Diary of a "Bat"man

[MattoB]

Ballplayer Log Draft Day 2003

Hey, Y'all this Is Matt Bjorke (me in real life) and while it was painful to wait I was drafted in the third round by one of my favorite teams, The St. Louis Cardinals. In High School, I was the best player in the area and am the first player in my league to get drafted this early. Maybe that is the reason I didn't go in round 1. I am an "unknown commodity" With my 200 large, I will prove them all wrong.
I am joining the Single A team and it appears that I will be platooning at 1b/DH because there are 2 other 1b on my team already. It's been a dream of mine since I was a little fat kid to become a major leaguer and now my dream is closer to reality. I cannot wait to get started.

Here's my Ratings:
8/60 Contact
12/60 Power
14/60 eye
11/50 gap

Not bad of a start and When I reach my potential, I will be a stud for the Cards. Until my next

[MattoB]

In my first game, I went 1/6 with an RBI double and have an OPS of .333 I then rode the pine the rest of the week.

[MattoB]

In my second game, I fielded well but didn't hit so they pulled me. I guess I am a once a week performer. My only guess is that I don't hit well enough yet. It's sad because I know I have the skills to be at least the DH. Sure the other 1B already has a pair of homers but he's already 3 years older than me. Oh, well, off to fiddlers to get drunk in beteen workout and riding the pine.

[MattoB]

Aug 1, 2003

I have great news to report today. After spending 3 months riding the pine and getting drunk and into fights (and an occasional girl, heh!) I finally was taken off the pine and given a full time position so after getting 20 AB in 14 games with 3 hits and 1 Rbi, I now have 98 AB, 23 H, 4 2b, 2 hr, 11 rbi, a .280 OBP and a .601 OPS. Not too shabby. I one month I had 75 AB and 20 hits, for roughly a .270 avg. Here's hoping my last month of my first season is as good as July was. Sadly my buddy on the team, OF Alex Ellis, was traded to Cincinnati With Matt Morris for Aaron Harang in a Salary Dump.

[MattoB]

The End of '03.

I slumped a bit in the last month and finished at a robust .223 batting average with 3 dingers and 8 2b and 22 rbi. I had a .600 OPS which isn't bad considering everything else. I learned quite a bit this year and with some more seasoning and maturity (how DOES a 18 year old dude buy drinks in a bar anyway?) I will be a stud player.

[MattoB]

Season 2, May 1 2004

I am still in A ball but life is better, That other first baseman from last year, John Santor, is back in A ball. I couldn't really tell ya why either. He did better at AA than here last year. The good thing is that Me and my Buddy Jamie D'Antona (A 3b drafted one round before me by STL) both start over him. Jamie is learning 1B while My manager has me at DH. After a tough year last year, I started hot hitting .306 in the first 8 games before succombing to an achilies injury. I was out 2 weeks with that and saw Santor hit .400 and 7 homers in my absence. I hoped I'd get my position back and did. Santor is 3 years older so perhaps he is deemed too old to be a quality prospect. otherwise, he'd be ahead of both Jamie and Me. After returning, my average dropped but I did hit my first homer of the year last night. I am told I was drafted to hit homers so it was great to finally have one. I know I'll be good for 20-30 by the time I hit my prime.

[MattoB]

A quick update, I hit another Homer a couple of days ago and I finally got some tail. My mood increaced and that reminded me I should record my ability levels to see how I compare to my draft numbers:

8/60 Contact 16/60
12/60 Power 15/60
14/60 eye 22/60
11/50 gap 31/50

By comparing them, I have done considerably well with consistent playing time. Man this makes me think year 1 was a total waste (well, for half the season I was totally wasted).