United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Commentary: Tim Tebow's baseball success is no joke
Source:
Orlando Sentinel
URL Source: http://www.orlandosentinel.com/opin ... -david-whitley-0627-story.html
Published: Jun 27, 2018
Author: David Whitley
Post Date: 2018-06-28 11:36:44 by Deckard
Ping List: *Baseball* Subscribe to *Baseball*
Keywords: None
Views: 5335
Comments: 74
Remember all the snickering, guffawing and ridicule over Tim Tebow becoming a baseball player? Guess what, jokers? It seems Tebow is actually becoming a baseball player. “He looks like a different guy than last year,” Hartford manager Warren Schaeffer to the New York Post. That’s the paper that once ran the headline “Headless Body In Topless Bar.” Now critics must be losing their heads over the headline “Tim Tebow suddenly looking like pro baseball player.” Tebow plays for the Binghamton Rumble Ponies, the Mets’ affiliate in the Class AA Eastern League. The Post surveyed opposing managers to get a gauge on Tebow’s progress. Tebow has not been sensational, but his progress has been impressive. “I saw him last year at (Class A) Columbia. He’s come a really long way,” Schaeffer said. “He’s a tough out right now. We had a really tough time against Tim Tebow. He hits fastballs well. He’s a strong kid. His approach has gotten a lot better.” Tebow was batting .256 with five home runs and 27 RBIs heading into this week. But his OPS (a statistic that measures on-base percentage and slugging average) was .737. That’s 81 points higher than last year, and the statistics keep trending up. Tebow had reached base in 11 of 15 games and batted .315 in that stretch. “We’ve got guys who’ve been playing five, six, seven years not having the success he’s had at Double-A,” Harrisburg manager Matt LeCroy said. “A lot of people probably thought he could not do that and now he’s starting to thrive in Double-A.” A lot of people? The precise number might be everyone on the planet except Tebow. Even his biggest admirers probably feared his baseball excursion would fizzle out in the low minors. Tebow hadn’t played baseball since 2006, his junior year at Nease High School. In between, he helped Florida with two national football championships, won the Heisman Trophy, led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs, built a hospital in the Philippines, became a hero to millions with his Good Guy persona, became an irritant to millions with his Good Guy persona…. On and on it went until he was (choose one) blackballed out the NFL or mercifully released after proving he’d never be a fulltime quality quarterback. Whatever your choice, there’s no debating what baseball experts thought when Tebow showed up at the Arizona Fall League in 2016. “His presence here is a farce, and he looks like an impostor pretending to have talent he does not possess,” ESPN’s baseball insider wrote. “There’s no hope this thing turns around,” Fox Sports wrote. “Scouts - given no choice but to evaluate this out-of-place media member - have been turning in scathing reports about Tebow’s long swing, poor fielding, and bad pitch recognition.” So what do scouts say now? “He is better,” one told the Post. “He has shown the ability to hit the fastball. Not a double-plus fastball, but an average fastball. He has progressed. He still misses a lot of pitches down. The changeup, he doesn’t see at all.’’ So he’s not Mike Trout, but apparently there is more than a little hope he is turning this thing around. “To hold your own after being out of it for however long he had been, you got to give the guy credit,” New Hampshire manager John Schneider said. “Baseball is a hard thing and hitting is a really hard thing. To show improvement and hold his own here in Double-A is pretty impressive.” Those suffering Tebow Derangement Syndrome will next declare him a failure if he doesn’t make it to the Majors. But Tebow never judged success that way. His only goal was to see how good he could be and enjoy the journey. It’s amazing what a tireless work ethic, unwavering faith and not listening to critics can do. “I’m improving, seeing pitches, leaving some bad pitches,” Tebow told the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin. “I’m trying to be more direct to the baseball to do more damage with it.” If he keeps improving, the real damage will be to the egos of all those who weren’t just (understandably) skeptical of Tebow’s chances, they were laughing at the thought he’d ever amount to more than baseball joke. Who’s laughing now?
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
Comments (1-34) not displayed.
.
.
.
#35. To: Liberator (#31)
Perhaps his appearance in this gay fest of a movie should have given us some insight.
