Journal: Brown, Bisons face change

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Journal: Brown, Bisons face change
07/10/2008 10:00 AM ET
By Jordan Brown / Special to MLB.com

Indians prospect Jordan Brown rides the momentum of back-to-back Most Valuable Player campaigns into the 2008 season. The University of Arizona product received Eastern League top honors in 2007 after leading the circuit in hitting (.333) while adding 11 homers and 76 RBIs. He also posted MVP numbers (.290-15-97) in 2006 at Kinston of the Carolina League.
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After playing in four different cities in the last nine days, you can imagine how tired players get. We just finished up a doubleheader today in Syracuse on a travel day and my body feels like a fat kid who just chased the ice-cream truck around the city all day for a "choco taco." Trust me, I know how that feels.
Between a tough schedule and ridiculous gas prices, life isn't as peachy as it normally is around mid-summer. Seriously, can we talk about how expensive it is at a gas station in today's world? Peanuts and a vitamin water: $3. Chapstick: $1. Spearmint gum: $2. The look on my face after my wallet takes a beating spending $120 to fill up the SUV: priceless. Don't laugh if anybody happens to notice me driving away in a Prius.
Times are not only changing at the gas pump, but all over the Indians organization, and Triple-A Buffalo feels the brunt of it. It's a very unique situation in Buffalo because there are new faces every week, some of which I used to watch all the time in college. Playing with guys like Morgan Ensberg, Tony Graffanino, John "The Dalai Lama" Halama and Jeff Weaver, to name a few, is a great experience and an easy way to learn about the game.

It seems like those guys have an innate ability to notice little things throughout the course of the game to give us an advantage. Whether it's watching a pitcher tip his pitches, noticing certain patterns or getting on an umpire so much that calls start turning our way, it helps us win. I'm not too sure how much roster turnover most teams have throughout the course of the year, but it's a pretty crazy circle over here.
The All-Star break is around the corner and I have to say I'm pretty excited to have a little time off. I think a bunch of guys and I are going to spend a couple of crazy nights in New York City ... which is code for creating a large body groove on my couch because I'M NOT MOVIN'!!!!!! I will only move for three things: food, frequent bathroom breaks and to slap around my roommates Randy Newsom and Chris Gimenez.
Although it would be nice to play in the All-Star Game again, I can't say I'm too disappointed to miss out this year. It'll be a great break for my knee to recover a little more. On a personal note, I'd also like to congratulate pitcher Rich Rundles for representing the Bisons at this year's game. He deserves it. He gives left-handed hitters headaches day after day, and I consider myself lucky that I don't have to face him.
I'll have to admit, I've been slacking on throwing my former teammates under the bus, so I'm going to bring it back this week with Jason Donald. He is currently tearing up the Eastern League for the Phillies and is also representing them in the Futures Game this weekend.
After deep thought, I finally came up with something that I still laugh about to this day. Jason was a big-time prospect coming out of high school and everybody knew how legit he was as a player when he took his official visit to the University of Arizona. With that being said, the guys and I made it our mission to take him out and show him a good time to make sure he committed.
He's a very outgoing and likable guy, so it wasn't very hard to have a good time with him around the campus and city. Anyway, the day went well and we were all out having a good time at a house party, but none of us were sure this was going to be his choice to attend school, because it's a huge decision.
So, to put the icing on the cake, a couple of us knew some cute female athletes and filled them in on the situation. We introduced them all to him and they were really sweet and flirtatious, which capped off a great night. As we're leaving the party to take him back to the hotel, a couple of them pass him and say goodbye, and he turns to me grinning from ear to ear and says, "I'm definitely coming here."
And the rest is history. He had a great career there and is embarking on another great career in the big leagues.
Be good, and let me know if there is anything you'd like me to talk about in the next journal.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues or its clubs.