Abby's New Dress!

Abby's new Irish dance dress arrived today from the dressmaker (Lewis Irish Dresses located in Canada). Abby tried it on real quick in between driver training class and Irish dance class. She sent me a text with a picture of the dress. Here it is, hot off the presses! She seems to like it - and why not, it's beautiful (so is she)! Hopefully it will bring her some good luck at the Detroit Feis ... and of course, the Nationals competition coming up in July.

Astros Lose Close Game vs Athletics

The Astros continued to play tough again tonight against the Athletics. It was a see-saw battle with both teams tied 9-9 at the bottom of the 6th inning. Unfortunately, the Athletics were a really good hitting team, and the balls just kept dropping in where our players weren't. Other than two innings where we made some mental mistake fielding (and some coaching mistakes too), it was a solid game and I think it bodes well for how competitive this team will be the rest of the season. Although pretty much all players made positive contributions tonight, congratulations to our Astros Stars of the Game:

• Connor (3 IP, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 Ks; plus 2 hits and 2 runs as a batter)
• Dillon (2 hits, 2 runs, 4 SB and 1 RBI; plus 3 good innings catching)
• Andrew (2 BB, 1 Hit, 2 RBI, 4 SB; plus 7 putouts fielding)

Also, the votes are in .. and congratulations to our 4 team representatives in this year's All-Star Game: Madison, Joe, Dillon, and Connor (and to our backup selections, Dalton, Seth and Matt).

Lastly, for those who ordered pictures this year, you should have received them tonight after the game. If you didn't, here is our official team picture:

Astros Defeat the Indians

The Astros did tonight what the my Detroit Tigers couldn't do the past three days - that's beat the Indians! I was very proud of the kids, and we beat a red-hot team that was undefeated in their last four games. But the Astros all played hard and, for the most part, played pretty smart too. We got some great pitching from "Joltin" Joe and Connor "The Comet." We were also good on the base paths, including a walk by Seth "Astro Boy" that turned into a home run (well, same result any ways). Dillon "Black Pants" was as steady as ever knocking in two RBI; and Madison "The Mad-Hitter" made some heads-up plays in the field. Andrew "Freddy Ball Game" continues to make solid contact with the ball, but is being stymied by good defensive plays. Any ways, your Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Connor (2 IP, 1 R, 3 SO and the Save)
• Joe (3 IP, 2 R, 4 SO and the victory; plus 1 hit and 2 runs scored as a hitter; and a nice double-play in the field too)
• Dillon (1 hit, 2 RBI)

Our next game is next week Wednesday against the Athletics. Hopefully we come ready to play like we did tonight!

PartnerShip Brand Champion Kickoff Meetings

Every now and then I have been sharing a few tidbits about some things I have been doing at work. Yesterday I led a "PartnerShip Brand 2.0" kickoff event (with some help from my team) for all PartnerShip employees. There were two sessions: One in the morning for half the team, and one in the afternoon for the other half (including our California office employees who participated through video conference). The goals for the meetings were to ensure all of our employees ...

• Have a good understanding of where the company has been over the past 20 years, and where we would like to go in the future - to become Brand Historians;

• Feel energized and excited about the PartnerShip brand and the new brand tools we have been developing (including new exhibit materials, new brand collateral and a new website that will be coming soon) - to become Brand Architects; and

• Speak confidently and consistently about who we are, what we do, and what makes us special in the marketplace - to become Brand Champions!

Throughout the presentation, it was emphasized that great brands have three common traits: They have Credibility, Consistency, and Character (if they don't, they become a Commodity). All employees left the session with some very cool brand tools and reinforcement aides.

In between the morning and afternoon kickoff sessions, we had an employee cookout and enjoyed a quick "cornhole" tournament. Overall, it was a great day to be a PartnerShip employee and definitely an augury for the many good things to come.

PS: Click here to check out our company Facebook page and to view some the employee pictures taken at yesterdays events.

Astros Hang Tough with Reds

The Astros had a gutsy performance tonight against the Reds. Despite missing one of our best fielders (Madison) and one of our best pitchers (Connor); and playing with an injured catcher (Dillon) and a pitcher who jammed his finger in the game (Andrew) - we hung tough! After falling behind 2-12 (in large part, due to 8 fielding errors), we stormed back to make it 7-12. Our hitting, overall, was really good tonight. Almost all our hitters made good contact with the ball tonight again; but unfortunately the Reds fielded extremely well. Also, we didn't get the calls we needed in the last inning; so the game finished 7-15. "Joltin" Joe pitched an excellent game again, starting and finishing 3 innings with 8 strikeouts. Patrick "Big Mac" made his debut pitching and showed some promise, but was a little erratic. Andrew "Freddie Ballgame" was steady as a rock for two innings, while Seth "Astro Boy" closed it out.