That's been going on for a few years now since "a few" players are better now that they changed their swing a little to hit more fly balls. Needless to say 90% of them need to change back to hitting line drives cause they haven't got enough ass to hit it out without a tailwind.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Mechanics. Some guys start throwing harder after a few years because they've fixed their mechanics, in essence smoothed out their delivery and their arms are now freer to travel further/faster.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Needless to say 90% of them need to change back to hitting line drives cause they haven't got enough ass to hit it out without a tailwind. Right. We rarely see line drives any more. Guys with warning-track power. Upper-cuts are what's taught. Bunch of guys are whiffing 180-200x per year. For what? 20-30 HRs? BORING. But that's because of these newer band-box stadiums. LIKE THE "NEW" FAKE YANKEE STADIUM (which I despise). Never seen so many cheap HRs. We're seeing all these pop ups and fly outs, some dribblers, and half the time -- K's. Fundamentals are pretty much extinct. (And not that I watch NBA anymore, but the same there. 80s basketball was far more fun to watch.)
Good call. Now that the players have these computerized analyses of mechanics, it's much easier to adjust and fix. Same really of hitting. They can also better isolate the muscles used in pitching via computerized graphics. Was reading the Bill James Stat handball (2017). In it was chapter on the vast number of pitchers who've had Tommy James surgery. You would NOT believe it. Amazing. They now throw at the same or better velocity. Even 10 years ago most of them would have been out of baseball. Speaking of mechanics, back when I was hurling I came 3/4. It produced more velocity and a moving fastball. Curve broke a lot better. THEN..."Traditional" Coach insisted I come straight over the top. Not conducive for my shoulder shape. Lost my previous velocity and movement AND control. Curve hung instead of having a slider-action. Obviously lost effectiveness, then confidence. :-( Buh-bye NY Yankee staff. lol
Tommy Lasorda taught players to swing down at the ball (especially if they have speed). He said that you are more likely to get on base that way, and if you contact it right, the spin will more likely carry it out of the ball park.
Did he? So did Casey Stengel. He said that you are more likely to get on base that way, and if you contact it right, the spin will more likely carry it out of the ball park. Maybe in bigger ballparks both Lasorda and Stengel were right.. But in these tiny ballparks, upper-cuts produce possible HRs. Check out THIS lame "pop-up" to right by Yanks' 6-6, 260 lbs Giancarlo Stanton last night that turned into a HR (@1:42 mark): The HRs during the last 20 years prove upper-cuts produce HRs (then again, there were no steroids, computerized analyses, weight training and conditioning back then either.)
Probably it's better to have an uppercut or level swing these days. Jeff Bagwell had one the weirdest uppercut swings I ever saw. He managed to hit with power all over the field. He did eventually make the HOF, but he would would have been a no brainer had he not had shoulder injuries.
HA!! **shaking head** What is it with Dems/Liberals/Leftists with their fetish with symbolism for EVERY moment of the day? Two colors I really can't stand seeing: 1) OverBite's "Resistance" Purple Needless to say, "Gay" Rainbow. (And what's it tell us that Queer Inc.was allowed to hijack both the word definition of "gay" AND God's "rainbow"? Here's an interesting narrative of the Rainbow Flag and it's symbolism explained as the Queer Mafia managed to usurp God's own stated symbolism: https://www.rforh.com/resources/know-it/what-about/why-did-the-lgbt-use-gods-rainbow-for-their-flag In 1978 San Francisco artist Gilbert Baker created his version of the rainbow flag in response to a local activist’s call for the need of a community symbol.[ugh, another word, "Communitah", that's been hijacked.] Baker dyed and sewed the material for the first flag himself and it had 8 colors. This multi-colored flag morphed into a banner of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender movement, which is commonly referred to today as LGBT. Each of the colors had a specific meaning: On November 27, 1978, the openly gay San Francisco City Supervisor Harvey Milk was assassinated. As a consequence the demand for the flag greatly increased. So, in order to meet the demand, the Paramount Flag Company began selling a version of the flag using stock rainbow fabric consisting of seven stripes of red, orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, and violet. Baker eventually dropped the hot pink color because he couldn’t find the fabric. In 1979 the flag was hung vertically from the lamp posts of San Francisco’s Market Street. Because of the width of the seven stripe flag the center stripe was covered up by the post itself. In order to fix this problem they changed the design to have an even number of stripes so they dropped the turquoise stripe. That left them with the six stripe version of the flag that we see today consisting of — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. So, even though the LGBT flag might be called by the name of God’s token of promise to all mankind, it’s NOT a true rainbow. God’s rainbow has always had seven colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.isn't quite tantamount to hijacking God's Rainbow on a technicality. These people are chronic liars. I mean if Bruce Jenner can call himself a "female" then NO lie is big enough for them. Challenge that publicly and the ACLU will be suing you and homo-fascist mobs will be trying to ruin you financially.
