Catcher Andrew Giesey, a rising senior at Thiel College in Greenville, PA, recently shared his experiences from the first half of the season in the blog post below. Giesey is having a solid season with the Genesee Rapids currently batting .316 with 2 RBI along with playing solid defense behind the plate. Enjoy!
The Genesee Rapids experience has been great after the first few weeks, and this does not only include baseball. The coaches, fans, and my host family have all contributed to make this a great experience. The team came together quickly to start the season. All of the players seemed to click, and we played well together. Everybody supported one another, and we won and lost as a team. Personally, however, the season did not start the way I had hoped.
During the Old Timers Game, I received a concussion from a foul ball and was not able to play for about two weeks. At first, this was devastating news because the reason to spend the summer in New York was to play baseball. However, I am grateful for the time I had away from the game because it showed me how much support is in the Genesee Rapids organization. All of my coaches were insistent on taking time to ensure my health before I returned. They made sure to treat me as a person before treating me as a player. This was very reassuring to know that I was not looked upon in a poor way for taking a few extra days to make sure I was healthy again. Also, my host family was great. They did what they could to help me recover as best as possible. Even little things like including me at lunch and conversations helped time pass and made the process go faster.
As I neared the date of being able to return to play, Kids’ Day had arrived with the seats full of 1,300 kids from local schools. This turned out to be a great experience. It put some things into perspective for me like how much of an influence I can be to a younger child. They all looked at us like we were professional athletes and were asking for autographs the entire game. These kids being able to talk to us was the same as one of the Rapids’ players interacting with a player from the major leagues. Instead of playing on Kids’ Day, I was able to spend a large part of the day talking to kids and some parents in hopes of being able to give the kids a great experience.
Lastly, I have been able to get back in touch with my faith as a result of being here and being surrounded by other Christians. Being able to study the Bible as a team is eye opening because each person has a different story that relates back to the Bible and how they have interacted with it. On top of that, my host family reads the Bible after dinner throughout the week and then we have discussion about the passages and their relation to life and what is going on in the world today.
I am looking forward to what the second half of the season has in store both on and off the field.
Genesee Rapids Blog 