Six - count em - six from Red Sox nation!
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WOO HOO - let the game begin!!!!
All-Star Time
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Good to see you, Mary. I always like getting your input on the baseball front. In addition to rooting for the right team, 
you definitely know your stuff.
Detroit got 5 along with Boston getting 6. And I think they deserve it. I'm hoping to see our home boy Justin Verlander get in there and throw some of that 102 mph heat.
I'm still wondering which ace is going to get the honor of the start. With Beckett, Haren, and Sabathia, you can't go wrong with any of them.
And let's not forget Mr. Intimidation himself and his set-up man to seal the deal at the end of the game.
NL doesn't look like it has a chance with the combination of offense and pitching from the AL.
We shall see...
Frankly though I'm looking forward to the home run derby. Every year I study the photos of some of the participants. These are the guys who can make both power and precision work at the same time. The very principles they use to get the ball over the wall are principles we use in Sanchin.
David Ortiz was someone in particular I loved to show. Note how he holds the driving (left) shoulder down when bringing the bat through the power zone. Note the supination turning to pronation as the ball is hit.
Note the follow-through - just like a Sanchin thrust.
It made it even more evident why there's so much we can learn from these best of the best.
- Bill
you definitely know your stuff.Detroit got 5 along with Boston getting 6. And I think they deserve it. I'm hoping to see our home boy Justin Verlander get in there and throw some of that 102 mph heat.
I'm still wondering which ace is going to get the honor of the start. With Beckett, Haren, and Sabathia, you can't go wrong with any of them.
And let's not forget Mr. Intimidation himself and his set-up man to seal the deal at the end of the game.
NL doesn't look like it has a chance with the combination of offense and pitching from the AL.
We shall see...
Frankly though I'm looking forward to the home run derby. Every year I study the photos of some of the participants. These are the guys who can make both power and precision work at the same time. The very principles they use to get the ball over the wall are principles we use in Sanchin.
David Ortiz was someone in particular I loved to show. Note how he holds the driving (left) shoulder down when bringing the bat through the power zone. Note the supination turning to pronation as the ball is hit.
Note the follow-through - just like a Sanchin thrust.
It made it even more evident why there's so much we can learn from these best of the best.
- Bill
There is just so much talent in the AL....whew!!!
I'm going to make a prediction that Beckett will start off and then it will probably be a free for all. There are a few guys I would love to see come to the mound. Hideki Okajima comes to mind for one....
It's a funny thing about the derby.....usually the winner is someone I totally do not expect to shine. I wonder why that is...the big big hitters usually go out early. Maybe because they know it's all for fun. In any event I love to see those guys lofting the ball with such ease - they certainly understand the dynamics of power!!
I'm going to make a prediction that Beckett will start off and then it will probably be a free for all. There are a few guys I would love to see come to the mound. Hideki Okajima comes to mind for one....
It's a funny thing about the derby.....usually the winner is someone I totally do not expect to shine. I wonder why that is...the big big hitters usually go out early. Maybe because they know it's all for fun. In any event I love to see those guys lofting the ball with such ease - they certainly understand the dynamics of power!!
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Ryan Howard was not an unexpected winner last year. He certainly finished the year as strong as he started, and without skipping a beat after the derby.
The biggest problem this year is some of the fun-to-watch guys are opting out.
And Barry Bonds of course is being his typical pr*** self.
It's not like San Francisco needs him in a pennett race, or he's way too far from a record he wants to break. And it's not like he's going to hit in front of a hostile crowd. It's San Fran-freakin-cisco, man! When given the opportunity to connect with the fans, he consistently shows he doesn't get it.
He deserves all the 'roid abuse he gets.
I'd love to see Okajima as well. But I want the right camera angle. These Japanese pitchers are masters at the breaking ball. And from the above photograph, you can see why he's so hard on right-handed batters. He's great at playing "hide the ball" until the final release.
- Bill
The biggest problem this year is some of the fun-to-watch guys are opting out.
And Barry Bonds of course is being his typical pr*** self.
