Sorry Doc....didn't see it anywhere. I would personally like to see it back up again....like coach said, it's been almost 50 years, and would be fun to see how it would pan out in today's Ball. If not that, then I would like to see the strike zone expanded by a minimum of 4 inches.
Welcome back to the conversation, AJ. Your re-emergence wouldn't by chance have anything to do with the fact that the Cards now are only 1.5 games out of 1st in the NLC, would it? :wink:
Naahhhh....it became apparent in July that St. Louis isnt worth 2 dead flies this year Sid. Just been busy....waiting on the 6-6 season the experts are predicting for the Huskers this year.
Don't be so sure about the Cards. I just watched the Cubs RPs give up 5 runs in the 7th and 8th to the Reds turn a 6-1 lead into a 6-6 tie.
This never gets old. Dodgers come from behind for the 37th time this year and walk-off for the 10th time. Bellinger sat tonight, but is batting 1000 as a pinch hitter, and he did it again. Yasiel Puig is the hero with a walk-off double in the bottom of the 9th for win #85...
I saw an article that said right now Paul Goldschmidt, a Houston area kid, is the favorite for the NL MVP. Astros win 2 in a row for the first time since late July. Another good outing frmo a starter and power from the hitters.
I would agree with Goldschmidt as MVP. He's been steadily excellent for the past several seasons. If the Reds had any semblance of a competitive team, Joey Votto probably would be the leading candidate.
:idea: :arrow: If Goldy or Votto gets MVP that's fine with me. We have as good pitchers as anyone out there and we haven't been able to get either one out for years. On the other hand, no player has impacted MLB like Bellinger since Babe Ruth. His appearance instantly transformed a team with a losing record into the greatest juggernaut in baseball history. Any of those three would be fine this year, but I think it's between Goldy and Belly...
Judge is completely out of sync. Average is down 45 points since AS game. He has 7 HRs and 14 RBIs since. His K's are off the chart. He is stranding runners by the boatload and hitting third. Offensively he now resembles Dave Kingman. His baserunning and defense continues to shine; Kingman had no skill set to offset his .230 BA. I hate the HR derby.
Dodgers win #91. The Dodgers pitching staff recorded their 2nd one-hitter in the last 72 hours... Cody Bellinger rejoins the team tomorrow. He needs one HR to tie Mike Piazza's Dodger rookie record and four HRs to tie Frank Robinson's National League rookie record of 38...
Interesting article in this weeks Time Mag. The cover is a kid from N.J. who is a very good baseball player. The article is about the professionalization of youth sports. Using this kid as an example they say Little League participation is down in favor of select all-star type of teams that travel the country. This kid has 2 private coaches (100$/hr) one for fielding and one for batting. He's thinking long term and has adopted the moniker of Joey Baseball and has a big twitter following..never too early to start building your brand! oh yeah he's 10 years old
Interesting article Terry, I have a friend who has verbatim done exactly what your post describes. From the private coaching to the all-star travel clubs they did it. The results currently are that his son recently graduated high school and was told he would be drafted but it never happened but they always had a backup plan and he got a full scholarship to the University of Virginia. Now number two son who recently turned 14 is the hot topic and has scouts drooling over his abilities and 6 foot 1 inch frame...All I can say is the sacrifice is immense as they are never home and always playing travel ball....
I coached against a 15 year old once who was as good as any young baseball player I have every seen. All five tools, swicth hitter and everything he hit looked like a perfectly stroked 2 iron. One problem: he really had grown to hate baseball because his old man had him playing like 8-10 ganes per week and pushed him relentlessly. Flamed out after high school. Now he is a chiropractor. I knew another kid that who's mother used to sit in the bleachers at every game doing his homework. He is a brick layer now after barely making it through high school. My nephew was identified as a baseball phenom in Texas by the time he was 12 ( by his father ). Dad spent a small fortune on clinics, travel team expenses and special coaches. One of his coaches was Jim Sundberg. My nephew was team mates with Yovani Gallardo (sp?). But at 16 he discovered cars and girls and lost the " eye the of tiger " ). At 17 he cut two of his fingers off in woodshop. End of the story. He now prints tee shirts.
Interesting stories George. I've seen similar situations when my son was growing up, and now I'm seeing similar parental stories among my grandkids' sports. Fortunately, none of them involve my family. My brother, a wiser man than I, once coached swimming at a high level. When I commented on a 10 yr. old phenom, he said she'll be out of swimming by the time she's 14 because of the way her parents push her. She left the sport at 13. Well-meaning but ignorant parents can do more harm to their kids ' athletic futures than they know until they learn when it's too late. Some never learn.
The constant parental push for excellence is real and unfortunate. A little follow up to my friend whose son is a oncoming freshman at Virginia. He was just named to the Cavalier starting rotation as a closer as a freshman, he is pitching 94 mph fastballs which is 6 mph faster than the fastest pitcher on the team. And to add to the parental push experiences he all but quit in high school with a bad case of burnout and lust for his high school sweetheart...
I could have become the president my momma always told me....Dastardly woman of mine threw a roadblock in my way while I was green and innocent...Wet behind the ears I tell ya...