How are you spending your off season?

Just a guess, but it is nothing like the way Brevard County Manatee pitching coach Fred Dabney is spending his.

Making the unusual transition from the diamond to the ring in the offseason, Dabney, who turned 41 on Nov. 20, entered and won the first mixed martial arts-style event of his career on Oct. 25. The 6-foot-3, 230-pound lefthander claimed the intermediate heavyweight division title at a North American Grappling Association (NAGA) event at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton.

"People think I'm kind of crazy that my fun is trying to tap people out and submit people," said Dabney, whose two tournament wins came by way of a triangle choke submission, a type of figure-four chokehold created by encircling the opponent's head and one of his arms with your legs.

For Dabney's boss, Milwaukee Brewers farm director Reid Nichols, it's more a concern for his employee's well-being.

"Fred's a very active person and he needs an outlet -- this grappling thing helps him keep things in check," said Nichols, who played eight major-league seasons with the Red Sox, White Sox and Expos. "I'm glad he's found something he likes to do. I just hope he's doing everything he can to make sure he's safe."

MMA? If only there were someplace in Appleton for a radio announcer to train to completely humiliate himself in a wholly different way. If only...Or, maybe I'll just get into base jumping.

Oh, and Dabney had to bypass the beginner division because he's already a blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu.
This is who future Brewer pitchers are learning from. That's pretty cool.