January 7, 2010

Hello everybody and welcome to 2010!

It's been a decade, and everyone some kind of Top Ten List to recap the decade. For my list, I sat down with some veteran Fighting Fish players to take a look back at the last ten years of the St. Croix Valley Baseball League with our own "Top Ten." Our apologies in advance for fudging some of the dates . . . those of you around the league can probably understand. Here's an attempt at a top ten list, in no particular order . . .

#10: Championships: The Osceola Braves won the 2003 WBA Championship. Their draftee, Ellsworth's Scott DeWyre, won the tournament offensive MVP award. I believe he was 16 for 12 for the weekend, with 8 doubles and 8 grand slams. It was ridiculous. The Hudson River Rats win the WBA Championship - along with some help from PC's Garner and Watkins, Inc., Hudson captured a state championship in 2002. McGinley, Rudesill, Stelly and Stelly, Schaffer, Ruppert, Pearson, Powell . . . that roster reads like the '29 Yankees, which makes Frenchy the equal of Miller Huggins.

#9: Fish, Skeeters, and River Bandits: The SCVBL expanded in the decade, growing from 10 to 12 teams, and the Spring Valley Hawks moved to become our River Falls Fighting Fish. Given the condition of the Spring Valley infield, health insurance companies rejoiced at the move while area dentists lamented the loss of business.

#8: Ben Moore and Nick Johnson: Two SCVBL alums (Moore, Spring Valley; Johnson, Prescott) spent several summers playing pro ball in the decade after a few summers playing in the SCVBL, proving that the overall talent and competition level of the league is far from "Old man's baseball."

#7: Brandon Gilbertson hitting Joe Mohr with pitches: This happened 27 times from 2004-2009. I believe that is a record.

#6: Rick Gould, Gordy Luebker, Rick Forrest, Some Matzeks, Some Strains, and a Kevin Mueller: All ballplayers who retired from playing in the decade - all who made immeasurable contributions to the life, health, and lore of the SCBVL. (There are many more names that belong here - just not the space.) One of the above possibly returning for another decade? Stay tuned.

#5: Elmwood bat racing dominance: A record on Sunday nights in Plum City that speaks for itself. They should be their own NASCAR team.

#4: Resurgence of ballparks: Improvements to New Richmond, Plum City, Prescott, Hudson, Hager City, and Ellsworth's facilities show the classiness of teams and fan bases around the league, as well as their dedication to baseball and their respective communities.

#3: Any of Joel Schaffer, Zach Watkins, Josh Mackinnon, Jeremiah Paulson, or Brian Giebel's Swings: Some absolutely scary hitters to face with RISP over the last ten years. Had we been able to harness that power as a Green Energy Source, there would be no foreign wars right now, we'd be in flying cars, and no one would know who Al Gore was.

#2: Matt Pearson's "Walk Off" in Plum City: In 2007 (or 2006, or 2008 . . .), Hudson's Matt Pearson hit a home run in the middle of a game on the last day of the Plum City Tournament. After crossing home plate, he took off his jersey, came up into the crowd, cracked open a beer, and proclaimed his retirement. When he did it, we couldn't imagine a better way to end a career. (Of course, he came back for a few random games during the summer, but that's water under the bridge.)

#1: Plum City Blues Mustaches: How to grow the perfect mustache for Memorial Day . . . a pint of patience, two milliliters of humbleness, one good pair of trimming scissors, and four gallons of creepy. Well done, gentlemen. Well done.

Got an idea or a memorable moment from the last 10 years of SCVBL baseball? Email us at contactus@fishbaseball.org and we'll post it here!

Thanks for reading, Happy New Year, and until later, take care.

-Grant

December 25, 2009

Happy Holidays to Everyone Back Home in Wisconsin!

I’m blogging to you on Christmas Day from the Taoist Baiyun White Cloud Temple in Beijing, China. Though I am a Buddhist, I retain many of my Christian influences and beliefs from childhood back in Santa Clara. I am interested in all religions, and I incorporate each new philosophy that I study into my own unique set of beliefs. So, with conviction, I can send you this Christmas Wish.

