I Talk Baseball

"Rob Manfred butchers name of top pick in MLB Draft" #Sport sports.yahoo.com/articles/rob-m…

@JWonCATCHING McCarthy should have been out. He made contact out of the batters box - watch his back foot on the top view. I know that’s not the purpose of your post, just wanted to say the play should have never happened.

YOU CAN’T DEFEND THE WHOLE FIELD/CAN’T PLAY EVERYWHERE This well designed & executed game winning play by the Rockies in last nights Dodger-Rockie game is a prime example. 1) 8th inning one out with runners on 1st & 3rd with Dodgers ahead 3-2.( Average runner on 1B/Plus runner at 3B/Plus runner hitting) 2) Dodgers up at 3B anticipating safety squeeze to 1st base side. Freeman is closing on the pitch. 3) The batter/bunter Jake McCarthy executes an early turn firm BHB to 3B. 4) Carrigg, the runner on 3B, has a long primary & breaks on the bunt( Most often he trails the 3B & breaks on the throw to 1B making sure the SS is not rotating to 3B.Short route to HP 45’ & two long throws with two exchanges). No chance for Muncy to throw Carrigg out because of his speed & the jump he got & he is dealing with a ++ runner in McCarthy so he has to get rid of it quickly. 5) Both Dreyer & Muncy go for the ball which is bunted firmly by design. Makes it difficult for Dreyer to reroute to 3B & get there early enough to not have to take Freeman’s throw on the run. 6) Rojas is covering 2B for a potential steal & a possible force if the ball is bunted hard to Muncy’s left. If he vacates early for 3B, the Rockies can steal 2B putting the go ahead run in scoring position. If he vacates once he sees there is no play at 2B, it still is a foot race because Tyler Freeman is going to have a + jump with Freddie Freeman vacating early. HOW TO DEFEND THE 1ST & 3RD SAFETY TO 3B 1) Cheat the 3B up enough & closing hard enough on the bunt so he has time to check the runner at 3B before throwing to 1B( SS rotating to 3B). An occasional arm fake is in play. 2) Rotate the SS to 3B on the bunt. 3) Keep the second baseman in position to cover the steal & possible force at 2B. 4) Keep the 1st baseman at 1B. 5) If you position/scheme for the safety to 3B & you guess wrong & they bunt to 1B you lose. You can scheme for both but then you are vulnerable to the steal of 2B. The reality is that runners on 1st & 3rd present numerous defensive challenges & YOU CAN’T DEFEND THE ENTIRE FIELD.

At 20, I was a top 10 prospect in all of Major League Baseball. By 23, I had the highest ERA in the league and had lost all confidence. 5 lessons on confidence I learned going through the worst stretch of my life. - 1. Use It or Lose It A hill I will die on is this ~ Confidence is the single most important trait anyone can have in life, sports, and business. You either exude it in all you do, or it slowly starts to fade away. Trust me, I know. - 2. Your Self Talk Matters I used to see people preaching self-talk and thought it was some hoax. Yeah, it isn't...but it doesn't have to be some elaborate display. The truth is, our mind provides us with hundreds of subtle inputs a day. They are either strengthening your self-belief or hindering it. - 3. Success Isn't A Prerequisite Many of the most confident people I have met have the deepest scars. At 18, I had no scars (failures). At 23, I was littered with them. I tell you this because success breeds confidence, but it isn't a prerequisite. - 4. Who Cares We think everyone is always thinking about us (spotlight effect). Trust me, they aren't. The quickest way to kill your confidence is to let every voice, opinion, and judgment take hold. The best performers (and most confident people) are the epitome of "you do you". - 5. It Is Your Choice Sure, success helps. Yet it is still your choice. I have seen people have success and yet still choose to let doubt kill their confidence. You either choose confidence or you don't. - I share this in the hopes it helps you or someone you know. A promise I made to myself in my worst stretch was this: Never again would I let my confidence fade away. It takes work to regain it, but if I can do it you can too.

The off-season for hitters is confusing. You spend months training.. Chasing bat speed, better direction, and strike zone awareness. But you never really know if it’s going to transfer until you face pitching. Most hitters build a training swing, not a game swing. They train comfort, not chaos. Michael Jordan said it best: “I watched how others practiced… they were deceiving themselves about what the game requires.” That’s most hitters. It only matters if you can do it, under pressure, on time, and in a tight window.

Don’t forget to pick on the way up or down on occasion for those base runners who get late primary leads. This can be on the fly when you are looking at the runner at 1B & he is still on the base as you are coming set.

POV: You’re painting the batter’s box 🎨

Another one..Charlie Condon. fall league today. ⬅️ Back knee tells the story. Power steering for the swing. Success leaves clues when you know where to look 🕵️‍♂️

This should have over 1K likes, but people would rather see a snap hook PR that doesn't play in the actual game.

Transition throwing move by Cubs Carson Kelly. Starts with an angled set up to streamline the alignment process.

Winners own mistakes. Losers point fingers. “Don’t be a blame guy. That’s the first sign of loser mentality when you blame someone else for a mistake,” - Kirby Smart 🥇 On great teams, accountability isn’t optional.

From last night’s Mariner-Tiger playoff game. Accurate 1.94 laser throw out by Dillon Dingler. Note how he transitions from a sprinter stance to a staggered receiving stance & then back to a sprinter’s stance when the runner breaks.

@nut_history Ken Szotkiewicz

Name a random player that played for the Detroit Tigers No, Al Kaline or Miguel Cabrera are not random

The Perfect Toe Tap ⚾️🔥 It starts relaxed — calm body, loose hands. The hitter makes a smooth toe tap with the hands down. As he begins to move forward, the stretch happens: hands rise into the scap load while the lower half starts to separate. Hips open as the upper body resists, creating that coiled tension. Then it’s go time — explode. The front elbow matches the plane of the pitch, the barrel follows, and the result? Pure perfection. Home run here by Tommy Tanks . Purrrrrrrfection🔥🔥

@azc_obert @azcentral Tommy Joseph from Horizon played for the Phillies and should be on this list.

Bob Horner leads with 22 votes. He was a No. 1 overall draft pick of the Braves coming out of ASU in the 1970s Vote for No.1: Arizona Republic's top all-time HS baseball position players azcentral.com/story/sports/h… via @azcentral

@coachblanc Linear movement of the center of mass toward the target followed by hip rotation followed by shoulder rotation finished with linear extension of the hand and ball through release.

PSA: Linear momentum toward home plate only matters if the body can effectively capture and transfer that energy throughout the linear move.

Harper take plus ‘stay through it’ feel  Its always a strike until you’re eyes tell you no — you’re always anticipating a strike  #mentality

Unreal ⚡️  “Control your weight, to control your wait” @TJHannam10 May have timed it bad but controlled his weight the entire time  #dodamage #tatisjr

Compare how the New York Times covered Hurricane Katrina (red) vs. Hurricane Helene (blue). Katrina: 12 consecutive days of full-page coverage on A1. All-caps banner headlines. Countless articles about the failures of the Bush administration. Helene: Seven days of minor coverage on A1 (none at all on day two). Mostly just photo captions referencing articles on page A12 or A19. Zero mentions of any potential failures on the part of the Biden-Harris administration. Still think there's no media bias?

And this is why the media has zero credibility