Ladies and gentlemen, I have missed you all so very much.  Sorry for the delay on today's blog, I would've have gotten this up sooner, but I have been in Corpus Christi the last few days, and Corpus, though very nice to visit, apparently hasn't heard of the phrase "free wifi" just yet.  Don't worry Corpus Christi, I have no doubt that the year 2006 will arrive here soon enough.  So let the fun begin! 

Here's a fun little fact; here in Corpus, we have WWE Smackdown wrestlers staying at our hotel.  And yes, I know what you are thinking, "Cody, does this mean that The Ultimate Warrior has finally accepted your challenge?"   God, I hope so!  It was actually pretty cool, got to meet former WWE champ Shamus.  I was quite pleased to find out that he didn't tower over me...thank god, cause I was ready to bust out the sharp shooter  (P.S. I was a huge wrestling fan when I was a kid.  Who wasn't?).  My mom called me and told me that I should tell them that I used to play with their action figures years ago.  I took a solid pause (you know, for dramatic affect), and said, "more like, just got done playing with them 20 minutes ago..."  She told me to grow up.

It has come to my attention that in my past two blogs there has been something I haven't talked about much.  The ballparks.  While being a minor league ballplayer, you have the unique and rare privilege of playing in a lot of baseball stadiums.  Some great, some less than great (and occasionally some that fall so far under par that they are kicked off the PGA tour...metaphorically speaking).  But each stadium is an experience.  It is no different here in the Texas League.  Midland (Texas) has a good stadium, with fans that love to tell me how much I suck.  It's like playing at Cal State Fullerton again (PS: I HATE Cal State Fullerton... not as much as Nic Cage, but an equal amount to how much I hate Marky Mark, and I know what you're thinking, "but what about Shooter, he was good in Shooter?"  No, he wasn't.  Shooter was awful!).  Tulsa has a very nice stadium with the city skyline overlooking the outfield.  Northwest Arkansas has a beautiful stadium.  I've previously mentioned the winery and ballpark at Frisco.  Corpus Christi has a cool stadium off the water (reminds me a bit of home).  And then we come home to the place affectionately known as: The Wolff

The Wolff is our home park in San Antonio.  Now, I don't know this for sure, but judging by the look of it, it was built roughly during the Civil War era.  I had heard horror stories about the Wolf, even before I played in the Padres organization.  Reggie Smith, who used to work for the dodgers when I was a kid, used to talk about it as the place home runs go to die.  Which I will admit, is somewhat true.  I've seen balls smashed at that place that end up being routine fly outs.  It was voted the toughest stadium to hit in all of professional baseball, according to a survey that I just made up.  It isn't because the field is particularly big, I think it has a little more to do with the combination of the humidity and the gale force winds coming straight in from the outfield.  Luckily, the playing surface is pretty nice and the field does have a minor league charm to it.  It's just a ballpark, no bells and whistles, just a place where you can watch a baseball game..... Make sure you sit behind the net, this will heavily decrease your chances of dying (are you listening, fans that don't pay enough attention?!).

Now, everyone knows the Wolf to be a tough place to hit, but our club here in San Antonio has been doing a very good job of disproving this.  James Darnell its hitting .370 (is that good?), Blake Tekotte has been driving balls all over the place, Daniel Robertson hit for the cycle last week, and my little brother, Jaff and I both are in the double digits in home runs.  Yes, we're a fun loving bunch here in San Antonio...that being said, I can't live with the guilt anymore.  Jaff...it was me.  I have always played a few pranks on people during my professional career.  I have yet to grow up.  While in Midland, last series, Jaff spat on my shoes and ran away.  So, I decided to get him back.  I go to the field early emptied everything out his locker, folded it up and put it in a shopping cart that I placed in the bathroom.  I then proceeded to very carefully tape his locker shut with athletic tape.  It took me about 45 minutes, but the look on his face was worth it.  He believes that Eddy Rodriguez is the culprit...which only made it funnier to me.  Wait, remember when "I can't live with the guilt"?  That wasn't true...this is just the perfect forum for me to tell him that it was me.  HAHAHAHA (sinister laugh.... think: Robert Deniro in Cape Fear).

Well true believers, remember to follow me on Twitter (@Decker6).... because my tweets are like the perfect combination of a fine scotch with gummy bears...seriously...It will change your life.

Keep Swinging it,

-Deck

Photo: keeping it real, Creative Commons 2.0