The Gift

Hello Everyone,

Well the summer is coming closer to an end, which also means so is baseball, and my dream internship. I'll probably write one more blog after this to share about my last week here, but for now I wanted to tell you all a quick story and a gift that was given to me.

I mentioned previously the frustration of not getting to go play catch with some of my guys. Well that changed about a week ago, when I started to play catch with a starting pitcher that had a SLAP repair (google it..). The rehab is pretty extensive for this type of surgery, so when he started throwing again, he could only throw 45 to 60 feet, which even I can do. So over the last week I've been going outside in the 110 degree weather to play catch with him. As excited as I was to do this, I didn't really think about it fully.

You see, when these boys play "catch" they are still putting more heat on it than anything I've ever caught before. Also, here I am trying to catch a professional pitcher with my 20 dollar kmart special youth glove, which was not exactly designed for this. Not a good idea. I was really trying to not be a big baby, but with every catch my index finger was getting quite a zing, and I played it off like no big deal, but it hurt like the dickens!! I came in from playing catch the other day and another player asked me how catch was going. I told him I was doing fine except that I couldn't feel my left index finger. He asked me what kind of glove I had and when I showed him he said, "ya thats what I thought." He walked away and came back 2 minutes later with a brand new glove that he handed to me and said, "here. Its yours."

A brand new, professional pitchers glove. Not only is it brand new, but it has this guys name stiched into the side. I was speechless. He shook it off like no big deal, reminding me that he gets that stuff for free, but to me, it was a huge deal. Its got to be one of the coolest things anybody has ever given to me. He told me he'd been thinking about giving it to me as soon as I started going out there to throw because he knew I wasn't just getting balls lobbed to me, and even though the guy isn't throwing a 95 mph fb at my face, he still puts heat on it without even trying.

So now I'm learning how to break in a new glove. Its pretty sweet. All the guys are showing m how to bend it, and beat it, and rub stuff all over it. I feel like a little kid, I have that thing with me everywhere I go. The pitcher that gave it to me made me promise to use it, and not to put it in a box and save it. I promised. Its something I know I'll have the rest of my life, and no matter where I end up, its going to be a reminder of my summer under the lights of the stadium.

People can sometimes do something and never know what it means to someone else.

Enjoy your day wherever you are. If you are somewhere where its less than 70 degrees....please wear a sweatshirt for me :) Oh how I miss that!

Katy

The Change Up

"You gotta be a man to play baseball for a living, but you gotta have a lot of little boy in you, too."

Haha, I read that quote by Roy Campanella the other day in a nerdy baseball book and I found it quite fitting for this blog entry.

I felt like it was time to share some of the lighter moments from the last week with you guys. This way, when my mom steals internet from the hotel on her route to check her facebook and read my blog, she won't start crying and decide to read it to every person that passes by :) Love you mama.....

Anyways, on to the good stuff.

First of all, I didn't get voted class klutz Harbor High 2002 for nothing! The other day, I was in the exercise room with about three of my favorite players. The room is adjacent to the training room where probably another 10 players were hanging out as well as the other PTs and ATCs. The rooms are only separated by windows by the way. So the three players are all doing their own thing, and I'm specifically working with one guy but we are all kind of chatting. I go to sit down in a high back desk chair (that I learned seconds later was BROKEN), and as I lean back I find myself instantly on the floor, flat on my back with my legs over my head! I'm not talking about a small little fall....I sat in this chair, leaned back, and CRASHED. And let me tell you, it did not go unnoticed. A roar errupted from the three players in the room, which I really was ok with. Its when I looked up and realized the crowded training room through the windows was also watching, that my face suddenly flushed red and I quickly tried to pick my self up off the floor. But there was no recovery. The damage was done, and I had to stand and accept the joyous laughter it brought the boys for the rest of the day.

I found out that before I got there, the boys all looked me up on facebook to see if I was hot...I hope I didn't let them down. Haha. One of them also was going to walk in butt naked on my first day. I'm glad that one didn't happen....

I get teased a lot obviously because I'm the only girl and its fun to mess with me. I get it. There is a player that gets teased a lot because he has a seriously ugly mullet and its fun to mess with him too. This means the two of us try and stick together because we both get picked on. The other day in the training room someone said something to me and he came to give me a high five to let me know we were in it together, but when I go for the high five he drops his hand below mine and shouts "change up." Everyone got a kick out of it, and its become quite the game in the training room to see if you can get people to fall for it. Its fun. Try it....go now!

I also got to take some swings off the tee today in the batting cages. I'm not going to lie, I was pretty nervous that I wasn't even going to hit the darn thing with it sitting right there in front of me. I played one year of softball when I was like 10 years old. I didn't really like it because I couldn't put my elbow into anybody's chest like I could in soccer, and after taking one fly ball in the face I was over it. And I don't think I've ever hit a ball with a wood bat....ever. So I step up and I'm thinking "just don't miss the freaking ball..." but I didn't want to take a baby swing either. So I put everything I had into that swing, happy gilmore style, and I smacked the heck out of that ball. Now we were in the indoor batting cage, so you can't really tell what the ball does, but in my mind it was a double into the gap.

I learned the hard way that baseball managers don't like to be called coach. I'll just leave it at that.

Lastly, the player I've talked about in previous blog entries that I was struggling so much with trying to figure out how to help, was sent home. He got an injection that has him immobilized for 6 weeks, so they just sent him home because he was unable to do anything for the next six weeks. Before he left though, him and another player took Dom and I to dinner as a thank you. And I'm not talking In-n-out. It might have been one of the most expensive dinners I've had in a very long time. But he wanted to thank us, and it meant a lot to me. He also left me with this ball on his way out. It says, "to Dr. House, thanks for everything!" Its going up in my clinic some day :)

Never has this job been harder than it was this weekend because I had to watch the padre/giant games while wearing a padre shirt and couldn't cheer for the giants at all (seriously they threatened to fine me if I did.) However, the funny thing is most the guys cheer against the padres. In their mind, if the padres keep winning, it decreases their chances of getting called up. Haha, it made me laugh. One said, "I always root against them. Until I'm up. Then I'll want to win"

Its been a fun week.