Our Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Joe (3 IP, 8 SO / 2 Hits)
• Nathan (2 Hits, 4 SB, 1 RBI)
• Dillon (1 Hit, 1 R, 2 RBI)

If we can get healthy, and field a complete team, I think we have a chance to make some real noise over the rest of the season (plus we will bet getting Cody "Hustle" soon from South Carolina).

Swimming in Lake Frogerick

It was a nice, warm night -- so the kids went swimming in Lake Frogerick tonight. Abby had three of her friends over for the night (Emily, Carlie and Maria), and Andrew and Patrick over for the night. The girls jumped in first, but then the boys decided to join in the fun. It's not even Memorial Weekend and the kids have already been swimming twice now. Hopefully the good weather continues.

Astros Do Battle with Orioles

The Astros played the Orioles for the second time this season on this hot afternoon today. We dug ourselves a 0-4 hole after the first inning, but clawed our way back in it with some solid hitting. The score was 4-6 in the bottom of the seventh, but we couldn't generate the offense we needed to come all the way back. We actually outhit the Orioles 8-5, but we had a few costly base running errors. "Joltin" Joe made yet another solid relief appearance, pitching three shutout innings. Connor "The Comet" bounced back after his injury-riddled previous game to pitch 3 innings, giving up only 2 runs (1 earned). The Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Joe (3 innings pitched, no runs, plus 1 hit batting)
• Dalton (2 hits, 1 run, 2 stolen bases)
• Dillon (2 hits, 1 RBI, 4 stolen bases)

(No video footage for this game)

Astro Boy Wins Home Run Contest

Congratulations to the Astros very own Seth Keister ("Astro Boy") for winning the MYBA Senior League Home Run Contest tonight! In the first round, he launched a home run over the left field fence at Reagan #6; and in the second round he launched another over the left-center field fence! (compliments of pitches thrown by Coach Scott, of course)

Astros vs Indians

The Astros played their fifth game of the season tonight. Despite a couple good innings where our bats game alive, the Astros couldn't overcome the adversity against them: One of our star players was suspended for the game; and Connor "The Comet," our pitching ace, left the game after one inning with a sore arm, and then was later hit in his hand by a wild pitch while batting. We all hope Connor is okay - he definitely had a rough game.

There were some positives for the game: Almost every player had one hit tonight; "Joltin" Joe made another solid pitching appearance (on his day off); and Andrew "Freddie Ballgame" came in to pitch two solid innings as well with four strikeouts. Unfortunately, we had some late mental error and our bats went back to sleep in the last two innings leading to a 6-11 loss. The Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Joe (Pitching: 3 IP, 3 ER, 3 SO; Hitting: 2 Hits, 1 RBI)
• Andrew (Pitching: 2 IP, 3 ER, 4 SO)
• Dillon (Hitting: 3 Hits, 1 Run, 1 RBI, 5 SB)

We've now played every team in the league once, so I think we are ready to break-out (assuming we can find a couple more pitching arms on our team). Next game is this Saturday against the Orioles who are also 1-4.

Astros Lose to Cardinals

Tonight the Astros took on the undefeated Cardinals. Despite a great starting pitching performance from Joltin' Joe, we gave up 5 unearned runs in the first three innings. The positives for the night were some of our bats really came alive. We had some solid hits, but in the end, our defense let us down. The final score was 6-21 after a brutal final two innings in which we walked 9 batters and hit a couple more giving up 11 runs. The Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Joe (3 IP, 6 SO, 1 Hit)
• Matt (3 Runs, 3 Hits, including a 2B and 3B)
• Madison (1 Run, 2 Hits, including a 2B)

Our next game is in two nights against the Indians (also 1-3 like the Astros). Hopefully we can combine our hitting from this game with our pitching from the previous game and finally bring it all together.

(No video from tonight)

Astros Lose to Athletics

The Astros played the Athletics on Friday. Despite awesome pitching, we let the game slip away with too many errors and not enough batting support, resulting in a 4-10 loss. All told, we had 6 errors fielding and our batters had 16 strikeouts at the plate. Still, I was proud of our three pitchers, which is why they are my three Astros Stars of the Game (special mention to Dillon who had a nice game behind the plate as well):

• Seth (3 IP, 7 SO)
• Connor (3 IP, 5 SO)
• Joe (1 IP, 3 SO)

Our next game is Tuesday against the undefeated Cardinals. Hopefully we can get our bats going again. Updated team statistics are shown in the upper right (click image to enlarge).