As far as Taoism, I became interested through the push and pull of opposites that was the 2009 season. When we faced teams with poor league records, we would lose; when we faced teams with strong league records, we would win. When we faced pitchers with blazing fastballs, we would score many runs; when we faced pitchers with puttering fastballs, we would score few runs. The whole season made me think of the Taoist Yin-Yang symbol that represents opposites.

Taoist Master Lao Tzu once said, “To realize that you do not understand is a virtue. Not to realize that you do not understand is a defect.”

As I always do in the off-season, I have been searching my soul for the keys to a successful 2010 season, and the Taoist 2009 season along with my wanderings have brought me to China to study with Master Ma Kuang-Rui.

The motion of the Way is to return;
The use of the Way is to accept;
All things come from the Way,
And the Way comes from nothing.

What does that mean? I don’t know yet. Should the Fish return to the ways of 2009 in 2010? Should we expect nothing out of the coming season in order to receive everything? Do we enter every game not expecting to lose, but not expecting to win?

Right now, my mind is unclear, and it’s clarity I seek. In the words of Jeffrey Lebowski, “Lotta strands to keep in my head, man. Lotta strands in old Duder's head.”

I’ll be sorting things out this winter and posting it here. Until later, Happy Holidays and take care!

-Grant

April 2, 2009

Greetings from River Falls!

I'm home from the recruiting trail, working to put together our open tryout on April 27.  We can smell the baseball in the air here at Fish headquarters, and we're looking forward to another enjoyable summer!

A common question over the last couple of years has been how I finance these recruiting trips.  I do not take any money from the Fish - we're a non-profit organization, and we certainly don't have the budget for the kind of in-person, intense recruiting that I like to do.  I mean, it's not like people are sending us recruiting videos, so I have to get out there. 

By the well, if you ever have a question about life, baseball, or anything else for me, you can send me an email at grantmiller@fishbaseball.org.

When I was in high school, I invested every cent of my part time job in this product.  In the past few years, I've been able to do well on its stock, and I've been using it's dividends to pay for my recruiting....

Until now - so, let me apologize for my extended absence from the website, but due to the economic turmoil, I was forced to work several odd jobs while I was out on the recruiting trail to finance my trip, which I will detail for you.

My most recent job, in order to pay for the airfare to get back home, was as a copy machine repairman in Atlanta.   I thought I'd just be fixing paper jams and such, but I was amazed to find the kind of kind of destruction that I did.  In order to get back to the United States from my final recruiting spot, I had to work this metal stamping job in China.

I did a few different herding jobs, too.  Here's cows in South Africa, reindeer in Norway, and camels  in Mongolia.  None of these should be confused with this job, which I did not do.

In Spain, I helped with this annual event, and in Turin, Italy I worked a job that I can't tell you much about.  I served as a Chernobyl tour guide, professional rat killer in India, and sewer detective in Paris.

I like to think that this is just how dedicated I am to the Fighting Fish.

Until later, let's make this final push towards summer together, and I'll see you soon!

-Grant

February 1, 2009

Greetings from the Mediterranean!

After a cold and disappointing trip to Iceland, I needed to come down here to some beautiful weather and thaw out for a couple of weeks.  As a monk once told me, "Popsicle good for eating, but popsicle cannot sing."

Unfortunately, I don't have good news to report on the recruiting trail.  Jón Arnarsson decided he just couldn't leave his hometown or the comfort of his barstool at Club Sirkus.  I got him as far as the airport, but he turned around at the gate.  After telling the story to a local traveler, he asked to try out, claiming to be the Rickey Henderson of Northern Europe.

The Sigmarsson kid, though you could see he would be "Strong as Ox," just wasn't going to be a baseball player.  Though the Fish could always use help toting around their gear, it wasn't worth signing someone from Iceland for it.  Instead, I think we'll try to get a donkey.

So, my travels have brought me to Greece, and as I have been touring the ruins of Ancient Greek civilizations here in Athens, as an aspiring philosopher myself, I can't help but be inspired walking the same paths as Aristotle (not to be confused with The Big Aristotle), Socrates, and Plato.

Socrates focused on defining virtues, like courage and justice, so that by defining them he could figure out whether a person who said they were courageous truly was courageous,  a philosophy that was very helpful for obvious Socrates Scholar Denny Green.  

