Having gone to Iraq and seen real heroes, I have been inspired to re-evaluate how I feel about myself. The other day our team held a Bible study headed by Brett Carroll, Chris Coghlan and Pastor Chris Lane. We talked about a lot of different things, but mainly focused on the Sermon on the Mount. The most interesting part of the story (for me, in addition to the content) was the fact that Jesus was not preaching to the multitudes, but to his disciples after he saw all the masses near the hill. Jesus spoke to his close knit group of companions, and in this case let them spread the word. I found this interesting because in my line of work, people are constantly promoting themselves, so much so, that they start to believe all of their own self created hype. We, as baseball players, take ourselves much, much too seriously! We chase a little white ball around a field. We are not rescuing people in Haiti, fighting a war, or even teaching kids how to count. All of those jobs are much more worthy of the millions of dollars baseball players make. Don't get me wrong, I love what I do and I'm incredibly to grateful to have played one day of Major League Baseball. I also don't want anyone to think that I think baseball players are over paid, the game of baseball makes a lot of money. No players, no games, no revenue. Dan Uggla earns what he is paid.

My point is that society has it backwards. I understand that the success of a particular home baseball team can bring joy to a particular group of people or a city (see Boston in 2004). However, Jesus had it right, heroes by society's pop culture standards are not heroes in reality. I got this from icasualties.

"The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.

Lance Cpl. Eric L. Ward, 19, of Redmond, Wash., died Feb. 21 while supporting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. He was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, N.C."

Lance Cpl. Eric L. Ward, 19, died for me and you. He is my hero.

As Jesus said:

Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the earth.
Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.
Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

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Now that spring training has started I though it would be important to reflect back on the things I learned this off-season. This should be an interesting list because I have not written anything down ahead of time or tried to prepare. Here goes.

5. Training unconventionally is really, really fun:

My strength coach and friend Kyle Barbour told me this off-season that he thinks it's a shame that people feel like they need to go to a gym to stay in shape. He is right, How many big box fitness gyms existed in 1965?? People were fit and in shape then, they didn't need elliptical machines or dumb bells. Get outside and do something active, run around in a park and do some push-ups. There is a reason it is called "The Great Outdoors", being out doors can be great. Snowing? Come on, I am sure you can figure something out, I've heard shoveling snow is a helluva workout. The whole idea reminds me of a quote. Take note of the date, "Why do strong arms fatigue themselves with frivolous dumbbells? To dig a vineyard is worthier exercise for men". - Marcus Valerius Martialis (40 AD - 103 AD)

4. I really have fun playing beer pong:

Yeah, this one is not that deep, but until this off-season I had never played. I watched a few buddies on the east coast participate in a serious game before we flew back to California and fell in love. We play it whenever we have a party and it is a lot of fun. I can't believe I missed out on it in College, maybe because the Frat Houses at Cal where not that inviting.

3. Muhammad Ali is the Greatest boxer and sport psychologist of all time:

He was the best because he believed he was the best. Win or lose he never lost faith in himself or the things he was fighting for, you may disagree with his stance on Vietnam, but must agree with any man that will stand up for his principles. He once said, "Whatever the punishment, Whatever the persecution, Even if it means facing machine gun fire for that day, I will face it
before denouncing Elijah Muhammad and the religion of Islam, I’m ready to die!" Here is one any aspiring athlete should take to heart, "If you even dream of beating me you'd better wake up and apologize." He is inspirational to say the least.

2. The older you get, the more you miss your family when you leave:

When you are a little kid, you cry and get home sick when you are kept from your family for an extended period of time. When you are a young adult you can't wait to get out of the house and on your own. When you are out of the house and on your own, you just want to be near your family. It hurts to pack up your life and say good bye to your family. I get to spend four months out of the year around my family and in-laws. As much as I love what I do for a living, those are my favorite four months of the year.

