The Neurological Nuts And Bolts Of The National Pastime.

[PoliticalChic]

I played in the senior scrub leagues for five years....*Attempted* to hit against a couple kids who eventually played A ball.

At the AAA - MLB level, the players are in fact genetic freaks...That's not derogatory, it's just the way it is.

I certainly can't claim any expertise in the sport.....Tried fencing in college.....so-so.

 

[Oddball]

I certainly can't claim any expertise in the sport.....Tried fencing in college.....so-so.

It's not natural to be able to throw anything overhand at 80 mph, let alone speeds approaching 100 mph.

If you look at skilled position players, nearly all have legs a little longer than normal...Unless you're a 30-HR & 100 RBI guy, you have to run a a rate that's way above average.

Being able to keep your head down to field a bouncing ball that's speeding at you at over 100 mph is as unnatural an act as you can get.

Genetic freaks, every one of them.

 

[james bond]

I played in the senior scrub leagues for five years....*Attempted* to hit against a couple kids who eventually played A ball.

At the AAA - MLB level, the players are in fact genetic freaks...That's not derogatory, it's just the way it is.

I suppose they are freaks because you prolly don't know them as well as the kids you played with and against growing up. You may not even know them at all. I was familiar with the WCAL league players because you see them or hear about them in other kids leagues. In high school, I remember a kid whom I never saw in any league. He was a year ahead of me and in the baseball gym class. I was playing JV and it was run by the varsity coach. He had the best knuckle ball I ever saw. He threw it hard and you could not tell where it was going to end up. His pitch danced up at the plate. None of the JV nor varsity players I saw go against him could touch him. The varsity coach tried him out in a real game and he walked every batter he faced. He learned throwing on a flat or grass surface and didn't have any control on the mound. He prolly was a kid who just was messing around growing up. I have no idea what happened to him, but I think he left the team soon afterward.

ETA: The cool thing was how is sounded at the plate. It whooshed instead of hummed or cracked in the catcher's mitt.

 

[Oddball]

I suppose they are freaks because you prolly don't know them as well as the kids you played with and against growing up. You may not even know them at all. I was familiar with the WCAL league players because you see them or hear about them in other kids leagues. In high school, I remember a kid whom I never saw in any league. He was a year ahead of me and in the baseball gym class. I was playing JV and it was run by the varsity coach. He had the best knuckle ball I ever saw. He threw it hard and you could not tell where it was going to end up. His pitch danced up at the plate. None of the JV nor varsity players I saw go against him could touch him. The varsity coach tried him out in a real game and he walked every batter he faced. He learned throwing on a flat or grass surface and didn't have any control on the mound. He prolly was a kid who just was messing around growing up. I have no idea what happened to him, but I think he left the team soon afterward.

I'm talking about freakish abilities, not who they are personally.

 

[james bond]

I'm talking about freakish abilities, not who they are personally.

Well, that guy had a freakish knuckle ball, but only on a flat surface.

The guy I played with on varsity and made MLB, he had a real compact swing and I was amazed it came out so quick.

I pitched and would notice any hitch in a guy's swing. That way I could take advantage if I ever got two strikes on him. The guy who made MLB was a year ahead of me and on the same varsity team, so I decided to challenge him in an intramural game of varsity vs JV for fun. Mano-a-mano. I decided to throw my fast ball right down the middle to see if I could get it by him. He hit the ball the furthest anyone has hit against me in my entire career lol. It sailed from one diamond to the opposite diamond and hit the backstop there. I still can see his bat in my head making contact. He didn't have any hitch in his swing and had an off-the-bench type eleven-year MLB career. The other guy was a strapping 6-2 pitcher who made MLB, too, who had what seemed like a 100 mph fast ball. Every batter in the league was supposedly scared of him because of his fast ball and he was wild. He threw a fast ball over my head and I could hear it crack on the backstop.

ETA: I forgot one guy who made MLB All-Star once and was drafted in the first round of MLB draft. He was good, but I didn't think he was that good because I could hit him. He wasn't as tall when I played against him, too. It's too bad he had an injury and was allegedly overworked. Funny, I forgot about him. Maybe he didn't develop his pitches until after I knew him, but he definitely would've been the best I knew.

Oh yeah, the steroids era didn't come in until at decade later. Did you know anything about them? I had no idea until like everyone else.