Hey this is Wil Myers… Looking forward to keeping everyone up to date with everything going on in the fall league this year… Had a good workout today and I’m ready to start games tomorrow in Scottsdale. Talk to all of you again soon. – Wil Myers

What’s up everyone!

It’s me again, Josh Zeid, formally of the Philadelphia Philly clan, now of the Houston Astro brotherhood. Twelve months ago I gave you a rundown of who I was and where I came from and you can find that at my old blog “phinally phocused,” however that does not apply anymore. I am still focused but without the “ph’s.”

On July 29-30th (sometime around midnight I, along with three other Phillies minor leaguers were traded to the Astros for Hunter Pence. Most shocking moment in my life to this day. I loved every minute i had with the Phillies, and enjoyed meeting a ton of new people, but I am now thrilled to be a member of the Houston Astros system, and can’t wait to be a part of a growing and winning organization.

I am now out here in Scottsdale, after a year in which I struggled mightilly trying to find my niche both in the rotation and bullpen: but I am excited to pitch exclusively out of the pen and make the most of my second chance out here.

I feel extremely fortunate to be playing with the brand new Salt River Rafters. I want to thank the the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks for opening up their facilities to us and letting us use their Major League facilities. It is a state of the art facility with a movie theater, a gigantic weight room, and a clubhouse with 8 leather couches and 6+ flat screens ranging from 47- 60+ inches. We are extremely spoiled in there but it makes bonding with brand new teammates much easier.

We will be heading on the road to Peoria tomorrow for our first game at 12:35. I will either pitch the last inning tomorrow or Wednesday but either way, I’ll be out their rooting on every single one of my teammates.

Good luck to everyone still playing! Have fun out there! And let’s win some games.

Follow me on twitter for more updates at:
JZiggidyZeid

Today is what I like to call “Sunday Funday, No Run Day.”  I choose Sunday as my day to watch football, eat food, and relax on my couch with Ralph. I also use this day as my day off from running and working out. My girlfriend Anna and I try to take frequent jogs around our neighborhood in Arizona to stay in shape when I am not working out at the field. Sundays hold a strict “no running” policy.

Today was the first off day of the AFL. Once the games start, Sundays will become the only day each week where I will not have to be at the field for a game or practice. This is actually really nice, considering I normally only get 1 or 2 off days a month during the entire regular minor league season.

I have been a little upset today because my fantasy football team did terrible. We had a few people over to BBQ, so that helped take my mind off of it. My AFL teammate, and fellow Cincinnati Red, Travis Webb and his wife hung out for a while. He and I both talked about how ready we are for the games to start. There is only one more day of practice until the fun begins.

Well, I am off to enjoy the rest of my Sunday. I will check back in on Tuesday after our first game. Thanks for the support!

~Brad Boxberger #35

Hello all,

Unlike the other three outfielders on the Scottsdale Scorpions roster, I probably do need an introduction. My name is Alex Hassan, I was born and raised in Milton, Ma. and played baseball at Duke University in college. I was drafted in the 20th round by the Boston Red Sox as a right handed pitcher. I did not sign initially, and instead went to the Cape Cod Baseball League where I pitched and played the outfield. By the end of the summer the Red Sox decided I would have a better future as an outfielder then as a right handed pitcher, which was pretty exciting for me. People always ask me where do I think I would be if I pitched instead of played the outfield and I always answer “injured”. I signed a contract in August of 2009 and have been working my way through the system ever since. This past season was my second full season in the Red Sox organization where I played the entire year in Double A Portland.

I found out I would be coming to the Arizona Fall League in August and I was immediately really excited about this opportunity. It is definitely a huge honor to be selected to play in this league, something that I know everyone here is really proud of. The thing i am probably most excited about is the opportunity to meet and talk to the coaches and great players in this league. It is always great to get to talk to other players and coaches and sort of pick their brains about their routines, or how they approach the game and what makes them successful. So far we have only had two light workouts but it feels great to be playing baseball again and hanging out with my teammates at the field. Once we start playing games there will be a lot more interesting baseball related topics, but for now I just wanted to introduce myself and let everyone know that I am really excited to have the opportunity to share my AFL experiences.

–Alex Hassan

Hello everyone in cyberworld!

I am going to try to have fun with this blog but at the same time keep you up to date on the AFL action. My name is Anthony Bass. I am a pitcher for the San Diego Padres. I call Trenton, Michigan my hometown even though I was born in Dearborn, Michigan. I attend Wayne State University and am majoring in Business Finance, which I am in the process of completing my degree. I come from a fairly large family of 6. My parents are Ed and Linda. I have two older sisters (Beth Ann and Amy) and one younger brother (David). All of my siblings played sports growing up including basketball, baseball, softball, and football. Even though we are from the north (hockeytown) we have never played hockey. Weird. In my spare time, and yes we do have some time away from baseball, I enjoy fishing, golfing, playing my guitar, and watching movies. I enjoy playing alternative music on my guitar such as the Goo Goo Dolls, Snow Patrol, and Lifehouse. I have been playing for about 5 years now and I still consider myself an amateur by all means. My family and faith are my life. I am very blessed to be able to play a child’s game for a profession. At times it is easy to get caught up in negative talk but I try to stand back and consider the fact that I am one of very few in the world to be able to put on a baseball jersey and go out on a baseball field with 8 other teammates to play the greatest game alive and get paid for it. Wow!

I am looking forward to spending the next month and a half with some of the greatest baseball players in the world. I plan on picking their brains and learning as much as I can during the short period of time we have together. I am excited to continue to grow as a ball player and ready to take my game to all new heights with the help of my new/former teammates and the tremendous staff of the Peoria Javelinas. Let’s have some fun and can’t wait to see our fans at the ballpark. God Bless!

You can also follow me on Twitter and on Facebook!

–Anthony Bass, Pitcher, San Diego Padres

Well hello to all. First things first.. I only have my iPad out here so it can become difficult at times trying to type on this thing. Therefore I apologize in advance for any misspellings or predictive texts that just doesn’t make sense (just making sure I have an excuse ha). My name is Brian Dozier and I am very excited about the next 7 weeks participating in the Arizona Fall League. I believe it’s a great opportunity to play against the best of the best in my profession and to make a lot of friends that are future big leaguers. For a little background info, I am from a small town in Mississippi.. Pop. 3,800 people. Like I said, small! I have one brother, Clay, and one sister Leigh Anne (the real athlete in the fam ha). I went to Southern Miss for 4 years and was actually fortunate enough to play in the college world series my senior year. Good times. This past year was my second full season in the Twins farm system. I finished the year playing AA in New Britain. Today was our first practice out here.. Very laid back. I will be blogging a lot over the next 7 weeks not only about baseball but the inside scoop of everything going on out here. I would love to hear from you guys. If y’all ever have any questions about ANYTHING, (except politics cause I might get in trouble ha) ask me! Well I gotta go! I would be nice and tell you that I don’t have anything else to say for my first blog, but to be honest with you I am just craving Taco Bell and this typing is making my stomach growl even more! Feel free to comment or ask any questions! I’m out! Peace!

-Brian Dozier

Welcome to the best Arizona Fall League blog around.

Why is the best, you ask? That’s easy. This is where the players themselves will blog about their experiences in the AFL. We will have a host of players regularly posting what it’s like for them throughout the course of the 2011 AFL season.

We had to step it up a notch, it being the 20th year of the Fall League and all.

So check back here often to read the latest from those experiencing the AFL first-hand.