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description= The rants, raves, tears, and joys of a baseball fan named Dave.;
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his heart was always undeniably in the game another part of this lesson from jeter is to follow the leader this can be taken two ways one way is to follow in the footsteps of a role model another is until you are at the very top there is always someone above you to look up to it is always very important to respect a superior it will pay off in the end 9 think before you act every action has a consequence good or bad ask yourself is this good for me is this going to help me accomplish my goal in life if the answer is no it s probably something to avoid we must all control our impulses and focus on the bigger picture 10 life is a daily challenge every day we are met with challenges there will always be good and bad days life is not easy but we if we attack it with the right mindset and work ethic we might just be up to the challenge like me on facebook follow me on twitter bleacherboy10 email me thebleacherboy yahoo com header image from jordan derek jeter tribute ad share bleacher boy tweet email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr print opens in new window print like loading february 2nd 2017 1 comment mlb today david s a new start for bleacher boy david strobach if you are a frequent visitor to this site you probably barely recognize it over the past few months i have worked on recreating bleacher boy as well as securing my own official domain bleacherboy com you can also find my new fresh logo in the top left of this site too as i am now able to brand myself if you are a new viewer welcome so let me reintroduce myself my name is david strobach the 16 year old author owner of this site baseball has been my passion since i could hold a bat i have been writing and maintaining bleacher boy since i was 12 my goal is to write professionally one day and hopefully be able to report on baseball over the past four years bleacher boy has grown and is viewed in over 100 countries i have been a top 100 mlblog every year on mlb com since 2013 and have been featured on fox news to get a feel for this site check out a few of my top posts bleacher boy is a platform for me to share my personal views and report on all things baseball related as a young teen student athlete i bring a very unique perspective to the table i tend to focus my writing towards coaches and young athletes sharing my take on various aspects of the game that effect young athletes to professional players i often like to discuss the mental game for example it fascinates me how a game of failure can be used to mirror our life in so many ways sabermetrics is also a passion of mine don t run in fear i promise not to bore you with math but i will share some interesting analysis of how numbers play a factor in the success and failure of a team or individual thanks for helping me jump start bleacher boy as i begin an exciting new era i hope you will continue to join me as i share my passion for the game and life as always i welcome any comments and advice looking forward to the future with you all like me on facebook follow me on twitter bleacherboy10 email me thebleacherboy yahoo com share bleacher boy tweet email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr print opens in new window print like loading january 28th 2017 leave a comment mlb today david s new orleans baby cakes david strobach warning scary big babies below viewers may experience nightmares the miami marlins triple a affiliate s named has been changed from the zephyrs to the baby cakes yes that is correct let s take a look we re proud to introduce our new identity the new orleans baby cakes pic twitter com 6kwlxkrmcf nola baby cakes cakesbaseball november 15 2016 the nightmares it s like mardigra chuckie with a baseball bat and a crown i wouldn t want to wake up in the middle of the night and see this big baby maybe that s how they are supposed to intimidate opposing teams i mean if i saw a team of big chuckie babies i am gone aside from the fact that the mascot is terrifyingly hideous i get it i do love how this name applies to the new orleans area and their religious traditions so if a player goes through the marlin s minor league system they get promoted from a jumbo shrimp to a baby cake goals what are your thoughts on this new logo share bleacher boy tweet email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr print opens in new window print like loading january 10th 2017 leave a comment mlb today david s baseball the castro connection david strobach there is no hall of fame where castro is going fidel castro the cruel and harsh cuban dictator may have had an opportunity that could have altered the path of cuba history and his own life fidel castro was a star pitcher at the university of havana it was always rumored that fidel tried out for either the washington senators or the new york yankees so what if what if he had made the team this is more than baseball this is world history castro one of the most cruel dictators in the world could things have gone differently he ranks among the inhumane ruthless dictators in history let s review castro a communist lived in an obscenely luxurious palace ruled with violent military force while his own people would average an income of about 19 dollars a month human rights were being stripped from the people including freedom of choice freedom of religion and freedom of speech embargos left the people hungry and without employment whoever would oppose him was imprisoned many disappeared and thousands were forced to flee cuba so many innocent lives and families were affected sadly numerous people were tortured and killed think about this what would ve have happened to cuba if fidel castro made it to the bigs would so many lives still have been ruined would another ruthless dictator just have taken his place in history how would the cuban missile crisis have turned out would it ever have happened at all would cuba be communist if not would they have been our allies could the cold war have ended differently or at least the threats could world history have been totally different what if headlines read castro throws no hitter instead of castro kills protesters it s amazing to think what would have happened if he had only made the team and been part of something awesome like baseball perhaps now after his passing relations with cuba will change and in turn we can enjoy baseball together like me on facebook follow me on twitter bleacherboy10 email me thebleacherboy yahoo com pic from http sabr org bioproj topic fidel castro and baseball share bleacher boy tweet email a link to a friend opens in new window email share on reddit opens in new window reddit share on tumblr print opens in new window print like loading november 26th 2016 leave a comment baseball fun facts dear viewers having fun in baseball mlb past mlb today mlblogs write in uncategorized david s living strong david strobach in honor of the anniversary of my brother zach kicking cancer s butt i wanted to post our story i was sitting at the kitchen table one afternoon in early october 2005 drawing a picture my sister delilah was at her friend s house my brother zach went to a car show with friends and my twin sophie was home with me the sun was shining trying to add warmth to the crisp cool fall day and there i sat carefree enjoying the pretty fall colors drawing leaves with assorted