Hey everyone, this is Mike Baxter writing you from sunny Peoria, AZ.  I am originally from Queens, NY, so the fact that I am still wearing shorts and t-shirts in late November is pretty amazing.  That all comes to an end, though, Sunday when the Fall League ends and I head back to the city for Thanksgiving with my family.  It’s been a pretty long year, and the idea of some time off is pretty exciting.  I will spend about a week in NY before heading back down to Nashville for the rest of the offseason where I train with some other ballplayers at my old college, Vanderbilt.  Nashville has become my offseason home the past few years, and the coaches there have been awesome as they let us all come back and use the facilities throughout the winter.  I’m not sure where I would be today without them. 

The Fall League has been a great experience as it has given me the opportunity to keep working on my game against some very talented players.  I ended up getting more playing time than originally expected, and have been lucky to come across some very knowledgeable people out here.  Every morning we show up it’s a certainty that Eck, Jack, and Jimmy Lefebrve (our hitting coaches) will be in the cage ready to get to work, and I have learned a lot from these guys.  Hopefully, I can take their lessons into the offseason and keep working on my swing.

Right now the Sags are tied for first place with Mesa as we make our push for the Championship over these next four games.  It’s coming down to the wire and keeping each day exciting at the end of a long season.  We have got a really great group of guys on this team and everyone is still locked in and ready to play.  Hopefully we can pull through and end this year on a great note.  Thanks to everyone for following all of us Padres out here, and let me know if you guys have any questions or comments I can answer.

-Mike