The Eighth Start and Giancarlo Stanton
That pitcher isn't my husband. Neither is the hitter. Nor the catcher or the umpire. So, what's this serving as a photo of the day? Why, Giancarlo Stanton, of course! Formerly known as Mike Stanton, the hitter standing in the batter's box is the Miami Marlin's starting right fielder. He's 6'5" and 250 pounds of solid muscle. He's bigger than a big leaguer. Like, GIGANTIC. He's built like an elite football player. And only 22 years old. With a build like his, the game is even more exciting. The first swing he took tonight - the first pitch he saw - was smacked to the warning track. Even for a mildly educated baseball wife (ok, maybe a little more the mildly), I could tell that the field was just too small for the guy. And then in the 6th, he showed us all exactly that. A huge homerun. And this is what I later learned about the homerun...
Normally, when a guy hits a homer, he hits the ball off the bat's "sweet spot," which is located on the middle of the bat's barrel. Adam came home and told me that Giancarlo hit that homerun off the handle of the bat! This is what that means:
Often, a pitcher's goal is to throw "in" to a guy, in order to get him to hit the ball exactly where Stanton hit his homerun from. It's called "jamming" a guy. Adam does it all the time. And I've been told that it absolutely KILLS the hitter's hands. It stings really bad. So, for this guy to smoke a homer from the smallest part of the bat - and make it look easy - he must be something special. And he's just that - The Marlin's exciting right fielder. I can't wait for Adam to have these kind of Big Leaguers behind him on the field.
But better than any Big Leaguer, my Adam was the most exciting and special player of the night. He always is. I love watching him on the mound, and I never get tired of saying it. He pitched phenomenally this evening. A 5-inning shutout, with all his pitches working great! Lately, Adam has been commenting on the status of his arm: it's tired, sore, and dead. But you'd never know it tonight. Don't get me wrong, Adam would be the first one to pull himself out of the game if he thought his arm was in danger. But he's going through something baseball players call "dead arm." It's normal and happens maybe 1-3 times per season. He has to work through it to make it go away, but it's getting toward the end of the season, so it might just stay till then. Boo. Still, even with his arm not feeling its best, he played so hard today. In 5 innings, he allowed 6 hits (5 were infield singles...), 0 runs, 0 walks, 6 strikeouts, and got himself a nice WIN! There were 3 errors committed behind him, but he and his team always found a way to keep the baserunners from scoring. His ERA is back down to 3.82 and that makes me a happy wife! Haha. Fabulous job tonight, Sweetheart. I am so proud to call you mine.
Oh...and just for laughs...
Adam credits his shutout to his time at Rooney's last night. In all the rainy mess and confusion of yesterday, Adam left his keys at home. And yesterday was also the Pinterest Party. So, when the game ended, he had no way of unlocking the front door! And I was half an hour away! So, he walked to the restaurant across the street, drank a beer, watched ESPN, and waited for me to return. AND THEN, today, I got locked out of the house too! Enough already! Oh, and I sliced my finger open cutting lettuce today. Adam got mad at me and told me not to do that again. Gee, thanks Babe, as if I didn't already know that ;)
But to make it all better - and to celebrate his game tonight, obviously - we went on a date with the Gerbers and the Rickards and ate some of the most delicious ice cream on the planet. We love our sweet friends, their company, and all the laughs we share with them. I can't get over how faithful the Lord is, and how blessed we are to have found an incredible group of young people to experience life with!
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