase for a couple of team. Unfortunately, I didn't have the funds to paying the league fee and support myself living in a hotel for a month.

My initial thought were, "Well, there's always next year. But that means I'll be a year older and teams are always looking for younger players." In moment of the time I was on the fence of things, I decided to lean towards living the so-called "American dream."

Then from there we fast forward to the week of April 13th. I woke up on Monday morning, 3 weeks after I started my first day as a full-timer at Fox, to start my morning routine of making coffee, check up on the social media world and emails.

I saw that I had a lot of junk emails in my inbox, but I noticed a email from a guy named French.

So I opened the email and it was an offer to play in France in the city of Chartres.

Although it wasn't going to pay a whole lot, my mind was racing with excitement, but also lost in what I should do because of the job offer I took earlier last month. But when does a chance to play baseball and live in France come around? Probably not often.

Before I sent an email back, I made sure I talked to my mom and a couple of my friends about it. Everyone had different perspectives on what they suggested me to do, but ultimately, it would come down to my decision on what I want to do with my life.

During the span of 6 days, the president of the league and I exchanged a few emails, the first one I sent out being an unsure answer of if I wanted to play or not, depending on an additional situation of what he was going to offer.

In the end, I received an email informing that the team has found another player and they decided to keep him throughout the season.

Honestly, staying at Fox Sports would have been the logic thing in my situation, but I think I would have jump ship and went to France to live the dream. I mean, it's what I always wanted to do as a little kid.

I remember someone came up to me and and asked me if I was going to do it, even though I'm not sure how he found out because I didn't tell many people. But as we talked, he told me I should do it because it might be been a once in a lifetime opportunity and I should do it while I'm young.

...

Everything happens for a reason and its all part of the journey. I traveled and moved to the middle of no where Barstow, California to moving out to Iowa to play collegiate baseball and all lead to this moment.

From all this, I learned that if you want to do something in life, don't hesitate and go for it; its like fielding a ground ball. if you hesitate one step, you're going to be too late to get the out.

I still have an itch to play. We'll see what happens next year...

Jun

R.I.P. Auntie Youriko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kx8aBuudgcg

Journey in Japan 2014: Day 1

Man, so much went on in this day. It was hectic...

So, I woke up at 8:10 in the morning, Friday March 14th, to shower up and do my baseball draft before I left for Japan. I only to do 3 draft picks, which my three picks were Miguel Cabrera, Dustin Pedrioa, and David Wright. I didn't even want Wright, but my computer was glitching and it chose him. Then 2 minutes later, I signed off .

Then at 10 am, I went outside my apartment to get in to the mini van taxi my sister requested to come in to pick us but, ended up coming up with a Prius for 4 people and 4 suitcases. Probably wasn't smart of that Taxi company. We ordered another taxi.

30 minutes later, the other taxi came to pick us up.

In one car it was my youngest sister and my mom. The other was me and my other sister. 

The first few minute in the car was pretty awkward. We didn't talk or had said anything in the car. once we got onto the freeway, I was pretty bored so I asked to the driver, "What's the craziest story you have for me while work in the taxi business?"

I never would have thought but I encounter a driver who got a gun pulled on him, after the fact that he told me he see all the sloppy girls he picks up from Hermosa beach on weekends.

There was a lot more but I'm gonna keep that short. He dropped us off at LAX around 11:00 a.m.

My sisters, my mom and I board the plane around 12:45 p.m. Our plane was suppose to departure at 1:00 but it was delay for an hour.

Plane flight was around 11:10 minutes. Sat next to my mom....Later on the flight, I started to get annoyed by her.

When we land, it was around 6:45. Then we had to go on a shuttle for an hour and 30 minutes. 

So, then I finally got the the hotel and checked in, but the thing is, I had someone to meet up in Japan. 

It was my high school Junior Varsity coach from my sophomore year of high school.

He messaged my the day I left and we decided, since he lives in Japan, we should meet up somewhere. It worked out because I was only about 20 minutes away from where he wanted to meet.

So as soon as i checked in, I asked the front desk lady where at train station was at and I ran there and bought my ticket to go to Yokohama, Japan. The train ride took only 20 minutes. I was really thinking about, "What if I get lost?" since I don't have a working phone with me and this was my first time I been to Japan in 10 years and been out alone.

So I finally got Yokohama and waited about almost 40 minutes to find that my coach was at the other exit than I was. Just my luck.

As soon as we met up, he gave my a spirit beverage and walked as we drank.

It's crazy. You can actually drink out in public if you want to and you won't get in trouble.

As soon as he approached me, he said lets go to the karaoke bar.

We proceeded to the karaoke bar and the first thing he did, was sing a Japanese song. 

For all I remember, this guy had no knowledge of Japanese, except the fact the he went to a school that was populated with 80% Asians.

After he sang that, we sang some Eminem, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and some T-Pain.

Then after about 30 minutes, we just talked about life.

One thing I mentioned, was he preached "mental toughness."

I told him that during my roughest times playing baseball in college, that phrase would always pop up in my mind as I was about to either down or give up. As stupid as it sounds, and many of us did, it sucked with me throughout college and helped me to go through a rough 5 years of collegiate baseball.

After we went out ways, I had a hard time find my way back. I could not figure out where I was suppose to take a train back to. So I just took a bullet and took what-is-equivalent to a 70 cab ride back to my hotel. I wasn't so bad because the taxi driver was pretty cool.

Now I am back at my hotel and I am writing this, when I should be asleep because my flight leaves in 7 hour from now.

