Pre-Match Preparation - Part 1

The new few blog postings will be about tennis. I am reading Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis by Brad Gilbert and Steve Jamison. I have been looking forward to reading this book for the last couple months. I am going to summarize chapter by chapter, for a reference for myself looking back as time goes on.

The first chapter is pre-match preparation. Most players do not spend any time on the tennis court thinking about their opponent and even fewer spend time before the match thinking about their upcoming match. I need to take advantage of this by recognizing my opportunity, analyzing my options and capitalizing on the opportunity by using the best option. I need to do this on my way to the match if not before I head to the match. When I am driving my car to the courts I need to be ready to play. I cannot hit a could double faults in my first service game because I was not ready to play.

I need to follow the following checklist before my match if I have played the player before.

• How did I beat him before?
• What does he do with his shot selection and pattern?
• Does he attack?
• Is he a retriever? 
• Does he serve big?
• What is his return of serve like?
• Did I make mistakes against him last time?
• What kind and why?
• What shots are his best?
• What shots are his worst?
• Was he forcing me to do something that bothered me? 
• Does he start strong and get too cautious on pressure points?
• Was it a close match?
• Were the points long?
• What does he do to affect the atmosphere, mood or tempo of the match?
• Is she very slow between points? 
• Does he get emotional?
• Does she protest a lot of calls?
• Is he great when he gets a lead but not so great when he is losing?
• Do your opponents give you a lot of small talk on changeovers?
• Do they always show up ten minutes late?
• Do they rush through the warm-up and want to start as soon as possible?

After I have played through the last match in my mind and finished going through the checklist, I need to come up with a game plan for the match. The two big questions that I need to answer are:

• What do I want to make happen?
• What do I want to prevent from happening?

To break those two questions down even further, I want to ask the following questions:

• What is my opponent's best weapon?
• Where is my opponent weak?
• What is my best shot and how can I direct it at my opponent's weakness?
• What can I do to keep my opponent away from my own weakness?

By answering all of these questions, I can take an advantage into a match that I otherwise might struggle to win. I need to be ready so that I don't have to think during the big moments of the match, that I can just recall my game plan and hopefully execute it.

Quotes are from the book: Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare of Tennis by Brad Gilbert and Steve Jamison

History of Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos - 2009

Alex Anthropolous

Today Ichiro Suzuki was traded to the Yankees for two minor league pitchers, reliever D. J. Mitchell and Danny Farquhar. Neither of these players were in the top 15 Yankee prospects at the beginning of the year according to Fangraphs. This move seems to throw some positive light onto Yankees GM, Brian Cashman and has made me decide to look at the roster moves that Toronto GM Alex Anthopolous has made in his time as the Blue Jays GM. This report will be broken into three parts (so far) with each part representing one calendar year. This one will represent his first couple months in office, the calendar year 2009.

Oct 28 2009 - Michael Barrett is DFA'd

Michael Barrett ends up in the Mets organization. He spends 15 games in high-A and 16 in AAA before calling it a career.

Oct 28th 2009 - Sean Henn is claimed off of waivers from the Baltimore Orioles.

Sean Henn provides two years of relief in AAA for the Blue Jays before moving on to the Seattle AAA team.

Oct 30th 2009 - Jarrett Hoppauir is claimed off of waivers from the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jarrett Hoppauir plays quite well in AAA in 2010 for the Blue Jays and earns 13 MLB games putting up a WAR of -0.1. After 2010 he moves onto the AAA team of the San Diego Padres and has not returned to the majors.

Nov 6th 2009 - Kevin Millar files for free agency

Kevin Millar provided one season of baseball with the Jays in 2009 and he gave them a WAR of -1.0. AA chooses not to bring him back and he does not play professional baseball again.

Nov 8th 2009 - Rod Barajas files for free agency

Rod Barajas bounces around a few teams since 2010, the Mets, the Dodgers and the Pirates. He has had a WAR of 2.7 in the three seasons. The Blue Jays received a compensation pick for the loss of Barajas.

Nov 25th 2009 - John McDonald signs for two years at 1.5M per year.

