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Post by rizzuto on Nov 14, 2023 19:41:32 GMT -5
Interesting clip Rizz. With each bat he seemed to adapt after a few swings. In fact I believe his longest shot and highest exit velo was with the Babe Ruth bat, which is precisely why The Colossus of Clout used a heavy weapon. I also have no doubt that Mick and Babe and Honus and Joe were stronger than this guy, who is obviously a decent athlete himself. While I don't have any doubt that in general more pitchers are throwing harder today -- in part because they know they aren't pitching as many innings -- there's a lot more to pitching than speed. He is seriously underestimating Walter Johnson by putting him at 90 MPH. When some stat geeks -- I believe it was from the documentary "Fastball" -- went over measurements done on Johnson at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the World War I era and extrapolated them to current conditions they came up with something in the upper nineties, and even that is by necessity still a guess. And we know Feller was topping 100. But this is a fun clip and kudos to the guy for doing it. If you go to the Hillerich and Bradsby facility in Louisville you can swing some of these bats, but you won't face live pitching. For the record, Honus Wagner's first name is pronounced "Hahness", a derivative of Johannes, the German equivalent of his given name John. Happy that you enjoyed it, Pipps. I thought it was interesting, as the guy has a good swing and generates plenty of bat head speed. Like you, I guffawed at the guy's opining that most everyone was throwing around 85 mph and only Walter Johnson could get it to 90. Funny that Satchel Paige proved he could still sling it at the MLB level at age 58 in 1965. When I was a boy - around 10 or 12 years old - one of my father's younger brothers was still playing fast pitch softball with my brother's friends in a league. My uncle was over 50 at the time and pitching, and my brother and his teammates (and opponents) were in their early 20s. My uncle was by no means an athletic specimen or even in shape, yet he could still blow the ball by them. His mechanics were sound. I think I mentioned previously that my father once walked out of the garden in his wool pants, long sleeve shirt, and straw hat, and proceeded to break in my new softball glove that I just bought, needing it for high school PE. I had no idea that my father could pitch - he must have been 55 at the time. Making the ball rise, breaking left and right, and dropping off a table straight down - I know my father had not picked up a ball in my lifetime at that point. The thing about those old timers is that growing up, they played ball all of their spare time. What else could they do? No television, only some had radios, certainly none of them wanted to stay inside the house to risk getting in trouble or being put to work on something other than usual chores. They played ball. And, no one taught them to throw, to catch, or to hit. There were no summer camps or private coaches. They learned by playing, watching others, and experimenting. If possible, all day, everyday. And, none of them ever had to get into shape to play. They were already in shape, because they walked, ran, and biked everywhere. Not one of them watched what they ate - because they were always hungry! Burning calories from the moment they rolled out of bed. They were all hard-scrabble and sinew. Thanks for altering my pronunciation for Honus - Johannes makes perfect sense. |
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Post by inger on Nov 14, 2023 20:10:52 GMT -5
Interesting clip Rizz. With each bat he seemed to adapt after a few swings. In fact I believe his longest shot and highest exit velo was with the Babe Ruth bat, which is precisely why The Colossus of Clout used a heavy weapon. I also have no doubt that Mick and Babe and Honus and Joe were stronger than this guy, who is obviously a decent athlete himself. While I don't have any doubt that in general more pitchers are throwing harder today -- in part because they know they aren't pitching as many innings -- there's a lot more to pitching than speed. He is seriously underestimating Walter Johnson by putting him at 90 MPH. When some stat geeks -- I believe it was from the documentary "Fastball" -- went over measurements done on Johnson at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the World War I era and extrapolated them to current conditions they came up with something in the upper nineties, and even that is by necessity still a guess. And we know Feller was topping 100. But this is a fun clip and kudos to the guy for doing it. If you go to the Hillerich and Bradsby facility in Louisville you can swing some of these bats, but you won't face live pitching. For the record, Honus Wagner's first name is pronounced "Hahness", a derivative of Johannes, the German equivalent of his given name John. Happy that you enjoyed it, Pipps. I thought it was interesting, as the guy has a good swing and generates plenty of bat head speed. Like you, I guffawed at the guy's opining that most everyone was throwing around 85 mph and only Walter Johnson could get it to 90. Funny that Satchel Paige proved he could still sling it at the MLB level at age 58 in 1965. When I was a boy - around 10 or 12 years old - one of my father's younger brothers was still playing fast pitch softball with my brother's friends in a league. My uncle was over 50 at the time and pitching, and my brother and his teammates (and opponents) were in their early 20s. My uncle was by no means an athletic