EWC readers interested in baseball mechanics and scouting should be prepared to spend far too much time at Chris O’ Leary’s “The Pitching Mechanic”. O’Leary has assembled a comprehensive site breaking down the mechanics of Major League Pitchers past and present–from all-time greats like Nolan Ryan to ‘trainwrecks’ (pitchers with a high injury risk) such as Chris Carpenter–frame-by-frame. The site details hitting mechanics as well. Highly recommended.
I think these guys are prospects: A 1959 home run derby between Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle. Props to Mariners’ Pacific Rim Scout Jamey for this one.
Is $10 Million too much for a high school prospect? Wall Street Journal’s Matthew Futterman says Rick Porcello is both “a walking symbol of a baseball draft system some say is hopelessly broken” and a phenomenal talent.
A shout out to Minnesota and my buddy EO as he goes to check out the Twins versus the Evil Empire in the dome tonight. Here’s some Dylan (with Johnny Cash) performing “Girl From The North Country” in his honor. When he’s not savvily breaking down Twins performances, he’s designing his own Minnesota-centric clothing line, Flyover State.
Just in time for summer, remember how blazin’ New Orleans rapper T.I.’s “What U Know” is.
NYC Graffiti Writer and Artist Steve Powers, aka ESPO, who recently received a Fulbright Scholarship to work with at-risk teens in Dublin and Belfast, gets some major media shine in the New York Times, including a slideshow of his murals
as well as a feature piece.
Remember how great young RUN D.M.C. were on this priceless clip from the TV show Graffiti Rock. Make sure to check out the Italian guy getting his gettin’ his in front of the stage. Kool Moe Dee makes a guest cameo.
An database of sites promoting socially engaged Buddhism.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Gary Garland // Jun 10, 2008 at 3:20 pm
I was reading Yasumitsu Toyoda’s (he was a hall of fame shortstop with the Nishitetsu Lions) book, “Ore ga Yarusan: 108 Bombs on Baseball” and he says that the hardest hit ball he ever had come his way was one Mantle belted during an all star series between NPB and the NY Yankees in the 1950’s. The ball was hit so hard that Toyoda (who wasn’t the greatest glove man anyway, which he freely admits) had no time to react and it richocheted off of one of his legs and into the leftcenter alley for a triple. The ball left a deep welt (which Toyoda referred to using the english word “crater”) in the affected leg, but Toyoda stayed in the game anyway.
As an added aside since it is such a cool anecdote, Toyoda asked Stan Musial during a 1958 NPB-St. Louis Cardinals series how he approached hitting. Musial answered that, “in the early part of your career, you hit with God-given ability. In the middle of it, you hit based on your experience. In the late part of it, you hit with your head.” Toyoda stated that Musial’s comment caused him to look at hitting differently from that point on.
By the way, that book Toyoda did is well worth anyone’s time. It is chock full of neat anecdotes and Toyoda himself is known for his willingness to give unvarnished opinions. Check it out (Japanese only, unfortunately—I’m thinking of translating excerpts of it for english speakers, but that is kinda far down the line with all the other stuff I’m doing right now).
2 Timmy // Nov 14, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Excellent site - do keep up the good work..
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