Day in the life: Donovan Hand
JSU Ace Pitcher
Toni Merriss
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: Sports
People typically believe that baseball is a sport only played in the spring. For many, however, as soon as one season ends, preparation for the next year begins.
Putting in long hours to perfect what spectators view as an effortless talent is nothing new for JSU's number one starting pitcher, junior business major Donovan Hand.
"Many people do not realize all the time that goes into playing baseball. It is very demanding but in a good way. It has personally taught me some very valuable lessons," said the Hatton native.
Learning self-discipline is a must when the choices you make can not only affect your performance but also contribute to an entire team's performance.
"It is kind of funny to think about a 20-year-old going to bed at 9 p.m. because he has something to get up early for," laughed Hand. "My parents will call me at night and sometimes wake me up. They stay up later than I do."
Three days a week, Hand has to wake up at 5:30 for morning workouts with the baseball team. The entire team works out from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m., before many normal people even think about getting out of bed. Grabbing some breakfast before heading to class is the usual routine for Hand. Once he is out of class, hunger strikes again as he grabs something to eat on his way to practice.
The whole team usually begins practice by stretching and running together to get loose. Then they get the field ready for BP by putting up the "L" screen and getting the rollaway batting cage set up.
"At this point, Coach [Jim] Case usually gives the pitchers their assignments for the day. He just kind of goes over what he wants us to do and work on for the day," said Hand. Depending on the day, practice can vary greatly for each pitcher because there is a rotation that they go by, and for each pitcher it can change slightly.
Day one is the day they get to actually pitch. Day two consists of running 20-20-20, which means jogging for 20 minutes, doing 20 poles and 20 60-yard sprints. Day three is doing the same thing but only in increments of 12 this time, in addition to a session of long-toss. Finally, on day four, the pitcher gets a break from running and instead throws a bullpen. Once this sequence is completed on their respective days, it is time to start all over at day one - pitching.
Putting in long hours to perfect what spectators view as an effortless talent is nothing new for JSU's number one starting pitcher, junior business major Donovan Hand.
"Many people do not realize all the time that goes into playing baseball. It is very demanding but in a good way. It has personally taught me some very valuable lessons," said the Hatton native.
Learning self-discipline is a must when the choices you make can not only affect your performance but also contribute to an entire team's performance.
"It is kind of funny to think about a 20-year-old going to bed at 9 p.m. because he has something to get up early for," laughed Hand. "My parents will call me at night and sometimes wake me up. They stay up later than I do."
Three days a week, Hand has to wake up at 5:30 for morning workouts with the baseball team. The entire team works out from 6:00 to 7:00 a.m., before many normal people even think about getting out of bed. Grabbing some breakfast before heading to class is the usual routine for Hand. Once he is out of class, hunger strikes again as he grabs something to eat on his way to practice.
The whole team usually begins practice by stretching and running together to get loose. Then they get the field ready for BP by putting up the "L" screen and getting the rollaway batting cage set up.
"At this point, Coach [Jim] Case usually gives the pitchers their assignments for the day. He just kind of goes over what he wants us to do and work on for the day," said Hand. Depending on the day, practice can vary greatly for each pitcher because there is a rotation that they go by, and for each pitcher it can change slightly.
Day one is the day they get to actually pitch. Day two consists of running 20-20-20, which means jogging for 20 minutes, doing 20 poles and 20 60-yard sprints. Day three is doing the same thing but only in increments of 12 this time, in addition to a session of long-toss. Finally, on day four, the pitcher gets a break from running and instead throws a bullpen. Once this sequence is completed on their respective days, it is time to start all over at day one - pitching.
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