specimen or even in shape, yet he could still blow the ball by them. His mechanics were sound. I think I mentioned previously that my father once walked out of the garden in his wool pants, long sleeve shirt, and straw hat, and proceeded to break in my new softball glove that I just bought, needing it for high school PE. I had no idea that my father could pitch - he must have been 55 at the time. Making the ball rise, breaking left and right, and dropping off a table straight down - I know my father had not picked up a ball in my lifetime at that point. The thing about those old timers is that growing up, they played ball all of their spare time. What else could they do? No television, only some had radios, certainly none of them wanted to stay inside the house to risk getting in trouble or being put to work on something other than usual chores. They played ball. And, no one taught them to throw, to catch, or to hit. There were no summer camps or private coaches. They learned by playing, watching others, and experimenting. If possible, all day, everyday. And, none of them ever had to get into shape to play. They were already in shape, because they walked, ran, and biked everywhere. Not one of them watched what they ate - because they were always hungry! Burning calories from the moment they rolled out of bed. They were all hard-scrabble and sinew. Thanks for altering my pronunciation for Honus - Johannes makes perfect sense. And thus stated is the specific reason injuries are so prolific today. The development of muscle, ligaments, sinew was originally intended to become due to natural motions, not by a sudden tradition from push video game buttons to weight lifting and gym equipment. The youth of today have “evolved” into what we see, much like we see today’s athletes being larger and more muscular have evolved as such. Yes, evolution is supposed to be a longer process, but when conditions change animals adapt to that change. It’s part of that whole survival of the fittest thing. If all conditions remain close to the same evolution takes its leisurely time going about change, but assisted with vitamins and better medical care the pace is escalated. And if young children don’t get their proper exercise they don’t develop the same in a sort of reverse evolution. I don’t think this to have been going on long enough for babies to be born with poor ligament development, but eventually that will be the result… |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 14, 2023 20:27:35 GMT -5
Interesting clip Rizz. With each bat he seemed to adapt after a few swings. In fact I believe his longest shot and highest exit velo was with the Babe Ruth bat, which is precisely why The Colossus of Clout used a heavy weapon. I also have no doubt that Mick and Babe and Honus and Joe were stronger than this guy, who is obviously a decent athlete himself. While I don't have any doubt that in general more pitchers are throwing harder today -- in part because they know they aren't pitching as many innings -- there's a lot more to pitching than speed. He is seriously underestimating Walter Johnson by putting him at 90 MPH. When some stat geeks -- I believe it was from the documentary "Fastball" -- went over measurements done on Johnson at the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the World War I era and extrapolated them to current conditions they came up with something in the upper nineties, and even that is by necessity still a guess. And we know Feller was topping 100. But this is a fun clip and kudos to the guy for doing it. If you go to the Hillerich and Bradsby facility in Louisville you can swing some of these bats, but you won't face live pitching. For the record, Honus Wagner's first name is pronounced "Hahness", a derivative of Johannes, the German equivalent of his given name John. Happy that you enjoyed it, Pipps. I thought it was interesting, as the guy has a good swing and generates plenty of bat head speed. Like you, I guffawed at the guy's opining that most everyone was throwing around 85 mph and only Walter Johnson could get it to 90. Funny that Satchel Paige proved he could still sling it at the MLB level at age 58 in 1965. When I was a boy - around 10 or 12 years old - one of my father's younger brothers was still playing fast pitch softball with my brother's friends in a league. My uncle was over 50 at the time and pitching, and my brother and his teammates (and opponents) were in their early 20s. My uncle was by no means an athletic specimen or even in shape, yet he could still blow the ball by them. His mechanics were sound. I think I mentioned previously that my father once walked out of the garden in his wool pants, long sleeve shirt, and straw hat, and proceeded to break in my new softball glove that I just bought, needing it for high school PE. I had no idea that my father could pitch - he must have been 55 at the time. Making the ball rise, breaking left and right, and dropping off a table straight down - I know my father had not picked up a ball in my lifetime at that point. The thing about those old timers is that growing up, they played ball all of their spare time. What else could they do? No television, only some had radios, certainly none of them wanted to stay inside the house to risk getting in trouble or being put to work on something other than usual chores. They played ball. And, no one taught them to throw, to catch, or to hit. There were no summer camps or private coaches. They learned by playing, watching others, and experimenting. If possible, all day, everyday. And, none of them ever had to get into shape to play. They were already in shape, because they walked, ran, and biked everywhere. Not one of them watched what they ate - because they were always hungry! Burning calories from the moment they rolled out of bed. They were all hard-scrabble and sinew. Thanks for altering my pronunciation for Honus - Johannes makes perfect sense. So many of those old timers did brutal physical labor of the kind that very few people need to do today. It was all they knew, they didn't think of it as deprivation, and it had to make them strong. The guy who did the video said he normally used a 30-ounce bat. Is that what they're using these days? I mean I used a 32-ounce bat in Little League and a 34-ounce bat in high school. Not that I was Rocky Colavito by any means, but those seemed like normal weights back then. |
