San Francisco- For $126 million, you expect more . That is an understatement. Zito's demise show how fragile the confidence is for baseball players. Slumps are a part of baseball. With Zito, i am surprised that he hasn't had the ability to pull himself out of this funk. Something integral to being a successful baseball player is having a rock solid routine. This routine keeps in line your physical efforts as well as your mental efforts. Do you remember how anal Wade Boggs was with his routine? Far too often, players don't put any training into the mental side and then when struggle it all falls apart. I don't know what Barry Zito's problem is, but I do see a ton of pretty distrubing symptoms for such a highly paid player.
He is pitching behind.
He isn't finishing his breaking pitches...so they hang. ("You hang it, they bang it.)
His team is getting that "here we go again" look so their defense has sucked.
His focus is lost.
Let's hope that Barry's move to the bullpen gets him focus, confidence in his mechanics and some perspective so he can earn his keep.
I give Curt major props on his authenticity. Generally Curt Schilling gets a strong reaction from baseball fans. Love him or hate him, keep him or leave him, in Boston or New York, fans have a strong opinion. He tells it as he sees it.
Curt does one of the best jobs in professional sports using his blog to speak his mind in an authentic straighforward manner. While voicing his opinion, he doesn't use marketing drivel or any media-trained language that Ebby Calvin "Nuke" LaLoosh was quick to pick up in Bull Durham.
"A good friend of mine used to say, "This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains." Think about that for a while. (Bull Durham, 1998)
I remember being in spring training prior to playing for the Reading Phillies when Schilling came in with Paul "The Pope" Owens and Bill Giles to speak to the hundreds of minor leaguers. Schilling was very outspoken: "be yourself." Schilling went on to speak passionately (in a way only Curt Schilling could speak) to the hundreds of ball players telling us to be true to who we are. Not to change our hair, our name, our personality, our game to either try to fit in or to try to stand out. "We have seen it all..." he said. 15 years later, the same Curt Schilling writes on his blog.
I’m 41, injured and rehabbing, and the personal history involved. To “GO” somewhere in this game takes two parties, and I would think it would be a safe bet that the Yankees, and their fans, will manage just fine without me ever donning pinstripes.
What if all players took Curt's lead and shared their thoughts with their fans through a blog? (Sure, there would be an ensuing PR nightmare for some players, but big leaguers are in the big leagues because they can make quick adjustments!) What if they then linked to the hundred's of fan sites on MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites? They will.
Good articleon John Bowker. Three games and he looks like a gift from the baseball gods, hitting .600 w/2 jacks. I love it and am rooting for him. But let's not throw a party like Will "The Thrill" just showed up w/out his drawl (and bad body that sorely could have used some weight lifting.) SF management did a great job calling up Bowker when he was hot and he is definitely on a tear. The ball must look like a beach ball as he is making great contact, taking the balls, hitting the strikes (half the battle hitting) and taking great swings when he gets his pitch. He did hit 22 jacks in AA last year.
Let's up they keep throwing him out there to prove himself. With Freddie Lewis hitting the ball and Rowand showing up, it will give the Giants a ton of flexibility moving forward.
A lefty throwing 100 mph is a not something left handed batters lick their chops about. When the lefty is 6-10 Randy Johnson and his arms are longer than most legs it spells trouble. Will be fun to see both how the Giants handle him & whether he still has what made him the toughest LHP ever.
Top 5 things I never thought about when hitting against a righty:
1. Why is the ball coming from the 2nd baseman? (Especially if the lefty dropped down to the side.)
3. Hit the ball the other way and make sure you are swinging down and through the ball
4. This guy really doesn't throw very hard. (Overall, Lefties are more rare than Righties. They also don't throw as hard - in general. That's why guys like Johnson are that much harder to hit. You just don't regularly see enough LHP's throwing 95 to adjust.)
5. This guy is a nut job. (All the comments about "he is a typical lefty" can mean "he is crazy," "his hat isn't on straight, "he fell on his head when he was a kid" etc. Lefty pitchers are their own breed.)
In 1996, before a game in Scranton, I was chatting with then Ass. GM Eddie Wade asking him why they didn't work to have a web presence. "Why would we ever need a website?" Clearly he did not get it. (Funny thing is that at that time Ruben Amaro, current Phils Ass GM totally got it and was web saavy.) Kudos to the current Philadelphia Phillies, former Bruin Chase Utley. He does a good job of controlling his brand online. Unfortunately (and this kills me as a former UCLA Bruin fellow ball player) Chase gets a C- and needs to step up to the plate.
What could Chase be doing better? Here are five quick things that would be a home run.
1. Reach out to the enthusiasts. This is so easy. Google can bring you to one of many groups, like this one on MySpace. Just say hi to them. Feed them some scoop. Reward them for digging your show. Fuel them with something that makes the love you even more.
2. Be authentic. The internet is not a magazine and today's internet you should not be putting in images with Q & A on your website. Put some skin in the game and pop in and say hi! Write this in first person and use your cell phone, your laptop and other simple ways to post to your site. Imagine a post during the game after you hit a 3 run jack. Chase: "that was amazing, crushed it."
3. Tell your story. Every day playing baseball you learn something. You remember something that an old coach said. (Like Gary Adams talking about "Joe College") You see something you have never seen before. Share this online. Use your blog. Make it the heart of the content.
4. Get your teammates involved. Influence the influencers. Even if this means taking the marketing guys that made your website to hook up your teammates, other celebs and all the famous people you meet.
5. Make a BIGGER difference. Use the power of the web and your influence to change the world. Pick a cause (maybe the one on your website and put a tip jar, quotes to give, leverage the other platforms to fuel advocacy, call our users that are fans that have supported the charity, repeat #1-4).
Can you image how fans would respond if Chase had a YouTube page and commented on this video thanking them for their effort?
