ATL once again, my friend. I can't shake these cats. Today I faced the Braves for the 100th time in my short career, and it was a good game like always. Mr. "300" was on the mound for them today and he pitched like himself. When u face a team like that u just try to go out there and have fun. Bobby Cox does a great job of gettin those guys ready to play hard everyday so I feel it makes me better when guys step up and play hard in spring.

your boy

d

I have to say I was nervous for the first time on the mound today, but once I threw my first pitch I was fine. I had a good time out there being with the team and gettin a chance to mix it up with them. Also, starting for the Indians was my boy C.C. -- so it was good to see how he works as well. I wanted to go out there and have fun and play hard and go from there. I think our team will do well if we pitch well so I'm using this spring to try to get ready. It's also good to see all the kids at the park havin a good time and enjoying the game. I even saw a little Willis jersey so that's pretty cool. Hopefully the more I play, the move jerseys I will see.

your boy

d

day one in new jersey today was kinda crazy. this whole offseason i knew i was going to b going to a new team but it really hit home today. first workout went well today and i got a chance to get on the mound as well. I must say i miss 35 but number 21 looks good on me so i'm not even mad about that. but for the most part everybody from top to bottom seems cool and ready to work so i should fit right in.

your boy

d

In the game, for me, there are some guys that I would pay to see play. Of course it's a little easier for me to get a ticket, but fans talk to me about this all the time, and I like to hear about it 'cause everyone is their guy. Here are some of my guys and why.

1. Jimmy Rollins

man playin in florida i hate seing him come up to the plate. His speed and his power and tough to go up against and when they need his most he shows up (plus he's from my hood).

2. Josh Beckett

man he might be one of the best I've seen on the mound. strong, smart and tough on the mound. plus now his finger is on point and the sky is the limit for him.

3. Dan Uggla

strong willed and battle ready everyday. he plays hurt and still can go deep with the best of them. little man at second but big man power.

4. Orlando Hudson

Fun to be around and fun to watch. like me he loves to talk trash and play the game hard everyday, and on top of that he might be one of the best with the glove.

5. C.C Sabathia

One of the best lefties hands down. He wants to win and he wants go against everyone's best.

These are just a few but these are my guys that are fun to watch. What are some of your favorites, but let me know why.

Your boy,

D

In the d right now chillin in a high of 50 baby . No jacket and all. As you know the season is around the block so the buzz in the city is very big. I always like doing stuff with fans cause they get a kick out of just chillin with u and checkin out what kinda person u r. Plus u get to see old as well as new teammates and their families. For me i like playin with the little kids most. Maybe cause im still a little kid myself . Hopefully the weather stays like this so i can get out on the field without any snow this time but if not we'll get down in the snow baby.

your boy

d

Man, all i can say is if u could meet my family, you could pretty much tell how i am. I grew up not knowing my father, so everyone is on my mom's side. When i was young i stayed with my grandma and she and my grandpa where the ones that got me into baseball 'cause they loved the A's. My whole family did. When i was i kid i can remember being around the T.V watching Dave Stewart on the mound.

My mom was a really good softball player. i loved that she took me to the park to watch her play. My uncles and my aunt played basketball and were all very good in their days.

For the holidays, when we are all together, we play hoops and fight with each other while my grandma tells us to shut up. I think for me thats where i got my love for the game. i remember they would all be hard on me and i couldn't understand. But now it's a good thing cause i'm very hard on myself.

My family til this day says, "Man, Chipper be killin u," and i say "man he kills everybody, but we won." Or they say, "Man, if don't pitch to Barry, i'm going." You have to be tough to make it in my family but in the end they are proud of me and i'm proud of them.

Man after all the playoff games and world series is done as a baseball player u try to find ways to keep busy. Brad penny tried to get me to go hunting but i wasn't really sure of that. Myself i like to do camp and talk to kids cause I've had so many people help me along the way. Cause i live in miami i go to a lot of heat games and they're fun . Most of the time im with my boy juan chillin at his house or at mine. He's my little girl's god father so he likes to see her. What i most like to do is kick it with my little girl adrianna cause she's truly the best thing that ever happen to me. As a man that didnt have his father in his life its really cool to hang out with her in the off-season. Down time is good for me for about a month and then im ready to get back into it. But at the same time i like getting up with my boys that live out of town. I work out a lot too with my Trainer Aris Atowa (i call him A-town) for the last four years. His a good man and he stays on my bad about stuff its almost like your wife is training u. But other than that im at the house just chillin watchin Martin . If yall have some good dvds in mind let me know

your boy

d-nice

God bless you all and thanks for making my xmas a good one. Be well and give something from the heart and eat up . And if u dont have a idea of what to get, get a tigers hat hahahahha.