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Post by inger on Nov 14, 2023 20:53:57 GMT -5
Happy that you enjoyed it, Pipps. I thought it was interesting, as the guy has a good swing and generates plenty of bat head speed. Like you, I guffawed at the guy's opining that most everyone was throwing around 85 mph and only Walter Johnson could get it to 90. Funny that Satchel Paige proved he could still sling it at the MLB level at age 58 in 1965. When I was a boy - around 10 or 12 years old - one of my father's younger brothers was still playing fast pitch softball with my brother's friends in a league. My uncle was over 50 at the time and pitching, and my brother and his teammates (and opponents) were in their early 20s. My uncle was by no means an athletic specimen or even in shape, yet he could still blow the ball by them. His mechanics were sound. I think I mentioned previously that my father once walked out of the garden in his wool pants, long sleeve shirt, and straw hat, and proceeded to break in my new softball glove that I just bought, needing it for high school PE. I had no idea that my father could pitch - he must have been 55 at the time. Making the ball rise, breaking left and right, and dropping off a table straight down - I know my father had not picked up a ball in my lifetime at that point. The thing about those old timers is that growing up, they played ball all of their spare time. What else could they do? No television, only some had radios, certainly none of them wanted to stay inside the house to risk getting in trouble or being put to work on something other than usual chores. They played ball. And, no one taught them to throw, to catch, or to hit. There were no summer camps or private coaches. They learned by playing, watching others, and experimenting. If possible, all day, everyday. And, none of them ever had to get into shape to play. They were already in shape, because they walked, ran, and biked everywhere. Not one of them watched what they ate - because they were always hungry! Burning calories from the moment they rolled out of bed. They were all hard-scrabble and sinew. Thanks for altering my pronunciation for Honus - Johannes makes perfect sense. So many of those old timers did brutal physical labor of the kind that very few people need to do today. It was all they knew, they didn't think of it as deprivation, and it had to make them strong. The guy who did the video said he normally used a 30-ounce bat. Is that what they're using these days? I mean I used a 32-ounce bat in Little League and a 34-ounce bat in high school. Not that I was Rocky Colavito by any means, but those seemed like normal weights back then. I’d be surprised if anyone (with the possible exception of Bo Jackson) could break a 34-Oz. bat over their knee or even their head like I’ve seen players do. The bats are lighter because swing speed and exit velocity are over valued. I never really tried to “whip” a bat like you would a golf club, but that’s what hitters are looking for, and what most often creates the results they are looking for… but also the swing and miss. Back to your point about the hard labor, though I never did it a lot of the local kids I grew up with went to Avondale to shovel mushroom houses. The closest I came to that was helping out in hay baling season, but I also was first in line to unload the heaviest items off the freight trucks, including concrete and later peat moss delivery trucks. True. Few children seem to have those type of jobs these days, either. But even fewer pick up a bat and/or a ball and glove every single day these days. Throwing at a young age to develop in the way they need to develop if they’re going to play the game for 15-20 years as an adult…Flipping 1/4 pound burgers doesn’t equal carrying a couple hundred pounds of an appliance, furniture, etc… |
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Post by inger on Nov 17, 2023 16:21:09 GMT -5
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 17, 2023 16:54:22 GMT -5
I remember his name only because I had him on my all-anatomy team with Elroy Face and Bill Hands and Rollie Fingers and Barry Foote and Scott Brow and that guy Ni who pitched for the Tigers. |
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Post by inger on Nov 17, 2023 20:03:54 GMT -5
I remember his name only because I had him on my all-anatomy team with Elroy Face and Bill Hands and Rollie Fingers and Barry Foote and Scott Brow and that guy Ni who pitched for the Tigers. 😂😂😂 Did you include Bill Dickey or Pussy Tabeau? … |
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Post by inger on Nov 18, 2023 13:16:00 GMT -5
Dusty Baker recently retired after 19 years as a major league player, 5 years as a major league coach & 26 seasons as a major league manager.
