Thanks for a great season!

I hope to see some of the kids in Penguin baseball this fall (see prior posting) and next summer in HGRA!

All the best,
john

(PS. I'll take this blog offline in a month or so.)

--
John Faughnan (assist coach)
651-336-5548
jfaughnan@spamcop.net

Penguin Baseball Academy: September-December

I have a flyer (PDF) for the HGRA Penguin Baseball program. This is a 6 Saturday indoor baseball skills program from Sept-December.

Cost $45, ages 8-12 (as of 8/31) at Highland Park High School Fieldhouse. Sounds like a lot of fun, Tim and I will probably do it.

I couldn't find a flyer on the HGRA site; I'll ask for one.

Update 7/19/06: I made a technical mistake and the above link didn't work. Sorry, it should work now.

Parents vs. Redhawks: Last practice 9/15 9am

Our last practice is this Saturday, 7/15 at 9 am. Yeah, it's too soon! (The last game is Tuesday 7/18)

For this practice we'll have a Redhawks vs. Parents game. Hint -- the kids win.

We particularly need parents with very weak baseball skills and strong self-respect, but we'll take the good players too (maybe they can use the t-ball bats). We will rotate but I suggest reserving first base for parents who can't catch. Anyone who's seen me at practice knows I qualify.

Hope to see mothers, fathers and older friends and relatives show up with their gloves. If you have more than one adult glove bring it along for the bravest of the brave -- parents who don't have gloves but are willing to play. Parents are urged not to slide or dive -- ambulances slow the game.

Optional light practice Saturday AM

I plan to go out with Tim and play around. If others are there we can do a light practice or play scrimmage. Completely optional! There's no official practice. I don't think Dan will be there.

HGRA Redhawks: Team Pictures Online June 27, 2006

http://jfaughnan.smugmug.com/gallery/1612391 has team photos. This is a private album, if you don't know the above link it's hard to find.

You can browse them, download full resolution, order prints, etc.

I'll print one as a team photo. I don't have pictures of everyone at bat, but we still have a few games left.

Team Picture June 27, 2006

I'll probably pick this one. Click to see a larger image.

I've put this and a few others on a private smugmug album for downloads or print ordering.

You can download, pick another one you prefer, etc.
--
John Faughnan (assist coach)
651-336-5548
jfaughnan@spamcop.net

Team Picture scheduling

We're picking a day for the team picture. So far:

6/20: one absent
6/27: no absent
7/11: one absent, one tentative
7/18: one absent

The team picture will be at 6:10 pm on 6/27 with a repeat picture after the game just in case. To make the picture players will need to arrive before 6:10 pm. The game starts at 6:30, so we'll do warmup after the picture.

Usual practice 6/3: 9am Macalester field

I'm out of town, but our practice will be at the usual place - Macalester field at 9am. Dan will be there, and Ryan will stand in for me.

Cheers!

No practice Memorial Day weekend (Saturday), thanks for the water, batting rotation

Great game everyone, thanks parents for bringing snacks, bring water (!!! - special thanks), and coaching 1st and 3rd.

There's no practice Memorial Day weekend (Saturday). Of course you can bring a glove and ball on your travels ...

I messed up on the batting rotations, Dan had us cycling the rotation each game but I missed that. So next game we'll hop down the line and then the starting batter will cycle with each game. One of our players brought it up, I'd originally thought I'd flip the rotation mid season but cycling is better. Sorry!

Please send suggestions to me or Dan!

We'll see everyone at the next game on Tuesday, Peter's Dad is bringing snacks then.

Redhawks Update: roster, water, marking gear, helping out

Great game today. I now have pictures and jersey numbers of our team on the roster. As before the password is "hgra" (no quotes). Sorry for the hassle, there's a reason for the password. Now that we have everyone's picture on it I'll hand out copies next practice, or you can print your own.

The batting order starts out the same way every time (see the roster), it would help if you asked your child who's before and after them in the roster. If we can get them to line up that way it will help your beleagured assistant coach. Thanks also to parents who have volunteered to count against the roster so we know who's up next.

If you notice there's no-one coaching first or third please run out and join up. It's easy to do. No knowledge required, you can learn on the job.

It's going to get hot now (yay). If parents bring an old milk jug full of ice water and paper cups that's great. I'll try to remember too.

All our future practices are at Macalester, same field as today, 9am Saturday.

Remember to write your child's name on gloves, caps, and batting gloves.

I think that's all for now ...

Practice tomorrow: Riverside Field 10am

Tomorrow is our last 10am practice at Riverside Field - corner of Lexington and Montreal. Next week we'll be at Macalester starting at 9am.

The weather ought to be awful:

Saint Paul Weather Forecasts on Yahoo! Weather

Cloudy with showers. High 54F. Winds NNW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 40%

Dress warmly and bring raingear and large umbrellas.

HGRA Redhawks: Roster and contact info: Redhawks 2006

HGRA Redhawks: Roster and contact info: Redhawks 2006
has been updated with a new combination roster and treat schedule.

To prevent misuse of email addresses by software robots, it's encrypted. If you click on the above link the password is

hgra

All by itself.

At our next practice I'll write down jersey numbers and print it for everyone for the next game. It includes batting order so parents can spot when I miss someone and help me count to 10! (I need help, for the next game I'm recruiting a parent to help me with some of that!)

HGRA Lessons: $10 for a 30 minute lesson

It's a particularly good deal for two kids - $15.

About HGRA Baseball: Private lessons

We offer private lessons to any HGRA T-ball or baseball player. For just $10.00, your child gets a 30-minute personal lesson with a local high school or college player. You choose hitting, fielding or pitching - we make sure your child gets personalized attention from people who really know the game. For two kids together, or for a full hour of one-on-one instruction, it’s just $15.00 total.

Monday Night Pitching Camp

Redhawks players are eligible for this program:

About HGRA Baseball: Monday Night Pitching Camp

Any Minor or Major Leaguer can drop by the Carondelet softball field (next to Expo School) at 7:00 on Monday nights for an hour of free pitching instruction. If your child wants to learn to pitch or improve their skills, let our high school and college pitchers from our Penguin Baseball program work with them. We also are planning a special visit or two from St. Thomas Academy pitching coach and former Twins minor leaguer Bill Mauer. These sessions begin on May 1.

Roster and contact info: Redhawks 2006

(Revised 5/9/06)

Here we are as of our 5/6 practice, Luke Lacy couldn't attend but the rest of the team is here.

Our team schedule is on the HGRA web site.

An updated roster with treat schedule is here: HGRA Redhawks Team 6 2006 Roster.pdf. The password is: hgra (it is encrypted because othewise software "robots" harvest the email addresses).

I've put together an annotated version of the above team picture to help with learning names. It's been corrected once, please send me corrections. The 1.8MB PDF can be downloaded here.

HGRA Baseball Schedules: Minors - Redhawks

The HGRA site has our schedules, we're in the Minor League and play on Tuesdays at 6:30pm. The Redhawks name comes from the "Oklahoma Redhawks, AAA for Texas in the Pacific Coast League".

The HRGA site also has our minor league rules.

Coach: Dan O'Shea
Assist: John Faughnan 651-699-0920 (home) 651-336-5548 (cell). Best: jfaughnan@spamcop.net.

Practices:
4/29-5/13: Riverside Field - corner of Lexington and Montreal
5/20-7/15: Macalester College softball field