your boy

d-nice

Man most people go from the north to the south to get warm but not your boy. I was on a flight from 80 plus miami to 30 plus detroit. But i could care less cause i was going to out there to do and be a part of some cool things. Man ive never seen snow before being from the bay and all so when i saw i wanted to ball it up and just smoke some one. IT was crazy i mean i get to the park and the whole park is covered in snow . And the people knew i was from out of town cause im the only one with a thin jordan jacket and no hat for my head. Even tho it was cold the welcome was warm cause everywhere i went everyone said "Welcome to the D, D-Train" and really wanted to talk baseball. Man even this lady at the hotel talked to me about the AL and its hitters. And then i got to see the pistons play and that game was crazy . There was this little girl sitting next to me and she was 9. She was named alex and she told me Rip hamilton was her favorite player and she likes how he runs around the pick (a nine year old, people). And i just smiled. Right there was when i knew the D loves its teams . Hopefully the D will have the same love for the tigers.

so im on my way to detroit to with my boy ryan who i played minor leagues with to give gifts to the childrens home society. i get there and next thing i know im signing a deal with the tigers. man i tell u everyone in life wants to have good things to happen for themselves but i couldnt believe this.

I get to comerica park and i see my face and number 21 on the jumbo. My boy ryan went crazy when he saw that. But it was tough running through snow cause the field was covered in it but I didnt care. After going down into the locker room and talking to all the people who work for the tigers i still couldnt believe that im in the D.

But the thing that was coolest was seeing how happy those kids were when they got their gifts. The tigers did a great job helping me with that and we got every kid what they wanted for xmas. Hell some of the stuff i wanted.

In the end it was a good day for everyone and i was glad to b a part of it.

man in my life this might be one of the sickest things that have happened to your boy. my minor league team was in orlando playin the rays double A team. At the time my team was in first place and i was 4 and 0 and we had won ten in a row. At the same time three starters go down in a week , josh , A.j and Mark. So in the minors alot of guys keep up with whats going on with the big club so everyone on my team was sayin i should get the call . I wasnt sure i dont like to read the paper so i didnt care to know. So on a off day miggy and randy messenger and i were chillin in the room and i get a call from brad penny and he said to me " b ready trelle somethings going to happen" and that was it. which was not cool to me cause i didnt know what was going on. So the next day i go to the park and i get pulled in the office and my manger tracy woodson said to me " your moving up" so i thought ok cool one step closer to triple A. Then he said "son your not going to triple A youre going to the show" . Then he puts his arm around me and takes me out the tells the team and the team went crazy. I mean huggin me like we won the world series .After all that miggy said to me " dont worry i will be there soon" and next thing i know we win a ring. For a ballplayer it doesnt get much more better than that. And as a man i could say i was blessed to do something at 21 that people dont get to do ever.

man i was never really good in english but i hope u feel this story.

baseball is such a wonderful sport and its been so good to me in so many ways. ive been able to travel and see so many great things as well as meet so many great people with baseball. i will never forget when i was 12 and for xmas i got one gift and it was a tpx bat . that was the best gift ever for me and i think my mother understood that i really loved the game. jimmy rollins at this time was the man in my hood and he was doing great things. to see that i said to myself i want to be like him. his dad used to take us to the park and video tape us hitting and we would b out there all day because we just loved the game. in high school i worked so hard with my boys cause we wanted to b the best and it payed off but more because we loved being out there. baseball is a game where u can b from anywhere and be any shape and be good at it. i think thats why we love it cause we r not all the same. i love baseball cause it can teach u about life like how to act when u fail and how to play with others and how u can work hard and be something. hell i was about to go to japan and play against their best and trust me japan is a long way from oakland. like i said god has blessed me with baseball and i was always have a deep love for the game.

your boy d

whats good everyone this is your boy d nice saying hello. As u can see im now part of the yardbarker family and im here to give u whatever u need in world of sports. hahahahah just playin, like i know anything besides baseball but i will say i do love sports and i love to talk about them so whenever u want to hit me up i will get back u asap. durling the course of the year i will talk about things that are on my head and things that u want to talk about as well.

. THE TRADE

Its crazy how it can happen anytime anywhere . Man i get off a plane in mexico with my family and everyone is callin me like something bad happened but i didnt know until my agent called and told me. I thought he was playin but then i saw it on t.v and for a second i was like ''damn for real" then i was like "well lets do it baby boy '' . My family didnt know how i would take it so they didnt know how to act so it was kinda funny. It feels good that someone else wants u but at the same time i felt like i didnt want to leave. But i do understand that moves r made alot in the game and now im apart of one once again.