Andrew Hess blogs about Lakeland Flying Tigers


Check out this article from today's Free Press about Flying Tigers hurler and blogger Andrew Hess:
May 29, 2009
Former Wolverine making his mark on the field and in the blogosphereBY KRISTA JAHNKEFREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
There are many reasons Michiganders may know the name Andrew Hess. He played baseball at the University of Michigan and comes from a family of coaches. His mother, Jeanne Hess, coaches volleyball at Kalamazoo College, and his father, Jim Hess, was the women's basketball coach at Western Michigan.
But the best reason to know Hess these days is because he blogs about his experience as a minor leaguer playing for the Tigers with the Class-A Advanced Lakeland Flying Tigers.
Hess, who is 2-2 with a 2.50 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 36 innings, answered a few questions for The Buzz. You can read his blog at http://www.tigersminors.com/category/andrew-hess/.
Q:How did you get started with the blog?
A:It's something I started in the spring of last season, working with the editor of the site. He said, "Hey, want to write sort of a daily journal about what life is like in the minors?" He didn't give me any specifics. But it's been a lot of fun. I enjoy it.
Q:What do you like about it?
A:It gives me an outlet to share what my experience is like and let people know what I'm up to and what the life of a minor league baseball player is like. There's a lot of speculation of what goes on. So I set the record straight.
Q:Do your teammates know or mind?
A:My teammates like it. A lot of the time, they're my inspiration; they're shooting me ideas.
Q:One recent entry says you have seven kinds of milk in your fridge. How many of your teammates do you live with?
A:Right now, it's seven. ... It's a very good-sized house. ... It's great. Most of us are only a few years removed from college, so it's like a throwback to those days. You're surrounded by guys doing same thing as you are. ... Surprisingly, we have a lot of amateur chefs here. We have some guys who can whip together some good meals.
Q:Does that include you?
A:I do whatever can go on the grill.
Q:You talk on the blog about managing yourself during games. What have you learned about that?
A:Well, this is my first season in pro baseball where I'm starting. So it's just learning your approach, how you go out there from pitch one in the first inning. It's a lot different than coming in in the six and seventh innings to face the heart of the lineup. As a starter, you have to know how to build a game how you want it. It's a nice little adjustment period.
Q:You also talk about how you eventually want to find a job in Detroit. I assume you mean one day pitching for the Tigers. You're 24 now. Is that still your goal?
A:It's a goal for everyone who plays. But there are goals, and then you have your realistic goals -- you have to know the difference between what's what. But I look at it like, you have to keep going until they say stop. The only thing I can control is me, and everything else will fall as it will.
Contact KRISTA JAHNKE: 313-223-4493 or kjahnke@freepress.com.

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