CAT'S CORNER

Welcome to the new version of CatOsterman.com!!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated you guys, but we were waiting until we could launch the new site. Now that it’s here, I plan on keeping my blog, pictures and videos updated more frequently. I hope you enjoy the new site, and come back to visit more.

Let’s see. Where should I start? Last time I wrote I think we were in Venezuela with the National Team. What a trip that was! We pretty much only saw the field and the hotel for 13 days. We were allowed out once to walk around and shop, but for the 14 of us that went, I think we had seven security people with us. They were intense with security, which is a good thing. Don’t get me wrong – it just made for a rather large group of people walking together. We encountered some kind of parade going on. Music groups stopped and performed for us on the sidewalks, and even quite a few teammates jumped in and danced with the performers. One of the performers came to grab my hand to dance, but I quickly screamed and hid. Haha… I actually got a picture of him walking towards me with his hand out.

The tournament went as well as we could have expected. Our team was ready to play and claim the No. 1 ranking back. Not a lot of people know what we feel every time we take the field knowing that our performance at the 2008 Olympics is what most people remember about us.

When the championship game rolled around you could just see in our faces that we were ready to take on Japan and claim this World Championship. Personally, I was honored Coach gave me the ball in that game. My pitching hadn’t been normal, so to speak, but I was slowly getting more and more comfortable as the tournament went on. In the semifinal I really felt good, so I was confident going into the final game. Unfortunately, that night ended in my first arm injury of my career. At the start of the game I felt sore, but nothing out of the ordinary. As the innings when on I could feel my forearm and biceps getting tight, but it didn’t hurt, so I was going to keep going. The 3rd inning became kind of painful, and about four pitches into the 4th I felt a pull or twinge that did it. I strained my biceps tendon where it inserts into the radial bone. We thought it was torn at first, but a second MRI by the arm guru – Dr. Andrews – showed no tear.

The six weeks that followed my injury seemed like the longest ones ever. Not being able to play, and just having to watch the Pride take the field day in and day out was so hard. I wanted to be out there and contributing, but it also made me see things from a different perspective. This game consumes my life – sometimes I think too much – but when it’s taken away from me for even just six weeks, I was going crazy. The injury truly made me realize how much I love this game, and how much I can’t live without it yet.

When the Pride came to Round Rock, Texas, for a series I went and saw a doctor here that did some work on my arm. It was possible for me to pitch again! I have to thank Brian Ellspermann for working some magic!

It was awesome to see the turnout for our series in Round Rock. I was disappointed not to be able to pitch, but it was awesome to see how many people came to support the game and hopefully fall in love with our league. We hope to bring more series back to Texas. Maybe a team too (hint, hint to anyone out there)!

As I mentioned, towards the end of summer, I was able to throw again. I slowly started getting some relief innings in to work my way back into shape. I was excited to be on the mound again, and it was a good feeling to see my teammates excited for me to get back out there. I came off the field after my first inning to tons of smiles and high fives with more emotion than just a normal inning. I loved it.

The Pride went into playoffs on a high. We won our series against Chicago in Round Rock, and took two series against Akron. We were coming together at the right time. With so many National Team members coming and going all summer, it took a little while for us to all gel, but we did … and boy, what a week we had in Sulphur, La.

Sulphur was an amazing host to the NPF Championships. If you ask the players, we could have stayed at that hotel/casino for a month. There was a lazy river running around the outside and we soaked up the sun every free chance we had. We faced Akron in the first round, and won the series two games to one. After our initial game, Karli Hubbard’s family had a good home-cooked Cajun meal for us. We had everything you could dream of. I was in heaven!!

Going into playoffs my roll was supposed to be strictly relief, and I loved it. As the “closer,” I got the last 2-3 innings of most of our games, until the last day. Down 5-1 against Chicago, Coach Walton told me I wouldn’t be going in, so to stop warming up. However, I wasn’t expecting what came next. Coach asked if I wanted to start the final game of Championships, and go as long as my arm would take me. In my mind I was just hoping to make it 5 innings. I started, and after each inning I had two of my best friends encouraging me to keep going. Megan was counting down the outs inning by inning, “18 more to go…. 15 more…. You got 12 left in you.” And Kelly kept joking, “Earn your pay check since you’ve been hurt!” I gutted out all 7 innings, mainly on adrenaline. My arm felt ok – not great, but not bad – but it didn’t like me for the next 4-5 days! It was worth it to win the Championship again! =)

After playoffs Megan and I drove from Florida to Texas, where I quickly turned around to fly to Chicago, pack a UHaul, and drive my life all back down to Austin. In May I resigned from my position as assistant coach at DePaul University. I loved coaching, but I just felt like I needed some time to regroup and have a little down time. I may return to coaching one day, but for now I am enjoying life in Austin.

The NPF has put together a Back to School Tour, where we take on the colleges in their fall seasons. We are enjoying traveling the country, meeting new fans, and hopefully increasing the awareness of our league and the game. The league has great competition, but it needs to grow, and we are hoping we can start that initiative through our tour.

One thing I haven’t mentioned from this summer is it marked the end of one of the greatest players careers. Jennie Finch decided it was time for her to leave her cleats at home, and retire. I have been fortunate to play with and against Jennie for 10 years now. Looking back, I can recall so many memories and stories of our times on the road together. In 2004, I joked I was her doll because I would let her put makeup on me and pick out my outfits when we were being tourists. Heaven knows I didn’t know a thing about fashion or make up. I remember a six-hour bus ride in China where I don’t think the two of us ever stopped snacking. She plucked my eyebrows for the first time ever… the list goes on.

Since 2003, Jennie and I have both been on the staff for the main National Team, and our up top high five is something I looked forward to every time I came off the field, whether she realized it or not.

Jennie, I tried to say it all in your tribute video, but you will truly be missed. I have enjoyed every moment with you, learned so much from you, and become a better person because of the example you are. It won’t be the same to come off the mound and not have you there. I wish you, Casey and Ace the best! =)

I could fill pages with more stories and such from the summer, but this blog is long enough! Stop by again soon to catch up with me, the tour, and the ever busy but amazing life I’m blessed enough to lead!

Going on with a new perspective…
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