Oh yeah, I got to give a s/o to my day one Race Battle. I've been his catcher and Best friends since back in the day.

See Ya, Seventh Grade!

Adios, seventh grade! Its time for this player to move from AAA to the big leagues! Well, not really, because the big leagues is high school, to that would mean now im in AA, I'm going to AAA, and the next step is... whatever. you get my point. I hope. Overall, this year has been pretty fun. the worst part was when I had to wear a boot for myAchilles tendon rupture. Which rendered me unable to participate in many PE and missing basketball season (Sorry coach Hall!) It also effected my mobility in baseball and slowed me down a LOT, which made me retire from the baseball team. And Mrs. Cruz called me frankenstein. Besides that, 2013-2014 has been a pretty great year. Oh yeah, did I mention I have the bestest friends in the whole wide world? thanks guys and gals, you're the best. And now I'm dating a hot Freshman from Williston High School named Kate Bastanzi <3 Gotta Love ya!

 Siyonara, seventh grade!

Everyone wants to improve pitching velocity, but unfortunately, the answer to the question of "how" is different for everyone.  To that end, I pulled together a quick list of strategies you can use to improve pitching velocity.  They aren't the same for everyone, but chances are that at least a few of these will help you.  I'd encourage you to print this off and highlight the areas in which you think you can improve.

 Optimize mechanics (this could be 100 more ways in itself; I will leave it alone for now).

 Gain weight (if skinny).

 Lose weight (if fat).

 Get taller (shorter throwers can’t create as much separation, and are further away from homeplate)

 Get shorter (taller throwers have more energy leaks).

Long toss.

 Throw weighted baseballs.

 Throw underweighted balls.

 Improve thoracic spine mobility.

 Improve glenohumeral joint stability (rotator cuff strength and timing).

 Improve hip extension mobility

Activate the deep neck flexors.

 Extend your pre-game warm-up.

 Shorten your pre-game warm-up.

 Increase lower body strength.

 Speed up your tempo.

 Slow down your tempo.

 Get angrier.

 Get calmer.

 Get more aggressive with your leg kick.

 Get less aggressive with your leg kick.

 Don’t grip the ball as firm.

 Throw a 4-seam instead of a 2-seam.

 Get through the ball instead of around it.

 Improve balancing proficiency.

 Throw out all your participation trophies.

 Do more unilateral upper body training.

Recover better (shout-out to my buddy Lee Fiocchi’s Accelerated Arm Recovery DVD seton this front; it’s good stuff).

 Throw in warmer weather.

 Wear warmer clothing under your jersey.

 Change footwear (guys usually throw harder in cleats).

Throw less.

 Throw more.

 Pitch less.

 Pitch more.

 Politely ask your mom to stop yelling, “Super job, kiddo!” after every pitch you throw.

 Stop thinking that the exact workout a big league pitcher uses is exactly what you need to do.

 Subcategory of above: Remove the phrase "But Tim Lincecum does it" from your vocabulary. You aren't Tim Lincecum, and you probably never will be.  Heck, Tim Lincecum isn't Tim Lincecum anymore, either. You can learn from his delivery, but 99.9999% of people who try to copy his delivery fail miserably.

 Read more.  This applies to personal development in a general sense, and baseball is certainly no exception.  The guys who have the longest, most successful careers are usually the ones who dedicate themselves to learning about their craft.

 Stay away from alcohol.  It kills tissue quality, negatively affects protein synthesis, messes with sleep quality, and screws with hormonal status

.

 Incorporate more single-leg landings with your plyos; you land on one leg when you throw, don't you?

 Be a good teammate.  If you aren't a tool, they'll be more likely to help you when you get into a funk with your mechanics or need someone to light a fire under your butt.

 Respect the game.  Pitchers who don't respect the game invariably end up getting plunked the first time they wind up going up to bat.  Getting hit by a lot of pitches isn't going to help your velocity.

Throw a jacket on between innings to keep your body temperature up.

 Pitch from the wind-up.

 Drink magical velocity-increasing snake oil (just making sure you were still reading and paying attention).

 Pick a better walkout song.

 Get on a steeper mound (expect this to also increase arm stress).

 Train hip mobility and core stability simultaneously.

As good as the Oakland A's lineup is right now, imagine this: They could have had Edwin Encarnacion in it as well. Before we get there, however, let's back up a bit. Not to Texas, where Encarnacion began his professional career. Not to Cincinnati, where Encarnacion reached the big leagues but never won over the Reds' front office, in part because he was a lousy third baseman, in part because of an incident early in the 2007 when he didn't run out a pop fly, in part because they couldn't move him to first base with Joey Votto around. No, let's go back to June 21, 2010, when Encarnacion was hitting .200 with nine home runs for the Blue Jays in 37 games. The Jays were 38-32, 5½ games out in the tough AL East. (Remember when the AL East was the best division in baseball?) They needed space on the 40-man roster for a pitcher named Scott Richmond, who was ready to return from the 60-day disabled list. Richmond had posted a 5.57 ERA in 2009, but, hey, maybe the Blue Jays were desperate for pitching help. Anyway, that didn't last long. Hoffpauir wasn't any good, and Encarnacion was soon back with the Blue Jays in early July. He hit .269/.310/.491 the rest of the season. He hit five home runs the final four games of the season. Now we get to the A's part. The Blue Jays non-tendered Encarnacion, worried about a potential $6 million salary via arbitration and a wrist injury that had forced him to miss time. The A's claimed him on waivers. GM Billy Beane said he wanted some right-handed power. So the A's did have him. Maybe you knew this already; maybe you forgot. There was a time when nobody wanted Encarnacion, now one of the best hitters in baseball. Sound like a familiar story? The Blue Jays certainly didn't want him, at least not for $6 million. See how that works out?

Yo, guys and gals! I want to know what you think about my internet safety poster I made in Mrs. Taylor's awesome business class! Follow this link to take the Survey!

Clippers go all the way!!

Hi, my name is Joe and I play baseball for Elite Pro Ball Academy. I play pitcher and first base, and also catcher. My favorite team is the Tampa Bay Rays. I was inspired to play baseball when my grandpa let me listen to the Shot Heard Round The World. Almost every baseball fan or player must know it! My favorite college team is the Florida gators, for any sport! I am also a HUGE NASCAR fan. Well, you know what they say, I gotta make like a tree and go hit baseballs! See ya!

Hi! I'm Joe Sistrunk and this is my baseball blog!

Enjoy!