Our baseball pro, Steve Holm is now in Scottsdale, Arizona, for spring training. The catchers and pitchers check in earlier than the rest of the team, and begin the marathon of games. It’s the beginning of the season, and the hopes for minor league ball players to move up to the major leagues. Here big leaguers and minor leaguers work out and play side by side. For players, there are a lot of unknowns…..many times, they don’t know where they’ll start the season until the day they actually leave the spring training facilities.

The Sunday editions of the San Jose Mercury News and the San Francisco Chronicle highight the annual ritual of spring training in Arizona for the Bay area major league teams. Many fans from the Bay area fly down to Phoenix to enjoy the games which are in smaller stadiums, with lower ticket prices than the regular season. Games between the Chicago Cubs and San Francisco Giants are quite popular! We went one year, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience, though the sun was intense……lots of sunscreen!
Host mom, Jean

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
tj wrote:
Hi, I just have a few questions about how you made it to where you are. I am a 17 yr old male from Manitoba and I live for baseball. I think I have the potential to play a high caliber ball, but it is so hard trying to make it here in Manitoba because no Pro scouts come out so I was wondering how I could get my name out there and hopefully my dreams come true. If you have anyquestions about me or anything please email me back.
Thank you for your time and take care.

From the Baseball Pro
As for getting your name out there, the best way would be to play in tournaments and summer ball. I am assuming you do not have much spring baseball due to the fact you live in Canada. If the draft does not workout you should pursue your dreams via college. Many big league players went to some sort of college whether it be junior college or a major university.

As long as you are still playing you are getting better and as long as that is happening you have a chance!

Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

Spring training is not always as anticipated as many would think. It is always fun once you are there but getting there is not as fun. The reason being is once you leave for your spring destination you will likely not return home until September. Almost 8 months away from your so called home.

The hard part about leaving is packing. You can only take 2 bags on the plane so you better economize your stuff. Remember you also have baseball stuff that needs to be packed in those 2 bags. Showing up to spring training without a glove or cleats would not be wise. So actually packing 8 months of clothes along with enough clothes to keep you warm in the month of April in the Northeast, but also clothes to keep you from dying in the California sun during July can be overwelming. See, we have no idea of where we will be during the summer so you have to be prepared for either climate,.Oh yes, all of this in 2 bags.

Lastly the other hard part of leaving is saying bye to your family and loved ones. Some of these people you will not see until you return home, while others will visit throughout the season. It is easy to see why there are mixed emotions when it comes to Spring Training, I guess that is why it takes a special breed to play the game. Because once you get off that plane, everyone is hungry and excited for what the upcoming season may bring.
Your basebal pro, Steve Holm

P.S. Flying to Phoenix, Arizona, for spring training games is popular in the Bay Area. Steve will be in Scottsdale where the SF Giants train and have a lovely ballpark. Host mom, Jean

I played my college baseball at Oral Roberts University in Tulsa Oklahoma. So come January 1st, aka the first day for professional baseball players to start baseball activities, I head to Tulsa. I do this because I have other players who are still playing to workout with. I also come out here to take advantage of the indoor facilities which are not available to me in my hometown of Sacramento.

Usually every year while I am in Tulsa the weather is off and on. Some days are 60 and sunny while the others may be 25. But like I said above the indoor facility comes in handy on those 25 degree days. This year although has been different. The horrendous ice storms that hit the mid-west have wreaked havoc with our outdoor activities.

The ice was so thick on the baseball field that the clubhouse guy from Minnesota actually brought his ice skates and skated on the field. He was able to skate wherever he wanted, centerfield to the infield dirt. It just did not matter the ice was 3-5 inches thick covering the entire field. I am sure it is something that i will not see anytime soon again.
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm

P.S. California is wet, but not cold! Host Mom, Jean

From Ask the Baseball Pro:
I am a young hopefull of becoming a professional softball player. I currently play catcher for the southern ontario team as well as a few house league teams on the side. My southern ontario team is going to a tournament in march where there will be university scouts. Our team is not very good and will be playing against university level teams. Is there any way i can make myself stand out from the other players and give myself more of a chance to get scouted?

From the Pro:
The most important thing to remember when trying to impress people is to control the things that you can control. For example you can not control if your team is not good but you can control how hard you play. Coaches are looking for someone who will always give it their best and play hard. So remember to run everything out and hustle. Things like that are what really impress coaches. When it comes to ability you either have it or you don’t. But it is your heart that really counts and any coach that is worth playing for looks for players who play hard and love to play. So that is my suggestion, don’t try to impress them with
homeruns just impress them with how hard you play. But more importantly don’t forget to have fun!!
Your baseball pro, Steve Holm