Player Journal: Jason Hirsh

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Welcome to spring training 2006. Seeing as how we don't all know each other, lets get the formalities out of the way.

My name is Jason Hirsh. I was drafted out of California Lutheran University (Division III) by the Houston Astros in the 2nd round of the 2003 Amateur Draft. I spent last season in Corpus Christi (Double-A affiliate of the Astros), where I earned Texas League Pitcher of the Year honors. After the year was over I was added to the 40-Man Roster and I now have the privilege of attending my first big league Spring Training.

Being a rookie at my first camp, I had some expectations that a lot of guys probably would not talk to me and I would end up chatting with several of the guys I knew from previous teams we played together on. However, when I showed up it was quite the opposite. My locker is located right next to Brad Lidge, and on the first day of camp he introduced himself and was very friendly. I found the case to be true with several other players there as well, such as Russ Springer, Dan Wheeler and Andy Pettitte. Overall everyone at the camp is very friendly; people say 'good morning' and ask how your doing and engage in friendly conversation. This helped my comfort level around the clubhouse tremendously, because I know that I don't have to tiptoe around the locker room hoping not to upset anyone.

Once camp started I noticed a big difference compared to the Minor League version. Stretching and running in the morning was a much more relaxed atmosphere. For our daily drills, we were broken down into separate groups, each led by a veteran cast member of the big league team. I was fortunate enough to get Andy Pettitte as my group leader. We had three stations, each of which was twenty minutes, and the same tone from stretching was usually carried over to the drills, which made time fly by a little bit faster and made the whole experience much more enjoyable.

For the most part the first couple of weeks are the same thing, day in, day out. We bunt, we hit, we do PFP (Pitchers Fielding Practice) and we run. However, once position players report, we all know that games are just around the corner and the real fun begins. For me, I was a little bit nervous about my first big league game. My opportunity came just a few days ago against the Cleveland Indians. I'm not going to sit here and say I didn't try and overdo some things during the game, because everyone knows once the adrenaline kicks in, all bets are off.

I threw two innings against some of the Indians' regulars and did a decent job. I gave up a home run and walked a guy but got the outs I needed to get and came away from game satisfied and a lot more relaxed. Now that the hard part is over, I can be more relaxed as I get into games further down the line.

Overall my experience here has been a positive one. I've enjoyed every aspect of this camp, from the players to the coaches to the fans. I hope that the rest of spring training is as enjoyable as these last few weeks have been. I hope to get into a few more games and show what I can do all the other players, coaches and fans.

This will become a bi-weekly journal. I've tried to give the most accurate account of what actually has been going on the last few weeks here at camp. If there are any questions about camp, about me, or anything else baseball-related, please feel free to email your questions or comments to: [email protected]. I will try and answer as many as I can, and will include some of your questions along with responses in the next journal.

Thanks for stopping in and Ill see you at the ballpark.