I had officially started the Coach’s Notes blog posts on April 12, 2007, following the first game of the second season, our thirteenth overall, and a game we lost 24 to 3.

• So, it wasn’t our best game; there is certainly a lot of room for improvement. (As Jesus said, “I’ll be back,” or whatever.)
• Our goal for this season is six wins, which may put us in the playoffs, and I do think that that is possible. We had a lot of players miss the first game, and we will get stronger as the season progresses. Typically, teams that do well on opening day are teams that have been together for some time. This was true on Tuesday night; the Brewskis have been together for five years.
• Walks are good. I am a big culprit of this as well, but let’s try to always take a strike before swinging away. First, you’ll get an eye for the pitcher’s delivery. Second, the pitcher may end up giving you a free pass to first base. Many teams in the league base their entire offense on walks, and although I don’t agree with that philosophy (as my saying goes, “only postal workers walk”), it is definitely better than popping out to the first baseman or grounding out to the pitcher, especially on the first pitch. (Remember, three balls gives you a walk, and two strikes and you’re out.)
• The second baseman needs to play deeper and more towards the middle; the first baseman needs to play off the line. This is not true in all cases, e.g., a pull left-hander, but we need coverage up the middle. The throw from second to first is very short.
• It is the second baseman’s job to position the rightfielder. The rightfielder should play up, generally, but the rightfielder will heed to the direction of the second baseman.
• The third baseman is the captain of the infield on cutoffs. It is the third baseman’s job to position the shortstop or second baseman and let them know where to throw the ball. “ONE” = first base; “TWO” = second base; “THREE” = third base; “FOUR” = home; and “CUT” = no throw. The third baseman should shout this repeatedly and give the cutoff man enough time to catch-and-throw in a fluid motion.
• The league-provided scorecard sucks, I realize, so I created our own branded scorecard, which we will use from now on. It includes call-outs for a single, double, triple, home run, walk, reached-on-error, sacrifice hit and fielder’s choice. All you need to do is circle the appropriate one. There is also a place to write-in the number of RBIs. (Pretty simple.) Hopefully this will make keeping score easier for the folks who claim to not know how to. One question for you folks: When you are watching a ballgame, and the announcer says the team just turned a “6-4-3 double play,” are you telling me you do not know what that means? (Just asking.)
• I am keeping track and I have calculated the statistics, but I will not post them until the sixth game or so. Before then, the numbers are essentially meaningless. I will also post the definitions of the two statistics I’ve created — the contribution percentage (or Red-Legged Superbas Index, RLS) and the Total Run Production Index (TRP) — when the time comes. In the meantime, the explanation of all statistics is available.
• Please don’t try to phone me the hour before the game; I am most likely warming up or whatever, and I will not pick up my phone. In all likelihood, whatever information you need is available on the blog, so print it out as necessary.
• If you need batting practice, do it. Don’t say to me after the game, “we need batting practice.” No, you need batting practice.