Project #3 Print (TJ Acierno)

The unexpected tragic events that have occurred in Japan have left many in doubt. Doubt about what the future is going to be like for Japan, doubt about whether family members are alive or dead, doubt about if there is any way to recover from such devastation. Recovery is going to take time after the destruction of homes and major power plants along the Japanese coast. Help is greatly needed. Many people and organizations have already been very generous and have provided aid and money. But here in the United States, Major League Baseball has the most players from Japan and has been the most active sport in the Japan relief efforts thus far.

            “We have been in communication with the members of our office in Tokyo,” said Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig. “Through our shared love of baseball for more than a century, Japan is a particularly special place to us, and we are deeply saddened by the disaster that has confronted the nation.”

            Several Japanese players across the league have already expressed their concerns. Daisuke Matsuzaka of the Boston Red Sox expressed his concerns when he could not find his grandmother several days after the tsunami hit Japan. Fortunately Matsuzaka was finally able to contact his grandmother to find out that she was safe. Ichiro Suzuki was in a similar situation when he could not contact his parents, who were eventually found. Suzuki has made a personal donation of $1.25 million dollars which was matched by his team, the Seattle Mariners. Takashi Saito of the Milwaukee Brewers was given permission to leave spring training so that he could locate his family. Saito has since located his wife and their 3 daughters but has not had the same kind of luck with locating his parents. Two Oakland A’s players Hideki Matsui and Kurt Suzuki are both from Japan and were both devastated when they heard the news. Matsui has not heard from his family that lives in Japan but is not worried because his family does not live in the area of Japan that the tsunami hit. Suzuki on the other hand is very concerned because he has not heard from his family who live in the area that was most affected by the tsunami.    

            Teams across the league have set up fundraisers to help Japan. The Los Angeles Dodgers have teamed up with the American Red Cross and have already raised $60,000 and will continue their fundraising once the season starts. The San Diego Padres are having Japanese Heritage Night which is scheduled for May 20^th in which the Padres are going to accept donations which will all go to Japanese relief efforts. The Oakland A’s have also set up a Japanese Heritage Night which is scheduled for April 3^rd. The A’s will be facing  Ichiro Suzuki’s Seattle Mariners that day in a game where Suzuki’s full attention will be on the field, but gratitude will be to the Oakland organization. Donations are still being made by Major League Baseball as Japan starts their climb out of this giant hole.   

Sources:

http://www.aolnews.com/2011/03/16/major-league-baseball-sends-relief-to-japan/

http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/story/Tsunami-Japan-baseball-players-reaction-031111

Project #3 Blog (TJ Acierno)

It is no news to the reader of this blog that what has happened in Japan over the last couple of weeks has been nothing but tragic. When I first heard about the tsunami I was back home in San Diego enjoying my spring break. I remember turning on the news and watching live on television a giant tsunami completely destroying Japan’s coast. In my opinion it looked like something out of a movie. There were homes that were collapsing and cars that were being crushed and thrown around. Here in the United States we have seen similar tragedies.

            The first one that comes to mind is September 11th . It was the worst terrorist attack on United States soil and the death toll almost reached 3,000 people. The death toll in Japan has already surpassed 4,000 people. The other tragedy that our nation encountered was when Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf of Mexico. Thousands of people were left homeless and did not know what to do next.

            One organization that has always helped people when in need has been the American Red Cross. The American Red Cross specializes in providing aid, food, water, and shelter to places that are suffering. They are usually one of the first organizations to respond to any type of tragedy. The American Red Cross has lived up to their reputation and are helping the people that are suffering in Japan. Knowing that Major League Baseball has several Japanese players, the American Red Cross decided to team up with Major League Baseball and the two organizations have raised money for Japan. So far $60,000 dollars has been raised for Japan. This fundraising will continue into the regular season.

            Teams have set up special event fundraisers that will benefit Japan directly. Players have also made out of pocket donations like Ichiro Suzuki who donated $1.25 million dollars. That same amount was matched by his team, the Seattle Mariners .

            In a sports world that is so dominated by money and how much players and owners are making, it is nice and refreshing to see such generosity from these organizations and players. It is often the case that professional athletes get stereotyped as rich, selfish people. I personally love seeing this type of reaction to a tragedy because it just reminds us why we are attracted to sports in the first place, to gain enrichment and to learn from our role models.   

You Will Be Missed

Opening Day is only a week and a half away and I could not be any more excited for the start of the new baseball season. Recently people have been asking me for my thoughts and opinions about the Padres. As a fan you always want your team to be the best that they can possibly be. There are some cases where teams overachieve for one season, and then there are other cases where teams underachieve.

            As it relates to the Padres, I think they completely overachieved last season. Last season the Padres only had one star player (Adrian Gonzalez) who was traded during the offseason to the Boston Red Sox for minor league prospects. Not having Gonzalez in the lineup this season is going to hurt the Padres chances at winning the division championship. Gonzalez is the type of player that can hit 40 homeruns and drive in over 100 runners in a season.

            Jon Garland is another player that the Padres are going to miss. Garland signed a 1 year contract with the Padres last season and was not offered arbitration by the team.  After searching for a new contract he got an offer from the Los Angeles Dodgers and signed a new 1 year contract. Garland will be missed because of his experience. Garland is a player that won a World Series with the Chicago White Sox in 2005 and has been a consistent 10 to 15 game winner during his career.

