On The Road With Pat Neshek: Welcome
Welcome to Pat Neshek's Baseball Page! - www.PatNeshek.com - I really have no purpose for this page. I figured hey, why not start a webpage about my life in baseball and talk about everything that goes on in it, especially autographs. I really have no clue what it will amount to but I know it will be good. I guess what I want is to interact with the fans and make them learn and laugh. Have fun and let me know what you think!
If you need anything signed or want to trade signed hockey/baseball cards for my cards (signed cards of me) send items with SASE(Self Addressed Stamped Envelope) to:
Pat Neshek
PO Box 43127
Brooklyn Park, MN 55443
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Friday, September 3
Be sure to check out the message board, yesterday we launched a free Yogi Berra Signed Baseball contest giveaway. Today we have the newest MN Twin Matt Fox's stuff up for auction on the message board. Fox gave me 2 pairs of cleats and his hats from the first and second half of his AAA season with the Rochester Red Wings. Check out the boards for more info.
Friday, September 3
I just posted a free contest on my message board, the free item is a Yogi Berra Signed Baseball. Anyone on the message board is able to enter this free contest...good luck!
Thursday, September 2
Be sure to check into the message board next week and for the entire offseason. I will be giving away lots of great HOF signed baseballs...Yogi Berra, Stan Musial, Bob Feller, Ozzie Smith and much more...also be sure to make a request for a future free giveaway and I will try my best to get it up for you guys.
Also bringing back a blast from the past with Game Used Items from myself as well as some of my teammates like Kyle Gibson, Jeff Manship, Kyle Waldrop and maybe a couple more guys...just waiting to see what they give me at the end of the season. I will put this stuff up most likely in the next 1-2 weeks and you can offer in each section on the boards.
Saturday, August 28
Tuesday, August 10
We are back in Rochester after a trip to Georgia, Charlotte & Syracuse. I've never been to Charlotte before and if nothing else it was great to check off another field. The stadium was pretty aged and gave you a feel for the history that has come through it's door. I got to see a bunch of graphers I met in Florida during past spring trainings and signed up everything they had. Syracuse really changed since I've been there last in 2006. The last time I was there it was a cage fence for the outfield walls, the bullpens were in centerfield and the entire field was artificial turf. Back then a lot of the guys would dread playing games there. This time around it actually felt like baseball, they did a great job fixing up that place. As far as pitching goes things are going great. Instead of looking up at the radar gun and seeing 86 & 87 a month ago nearly every pitch now is 89 with a couple 88's. In Gwinnett last week I flashed 90 a trio of times. As far as the positives go I've given up 1 run in my last 11 outings. I've also held righties to a .167 batting average and if you take out my team leading 4 intentional walks my whip is close to 1. I do need to get better on getting lefties out & getting my slider to bite more with 2 strikes, then I will start seeing more k's. Overall I'm very happy with how I have been pitching and know I will continue to get stronger.
Wednesday, July 28
We arrived in Atlanta yesterday for our game against the Gwinnett Braves. Yesterday was quite the adventure for our team. This was one of the few trips in the International League where we fly instead of taking the bus. Flying here is a lot different than in Minnesota. In Minnesota all of the plane trips are chartered and the bus basically pulls up to the plane and we leave within 30 minutes. Here we did all the normal things we would do if we went on a commercial plane. We left the stadium yesterday at 5am, got the airport a little after and sat in line waiting to check in our bags and go through security. We didn't have a direct flight so we landed in Philadelphia and waited a couple hours to leave for Atlanta. When we finally got into Atlanta we waiting for our bags and the bus and then headed to the hotel. You would think that was a long enough day but it really didn't even start yet. We arrived at the ballpark and found out that none of the equipment made it in yet. Instead of flying the equipment, a van was driven down after our night game the day before. As the hours went by there was no equipment. Finally around 6:50pm, 10 minutes before the start of the game our stuff showed up. We dressed really quick, played catch and stretched and went on to play the game...it was a long day.
Sunday, July 11
Well, what a day...the team bus arrived in Rochester, NY at 6:30am and I was actually able to get a couple hours of sleep on the bus. For the bus trip we took 2 buses and on the first half of the trip Brad Hennessey accidentally left his pillow on the other bus...I lucked out because he left it near my seat and I needed something to rest my back on...we stopped about halfway and he jumped on our bus and took it back. That made for an interesting night of falling asleep for about 5 minutes and waking up because an elbow rest was poking me...it was impossible to get comfortable. You gotta love minor league bus trips...they really suck but they also make for some fun times telling jokes and stories with teammates and listening to music. To tell you the truth, the bus trips kind of have a peacefulness that I enjoy where you can just sit back with no computers, tvs and just relax to music...anyways. Over the past couple years my music listening time has dwindled and this trip got me back into some songs. Here's some NEW stuff that I liked from last night. If anyone has any suggestions on tracks from new releases be sure to let me know on facebook or twitter.
