[stevem810]

It's been awhile since I've written about the team. I've been a bit stressed of late. Playing ball professionally is much harder than I thought. Not the part about working on your skills like batting and fielding. It's hard to adjust to so much change at one time. You know about the managerial change for the Bandits, and I mentioned that my good friend Dominique got released on June 6 (no other team picked him up), but it seems like players are coming and going every day. I need a scorecard for my own team. Nobody really tells you about that part of the game when you sign. The focus is on field performance and promotional tracks. But, to get there, you have to be skilled in the off the field areas. Travel, roster changes, managing your money.

Herve got promoted to AAA today. They have moved him to third base and he's not happy about it. So, he takes a positive (promotion) and sort of turns it into a negative. But, that's for him to work out.

The parent team (Diamonds) are in a terrible losing streak. They had dropped 12 out of 14 until this week. The won 3 and lost 2. The rumor has it that Didier Fabre, considered by many to be Le Diamant's best player, has asked to be traded. He's a guy I looked up to and it seems weird if he were to leave the organization. So, does that mean that he'll get moved for prospects that are then placed in Single A? See what I mean, it's like a ripple effect.

Our skip Benoit has been good 'coaching' me on these types of issues. I don't know what I'd do without him. He's a good listener and always seems to have the answer to my questions. I'm sure it will all work out. Just part of the adjustment of professional baseball. Benoit says by the time I'm 18 none of this stuff will bother me, anymore. I hope he's right.

My average has dipped a bit in June. I'll leave the log from June 6 through the end of the month. But,the team is doing pretty well. Oh, one more thing. Our star pitcher Antoine Leroux is not even starting games. He's been put in middle relief. Pitching Coach Kevin Smith says not to make too much of this as part of the reason is to take pressure off Antoine to work on his pitches and not worry about the W's. Makes sense to me. He has a 3.65 ERA.