Foul Ball: The Jonas Fossland Story

[TribeFanInNC]

Thanks for the continued interest and bump. Jonas is doing fine. His author is a slacker however. No seriously, I took a little breather from OOTP after the last patch was released. I've only opened the game a couple times for online exports in 3 weeks probably.

But I feel pretty refreshed now and agree it is time to continue the saga. Update this weekend - stay tuned!

[TribeFanInNC]

Update: I am working on this, but am not far enough along to release anything yet. Hopefully later this week, potentially even tonight.

Stay tuned Jonas fans.

[TribeFanInNC]

Hey Hey, we are back and loaded with some more updates. Enjoy.

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Wed, March 29 - Chicago

It was cold as bleep today. 29°F with a stiff wind. A perfect day for baseball. If you are a polar bear. Maybe spring training in the north isn’t such a good idea.

It showed as neither team managed to score in the first eight innings. We lost in the ninth as IF Logan Ferguson had the ball bounce off the heel of his glove to plate the only run of the game. Yours truly had his usual 0-for-1 and my average is down to .211 this spring.

Thurs, March 30 – Pittsburgh

Singled to right to spark a three-run inning in the sixth, then played a few innings in center field in an 8-4 win over the Pittsburgh Alloys. I was 1-for-3 overall with a run scored. Better than some of my previous outings anyway.

Moving toward another cut day, here is how the outfield is shaping up through 15 games:
Paul Harper: .390, HR, 8 RBI, 3 SB
Nik Bendiksen: (ankle) scheduled to be back for Opening Day
Rutger Wiegand: .316, 5 RBI, 5 SB
Jeff Silver: .276, 4 RBI, 3 SB
Garth Groves: .333, 3 RBI
Jonas Fossland: .227, 0 RBI
Matt Love: .214, 2 RBI
Markus Halleland: .167, 1 RBI

Fri, March 31 – Cleveland

We dropped a close one 3-2 to Ottawa. I got jammed and hit a blooper to right that the second baseman ran down, stranding a runner at first in the ninth. Wiegand singled and tripled today. Center field seems to be his job to lose right now. Keeping the bubble gum box full seems to be my job to lose.

After the game, the skipper says he is going to put off cuts until the very last day. Basically, we all have one more week to show what we got. Also, he said Bendiksen is close and may be back for the weekend.

[TribeFanInNC]

Sat, April 1 – Toronto

Not surprisingly, everybody was a comedian today. Wiegand got Garth Groves with some Icy Hot in a…um…sensitive area. I got Silverfish good with a hot foot. A couple shaving cream pies were thrown. Oldies, but goodies.

I got three innings of eventful work at third base replacing the normal hot corner Tim Rigney. Received a couple throws from the outfield, but way late. Also had a grounder in the hole I couldn’t get to that went for an infield hit. But no errors and no disasters. At the plate, I singled to lead off the seventh inning and grounded out in the ninth.

Tues, April 3 – Cleveland

I’ve now gotten on base four times in my last six at bats with a single yesterday plus a hit and a walk today. It could be too little, too late though. Silverfish thinks I’ll be fine and I’ve got nothing to worry about. What does he know.

Sat, April 8 – Chicago

After my mini hot streak to start the week, I finish up 1-for-6 in pinch hitting duties. Coach Boudreau tells me he likes what he saw, but he has to send me down to AAA Toledo. He said with Harper and Bendiksen at the corners, the other guys slot in better in center field than I do. I guess I saw the writing on the wall a week ago, but I thought maybe there was a chance I could still stick with the big club.

Harper, Bendiksen, and Wiegand break camp as the starting outfield with Groves and Silver as the bench players. Silverfish wishes me well and says he’ll see me soon.

Toledo Trawlers, here I come.

[Sparrow]

Keep your head up Jonas, and have fun in Toledo.

[TribeFanInNC]

Sun, April 9

So me and about a dozen of my teammates take a Greyhound bus down the Ohio Turnpike. Conveniently (for them anyway), the bus station was only a few blocks from the hotel. It’s been a pretty somber trip so far. Mostly a bunch of faces staring out the windows at the cold grey northern Ohio skies. I tried to drum up some conversation about walleye fishing, but nobody seemed to bite.

Got to Toledo around dinner time. Couple of us went to some place called Ralphie’s near the hotel. We had some wings, a couple orders of cheese fries, and a couple of pitchers of beer. Each. A lot of sorrows all around to be drowned.

Mon, April 10

Somehow I felt just fine in the morning after all that. It must have been all those fries I ate. I call them Magic Cheesy Fries now.

Team meeting that evening to get all the guys on the same page as we join another dozen guys that came from the minor league camp. Practice starts at 9am – better make sure I eat plenty of those Magic Cheesy Fries tonight.

Met up with my new roomie Markus Halleland after the meeting. He’s another outfielder about the same age as me. Plus he’s a fellow Minnesotan, though he’s from up north in St. Cloud. I got about six inches and 40 pounds on him, but I hear he’s got more power than he looks. We’ll see about that in the morning.

[perez24]

Interesting tale. Reminds me of how I would be in similar situation, though without the talent and all.

[TribeFanInNC]

Thanks perez, it's definitely the common man's tale.

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Tues, April 11

BP starts first thing. Me and roomie are in the first group of batters. He leads us off.

Crack! The first ball off Markus’ bat flies over the right field fence.
Crack! Pitch #2 sails high over the center field fence.
Crack! 3-for-3, this time over the wall in left-center.

He switches to the right side of the plate and repeats the drill. Crack! Crack! Crack!
Only difference in results is that the ball the other way short hops the wall. Show off.

I go next and feel compelled to work on my bunting.

Thurs, April 13

Starting to fit in on this ball club now and I like it a lot. The atmosphere is much looser here down on the farm, less competitive than it was in Cleveland. I’ve hit in the two hole in both the intrasquad games we’ve played. Basically I feel like part of a team now. Hopefully I’ll hold up my end of the bargain.

Two more days to get the kinks out before we leave to start the season north of the border on Monday.

Sat, April 15

Coach holds a team meeting before the flight to Hamilton to let us know where we stand and the usual preseason pep talk. I’m slated to start most of the time at DH to let the younger kids develop in the outfield. I’m on cloud nine, just happy to be in the regular lineup.

Jonas Fossland, your career awaits you.