In a way, I'm like Socrates, trying to figure out if the virtues of these prospects fit with the philosophy of the Fighting Fish.  I like that.

Until later, you all stay warm back home, and I'll see you back there soon!

-Grant

January 18, 2009

Happy New Year from Iceland!

I've been here in the capital city of Reykjavik since late November, other than a quick trip back home to River Falls for Christmas and New Year.  My last night in town was spent at our second of four Johnnie's meat raffles.  A great time had by all, and if you haven't made it out, it would be great to see you at one of the Fish meat raffles.  If you're curious what a meat raffle is like, here's a clip from one of the most famous meat rafflers in the midwest, Marge the Meat Lady.

I hopped a 3:30 flight the next day out of Minneapolis, with one stop in Boston, and landed back here in Iceland at 6:30 Sunday morning, which would have been just after midnight early Sunday morning for you guys.  I'm deep into negotiations on a couple of prospects here, including Jón Arnarsson, pictured here with me at Club Sirkus shortly before I returned home for the holidays.

You might wonder how I find baseball players here in Iceland during the winter months, and a pretty good explanation of it came out in our official February newsletter.  One misconception that I heard at the meat raffle Friday night was that I use the bar peanut throwing test for arm strength.  That is partially true, but there is also a second part of the test, that usually takes place later at night, for accuracy.  As a monk once told me, "Many man do things with strength but lose vision of goal.  Many man do things with accuracy but not strong enough to make goal.  Real man do things with strength of goal and accuracy of goal."  I think that applies here.

Some have suggested that I simply have prospects throw snowballs, but then I would have to go out in the cold.  Remember, I'm from California, and there's a reason I travel a lot during the offseason (Iceland being an exception - anything for the Fish, but I'll stay inside while I'm here as much as possible.)  Besides, snowball throwing is more the expertise of my cousin Mark, hence his informational video on the topic.

Iceland, of course, is one of the lands of the ancient Vikings, and in the spirit of their pillaging and axe wielding, I've come here searching for some Vikings bloodline in the hopes of finding a brutish power hitter for the middle of the Fighting Fish lineup.  After digging around through local legends, I heard tales of this man, an Icelander who won four World's Strongest Man contests but unfortunately died of a heart attack in 1993.  I worked hard to track down relatives, and gave a tryout to one of his nephews, but unfortunately the  kid's swing wasn't going to cut it in the SCVBL.

I've got a couple more weeks to keep trying here in Iceland before heading off to southern Europe.  I'll keep staying warm here as you as you promise to back at home as well! 

Take care, and see you soon.

-Grant

November 8, 2008

Greetings from Georgia!

The effects of the past week, especially being here in the southern United States, bring me back to a conversation I had with my dad this fall.  I had invited him up to Wisconsin for a canoe trip on the Namekagon River.  I asked him what he thought about the upcoming Presidential election.

"I finally feel that I know what drove you to wander the Himalayas," dad said.  "I feel like we're a whole country looking for answers right now, each different person with a different question that needs a different answer.  Hopefully, after the whole election is done with, we can start asking some of the same questions that will have some of the same answers and become more of a same people."

"So, who are you going to vote for?" I asked.

"Probably for Nader.  I hate picking sides.  I think if we spent less time picking sides and more time picking solutions, we'd be in much better shape."

Sometimes my dad is a little bit of a monk himself.  But he has a point somewhere in there, and with the amount of good feelings about our country that came out with the election of our first African American President, will those good feelings and momentum continue, and make a difference?  I heard from one Fighting Fish that he was inspired to stop and aid a stranded motorist this week.  Can our country continue to come together, or was this week simply a pause, and next week we'll be back to being more interesting in episodes of Entertainment Tonight?  Time will tell.

So, considering all of the above is a little too serious for one of my posts, I will leave you with this and this.

-Grant

October 28, 2008

Greetings from the beautiful state of Mississippi,

After a couple months of rest and relaxation, it’s time for the recruiting season to begin for our 2009 Fighting Fish, so as general manager, my offseason is officially over.  As the leaves turned this fall, the weather turned cool, and I put my boat away, I’ve gone south to start scouting fall and winter leagues. 