Yup. Especially if you're a bigger guy. The smaller guys will only wind up as we've seen hitting warning tack cans o' corn. Jeff Bagwell had one the weirdest uppercut swings I ever saw. He managed to hit with power all over the field. He did eventually make the HOF, but he would would have been a no brainer had he not had shoulder injuries. Bag-pipes had a weird stance too. Didn't know what it was that ended his career -- bad shoulder?? Bagwell was excellent but I always suspected PED use from him. Same of a lotta guys from the 90s.
Bagwell and Biggio were great guys. I don't think they would have considered using steroids. Caminiti who played there for a while was...different.
It got to a point where he had trouble even throwing a baseball. He also had his hand broken several times by being hit by pitches.
Breitbart: Tim Tebow Drives Huge Jump in Double-A All-Star Game Ticket Prices His fans are very loyal. "On Vivid Seats,” the site reported, “the cheapest ticket rose to $115, nearly six times the $20 tickets available prior to the announcement that Tebow was an all-star."
THEN..."Traditional" Coach insisted I come straight over the top. Not conducive for my shoulder shape. Lost my previous velocity and movement AND control. Curve hung instead of having a slider-action. Obviously lost effectiveness, then confidence. I would think most pitchers would be 3/4 or lower because coming directly over the top is hard on the shoulder. At least it was on mine when I tried it a few pitches and that was enough for me, shoulder hurt for a week. BTA the coaches we had when I was playing were idiots (wanted their sons and his friends to play when they sucked) so I switched over to hanging out with the beer drinkers (softball) and never looked back. Played LCF till eyes started bothering me then went to 2B for 1 year then became the pitcher. All those years of throwing batting practice for the guys came in real handy during the games. You knew what pitch the batter wanted by his stance at the plate so you knew immediately what not to throw him, frustrated the hell out of them. :) Only used 2 grips a 4 seam to throw a straight pitch and 2 seam for a curveball. You had to have a little bit of a breeze for the curve to bite good, calm nights it wouldn't work right. On good nights RHed batters stood no chance cause the curve came in from behind them right at head height and they constantly had to bail or step out of the box to get a swing.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
The game has become either an XBH/HR or bust. Last night: TIE GAME. Yankees get the lead off guy on, inning 9. Fast guy at first, fast guy at bat (Brett Gardner, who can bunt, and bunt well). You need just ONE run to win; What did Gardner do? Promptly swings away and raps into a DP. EVERYBODY WANTS TO BE A HERO. Baseball's olde school fundamental/situational tactics are dead. Bombers gave away a game an inning later last night when an opposite field 340' HR was dinked into the seats. (but also NOT before loading the bases wit one out and all that was needed was CONTACT. The next two batters K'd on 6 pitches.) Yep you hit the nail on the head. Giant slugfest. The fantasy baseball leagues are the same. They do consider BA but a guy like Choo who gets on base a lot via BB is not a popular Fantasy pick. If they offered OPS and OBP then Choo would be a top pick. When the Giants and Cards were winning World Series every other year last decade they had a bunch of players who could get on base and move runners. That and solid rotation wins world series.
He was with the Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers) in his last full year in 71. Like today the Rangers continue to put their faith in washed up retreads.