John McDonald provides some value off of the bench with a WAR of 0.6 in each of the two seasons that the deal is good for. Good depth signing.

Alex Gonzalez applying a tag in 2011.

Nov 26th 2009 - Alex Gonzalez signs a one year 2.75M contract.

Alex Gonzalez is only a Blue Jay for half of a year. With the Blue Jays in half a year he has a WAR of 2.7 which is worth 10.7M for half a season of baseball. This was a great signing.

Dec 3rd 2009 - Marco Scutaro leaves Toronto to sign with the Boston Red Sox

After two good seasons in Toronto including a huge 2009 season with a WAR of 4.5, Scutaro cashes in and receives a big contract from Boston. In two seasons in Boston, he posts a WAR of 5.3 before moving onto Colorado. The Blue Jays receive two compensation picks.

Dec 4th 2009 - Joe Inglett is lost on waivers to Texas.

Joe Inglett does not even start the season with the Texas Rangers but actually spends the season as a bench player for the Milwaukee Brewers getting into over 100 games. He posts a WAR of 0.7 which is an alright season for a bench player. In 2011, he plays for the Houston Astros and struggles with a -0.3 WAR. He has yet to play in 2012.

Dec 7th 2009 - Fabio Castro is lost on waivers to the Boston Red Sox

Fabio Castro was a starter in AAA for the Blue Jays in 2009. He has been a pitcher in AA & AAA for Boston, Seattle and Oakland since but has never reached the majors.

Dec 10th 2009 - Zech Zinicola is chosen by the Blue Jays in the Rule V draft.

Zech Zinicola starts the season back with his original team, the Washington Nationals. He has still not made the majors.

Dec 13th 2009 - Raul Chavez is lost to free agency

He is retained playing in AAA for the Blue Jays for 2010, the Mets for 2011 and is out of baseball this season.

Dec 13th 2009 - John Buck is signed for 2M a year for one year.

John Buck hits 20 HRs in his only season as a Toronto Blue Jay. He has a WAR of 2.8 while hitting .281.

Dec 13th 2009 - Joey Gathright is signed

Joey Gathright does not play any games in the Blue Jays and plays just 7 games in the majors after this date.

Dec 13th 2009 - Jose Bautista is resigned to a 2.4M contract.

In 2010, Jose Bautista hit 54 HR's and had a WAR of 6.8. Amazing contract.

Dec 13th 2009 - Dustin McGowan is signed for 500k for one year.

Dustin McGowan is a great asset to hang onto but he has been hurt since 2008 other than a few games in 2011. He is again hurt this year.

Dec 14th 2009 - Roy Halladay is traded to Philadelphia for Kyle Drabek, Travis D'Arnaud and Michael Taylor. Michael Taylor is traded to Oakland for Brett Wallace.

When Roy Halladay was dealt he
took out a full page ad in a Toronto
Newspaper thanking the Toronto fans

This is one of the biggest days in the history of the Toronto Blue Jays. Arguably their best pitcher ever is traded to Philadelphia. Halladay has picthed a no-hitter and a perfect game since. He has a WAR of 16.6 in over 550 IP. Travis D'Arnaud is current Toronto Blue Jays' second top prospect. Wallace turned into Anthony Gose, the Blue Jays top prospect. Kyle Drabek is a top prospect as well, pitching alright this year before undergoing Tommy John surgery. This is a move to continue to monitor. Halladay: 16.6 D'Arnaud: 0 Gose: -0.2 Drabek: -0.2

Dec 22nd 2009 - Brandon League and PTBNL dealt to Seattle for Brandon Morrow.

This is a great move for the Jays trading a player that struggled with the Jays as a reliever for a future number one starter. Brandon League became a closer as the seasons went on. League: 2.3 Morrow: 8.7.

The first few months of AA's tenure involved a couple of major moves getting Brandon Morrow, Kyle Drabek and Travis D'Arnaud. He chose to keep free agent Jose Bautista and sign John Buck and Alex Gonzalez to one year contracts, both assets that will prove valuable in 2010.