The priority this winter is offensive power.  In order to keep pace with the Menomonies, Hudsons, and Prescotts of the SCVBL, we’ve got to start hitting the long ball ala-Ryan Stace, Joel Schaffer, and Nick Johnson.  As a monk once told me, “A thousand flicks of the ear is worth one punch in the groin.  But, a punch in the groin is still much more effective.”

So, I start my recruiting trip here on the lower Mississippi River observing one of the most powerful types of fish around – the Asian Carp - and I'm using this experience to put my mind in the proper frame for recruiting the type of hitter we need.  If I can find a hitter with half the ferocity of the Asian Carp, we’ll try to sign him and ship him home immediately.

I’ll keep doing my best, and any scouting tips can be sent my way at contactus@fishbaseball.org.  “Catch” you later!

-Grant

August 10, 2008

Greetings from Rib Lake!

A tough loss for our Fighting Fish yesterday here in Rib Lake, but, as a monk once told me, "You can't win them all right away, because most of the fun is in the journey."  It was something like that, anyway.

Before I pack up my laptop and head back to River Falls for the off season, it's important to send out a few thank you messages.

Thank you to the families, significant others, and friends of our ballplayers, who put vacations aside, look the other way when their money is spent on gas for another trip to play some team in the boonies, and make it possible to for our team to play the schedule that it does.  We are blessed to have great character on our team, and that comes from great families.

Thank you to our fans, and especially the busload of them that took the two-hour-plus trip to Rib Lake to see our final game this season.  Your support is truly appreciated, and keep spreading the word!

Thank you to the River Falls business community, without who's support a team like the Fish is not possible.  It is through business sponsors that the Fish pay for umpires, baseballs, other equipment, and all the fun promotional giveaways we were able to do.

Thank you to Bob Burrows from the River Falls Journal, whose always classy, professional, and well written articles help to spread the word about the Fish and, more importantly, to promote the game of baseball in River Falls.

Thank you to Ryan Bishop and River Falls High School athletic director Rollie Hall for allowing us to use their facilities while we wait for the city to build our "Field of Dreams."

Thank you to Rich Bugielski, who wouldn't take anything in return for volunteering his services in the announcer's booth, a person who truly cares about the game of baseball.

Finally, thank you to the River Falls community as a whole.  From the first day of the season, the Fish have felt embraced, welcome, and at home.  We can hardly wait to see what we can accomplish for River Falls in the future.

Only one team in the Wisconsin Baseball Association ends their season with a win, and we'll have to wait until next year to try and do it again.  But I can report, from meeting with the team shortly after Saturday's game, that we have a focused group of young men already looking forward to 2009.

Until then, thank you again for a great first year in River Falls, and take care this off season :)

-Grant

August 3, 2008

Greetings from Alaska! 

Let me apologize first for being so out of touch for awhile.  After making my way across Europe and into Russia, I took a job on a fishing boat out of Vladivostok that has left me here in Alaska, eager to arrive back home in the lower 48 to try and take a look in person at the Fish's inaugural playoff run!  I did have a great time on the fishing boat, and met up with some salmon executives that wanted me to star in some commercials for them.  Here is the one we did at sea, and here is the one we filmed when we arrived in Alaska.

Like anyone that is about embark on a travel, it occurred to me that the Fish might be seeking a little bit of guidance for their journey.  I've consulted monks, I've consulted fisherman, I've consulted travelers . . . and it turns out that Gene Hackman and Al Pacino were still the best I could do.

See you guys in Rib Lake.  Go Fish!

-Grant

July 7, 2008

Greetings from London,

Cheery-oh, everyone back in Wisconsin!  I'm here in England right now, as always with one eye on the ballfields, one eye on local sights, and my mind's eye on the teachings of my Buddhist masters.  I ran into pitcher Sean Anderson a couple of weeks ago while I was in Germany, and told him to bring my best regards back to the team when he got back to the States.  It seems that my best regards caused the Fish to blow a couple of leads last weekend, so maybe next time I'll try sending my worst regards!

In talking with the good people down at the front office, it sounds like the team is need of a little pep talk before tonight's game with St. Croix Falls.  Well, I'm not one for fiery pep talks, because as a monk once told me, "He who says a little, says a lot."  But, I understand their importance, so I'll let one of my friends explain what I'll let one of my friends explain the message I have for the Fish today.