Better get going to sleep!

Jun

Embrace the Challenge

We all go through adversity at some point in our life time, whether if it's a rough patch in a relationship, struggling in school, not getting enough playing time on the field, etc.

Trust me, I'm only 23 but I've been through a bunch of obstacles in those 23 years and it help me grow as a person.

In those 23 years, I had the privilege to meet a lot professional athletes on the way; from the Majors League level to independent professional players. Those athletes put in countless amount of hours on the basketball court, in the cage, in the ring, on the field, in the gym training to become to best they can be at what they do. And all athletes know that they go through adversity every single day of their lives.


Recently, I got a phone call from one of my good friends that is playing independent baseball and is pursuing on going to the next level in the future.

As we talked on the phone, his tone of voice didn't sound to lively as usual, so I asked him what was wrong.

He had told me that the team he had signed with signed 2 other players at the same position with minor league experience and he was really bummed and discouraged with the opportunity that was given to him.

As we continued to talk, I told him, "Don't worry about the little things. Don't be concerned with what others did or is doing. You have to stay focused and do you and keep working hard. You worry about the other things, then it's just going to be all in your head. You just keep working hard and get better."

...

Couple days later, I went over to his house to get work out and asked him if he was feeling all right.

He told me, "Yea, I'm all right."

Then I told him, "Look at it this way. There are numbers of people that rather be in your position, rather be fighting for a starting spot on a professional team, than being in the position I am in."

He replied, "Yeah. I just have to embrace the challenge."

Like I mentioned at the top, We go through adversity at some point in our life time whether we like it or not. Sometimes, you overcome those hard times, sometimes you don't. But it's how you go through  with it and how you handle yourself in the situation.

You have to remember, whether you have a good day or bad, tomorrow is always a fresh, new start...Always take it one day at at time.


"A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work." 
- Colin Powell

Jun

After hours

Just a random thought that came into my head after work today...

So we all have those friends you're really close with. you guys probably met during elementary school, middle school, high school, college, was on a basketball team together, join a club, had the same job, etc.

The friends you hung out with during those times you might consider close to, but how well do you know them?

Today, I was talking to one of my co-workers after work today. We usually discuss about what we did at work that day.

I feel like I am pretty good friends with my co-worker considering the fact that I never hung out with him before outside of work (beside the work holiday party). 

Then I thought to myself, we really learn about someone after hours of whatever you are a part of or involved in.

Let me elaborate.

For an example, I talk about my buddy Taylor at times. I say I know this guy more than anyone of my friends right now.

People that know us remembers Taylor and I playing on the same junior college baseball team for one year, meaning I hung out with Taylor only at the baseball field.

Little did people know, the first time I hung out with Taylor was before the semester start at El Camino when I transferred back there.

I didn't know him at the time but we were friends on Facebook and saw a status he posted. I asked him if he wanted to talk it out and so we met up at the Wahoo's in Torrance.

Never ever talked to him before, but I thought since we were going to be teammates, why not talk to this guy.

Ever since that day at Wahoo's, he's been like a brother to me. Always taking care of me and looking after me. 

During that year we went to State Championships in 2010, it wasn't just about going to practices and games, but it was about hanging and drinking beers and eating 12 blackjack tacos, watching punk'd or parental control on MTV on a 1990 big screen TV, smoking a cigar on his last day in the South Bay before he left for San Diego, going to graduations and talking about life.

Other examples would be college and/or after bar hours, but that's a whole another story.

Sometimes taking risk and hanging out with someone, even if it late at night or you have to skip dinner to help them out, is worth the time to make a better friendship with someone.

If I didn't hit up Taylor to meet up at Wahoo's, who knows if we would have been friends in the long run and where I'll be in life right now. For all I know, I might be working in a cubicle office space right now.

Don't get me wrong, every one of my friends mean the world to me. But hanging out outside of whatever is going on makes it more memorable.

Jun

The Simply Things in Life

With all this social media and texting, the true meaning of communication is really disinegrating...

I got home last night around 11:30 pm after sitting in a chair at a desk for 8 hours at work.

My norman routine goes: take off my shoe; take everything out of my pockets; take off my button up shirt off; go to the kitchen to grab dinner and eat.

While I was putting away my stuff out of my pocket, I saw a letter for me placed on the table. A letter all the way from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

A few weeks ago, my friend Mary (lets call her Maltch in this post), texted me for my address. It seemed pretty urgent, though how can you tell the tone of a voice through a text, right? So I gave her my address.

My first thought was, she probably inviting me to her wedding, but thats not like the Maltch I know. So my second thought was she was going to send me a pack of Double Diamond cigars that we used to smoke after nights at the bar.

Ill tell you one thing. Maltch is a mysterious person. I still can't figure her out 'til this day.

Getting back to that letter I got, I opened the envelope and there were four pictures included with a card her and Molly (lets call her Maltch 2 in this post. How they got this name is a whole another story) sent to me.

Although Maltch and I text each other at times and only lasts about 8-10 texts every 3 weeks, reading this letter from both Maltches made my day 10 times better than what it was.

After reading this, I thought to myself that with having all kind of technology and social media to communicate now, the true meaning of connecting with people is being forgotten.

Sure the 21 Century's way of communicating now-a-day is through social media but, I think that it is more meaningful when you actually go up to talk to someone or receive a hand written letter from one of your friends that live 1,800 miles away.

Doing something as simply as writing a letter can make someone's day that much better.

So stop texting and writing a long novel on someone's wall on Facebook. Surprise someone and make someone days a little better.

-Jun