New PartnerShip Blog

It's been a while since I posted anything here regarding work. So, one cool new thing that I recently introduced at work was a new, The Partnership Connection Blog (ship.partnership.com/blog) using our HubSpot marketing platform. As a blogging platform, HubSpot is not the greatest tool, but it has some other integration features that make up for it. Any ways, I have been "seeding" the blog with a dozen or so posts to build a foundation of content, and to begin establishing credibility with the major search engines (e.g., Google, Bing, etc.). Going forward, me and my team will be using the PartnerShip blog for inbound marketing - posting relevant content with "key words" that will help drive inbound traffic from the major search engines, and providing some measurable "call-to-actions" where we can capture information about businesses that are interested in our shipping programs and services. The blog is just one small component of an overall "brand & web 2.0" project me and my team have been working on the past couple months. We will formally "kickoff" the new brand with a couple of all-employee in two weeks where I will provide some brand training and where we will introduce some of the new brand deliverables, such as new exhibit materials, new brand collateral, and a preview to the new partnership.com website (which is about 3 months away from being implemented).

Abby & Jen's Chinese Music Video (我的宝贝)

Abby and a friend/classmate had to make a music video this weekend for their Chinese language class. They posted it to YouTube and showed it in class yesterday. I guess it was a hit (in a cheesy sort of way). Here it is ...

Irish Dance Nationals 2012 Poster

The O'Hare School of Irish Dance Ohio recently created a new poster/advertisement to wish good luck to all of the girls that will be attending the 2012 North American Irish Dance Championships in July. That, of course, includes Abby. Practice hard girls - and good luck!

Astros Win in Second Game

The Astros won their second game last night against the Orioles (a rival team we must play four times this year - we play all the other teams in the league three times). Connor "The Comet" made his pitching debut and pitched phenomenally, giving up only 1 hit and 1 run over three innings of work. He also had two strikeouts and two assisted outs. But the Astros were still down 0-1 after three innings when "Astro Boy" Seth took over. Seth pitched the middle of the game and gave up only 2 hits and 2 runs while striking out 8 batters in his three innings. Andrew "Freddie Ballgame" made his debut as a closer in the last inning to earn the save. The final score was 9-6. The Astro Stars of the Game were:

• Connor (3 great innings of work; nice pickoff play at first)
• Seth (3 innings to get the win; 8 strikeouts; and 4 RBI)
• Matt (2 runs scored; 4 assists; 1 putout)

(special mentions to Dillon, who called a great game behind the plate; and to Andrew, for his gutsy relief appearance that allowed me to save our other pitcher's arm for the next game)

Updated team statistics are in the upper right (click to enlarge). Overall, I was proud of the entire team. They played more relaxed, and it really showed.

Astros Season Opening Game

In the Astros debut (and my debut as head coach), the Astros played a tough game against the Reds, but lost 10-14 in the end. There were a few season-opening jitters all the way around, and a number of mental errors (including some from the coach). We had some great fielding plays, but our throws need to be more accurate; and our hitters were a little tight at the plate. However, considering it was really the first time we had all of our players on the field at the same time, we showed lots of potential, and I was proud of my team. It was also just good to get the first one out of the way. The Astros Stars of the Game were:

• Madison (4 putouts and awesome defensive)
• Joe (a solid, 3-inning starting pitching performance)
• Dillon (two hits and a couple RBI)

Shown to the upper-right are the team statistics after Game 1 (click the picture to enlarge). The short video clip below is of Andrew "Freddie Ballgame" ... although I hope to share video highlights of all my players throughout the season. Next up: Orioles on Sunday.

Astros Picture Day

Today was picture day for the Astros baseball team. Here is a quick picture I snapped of Andrew with my mobile phone. Today was supposed to also be our season opening game - and my managerial debut - but, unfortunately the MYBA closed all fields today due to "poor field conditions." This was a joke, because it hadn't rained since the morning, and it was 70 degrees and partially sunny this afternoon/evening. Plus, many of the fields in the area were perfectly fine - obviously the league was being lazy since maybe only one or two of the fields were bad. I was really excited to see how our team performed, but I guess I will have to wait until our next game on Friday (weather-permitting).

The smaller photo to the right is our team picture (minus two players and coaching staff). In the front row is (L to R) Freddie Ballgame, The Kid, Pokey, The Comet, Iron Boy, and Big Mac. In the back row is (L to R) The Mad Hitter, The Bambino, Astro Boy, and Double-Play. Not pictured is Joltin' Joe and Charlie Hustle; and of course me, Sparky.