Go Fish!

Grant

May 23, 2008

Greetings from China,

I had to postpone my scouting trip to help with the humanitarian effort in Western China after this month's devastating earthquake in the Sichuan Province.  There are always silver linings to every tragedy, and just as you back home saw people come together with the 35W bridge collapse last summer, the same triumph of the human spirit was found here in China.

It was one of those "good to see you, wish it was better circumstances" homecomings for me as I met up with several of my old teachers who made the trip over from Tibet.  Despite most of them never having seen a baseball game, they were genuinely interested to hear about the exploits of the Fighting Fish, though they thought the name a little different:

"A Fish that Fights is a Fish that Should Learn to Forgive." - monk Tenzin Gyaltsen.

"Fighting Fish?  I have only known Fish that Swim, not fight.  And a Fish that swims upstream works too hard," - monk Thupten Phurbu.

"Fighting Fish?  That is a stupid name."  - monk Lobsang Sangye.

Brother Sangye was a little more harsh than the others, but he is one who rarely wastes words.  "To waste a word is to make the air unhappy," he once said.  It's hard, then, to explain American marketing techniques to a monk.

I'm planning on going off shore over to Taiwan soon to check out some of these Taipei Players, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Congratulations to the Fish on their two-game winning streak.  Usually, I like to end this page with a Buddhist quote, but this one might be more appropriate:

"Ok, guys. We've won two games in a row. If we win tonight, it's called a winning streak. IT HAS HAPPENED BEFORE." - Coach Lou Brown, Major League II.

Take Care,

Grant

May 5, 2008

Hi to everyone back (in my adopted home) in Wisconsin,

 I’m here on a scouting trip in East Asia, writing to you from the comfort of my hotel room here in Beijing.  Lots of things are sprouting up here in China these days, from skyscrapers to shopping malls to baseball stadiums, so naturally I want to make sure the Fighting Fish spread their goodwill and are right in the middle of the action.  As a monk once told me, “You can’t be in the middle of the action if you haven’t acted in the middle.”

 I’ll probably be here in China for a month or more, but I’m staying in touch with Josh on instant messenger (look me up for a chat– ZenBuddha2121) with what’s going on there at home with the team.

 It sounds like we’re throwing the ball pretty well, behind a few guys that are modeled a little bit in the shape of Buddha himself and the always steady Gutting, who is very much a Zen master himself. 

 The bats are a little bit behind right now, but my message to the guys is something a monk once told me before I went to climb a mountain:

“The harder you try, the more winded you get, the harder it is to climb the mountain.  The easier you try, the less winded you get, the easier it is to climb the mountain.  But, still remember to hold on to the mountain, or you plunge to certain death.”  That seems appropriate.

I’m wishing the team their best in the home opener against the River Rats next weekend on Magnet Schedule Day.  Until later, I’ll be scouring the green spaces of China looking for talent. 

 Take Care,

Grant

March 3, 2008

Hello from Spring Training in Orlando, Florida!  After finishing up in the Dominican Republic, I’ve been down here scouting for castoffs from major league ball clubs.  Being in Orlando, I've also spent a little time with this guy, too.

Something I have not mentioned yet that’s nice about my job with the Fish is that I can travel and still know that the guys back home are working hard to get ready for next summer, even if the weather doesn't cooperate.

Speaking of not cooperating, it was kids’ day at the park the other day, and one of the major league teams took the opportunity to introduce a new mascot for one of their minor league teams stationed here.  Didn't go so well.

Though I have a few guys in mind right now that are in camp, I don’t want to reveal those names because of major league rules.  One lead I can tell you about is that with the current change of power in Cuba, I am hoping to see this hitter in Florida soon.

I should also let you know that I'm renting a house down here, and got some great advice from a local committee on how to handle some do it yourself tips for around the house I wanted to pass on.