You stay classy San Diego,

Katy

Genuine Love

Mother Teresa said this,

"Do not think that love, in order to be genuine, has to be extraordinary. What we need is to love without getting tired."

For those of you that know me well, you know some of the struggles I faced when I spent a summer in India working in the Mother Teresa home for the dying. At the time, it was easy to see what it meant to love. It meant holding a complete strangers hand as they passed away. It meant cleaning their wounds,feeding and bathing them, and making sure they were not alone as they died. For that summer, I didn't worry about my credit card bill, or the smog check on my car. I didn't spend time thinking about where I was going to eat that night, the laundry that needed to be done, or who was getting kicked off the bachelor that week. For that summer, I learned what it meant to love. The love Mother Teresa spent her whole life showing the world; a genuine love that doesn't have to be extraordinary.

I had a rough day at work yesterday, or at least I thought I had a rough day. There are a few players that I kind of see as "mine." Guys that come to me every day to get treated; guys who I have invested all my time and energy in rehabbing. One of my players is getting close to recovery from thumb surgery. Two days ago was the first day this infielder got to play catch, and I got to go outside with him and throw the ball. It was thrilling for me to see him back doing what he was made to do. So yesterday he was supposed to throw even further, and I brought my glove with the excitement that I would get to throw with him again. However, another PT took him outside and threw with him. I know it sounds pretty silly, but I was pretty upset.

As a therapist, you want to see the fruit of your labor, and after all the time and energy I put into this player, someone else is going to see it through. It wasn't a good start to my day. As the day went on, other PTs starting treating my other patients too and Satan took over and began telling me its because I'm not good enough, that they don't trust me with the players, that they are better than me, and that I'm just a wee little girl in a man's world.

Then I came home and got a lesson in humility from the God I love. He reminded me of that summer in India, the orphans and dying that I held in my arms, and the words of Mother Teresa rang through my mind. I have a genuine care and love for the people that God puts in my path to treat, including this player. And that love doesn't have to be anything but genuine. A friend reminded me that we do what we can for God; that my genuine love for people does not go unnoticed. That maybe the glory of his recovery will not go to me, but it was not my glory in the first place. I am simply a vessel that God can use to effect the lives around me. When we humbly walk in love, peoples lives can be changed. Our finger prints won't fade from the lives we change.

My lesson from my "rough day" was that I am out here doing what I can. And what I can do is display a genuine love. When Mother Teresa says it doesn't have to be extraordinary, but instead be a love that does not tire us, I understand what she means. For me, it can be exhausting sometimes; caring so much. I take things home with me, and spend sleepless nights thinking about what else I can do. She says we need to just simply love without growing weary. Whether I am in the slums of India, or working with professional athletes that drive my moms dream Jaguar, I have the opportunity to display a genuine love and touch lives. All Glory to God.

Katy

The Little Bear Cub That Could

Well Hello there,

If you are wondering if there is a reason I haven't written in a while, there is. Unfortunately, I was waiting for some good news to write an update, but not too much has come recently, so this is what you are going to get. Haha, don't worry there are some definite highlights from my week you are going to want to hear.

Firstly, the player that I've poured so much time and energy in has not been doing so well. After he had some really great days with no pain in his hand, he was freed to play in one of the rookie league games. It didn't go well, he only made in through two at bats. After that frustrating set back, he was sent back to SD to see the team docs....AGAIN. They decided they were going to give him a special injection to jump start healing. However, this injection means he can't do anything baseball related for another 6 weeks, and if that doesn't work they are going to cut him open again. When he came back and told me this, my heart sank, and seeing the frustration and disappointment on his face nearly killed me. I felt helpless, and I wished more than anything at that moment, that I had the answers for him. The good thing is, he has one of the best attitudes of anyone I've ever met, and he shows up for rehab everyday, even if all he can do is a cardio workout. In his free time he drew this up (pardon the language grandma, they are baseball players...)

Now, I know its hard to see, but this picture is worth a thousand words. I am the giant with the long hair and the frown on the right saying, "world peace." The reason I'm frowning is because they are trying to teach me how to have a mean face...it hasn't been working. I have developed quite a reputation here, and apparently its that I'm incapable of being mean. One player said it like this...."You see Katy, its like this. There is a Lion. Below the lion is a tiger. Way under that is a wee little bear cub. And underneath the bear cup is Katy House." Haha, now its not the first time that people have commented on my lack of meanness. And in this environment, its noticed more than ever because there are a lot of pretty strong personalities in the clubhouse. I have been taking it as a compliment that nobody out here thinks I have an ounce in mean in me ( but if they asked my bros or my roommates they would know thats not true), yet they still respect me. I'm the little bear cub that can! I'm tough on them when it comes to their rehab, and I don't let them get lazy or whine, but apparently I do it in the nicest way possible. I guess its a happy medium. By the way, I learned that niceness from my mama, she's pretty much the nicest person I've ever known.

In other news, I am currently car-less. So I may not make it back to California. Seriously. If anyone has a car they would like to hand out, please let me know. Free physical therapy for life if you get me a car. Also, Dom and I hiked to the top of Camelback mountain, and yes it was over 100 degrees and we nearly died. It was worth it.

Well thats it for now. Know that I'm still having a blast, and I may return with one heck of a mean face (but probably not).

LETS GO GIANTS,

Katy