            And finally, the player that has a heart bigger than his body, David Eckstein. For the past two seasons the most consistent play has come from David Eckstein. He is a player that has been criticized because of his size (5 feet 7 inches tall) which is below the average major leaguer. But he plays the game with passion, desire, and heart. Eckstein is also a winner; he is the only shortstop in Major League history to win a World Series as the starting shortstop in both the American and National League. That type of leadership is not replaceable and will be missed this season. Eckstein is currently a free agent still waiting for a contract offer from a team.   

Petco Park

Since 2004, the home of the San Diego Padres has been Petco Park. Before Petco Park, the Padres used to play their home games at Qualcomm Stadium which is the home of the San Diego Chargers. Both the Chargers and the Padres used to share the stadium until the 2004 season.

Petco Park is a very unique stadium because it is located in the heart of downtown San Diego which is different from many stadiums around the United States. The Stadium has created an economic boost to the San Diego economy especially in downtown.

Construction started for Petco Park in 2000. The stadium was suppose to open in 2003 but opened a year later because construction workers went on strike which caused delays.

After construction was complete, Petco Park was recognized as one of the best stadiums in the country. The stadium can hold 45,000 people and has two unique features. First, they have what is know as the Park at the Park. The Park at the Park is a little park behind the batter's eye in center field which has a little wiffle ball field and a playground for little children. A ticket to go to the Park at the Park during a Padre game only cost $5 which is one of the most affordable tickets in sports. The second unique feature is the building that sits in left field. Back in the 1930's, the Western Metal Supply Company Building was the tallest building in San Diego and captures a lot of San Diego's history. The builders of Petco Park wanted to keep the history of the Western Metal Building and built the stadium around the building. It is the only stadium to have completed such a task.

Capture the Storm Film (I am a Fan)

For my Capture the Storm Video Project, I decided to ask a couple of my friends to help me out. I recorded the video on a digital camera which takes pictures and records video. I recorded the video in my room, I know that the video would have worked better if I would have gotten my friends to stand in from of various buildings of the university but most of my friends were only available at night and obviously there is no light at night so it was the best possible option. I am calling the film, "I am a Fan." At the beginning of the film I ask my friends, "What are you a fan of?" and they answer using words that describe the mission of St. John's Univeristy. I also wanted my friends to be wearing something that represented St. John's. I had them wearing Sweatshirts, others were wearing hats. It took a couple of hours to make the film. In my opinion it looks more like a commercial for St. John's University. I am currently having problems uploading the film but hopefully I can get it up soon.

Nick Hundley

Nick Hundley is someone that the Padres are going to be relying on heavily this season. Since being called up the major leagues during the 2008 season, Hundley has never been a full time catcher, he has always had to share time with another catcher. In his first season he had to share time with Josh Bard, the following year with Henry Blanco, and last year with Yorvit Torrelaba.

Torrelaba did play in more games than Hundley last year because Hundley's hitting did not come around like the team had hoped it would and Torrelaba had more experience which was needed as the Padres were pushing for a spot in the playoffs last season. The scouting report on Hundley over the last couple of years has been that he calls a very good game, meaning that he knows the pitchers on his pitching staff very well and knows what pitches to call in certain situations. He has also been know to be a very solid defensive catcher. He rarely allows any pass balls and  throws out most of the runners that try to steal bases on him. But the problem has always been his hitting.

Hundley has a career batting average of .242 which way below what a major league hitter should be hitting. Hundley has come into spring training this season 20 pounds heavier and I am not talking about 20 pounds of fat, I am talking about 20 pounds of solid muscle. He is putting on this weight so he wants to drive the ball better which is very important especially in Petco Park where the outfield is so big. If Hundley can hit line drives to the big gaps that would create a lot of opportunities for the Padres.

The Padres are also looking for Hundley to become a leader on this team this seaons. Even though he is only coming into his third full season in the league, he is one of the few players on this roster that has been with the Padres for 3 years. He understands Bud Black's style of managing and he has become a fan favorite as well. If he can start hitting consistently and continue his lights out defense, the Padres will have a star in the making.

Photographs

 This is a picture of my friend Lee. As you can probably already tell from looking at this picture, Lee loves XBOX and he loves to play video games. Lee and I have been friends since our freshmen year and one thing he has always been is a video gamer. One weekend last year Lee played XBOX for almost 48 straight hours. It is almost an addiction. This is my candid photo.

 This is a picture of my friends Lee, Victor, Pat, and Declan. This picture was taken after we played a prank our friend Matt who had gone home that weekend. What we did for the prank was we took Matt's bed mattress and and we wrapped it in plastic wrap, the kind that you would use for covering food before you put it in the mircowave. It took us about an hour to cover the whole mattress with 5 rolls of the plastic wrap. This is my group photo.

 This is a close up picture of a place on campus. This is a picture of my townhouse that is near gate 1. For the past year I have lived in Townhouse I Apartment J101. My opinion is that the townhouses are better than living in the dorms because there is a lot more freedom and you are not being watched like a hawk by the resident directors.

 This is a long shot of my townhouse. I think that the DeAngelo Center and the Townhouses are the best looking buildings on Campus.

This is a picture of me in front of my townhouse building.