It's not like San Francisco needs him in a pennett race, or he's way too far from a record he wants to break. And it's not like he's going to hit in front of a hostile crowd. It's San Fran-freakin-cisco, man! When given the opportunity to connect with the fans, he consistently shows he doesn't get it.
He deserves all the 'roid abuse he gets.
I'd love to see Okajima as well. But I want the right camera angle. These Japanese pitchers are masters at the breaking ball. And from the above photograph, you can see why he's so hard on right-handed batters. He's great at playing "hide the ball" until the final release.
- Bill
Last edited by Bill Glasheen on Mon Jul 09, 2007 10:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Oki was a pleasant surprise for Boston, sort of like "discovering" Mike Lowell in the package deal to get Beckett.
He really wasn't that great until this year. You have to do a lot of digging to find good pics of him. This is from his days with the Yomiuri Giants.
I think they just have great chemistry in the Boston organization these days. Good people make everyone around them great.
- Bill
He really wasn't that great until this year. You have to do a lot of digging to find good pics of him. This is from his days with the Yomiuri Giants.
I think they just have great chemistry in the Boston organization these days. Good people make everyone around them great.
- Bill
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Here's your home run derby king - Vladimir Guerrero of the Angels. Vladdy got coaching support from his fellow Dominican countryman, Big Papi himself. They do know how to grow ballplayers there, don't they?
Vladdy's a right hander. Note the full, pronated extension of the driving right arm - after the follow-through.
Here's a picture of Vladimir on another day - in the middle of his power stroke. This is where the rear driving arm looks a lot more like the driving Sanchin arm before pronation. Notice how strongly the right shoulder is pulled down.
This is what happens when your brawn is greater than your swatting stick.
I'll post more pictures when they become available. I love doing frame-by-frame studies of the winner. If you squint your eyes, you see a very consistent and fairly familiar set of mechanics.
- Bill
Vladdy's a right hander. Note the full, pronated extension of the driving right arm - after the follow-through.
Here's a picture of Vladimir on another day - in the middle of his power stroke. This is where the rear driving arm looks a lot more like the driving Sanchin arm before pronation. Notice how strongly the right shoulder is pulled down.
This is what happens when your brawn is greater than your swatting stick.
I'll post more pictures when they become available. I love doing frame-by-frame studies of the winner. If you squint your eyes, you see a very consistent and fairly familiar set of mechanics.
- Bill
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Ichiro may have won the MVP - and he did indeed deserve it. First ever inside-the-park HR in an All-Star game. Can you say racehorse?
But the Beckett-Papelbon duo from Boston deliver 3 scoreless innings from the mound. And Beckett deservedly gets the win.
And Lowell scores! And the AL wins by a 1-run margin.
Not too shabby for Beantown.
- Bill
But the Beckett-Papelbon duo from Boston deliver 3 scoreless innings from the mound. And Beckett deservedly gets the win.
And Lowell scores! And the AL wins by a 1-run margin.
Not too shabby for Beantown.
- Bill
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Bill Glasheen
- Posts: 17299
- Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am
- Location: Richmond, VA --- Louisville, KY
Commentary on Beckett's winning pitcher performance.
From the looks of that pose above, I'd say a little less vulture, and a little more crane. Ponder this for a second. Where is that right hand going next? The left arm?
Maybe there was a little luck. But as they say, luck is preparation and opportunity.
- Bill
And in this context, the word "uneventful" is a good thing.[He was] good," David Ortiz said of Beckett. "Same guy, 97 [mph], cheese all over the place.
[Josh] actually said to me, 'What are the odds of us putting two on the board and getting me the [win]?" said Lowell. "And I think three pitches later, Ichiro [Suzuki] hits that ball. Pretty good moment.
I vultured that win," said Beckett. "It's one of those deals -- right place, right time.
From the looks of that pose above, I'd say a little less vulture, and a little more crane. Ponder this for a second. Where is that right hand going next? The left arm?
Maybe there was a little luck. But as they say, luck is preparation and opportunity.
- Bill
