|
|
|
Baseball Equipment for Training
Whether you just want to play the sports enough so you can hit a home run or are determined that your son gets the opportunity to enter the major league. You could do a lot better by investing in baseball equipment that trains you for this. As a...
Golf and Zen -- Chapter Three
Golfing Zen -- Chapter Three
About Golfing Zen: This is the third in a continuing series of
short essays dealing with the application of Eastern spiritual
philosophy to your golf game.
The surface intent is that, as you apply the ideas,...
Is Your Child's Exercise Program Stunting Their Growth?
With childhood obesity on the rise, the benefits of a healthy lifestyle need to be instilled in our children at an early age. Studies have shown that children that are active throughout their teenage years have a greater chance of being healthy...
Schilling to the bullpen; it's a "good thing"
Perhaps Johnny Damon’s in a panic (Why are you guys still petrified of the Yankees??) with the news of Curt Schilling’s return to the Red Sox in a bullpen role. But, this latest move by Boston, in the wake of Keith Foulke’s injury and...
The Great American Pastime; Watching
The great American pastime is watching sports. Someone once described a football game as 30,000 people in desperate need of exercise watching 22 people in desperate need of rest.
No matter the sporting event, Americans love...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Why I'd Rather Be A Slugger
Why I'd Rather Be A Slugger
During the last NLCS, I asked Brandon Backe of the Astros what the hardest thing was for him in making the conversion from outfielder to pitcher in the minors. He said it was "not playing every day." That is why I would rather be a slugger, to answer your question. I'd want my mind and body to be in every inning of every game. I wouldn't want to be one elbow injury away from a possible end of my career or a lost year. I listened to Nolan Ryan talk at the last All-Star FanFest in Houston about how he would have to "rebuild" his body from one start to the next, an incredibly arduous process that the great pitchers know and few fans realize. Ryan would be on the bike immediately after each start, and he said his physical strength would go down to about 50 percent a day or two after each start, and then his mission was to get it back up to 100 percent by the next start. As the slugger you mentioned, I'd love to be in that zone of hitting in the cages every day and be able to "slow down" every pitch like Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols do so incredibly well.
There is no greater feeling on earth than hitting a ball over a fence and running around the bases at your own speed. And I would be
just like Scott Rolen, who has the fastest home run trot in the game -- no-nonsense, get back to the dugout and prepare for that next at-bat. I would be even-keel like a Cal Ripken and a Tony Gwynn and take satisfaction from reaching my potential every day and living in that zone and being completely in every inning.
The above article was written and given to this publication with permissions
by Mark Newman – You can find Mark at mlb.com
For me hitting a ball on the sweet part of the bat is the best. As far as doing anything in sports, I cannot think of anything that pleased me more. This includes shooting a basketball, scoring a touchdown, or sinking a long put in golf. When I played, it was my fantasy to hit one squarely. This is what I dreamt about. Hit one to right center. Hit one to left center. Hit one down the line.
Always hit it hard.
About the Author
Aron Wallad has been a baseball lover for over 45 years. His passions have included; playing, watching, reading , evaluating, and coaching the game he adores. Check out his baseball ezine. For inspiring quotes, unusual statistics and most of all heartwarming stories go here.
http://www.baseballsprideandjoy.com/index.php?tag=goart
|
|
|
|
|
|