Trying to get lucky and get something for nothing. Who knows where they'd be if they hadn't taken a flier on Colon this year. You know I bet he'd make a good pitching coach somewhere, could teach the kids how to "PITCH" instead of just flinging 95+ and hoping it misses the bat. Read something the other day about one of the playoff contenders have or will approach the Rangers about acquiring Moore for the stretch run, I say send him in a heartbeat. (Wish I could remember what team that was). They could have kept Tyson Ross and saved themselves 2 prospects they traded to get Moore, at least Ross has an ERA 3 runs better than Moore.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Just in from Breakpoint on Tebow:
Great GREAT story, bro. There are people I regard as "heroic"; There are only few people I would regard with great admiration for their integrity, honor, loyalty and courage. But then there's Tim Tebow. The man is as close to "hero" as I've ever had. You can learn a lot by a person by how they treat the least of us. Tim Tebow elevates and inspires...and leads by example. A Godly man. It is sad that anyone would or could truly hate Tim Tebow.
Look at those skyrocketing AA ticket sales. Some people obviously do consider Tebow a heroic figure.
Same for both of us. Yours hurt for a week? At what age? When you're young we're extremely flexible...but for that to put a hurtin' on you... Yes -- that straight overthe top 12-6 mechanics IS un-natural and the advice WAS really dumb. BTA the coaches we had when I was playing were idiots (wanted their sons and his friends to play when they sucked) so I switched over to hanging out with the beer drinkers (softball) and never looked back. THAT was one of THE most annoying things I'd see; 7-8 coaches (aka, crummy kids' dads) who did so ONLY as insurance for their son to start over...somebody like you. (and MY son.) After Toms River NJ won the LL championship (Todd Frazier on that team), you never saw such a bunch of A-kissing dads. And of course, teams with almost as many coaches as players. Unc, did you play fast-pitch softball? Excellent game and challenge. I loved it. Played in a serious beer driker league AND a serious morning non-drinking league (That damage was done the previous night ;-) Played LCF till eyes started bothering me then went to 2B for 1 year then became the pitcher. All those years of throwing batting practice for the guys came in real handy during the games. You knew what pitch the batter wanted by his stance at the plate so you knew immediately what not to throw him, frustrated the hell out of them. :) Couldn't you wear specs? Pitchers in softball were always underrated. Some (probably like you) could really pitch, changing speed and location, affecting the game. Sounds like you just enjoyed playing ball...and the camaraderie. Good times. Only used 2 grips a 4 seam to throw a straight pitch and 2 seam for a curveball. You had to have a little bit of a breeze for the curve to bite good, calm nights it wouldn't work right. On good nights RHed batters stood no chance cause the curve came in from behind them right at head height and they constantly had to bail or step out of the box to get a swing. Softball right? Curve?? Man...you were tricky. I never faced any softball pitcher with that kind of stuff.
Crazy ticket attendance AND prices ain't it? Tebow is...hero. And a legend. For a few reasons. He's what many of us aspire to be as a man, a person, one of great love and faith...so we look to him.
Giant slugfest. The fantasy baseball leagues are the same. They do consider BA but a guy like Choo who gets on base a lot via BB is not a popular Fantasy pick. If they offered OPS and OBP then Choo would be a top pick. Yeah...and it's detracting from "The Game"; As you guys know, The Game is NOT only about hitting the ball over the fence. Fantasy stats and leagues have NOT helped any love or appreciation for the essence of baseball. Fantasy Stats and Rotisserie Leagues are the baseball equivalent of gauging women solely by their breasts or obvious charms; All the nuance and developed appreciation is eliminated or neutered. Right -- a guy like Choo makes thing happen, some of it subtly -- stretching out counts, walking, making pitchers work, frustrating them psychologically. THIS is exactly why Bill James-type of stats and metrics -- all the rage -- is deceiving and doesn't tell THE story. You guys remember when A-Rod was posting all those gaudy stats for the Rangers during the early 2000s? Texas STUNK, despite scoring like a pinball machine. Mark Texeira and the other guys referred to A-Rod as "Chiller". As in chilling the passion of the clubhouse morale.Sure, they needed pitching. BUT. Team chemistry is NOT considered a "metric" or "stat". And neither are morale, will-to-win, and leadership. I get it -- for Bill James stats and strange metrics tells HIS "story". But not THE story. When the Giants and Cards were winning World Series every other year last decade they had a bunch of players who could get on base and move runners. That and solid rotation wins world series. EXACTAMUNDO. Neither were powerhouses. But they won. When it counted. Solid rotation. But timely hitting and guys who can do fundamentals and play small ball in tight games (which are the case come playoffs, and why all those Yankee powerhouses during the 2000s ALWAYS lost -- except in 2009.)
