Jamie Westbrook's Winter League blog: Pt. 2
Over the last couple of weeks, I really have started to make adjustments at my new home in Australia. The first week was a little bit of culture shock, but now I feel as at home as I can be during this amazing time down under. We've played 12 games so far, and our opening homestand was awesome because of the energy the fans brought to the ballpark. It was nice to play in front of a supportive fan base, as well as in front of the community I live in. We ended up splitting the series, but one night we had a walk-off win, which definitely was the highlight of the four-game series. This past weekend, we played Canberra and ended up dropping the series three games to one, losing a heartbreaker the final game. The atmosphere was electric, with great crowds every game, even for the first game of a doubleheader!
As for my performance on the field, I'm starting to feel more comfortable playing and not feeling as rusty after being off for about a month since my Minor League season ended. I'm beginning to feel like myself at the plate. With time, everything will begin to feel more normal on and off the field.
I can't stress enough how amazing Sydney is. We live about 45 minutes away from downtown, but a train ride in makes it very easy to get down there and check out the sights. We've made it a habit to hit the beaches and restaurants on the days we do not have games. Coming from Arizona, I'm taking advantage of that!
In just a short few weeks, my roommates and I have seen a lot of this beautiful city, and I couldn't be more excited to see more. I'm very fortunate that I have great teammates to experience this with as well. My two roommates are Rhys Hoskins with the Phillies and Alex Balog with the Rockies.
I really lucked out with having these two guys experience this trip with me and compete on the field together. From the very first day, I could tell we were all going to get along, and we've been having a blast together while meeting new people as well. Having a solid group of guys down here helps tremendously with missing my family and friends back home. We just recently got WiFi in our apartment and usually have it on the road so I am able to use my phone and talk to my loved ones. The most difficult part is the time difference, because I'm a whole day ahead of everyone. But, I'm learning to adapt and I couldn't be more excited about what the future in Australia has in store for me.
You can ask Jamie questions for him to answer in a future post or follow along via his account on Twitter @jwesunderscore4.