Finally, it seems I may have found a substitute for simple the simple water we keep on the bench.  (Note: the following two clips may not be suitable for all viewers.) Here's two special promotional videos for what will give the Fish the edge this summer:  promo 1      promo2

January 9, 2008

Hello from the Dominican Republic!  Well, things have not been easy for me here in Latin America.  It seems that the major leagues have snapped up almost all of the viable prospects down here, and at current prices I suppose that makes sense.  A monk once told me, "Behind the mountains, there are more mountains."  I think that's a good metaphor for this trip.  As soon as I conquer one obstacle, there's another task to test my strength.  One of my most recent tasks, as if scouting wasn't enough, was to play the part of Bors in this reenactment of Monty Python. 

One obstacle I faced in getting to the Dominican Republic was a harrowing trip in the sea.  Take a look at this video, shot by another passenger, of something that happened just off the edge of our boat.  As a monk once told me, "The only thing more harrowing than the sea is the harrow itself."  So, I guess I couldn't be surprised.

I just got to the DR, so I haven't found much for players here yet.  But, I did want to show you some video of this mascot - hopefully we can get something like this for the Fish in the future!

Until later, remember, as a monk once told me, "Be who you are, where you, when you are, except when you're not there."

-Grant

January 4, 2008

A late Feliz Navidad and Happy New Year!  I am back in Mexico right now, running some speed trials to look for a couple of late inning pinch runners so we can swipe a few more bases next summer.  As a monk once told me, "It's better to be two times fast that one times fast, unless it has to do with goats, in which it is best not to have tin cans around."

I spent a good part of my Christmas time in Venezuela.  Although I didn't find any players, I was able to find out that families do like to spend time together during the holidays just like we do here in the States.

Finding no success in Venezuela, I headed back to Mexico to follow up on a couple of tips about some quick runners that could help the Fish.  This runner had some potential, but unfortunately I wasn't able to sign him in time.

I found another runner, but he insisted that he be signed in a package deal with his much slower cousin.

The trail has gone cold again, but I'll keep trying.  As a monk once told me, "It's best to try, try, and try again, until you get a disease that infects you on the insides of your robe.  Then it's best to stop trying."

Until next time, I'm Grant Miller.

December 13, 2007

I've been without internet access for 10 days until I arrived today in Brasilia, Brazil.  As soon as I got back to civilization, I knew it was time to make contact with everyone back home because I had 87 missed calls on my blackberry.  I know as a wandering Zen master it may not seem like a cell would be my thing, but as a monk once told me, "It is better to be connected in bad ways than in no ways."

I learned that there are no cell phone towers in the Amazon Jungle.  This I had suspected long ago if someone were to have asked me, but I did not suspect to ever need that piece of knowledge.

Although Izzy Alcantara spurned my offer of three boxes of Diamond D1 baseballs to work security at the park next summer, I was able to send a few prospects back.  If you look very close at this news clip from ABC, you can see them on their way.  The Fish making the national news already!  Who would have thought?

My next stop was the Colombian winter league to catch up with former Spring Valley Hawks pitcher Ben Moore.  Though I did not find any viable ballplayers for the Fish, I did find some more prospects for our park security.  Unfortunately, they ran me off into the jungle, where I saw this.

So, I have been trudging through the jungle trying to get back to civilization.  Mostly what I found out about the rainforest is that mostly things in it can kill you, but fortunately I was able to pick up enough medicine from the people I met in Colombia to make it bearable.  There is not much baseball here in Brazil, so I'm waiting to catch a flight to Venezuela.  I did, however, meet someone here that taught me a valuable lesson about sports that really sums up the spirit of the Fighting Fish.

December 3, 2007

Hi everyone, and for those of you that don't me, I'm Grant Miller, I'm originally from Sunnyvale, California, and I heard you just got ten inches of snow back home.  Dude, that sucks!  Hold on, let me towel off for a minute since I just got out of the pool here in Vera Cruz . . . that's better.

That's right, I'm scouting one of the Mexican winter leagues right now looking for new talent for the Fighting Fish for next summer.  When I was wandering the Himalayas, a monk once told me, "You can never search too far when you go too near."  I don't really know what that means, but I think it applies here.

I will try to post YouTube clips when I can, and here's one of a guy I scouted at a game yesterday.  He was my main focus for this trip, but his bat's a little slow and he has the hands of panda bear.  We may however recruit him to work security at the park.  Until next time, I'm general manager Grant Miller . . .