crayons of red yellow and orange then my mother received a troubling phone call from one of zach s friends his friend nate with a sickening worry in his voice told my mother that zach was having intense pain in his groin and lower back he couldn t even walk i saw my mom put down the phone knowing something was wrong from the look on her face even though i was only five years old i could sense something wasn t right that was when the darkness came as soon as zach got home my mother rushed outside i never actually saw zach and that s when i knew that it could be more serious she told me she had to take zach to the hospital that s when i flipped my picture over to draw something else i started to draw a picture for zach of him in an ambulance i was hoping everything would be okay looking back i remember my mother telling me that she thought zach may have just torn or popped something in his groin or lower back because he was a skater and may have fallen she thought some movement may have made it out of whack zach had a slight pain for a little while before the car show day he even went to a chiropractor for some physical therapy this was a very reasonable and a logical thought she was very wrong and the darkness stayed mom transported zach from his friend s car to our car and rushed him to the hospital there they found a mass on one of zach s testicles my mom heard a vague comment about lance armstrong but was confused they wouldn t tell her anything other than to come back the next morning to see a specialist they decided to do immediate surgery even without a biopsy a biopsy was too risky because there was a risk that trying to extract this suspicious mass would cause some cells to fall into the bloodstream if some cells fell into the bloodstream it could spread throughout his body after surgery the doctors reported to my parents that zach had cancer for sure it was called testicular cancer they told her it was the most aggressive type of cancer cell the doctors did say that they believed that they extracted all of the cancer zach was sent home and everything was thought to be okay they also found nothing in his blood cells to detect cancer they didn t know zach was marker negative which means the cancer cells would not come up in blood tests my mother thought it was strange that he was just fine maybe it was just the darkness but she had a gut feeling that something was wrong just to be sure my mother wanted a second opinion she took zach down to rush hospital in chicago the doctor they saw was a trained specialist in this field he worked under the doctor that treated the famous biker lance armstrong who also had testicular cancer after zach was checked out the doctors brought back terrible news the cancer had already spread to parts of his abdomen and lymph nodes it would be awhile before the light and laughter would return to our home it s so weird how life can literally change in an instant before this zach was on top of the world he had just turned sixteen had a girlfriend got a driver s license and he got a sharp little sports car he had just started his junior year at walden h s then it came all crashing down on a sunny sunday afternoon the clouds and the darkness came in the form of cancer an uninvited stranger in our home if left unchecked the cancer would have progressed to the lungs and to the brain zach again needed a very complicated and immediate surgery if my mother didn t trust her gut and didn t bring him in for a second opinion the doctors said zach would have died within six months to 2 years my mom and dad understandably had trouble dealing with the news they felt overwhelmed depressed and shocked they couldn t process and learn all the necessary information fast enough my sister delilah was in fifth grade and adored zach she was scared but young enough to be a little clueless sophie and i could sense something was wrong but we were confused cancer was like having an unwelcome stranger move in where everyone is acting differently and i tried to be on my best behavior sadness clouded our family we were scared that we didn t know what was wrong there many hushed phone calls and sleepless nights for us all zach was down mentally and physically scared exhausted yet hopeful and strong it was frustrating for him to have to rely on everyone else to do things for him zach was used to being thought of as a good looking guy and vanity wise it began to hurt his ego he just wanted life to get back to normal in the surgery they removed all of the cancerous areas that were shown on the mri s then they ordered several treatments of chemotherapy to flush out all remaining cells he was out on a six month plan which was considered short but still treacherous chemotherapy is a variety of medicine that they put through an iv in your body to attack your cancer cells but in fact it really is poison that kills the fastest growing cells in your body which include the lining of your mouth your intestines white blood cells hair nails skin and finally cancer cells so while you re attacking cancer cells you are attacking all of those other things a lot of people think chemotherapy is one thing but each phase is different it s specifically designed for each patient there is also some trial and error because too much can harm you and too little wouldn t help at all just when you think having cancer is bad enough going through the chemotherapy results in devastating side effects when mom brought zach to the chemotherapy section of the hospital she said it sucked the air out of her lungs and she couldn t breathe everyone around her looked like they were dying she realized zach would look like this soon zach lost his hair everywhere on his body he once said that you don t realize how much you need you nose hair because when you bend over everything drains out he laughed a little bit of light broke through his hair follicles even hurt a vivid memory my mother still sadly tells me is when zach was lying in the hospital bed and complained that his head hurt when he shifted a huge chunk of his beautiful black thick hair was now part of the pillow and no longer a part of zach it took my mother s breath away and she was speechless as she started to tear up when zach lost his hair i remember being terrified of him until then the scars and gory stuff was buried beneath bandages and clothes now i could see the metamorphosis left behind by cancer sunken lifeless eyes and pale grey hairless skin moved into my brother s body zach was so weak so sad that his little siblings including myself were scared of him he was frightened not recognizing his own reflection in the mirror the darkness grew and black spots began to appear on his fingertips and toes it was the chemo burning his body from the inside out also as a result of the chemo zach had painful ulcers in his mouth and intestines he experienced nausea and brain fog my mother tells me that one day zach woke up screaming and peeing blood because of kidney stones caused by the chemotherapy to try to counteract some of the side effects they gave zach steroids these at least provided some relief and gave zach an appetite but also resulted in a bloated look further distorting his normal good looks but zach my brother my inspiration was not going to be beat glimmers of light started to appear and brighten our home and zach s spirits we were all going to battle to fight this zach s support from walden was monumental studen...
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