Strange dude; Strange year for baseball. I think Ted Williams was MGR and the Nats had Denny McLain and Curt Flood -- both stars just two years prior to '71 but become washed up REAL QUICK. Reason for that? Crummy money instead of millions. And lack of medical care and techniques that could save shoulders, arms and knees. I can't imagine Mickey Mantle playing for so long and at his level of excellence -- lacking ANY knee cartilage. People still can't appreciate that....UNTIL their own knees ache just to walk across a room.
It's all about launch angle and exit velocity now - as a result you are seeing more strikeouts. And teams are using the shift on defense a lot more these days. What really irks me is when a good player continually hits INTO the shift instead of trying to drive it the other way. Or at least lay down a bunt to the weak side. Good grief - the way they play Victor Martinez, probably the slowest runner in baseball - even he could beat out a bunt down the third base line. It would scoot into left field before the third baseman could get to the ball.
Yep - The good old days when teams didn't rely on pitch counts. Denny had a rough time in the '68 Series vs The Cardinals - he was 1-2 - Lolich was 3-0. The starter would go out, throw 125-130 pitches, then pitch again in 3 days (didn't they use a three or four man rotation in those days?) In game 7 of the 1991 World Series, former Tiger and 2018 HOF electee Jack Morris pitched 10 innings of shutout ball for the Twins, tossing 126 pitches in the 1-0 win over Atlanta, after only three days rest. I've read that some teams are considering going from a 5 to 6 man rotation.
I found out long ago that the most exciting play in baseball is a clutch single up the middle that allows a guy from second to get home. At least, that's my viewpoint.
Yeah, let a guy pitch. If he's having trouble, the manager comes out and sternly asks if he is having trouble, and he wants an honest answer. If he is, then see you in a couple of days.
A suicide squeeze bunt is pretty exciting - you don't see much of that anymore though.
I've played a few games here and there but it wasn't really that popular wherever I've lived nothing really organized, so most of the time I've been playing slow pitch. For awhile I was playing 6 days/nights a week until the first daughter showed up then I had to cut back to 3-4. A lot of people don't realize fast pitch can be just as challenging as playing baseball. A 70MPH softball pitch thrown from 46' for men/43' for women equates to 98MPH baseball thrown from the standard 60'6".
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
I was, I've had to wear them since I was 6 it was my depth perception that was fading. Balls that I used to catch and be in a good position to throw back in turned into barely getting to them and not being set to make a good throw. Night games were especially bad so I knew it was time to move in to the infield.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
I used my experience in the OF throwing back in to teach myself how to throw the curve in slowpitch. I learned that I couldn't use a 2 seam grip to throw the ball back in because it would ride and tail and be off target. A seemingly perfect throw to 3rd would morph into pulling the 3rd baseman 6' or further off the bag and being 3' over his head. lol So I figured if I wanted to throw a curve all I had to do was use the 2 seam grip and get enough topspin on it thru the use of an exaggerated follow thru to make it work, my hand would end up directly up over my head. I also found out that follow thru put a somewhat different arc on my straight pitch which I threw kinda like a palm ball (except that I gripped it 4 seam). The ball would climb up over the batters head and he would think it was going to be too deep and give up on it but about that time the ball would loose it's momentum and fall almost straight down into the strike zone. My pitches broke the arc maximum height of 10' but the umpires overlooked that because in their words "Man you have a pretty pitch". I also tried to learn a knuckleball but my hand wasn't big enough to make it work right with the Men's ball but if I used one of my daughters softballs I could. The girls/women's ball is an inch smaller and I could get the right grip on the seams with it. We snuck one of the small balls into a game one night and it took the home plate umpire about 3 pitches before he noticed the difference and threw it out. lol
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Amen
You and I using a term like "clutch hitter" only gets the stats Nazis in a lather these days. Yep know it well...That guy who gets the hit when needed most and is consistent in doing it can't be captured in the crazed stats community today. They would just say he got 'lucky' with BABIP. LOL. And the shift they put on for lefty batters these days is ridiculous but what is a manager to do when they know an opposing batter can only hit to one side of the field. Not many guys around these days like Beltre who can will the ball where it needs to go given the situation.