the empire shall fall - we the people
apostles of solitude - other voices
priestess - the gem
soulfly - soulfly vii
the ocean - metaphysics of the hangman
deftones - risk
taproot - stolage
fear factory - powershifter
Friday, July 9
I'm about to head to the field for game 2 in Pawtucket. After the game we are turning right around and heading back to Rochester and arriving around 7am. I've been staying downtown in a hotel in Rochester and will probably sleep in the clubhouse when we get back to avoid paying for a hotel room for 3 hours. Anyways Pawtucket was full of autographers before and after the game...If I had to guess I would say it ranks 2nd in autographers with Scranton getting the top honors so far and Rochester not too far behind. Before the game one awesome fan gave me a Tim Thomas & Zdeno Charo signed hockey card. After the game I was hooked up by my favorite Boston collectors with a stack of hockey cards that they got for me over the years. The running joke with them is that I skip the Boston Red Sox trip every year so I don't have to sign for them. In 2006 I made the 2 day trip and told everyone to bring everything they needed signed for years to come. Then in 07 I got shut down with a week in the season to go and missing Boston, 08 and 09 was Tommy John surgery and this year I was in Rochester. Anyways it was awesome hanging out with them and talking about autographs.
Thursday, July 8
A couple more days have went by and right now we are in Pawtucket, Rhode Island getting ready to play the Red Sox (AAA) team. I know this may come off as complaining but our travel schedule down here has been rough. Earlier this year with the Twins we took a flight out of Anaheim to Chicago and got in at 6am...I thought that was a tough one. Last night was the fourth time in a month we left a stadium at 11pm or later and got in at 6:30am or later. Last night we drove from Rochester, NY to Rhode Island and it took 7 hours. Tomorrow we will head back to Rochester from here and get back at....7am! No big deal though it's actually a lot of fun hanging out with guys on the team and telling stories & jokes the entire time...and around 3-4 am most guys fall asleep, I just need to remember a pillow one of these times, the arm rest can really do a number on your back & neck.
Last month when I was sent here the Twins really wanted me to work on getting my velocity up and pitch as much as I could. So far I have been progressing well on both fronts. After sitting out for nearly two years I knew I had a lot of things to work on. Just being on the mound to me felt a little strange sometimes and I wasn't the most comfortable in certain situations. Every now and then I would forget to do little things like check the runner at first, cover first on a ball to the first basemen and back up. Don't get me wrong, I have good stuff and can compete and do well and get big league guys out but after coming off this injury the biggest thing needed was to pitch and pitch and pitch. By doing this I could work on all aspects of the game and at the same time see my arm get stronger. In the past month I'm closing in on 20 innings pitched and I have been getting a lot more confident on the mound and throwing a lot more fastballs. The last two outings I have been getting ahead of a lot of guys with my fastballs and seeing a lot of those late foul ball swings, something I rarely have seen all year. My stats aren't looking the best but for me stats are kind of on the backburner and the more important thing for me is knowing my stuff is there and feeling comfortable out there and having a plan. For me just getting off the mound every other day has been huge and I know that if I keep working I will eventually have the stuff I had before surgery. Right now according to the stadium gun my fastball has been up to 88-89, who knows if this is low or high but it's the highest I have seen on the thing since I've been here. In my prime I was around 90-92 for most pitches.
Sunday, July 4
Yesterday we played out last game of the roadtrip in Buffalo. They had a fireworks night and it seems like those nights bring the people out and the crowds get large. After the game I ran into one of my favorite former teammates Ramon Ortiz. He pitched a heck of a game and looked great on the mound. He told me that he has seen a lot of guys have the same surgery I had and that I looked great. I told him that I'm about 1-2 mph off from what I had when we were teammates and he told me that things usually take a year or two before your stuff comes back to what you had before. After that the team bus hurried to get out of town before the fireworks crowd left the stadium. We made it back to Rochester about 1.5 hours later and I headed back to the hotel with my suitcase and computer bag to get ready for another fireworks celebration tonight.
Saturday, July 3
Be sure to become a member of my message board above and check out the free Ozzie Smith signed baseball giveaway.
This free contest is for a STEINER certified OZZIE SMITH Signed Sweetspot baseball. Comes with steiner sticker and authenticity card.
http://pneshek.proboards.com/index.cgi
Saturday, July 3
Very odd day at the park, only signed 1 autograph and that was for a lady and her kid and she had no clue what she was getting...she handed me a Buffalo Bison glove with sigs from the other team and I signed it thinking I'm not on that team...why am I signing this. So far my number down here is #20...I've still been signing everything #17...I don't think this will change unless you guys request it (making it a rare #20 graph). At the field tonight I came in with bases loaded no outs. I pitched two innings and felt a little rusty out there but still managed to pitch well. The first inning I threw a lot of sliders and my fastballs were 86-87 for the ones I peaked on. My next inning I was hitting 88 and 89, about where I have been since I've been here. I'm heading to the park, see you out there.
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