From Evernote:

"Honey, I have a coaches meeting."

Ted took me straight to the golf course when I got off the airplane in Boston.  It was my first coaches meeting of the summer.  I stretched, opened my travel bag to change into shorts and a collared shirt just as Jud and Hertz pulled up.  

My intro to Jud Thigpen was a first tee line drive into the left center gap.  After throwing him BP on a couple of occasions since, I could see how his golf stroke was influenced by his carreer as a hitter.  He takes hacks on the golf course, and most of the time it is a short and compact, well-shaped blast into the left center gap which bends right back into the middle of the fairway.  We had three coaches meetings on the golf course, and a few other informal discussions about lineup or strategy in Jud's apartment - the coaches office in the Rox clubhouse.  

Hertz, our pitching coach, took advantage of one of those golf-course coaches meetings to shoot probably the greatest golf hole I have ever witnessed played.  His 350 yard drive two-hopped to within 20 feet on the par 4 5th and then he drained the long putt to complete the Eagle - CA-CAW!  Incredible, and only topped in my memory by his stone-faced, fist pumping, dance floor moves on Country Night at The Charlie Horse, or as Teddy says, "the chuck pony".

Ted put me up on the couch in his apartment in Norwood for the three weeks I was with the Rox.  It was comfortable and just right.  But as is expected in summer ball, most of our time was spent on the bus to and from our road trips or in Teddy's Jeep back and forth from Campenelli stadium.  We'd hit Dunkin Donuts on the way out the door in the morning, arrive at the ballpark shortly after, and either toss BP for a home game or board the bus for a road trip. 

I got a full tour of the State of Massachussettes and the surrounding areas on that bus: Nashua, New Hampshire, Martha's Vineyard, North Shore, Lynn(Lynn, Lynn the City of Sin You Never Come out the Way You Came In), Old Orchard, Maine.  The most intruiging part was that despite the songs, it all appears to have remained the same.  We heard the nightly rendition of Call Me, Maybe and Party Rock Anthem  and on cue Ted said in Ted-sarcastic tone, "haven't heard this song yet this summer."  I distinctly recall the same phrase, from the same guy, in the same tone, prompted by the probably 50th playing of "Chicken Fried" back with the Gators in 2008.  Amazing how the bus rides, the kids, the fans, the umpires, the daily drama of the Rox all felt just right, despite my hiatus from coaching college summer ball.

Becoming fully immersed in a baseball season like I did this summer really helped rekindle the fire to coach that level again.  The players were talented, smart, and the drive to win was intense - I miss that.  But, the camaraderie - the coaches meetings - those I miss as well.  Fortunatley, Coach D and I have ironed out our own types of coaches meetings here in Beijing.  At least once a week Riley and I take a ride through the once-vibrant, now razed, Bai Xin Zhuang villiage and have a cold piju on a pile of rubble.  The local people are nice; they smile, tolerate our broken Mandarin and welcome us everytime.  We talk about practice, maybe an upcoming "friendly" with a local Chinese team, but pretty much sit in awe of the piles of brick and rubble, once - just a few months ago - someone's home.

Occasionally we hold our coaches meetings with a 6 pack of Tsingtao and two foot masseuses at coach's house.  Certainly a bit of a deviation from the golf course, however, I'm sure I could make that work with Teddy, Jud and Hertz in Brockton too. 

A two hour road trip to Nashua, a ferry ride over to Martha's Vineyard - those are pretty standard memories from this summer - summer ball in general - but this weekend, no biggie, I am just heading down to Hong Kong for China Cup 2012.  Amidst trying to get our bunt defenses and 1st and 3rd plays ironed out, we - well mostly Coach D - spend our coaches meetings creating packing lists, confirming passports and visas, and reminding the boys to bring gifts for their host families.  This is business as usual for the players, coaches and parents here in this ISB community, but for me, quite a deviation from what I have come to expect in my baseball coaching career.  In fact, much of my baseball experience in China has presented a challenge to what I find normal.  We play baseball during football season, we only practice four days a week for a couple of hours at a shot, we have very few teams to play - and sometimes they show up in jeans and sneakers - and, we don't even really have a "season" so to speak.  We practice and scrimmage all in preparation for two tournaments - APAC in late October and China Cup this weekend.   

But our kids - the players - are awesome.  That is one thing that seems to have remained constant in my baseball life.  From the James River Rapids to the Oakton Cougars, Vienna Mustangs to Fauquier Gators, the Falcons to the Brocton Rox and now the Dragons, the kids are always awesome.  Don't get me wrong, I have no idea whether this year's Dragons are any good or not, but they are still awesome!  I have a feel for what we are as a team, but I really have no gauge for what our opponents will be like.  I guess this Friday we will board that plane for Hong Kong and go and see what we are made of.  Just a new baseball experience, but much like the consitent flow of great kids I've gotten to know along the way, one other aspect which I am sure will remain a constant is that Coach D and I will seek out a venue somewhere in Hong Kong to hold our coaches meeting - if only Teddy and the boys from Brockton could join us too.