Once you figured it out, your natural grip was tailor-made for curve balls and a bunch of other mischief. Guys like you drove me crazy. I'd much rather face heat than dealing with that kind of movement and arc. The knuckler -- I have seen that in softball. Lol@ sneaking in your daughter's softball as a game ball...
I love stats and metrics...but only when they make sense. Lot of them today just don't, aren't really relevant, and don't deal in the psychological, effects of "clutch". For BOTH your team and the other. I noticed Bill James hasn't come up with a "Padded-Stat" category. "Clutch" is everything. Especially with 2-out, "Late and Close". To some degree I agree with Gnu on "the most exciting play". With everything on the line what's more exciting than a charging outfielder and desperate peg to the plate trying to nail a desperate runner? Baseball Reference (under "Splits") has created some excellent "clutch" stats. Besides "2 Outs, RISP" and "Late & Close", another category is situational "Leverage" (Low, Medium, High). Great to single out guys with reps and see if it matched with reality....
Right. Ridiculous but the shift is very effective with some of these guys. If you get thrown out by a ground ball to short right field, you don't deserve the hit. Why these LH hitters don't practice tapping a ball to the left side of the infield boggles the mind.
Yeah that is a stat I wish they could figure out a way to keep track of cause I think it's one of the most important ones. It shows the person is cool under pressure and can get the job done when it counts the most. Anybody can get a hit with the bases empty but not many can do it with men on base, 2 outs bottom of the 9th with a full count, most swing at junk and get themselves out.
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
We used to pull some stunts to put the team at ease and the other guys off their game. One thing I hated was big mouths so when I was playing CF I used to peg them with the ball when they were running the bases. (I always told my guys to be quiet and let your play do the talking not your yap). Have you ever been hit with a Bluedot in the head, it doesn't feel too good. About a dozen guys I can think of can testify to the pain it caused them, in the back of your head when you're not looking is even worse. lol
Vegetarians eat vegetables. Beware of humanitarians!
Tebow hitting long term DL (probably for remainder of season) for broken hand bone. Just came out a few hours ago. However, the Babylon Bee had this from a over 24 hours ago:
Anyone know what DID turn Bruce Jenner into a "girl" in his mind at age 60+? The guy had been a closet tranny for quite some time. Daddy/Mommy problems? Was he molested?
#36. To: Liberator (#18)
Red, Unc, have you guys noticed the LOW BAs of MLB this year? Many team averages are from .225-.240. And for the first time there may be more Ks than hits! It's HR or a Whiff.
#37. To: Liberator (#18)
I have never understood how any guy/pitcher who 6-2+ with a good arm can't throw 94+ MPH. Never mind 6-4, 250. At that size they shuld easily throw 95+ (and many do.)
#38. To: CZ82 (#36)
That's been going on for a few years now since "a few" players are better now that they changed their swing a little to hit more fly balls.
#39. To: CZ82, redleghunter (#37)
(Edited)
Mechanics. Some guys start throwing harder after a few years because they've fixed their mechanics, in essence smoothed out their delivery and their arms are now freer to travel further/faster.
#40. To: Liberator (#38)
#41. To: no gnu taxes, CZ82 (#40)
Tommy Lasorda taught players to swing down at the ball (especially if they have speed).
#42. To: Liberator (#41)
#43. To: CZ82, redleghunter, no gnu taxes, A K A Stone (#34)
What do you expect he's wearing a Barney necktie.
2) NFL/"Breast Awareness" pink. It's a fake PR sham. It's real intent?: To "feminize" traditional male realms.