1. My life is pretty easy and I take too many things for granted:

We always think we are the hardest working, or the smartest or that we have overcame great obstacles in our life. I have been overly judgemental of some younger baseball players in the Big Leagues because it took me seven years to get to that level while it took them only one or two. I often resented the fact that they had an easy road, while mine was "so tough". THEN I WENT TO IRAQ. When I came home I realized that though I worked very hard to achieve my goals, I have never had to sacrifice my safety or possibly my life for a group of people that generally under appreciate what I do. I have selfishly chased my own dreams while our Armed Forces have provided a safe environment for me to do so. It seems weird to think that taking a trip would completely flip my outlook on life, but it has and I really like the new view. I now know what tough is, what it looks like, and my life has not been "tough" by any means.

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So I get an e-mail from 1LT Sion Branan and here it is for all to read. I have included a picture of me at Camp Saad standing in front of any Iraqi Platoon. I feel guilty, all we really did was say thank you to a deserving group of American Heroes. I don't think I could really ever thank them enough.

This guy is my hero...enjoy!

To John Baker,

“On behalf of 1st Platoon Baker Company 1-77 AR, I want to thank you and the Florida Marlins organization for visiting the Soldiers at Joint Security Station Saad. Your visit was a big morale booster for the guys, and it really meant a lot to them to see the Florida Marlins come all the way out here to JSS Saad to spend some time with the troops and show their support. The USO brings celebrities all of the time to Iraq to visit the troops, but unfortunately they always go to the massive, fortified, built-up COB's (Contingency Operating Base) with 10,000+ soldiers living comfortably on them. No one ever comes out to visit the small, outlining platoon-operated JSS's that do all of the work and actually run all of the patrols and missions to protect the COB. We have been in Iraq for 10 months now, and your visit was definitely one of the highlights of our deployment. In my opinion, it was the best day we've had in Iraq so far. I haven't seen the guys as excited as the day of your visit. They were in high spirits after you left and they wouldn't stop talking about the Marlins and the Mermaids. Thank you for bringing a little bit of enjoyment and appreciation to the Soldiers of 1st Platoon. Your support to them means more than you know.”

1LT Sion Branan
Infantry Platoon Leader
JSS Saad
Basra, IRAQ

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Wow it has been a while since I have posted on here so let me give you an update on what is going on. I participated in the Marlins Caravan for Earth from the 10th-13th. It culminated in a very successful fanfest at Sun Life Stadium which I thought was a big hit (although, what do I know????).

I then went up to Atlanta so that I could see a few friends and relax before getting into the swing of spring training. I will make a commitment now to make an attempt to keep this blog interesting. The problem is that I am having trouble coming up with something as cool as my Southwest Asia trip. I would love some advice from the people that actually take the time to read this blog so #1- email me what you want me to discuss here. I am open to anything other than baseball. Baseball is my job, this is entirely for fun! I C'mon... I need your help!!

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I ran across this youtube clip thanks to one of my favorite websites (rosstraining.com)

How do these guys train? Do you start by jumping over one camel...a baby...pretty impressive stuff.

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So we are leaving tomorrow to fly to Florida for the season. Our stuff is packed, movies have been rented on iTunes and it is time to really begin 2010. I have been working relentlessly to improve as a player and person and hope to have a great year.

Here is the stuff I am bringing with me on the plane so that I am not bored with the travel. I will say that this should be an easy day compared to my last plane ride experience.

1. Dante Aligheri - Inferno

Just started this book, excited about the translation. I bought this as well as Plato's "Republic" with a B&N gift card that I received for my birthday from my grand parents. I missed out on philosophy and a lot of classic lit while in college so it seems I am making up for it now.

2. Movie-"The Hurt Locker" I was just in Iraq, and I heard that this film is pretty right on, we'll see tomorrow.


3. Lone Survivor - Marcus Luttrell - The story of seal team 10 and what happened to them in Afghanistan. I've heard from many that this is a riveting story. If I finish two books and a movie on a 7 hour travel day, I may be a genius!!