Is he a HOF? As a manager? …
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 18, 2023 14:51:35 GMT -5
Dusty Baker recently retired after 19 years as a major league player, 5 years as a major league coach & 26 seasons as a major league manager. Is he a HOF? As a manager? … He was a Los Angeles Dodger, so I'm leaning toward no because of 1981. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 19, 2023 7:23:25 GMT -5
Dusty Baker recently retired after 19 years as a major league player, 5 years as a major league coach & 26 seasons as a major league manager. Is he a HOF? As a manager? … He was a Los Angeles Dodger, so I'm leaning toward no because of 1981. I sympathize with the sentiment Rizz. That was a seriously annoying World Series, and to me at least one of the most forgettable of any Yankee World Series. Maybe because of the weirdness of the strike year or the way the Yanks blew it after getting up 2-0 against a team we were accustomed to beating. They just seemed listless and I remember thinking that Piniella was the only guy out there who looked like he cared. I am pretty sure Dusty Baker will get into Cooperstown. For starters he is very well-liked by the baseball establishment. But more importantly, only six managers have more career wins than Baker, who has 2,183 of them. Three of them -- Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre -- have a worse W-L percentage than Dusty's .540. The guy just ahead of him in wins, Sparky Anderson, has only 11 more of them with 28 fewer losses, so he has percentage of .545. Where Baker shows up weakest is that he has "only" three pennants and one ring, and that does count against him in my book. All of the six ahead of him in wins have at least five pennants (Bobby Cox), and only Cox is tied with one ring. The manager just behind him on the victory list, Bucky Harris, has a losing career record with three pennants and two championships, and he's in the HOF. The closest comparison to Baker overall is Leo Durocher, who had 175 fewer wins, an identical .540 W-L percentage and an identical record of three pennants and one ring. The Lip made it to Cooperstown, albeit a few years after he died and fewer of the guys voting on him had to deal with him when he was active. Plus Baker was a much better player than Leo, and from anything I can determine a better human being and at least unlike Durocher he was never suspended from the game for consorting with questionable characters. Although he was managing Altuve and Bregman, it's true.  |
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Post by chiyankee on Nov 19, 2023 9:57:21 GMT -5
Dusty Baker recently retired after 19 years as a major league player, 5 years as a major league coach & 26 seasons as a major league manager. Is he a HOF? As a manager? … He will easily get in as a manger since he now has a world series title on his resume. |
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 19, 2023 13:54:00 GMT -5
He was a Los Angeles Dodger, so I'm leaning toward no because of 1981. I sympathize with the sentiment Rizz. That was a seriously annoying World Series, and to me at least one of the most forgettable of any Yankee World Series. Maybe because of the weirdness of the strike year or the way the Yanks blew it after getting up 2-0 against a team we were accustomed to beating. They just seemed listless and I remember thinking that Piniella was the only guy out there who looked like he cared. I am pretty sure Dusty Baker will get into Cooperstown. For starters he is very well-liked by the baseball establishment. But more importantly, only six managers have more career wins than Baker, who has 2,183 of them. Three of them -- Connie Mack, Tony LaRussa and Joe Torre -- have a worse W-L percentage than Dusty's .540. The guy just ahead of him in wins, Sparky Anderson, has only 11 more of them with 28 fewer losses, so he has percentage of .545. Where Baker shows up weakest is that he has "only" three pennants and one ring, and that does count against him in my book. All of the six ahead of him in wins have at least five pennants (Bobby Cox), and only Cox is tied with one ring. The manager just behind him on the victory list, Bucky Harris, has a losing career record with three pennants and two championships, and he's in the HOF. The closest comparison to Baker overall is Leo Durocher, who had 175 fewer wins, an identical .540 W-L percentage and an identical record of three pennants and one ring. The Lip made it to Cooperstown, albeit a few years after he died and fewer of the guys voting on him had to deal with him when he was active. Plus Baker was a much better player than Leo, and from anything I can determine a better human being and at least unlike Durocher he was never suspended from the game for consorting with questionable characters. Although he was managing Altuve and Bregman, it's true. Spot on, and I expect him to get in - he's well liked by players and other managers (except perhaps LaRussa) and sports writers. Still, he was a Dodger, and not even a Brooklyn Dodger. |
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Post by rizzuto on Nov 22, 2023 0:26:36 GMT -5
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Post by pippsheadache on Nov 22, 2023 6:21:39 GMT -5
That was great Rizz. I have to admit I teared up a bit watching an old, wounded Wilt taking it to a young gifted Kareem. Boy do I wish the NBA was still like that. Two immortals, beyond question. How lucky I was to watch so many Wilt-Russell duels in person for just a few dollars. You knew even at the time that you were witnessing something unusual. Teams played each other twelve times a year back then, so it became really personal. In the 61-62 season, Wilt's Warriors had five HOF players. Not bad, but Russell's Celtics had nine! |
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Post by desousa on Nov 22, 2023 13:05:49 GMT -5
I had a CAT-Scan last week and got my results today. Everything looked good. No new lesions in my lungs and both are healing well from last years surgeries. I do have mild arthritis in my spine and a couple of gallstones, but I already new that. Even my liver looked good and considering how much bourbon I drink, I'll just have to drink to that.
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