3) 
#44. To: no gnu taxes (#42)
Probably it's better to have an uppercut or level swing these days.
#45. To: Liberator (#44)
#46. To: All (#45)
Didn't know what it was that ended his career -- bad shoulder??
#47. To: Liberator, no gnu taxes, CZ82 (#44)
#48. To: Liberator (#39)
Speaking of mechanics, back when I was hurling I came 3/4. It produced more velocity and a moving fastball. Curve broke a lot better.
#49. To: Liberator, CZ82 (#18)
Red, Unc, have you guys noticed the LOW BAs of MLB this year? Many team averages are from .225-.240. And for the first time there may be more Ks than hits! It's HR or a Whiff. Joe DiMaggio and Yogi Berra typically would K less than 25 times PER YEAR!
#50. To: Liberator, CZ82 (#24)
Denny McLain. Yeah, I recall him pretty well. Playing ht/wt: 6-1, 185.
#51. To: redleghunter (#50)
Like today the Rangers continue to put their faith in washed up retreads.
#52. To: Tooconservative, Liberator, CZ82 (#47)
#53. To: redleghunter, Tooconservative, CZ82 (#52)
(Edited)
#54. To: Liberator (#53)
The man is as close to "hero" as I've ever had.
#55. To: CZ82, redleghunter (#48)
I would think most pitchers would be 3/4 or lower because coming directly over the top is hard on the shoulder. At least it was on mine when I tried it a few pitches and that was enough for me, shoulder hurt for a week.
#56. To: Tooconservative (#54)
Look at those skyrocketing AA ticket sales. Some people obviously do consider Tebow a heroic figure.
#57. To: redleghunter, CZ82 (#49)
Yep you hit the nail on the head.
#58. To: redleghunter, CZ82 (#50)
[McLain] was with the Washington Senators (now Texas Rangers) in his last full year in 71.
#59. To: CZ82, Liberator (#36)
That's been going on for a few years now since "a few" players are better now that they changed their swing a little to hit more fly balls.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#60. To: Liberator, no gnu taxes (#24)
(Edited)
For a couple of years, Denny McLain was one of the best pitcher in baseball: 31-4 in '68, 24-7 in '69
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#61. To: redleghunter (#49)
#62. To: Deckard (#60)
#63. To: no gnu taxes (#61)
I found out long ago that the most exciting play in baseball is a clutch single up the middle that allows a guy from second to get home.
“Truth is treason in the empire of lies.” - Ron Paul
Trump: My People Should ‘Sit Up in Attention’ Like Kim Jong-un’s Staff.
#64. To: Liberator (#55)
Unc, did you play fast-pitch softball? Excellent game and challenge. I loved it. Played in a serious beer driker league AND a serious morning non-drinking league (That damage was done the previous night ;-)
#65. To: Liberator (#55)
Couldn't you wear specs?
#66. To: Liberator (#55)
(Edited)
Softball right? Curve?? Man...you were tricky. I never faced any softball pitcher with that kind of stuff.
#67. To: Liberator (#53)
You can learn a lot by a person by how they treat the least of us.
#68. To: no gnu taxes, Liberator, CZ82 (#61)
I found out long ago that the most exciting play in baseball is a clutch single up the middle that allows a guy from second to get home. At least, that's my viewpoint.
#69. To: CZ82 (#66)
#70. To: redleghunter, no gnu taxes, CZ82 (#68)
You and I using a term like "clutch hitter" only gets the stats Nazis in a lather these days. Yep know it well...That guy who gets the hit when needed most and is consistent in doing it can't be captured in the crazed stats community today.
#71. To: redleghunter, no gnu taxes, CZ82 (#68)
And the shift they put on for lefty batters these days is ridiculous but what is a manager to do when they know an opposing batter can only hit to one side of the field. Not many guys around these days like Beltre who can will the ball where it needs to go given the situation.
#72. To: redleghunter, Liberator (#68)
You and I using a term like "clutch hitter" only gets the stats Nazis in a lather these days.
#73. To: Liberator (#69)
Lol@ sneaking in your daughter's softball as a game ball...
#74. To: Tooconservative, Liberator, CZ82 (#73)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]