Tank McNamara by Bill Hinds for March 07, 2021

“You get $5 for every pitch in the strike zone, but you lose $1 for every pitch outside.” It’s all about finding the right motivation.

Where’s Crash Davis when you need him?

Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn!

Reminiscent of minor league pitcher Steve Dalkowski.

I was a catcher for my high school baseball team, in my Junior year. A Senior on the team had a tremendous fastball, but lacked precision.He was offered a try-out by the Yankees after he graduated, but was cut when he couldn’t consistently find the plate.He went into politics instead.

Don’t they call it Money Ball ?

Looks like another Steve Dalkowski. The real life pitcher that inspired the character Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh from Bull Durham. Interesting note the player Crash Davis was modeled after, Joe Altobelli, passed away eariler this week. So RIP Joe.

For us older readers, this brings to mind Ryne Duran, a relief pitcher from the mid-50’s to the mid-60’s. He had a 100 mph fastball, Coke-bottle thick glasses and a bit of a drinking problem. He liked to throw his last warmup pitch into the backstop just to put the fear of God into the batters. Nobody dared to dig into the plate when he was pitching.

Myself, I’ve had it with superfast pitchers and juiced baseballs. I want a game with more action. Deaden the ball, slow down the pitchers (as Cy Young said, “Let the batters hit the ball. Don’t wear out your arm”), and let the defense do their work.

Right now, cricket has more action than baseball.

One of the best baseball games I ever saw was between two vintage teams. It actually had hitting and base running.

That looks like Buzz Beamer.

Teach him to throw the knuckleball?