Adam Dunn here...

Hey adidas baseball fans!

Adam Dunn here, coming at you from Philly. We’re here for the weekend and I’m on my way to see how many cheese steaks I can eat right now! We had an off-day yesterday here in Philly so I took the little one to a kid’s museum. We both had a lot of fun! Life is not too interesting right now, just trying to research our competition.

I’m going to the field at 2:30 today to watch video on tonight’s starting pitcher, JA Happ. It’s an important part of preparing for a game. You can never be too prepared in the majors.

Wish me luck on the game tonight! Thanks for reading, hopefully I can do this again soon.

-Adam

Justin Masterson checking in...

Hello to all you adidas baseball fans. Justin Masterson here, coming to you from the lovely confines of Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts.

It’s still very early in the season, but many things have already taken place, at least in my life. I started the season in the bullpen, had a few outings and then made 6 starts. Surprisingly enough, as I write this, I’m currently moving back to the bullpen to be a reliever again. Now I can imagine that you’re probably thinking this is an easy transition. But let me be the first to say it's not as easy as it sounds. As a starter you have more assurances. You know what day you’re going to pitch, you know what steps you can take to prepare for that start - as far as workouts and throwing - for the days leading up to your start. As compared to relieving- when you have a chance to throw every single day, even on some days you may not be feeling so good. And even more so, you’re coming in usually at clutch times when guys are on with the game close at hand.

Yet as a starter you do face the opposing lineup two, three, maybe even 4 times in a single game. That gives the hitter more of an advantage as they have seen what you bring to the table that can be difficult. A reliever will hopefully only go one, maybe two innings.

Even with all of that being said, with a little experience, I think it helps to transition between the two. I feel blessed everyday just to have the chance to be out on the field and throw. Everyday there’s a moment of how awesome it is to be a part of a major league baseball team. But even more than that, I'm reminded of how great an opportunity it is to impact lives in a positive way.

I had fun writing this and thank you for your support. Enjoy the season!


Don’t forget to check out Justin’s videos on adidas.tv

An Insider's Look Into adidas Baseball

This week we’re peeling back the curtain to give you an insider’s take from our head of adidas baseball.

Hello everyone. I’m Mark Clinard and I oversee adidas baseball and football here in at adidas. I’m very lucky to work with a bunch of cool people, that commit a large portion of their lives, to bring you great product and stories through adidas baseball. Everyone from our designers and developers here in Portland to our friends in the factories in Asia, we truly enjoy finding ways to make you faster and more powerful through our products.

One great element of my job is working with athletes to determine what they need. I want to share some insights from our meeting with Ryan Howard during our contract process. We met with Ryan, his brother, mom and dad and his agents in St. Louis to talk about renewing our sports marketing partnership. We talked about how the business was trending, adidas' goals for the future and what Ryan brings to the adidas baseball family. The conversations were great and we showed him the concepts of his new shoe (now in store at Dick's Sporting Goods) which Ryan gave feedback about to our team.

Beyond all of the business stuff, I left the meeting so impressed with Ryan and his family. As a brand, it’s important to partner with people that you respect because they represent you on the field of play. Ryan is a great athlete, but more importantly he is a genuine person that never fakes it on or off the field. In my short time with the Howard family, it was easy to see why Ryan connects so well with all types of people. His pride in representing himself and his great family with class is why it is really easy to like Ryan Howard.

To sum it up…I have an 8 year old little boy that plays little league. I showed him the Ryan clip from our website and now my son gets into the batters box and taps the plate JUST LIKE RYAN. It’s cool to know that he’s copying a player that’s doing it the right way. When you fully understand Ryan's story of hard work and commitment, you would want your kid to copy him too.

Good luck this season and thanks for your interest in adidas baseball.