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



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