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This is going to sound very random, but I want to give a little more insight into my mind. I will start today's "things I think are awesome post" with my top three favorite movies. Please remember that this is my opinion, I am not a film critic, I just chose movies that evoked powerful emotions.

#1 Movie of All-Time: Braveheart (1995)

Uh...seriously...this is the greatest movie of all time. It has everything I need. Historical relevance? Check. Great Acting? Check. Great battle scenes? Check. Inspiration to stand up for what you believe in? Check. If you are a man, and you don't like this movie, we have issues.



#2 Movie - Star Wars Episodes IV-VI

Now I know I picked three movies here, but they are meant to be watched one after the other. I am not a huge fan of the newer installments although I did watch them. As a kid I wanted to be Luke Skywalker more than anyone else, as an adult I want to be Han Solo.

I know this trailer has some of the new movies interwoven with the old ones, but it is the coolest one I could find.



# 3 Movie - The Godfather

Is this a cliche choice? I am a quarter Italian but watching this movie makes me wish I was 100% Sicilian. No cool special effects, nothing special when it comes to production, but the story and the actors...Al Pacino, Marlon Brando, James Caan, Robert Duvall. Great Movie.

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All of my recent posts have been emotionally draining. I watched this movie on the plane flight back from Kuwait and absolutely fell in love with it, the story is true and amazing. It is a little heavy emotionally, but whatever, this is my blog so I'll put up what I want. Go buy it on Itunes or rent it, you won't be dissapointed!

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Time for reflection. Up in the air, somewhere between DC and San Francisco, on the last leg of a twenty four hour travel day...

As I look back on this experience, the people I’ve met and the things I’ve seen, I am overwhelmed with different emotions. It makes me want to live my life in a much more aggressive and proactive fashion. One can only hear someone say, “When I get out of here and go back home I am going to...” so many times with out feeling guilty. I am home. I am “out of here”. I feel a renewed sense of responsibility to seize life, to make the most of each day because each day of freedom is a gift. Our freedom is protected everyday by our armed forces, take away their power, and we as a nation are powerless. Take away their courage, and we will (and SHOULD) be scared. I feel that I have been generally unaware in the past, not in tune to what is really happening in our nation and around the world. I feel embarrassed in my aloof attitude towards our military affairs and global policies, but vow to become more educated and in tune.

I would be lying if I didn’t mention that a few times I looked around and thought “what the hell are we doing here?” I wondered why it is OUR men and women that stand guard at the Iraq and Iran border. How come OUR Marine Corps has to guard the IA General, what is wrong with the IA? But then I talked with the people there and it all became clear. I remembered what we stand for as a country, united against tyranny in our infancy and obligated to protect the weak as we have grown powerful. Not obligated by law, but obligated by our nature as Americans. Many may argue that we shouldn’t be in Iraq at all, but I will say that the overwhelming response from the Iraqis I met is that their country is in a much better place now, than it was ten years ago. They seem very grateful for our help and guidance. Our service members don’t want our pity for their difficult situation, they want our support. They chose their careers.

Another interesting aspect is the sense of team and teamwork. Everyone is united in the same goal, everyone works together. They are the type of people that cannot accept a personal compliment. Every time I received positive feed back, it sounded like this, “What you are doing, just being here, really means a lot to these guys, they really appreciate it.” Never once did people say it in an individual way, they are too tough to admit to something like that. They care more about the man standing next to them than they do about themselves. This sentiment was expressed by the lowest of the enlisted and the highest of the officers that we met. This sentiment moved seamlessly throughout each individual branch and unified our entire armed forces. These people risk their lives to protect our country and our interests without regret. They are my heroes.

The next time you see a veteran, do your part to say thank you, regardless if you believe in our government's politics or motivations for being in any conflict. These soldiers are real people that make a big sacrifice for us, never forget that. I never will.

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