Motocross has not always been my entire life. Ever since I saw the King (yes, he is the King!) Jeremy McGrath nac-nac away on his Honda CR250 in 1996, I have forever been drawn to the sport. It was simply amazing to watch for the first time and I remember seeing myself watching that race on TV sitting on the floor of my room. But before my eyes first saw MC threw his leg over the bike, I was not involved with the sport at all. My Alpinestar Tech 8's were Ken Griffey, Jr. Nike baseball cleats. When I was 5 years old, the first sport I got involved in was baseball. I remember the days of playing T-Ball on Field 2 at my town's recreation field to hitting home runs over the tall outfield fence on Field 5. We played at a place called "The Rec". "The Rec" is where the baseball fields were and it was a center place to hang out in the town for all the kids who lived there. I played baseball from Kindergarten to 8th grade. I had a reputation of being one of the top hitters and whenever the coaches picked out their team, I was a hot pick usually. But my dad usually helped coached the teams so I was always on my dad's team anyway. I loved baseball. My dad and I trained and went to batting cages a lot. We even made a mini batting cage in our small basement with a "Home Run" sign spray painted onto one of those small red discs used for sledding in the winter, just to keep practicing and perfect my swing. My grandfather (my dad's father) was a big name in my town for baseball. He was one of the people who started up my town's recreation committee back in the 1950s and he also was very close to signing a contract with New York Yankees, before getting drafted to the Korean War at that time. So, our family had baseball in their blood. I learned the skills that my grandfather tought my dad and then, my dad passed them on to me when I was young. I played very well, both at the plate and out in the field, throughout my elementary and middle school years. But right around 6th or 7th grade is when I saw McGrath for the first time and I wanted to try motocross. Baseball started falling away from the picture very quick. I did play other sports like basketball, football, bowling, and track throughout my school years but baseball was my core sport at the time. As soon as I went to high school, I took my first two years of high school off from baseball. I just needed a break after playing 9 years of stick and ball. Plus, motocross was on my mind more than anything at the time. I decided to come back and play my junior year and had a good showing at the start but my hitting skills never came back. The game changed when I went into high school significantly. I barely experienced curve balls. Baseballs were harder to catch in the outfield as they were going way longer than they used to be in 8th grade. It was the same game in general but I never got down the small things. Then, in practice one day, I was catching routine fly balls and bam! I lost the ball in the sun for a split second and a split second later, I had blood all over my hands, shirt, and my hat. But I wasn't hurt at all. No pain. Nothing. I even joked around with my Dominican friend in center field when he came rushing to me to see how I was. I asked, "Hey, do I look better?" He knew I was completely out of my mind (which is a usual thing) and everyone was in shock, including the head coach who was the one hit that dreaded fly ball. I checked out my neato laceration in the mirror and noticed I had a huge gash within my right eyebrow. I went straight to the ER, got 15 stitches, and everyone was all "Yo Adrian!" to me in the hallways for the next 2 weeks. Back to those 15 stitches, whoever did that did an awesome job! Having black stitches to work with and sealing up a large gash within my eyebrow was no easy task! I have not played baseball since that incident. Noo. It is not because I'm "scurred" or any of that. I lost interest. I wasn't really interested when I came back for my junior year anyway. I just wanted to have fun and see if I still had the skills. I had some but not all of it. MX was too much on my mind and was more focused on riding berms than hitting home runs. If it wasn't for MX, I would probably be somewhere playing baseball. Maybe for some college team (and eventually the majors?). Or maybe for some adult softball league. Who knows! It was a huge transition in my life from switching to a sport I was so good at to a sport I had no clue what it was entirely about other than a MC nac-nac. I had to meet new people, learn new things, and all that "new" stuff. It wasn't easy but somehow I ended up where I am today. Motocross, in a sense, broke me out of my shell and I finally got to explore new things. I have traveled the country, met amazing people, experienced things I have not even thought about before, taken risks I would not even dare to attempt back in the baseball days, and gave me a new meaning on life. I would not say MX saved my life. It sure has made it more exciting! But one thing has stayed the same from my baseball days. My tall black socks! Before I write this off, I just want to point out my next round of the Moto Xposure 3 Release Tour, which is this Saturday at District 6's awards banquet in Reading, PA. If you are attending, you can check out scenes from MXP3 and other cool giveaways as well! Head to www.motoxposure.com/3 for more information on my next stop to spread the word of my latest DVD, Moto Xposure 3: The Xposure Continues! I am also thinking about heading to Baltimore for the arenacross on Sunday just to check things out and hang out. Hope to see ya'll this weekend! -Woz
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