Posted by: Graylon (g_dunc@hotmail.com) on Wed Dec 26 15:20:30 2007

> hey mike!!!
> i have all the respect in the world for julio franco... anyone who can play till they are 49 years old is a hall of famer for sure... but he is not anywhere what he used to be... & he sure isn't hitting a lasers lately.. he is strictly only able to get around on pitches up in the zone or low/away.. inside pitches are pretty untouchable for the guy ... i got to see him one only one time this year, & he was pretty much helpless on inside pitches.. the only thing he is lookiing for ia away away away... to give him that pitch is a fatal error..
> gary sheffield never has his bat in any one position long enough for you to say where he is pointing the bat end at the release... that is what a pitcher must use to throw off his timing.. give him a little slowdown in the windup or quick pitch or sneak up on him with a fast release... anything off your regular rhytmic windup & delivery will foul up his timing... anything offspeed will cause him to ne out in front...
> i know.. franco & sheffield are gods who never make outs,always hit lasers, never strike outs, are invincible, have no weaknesses, are perfect & above any kind of criticism, don't need to improve, because they are already there... yeah.
> FACT: they fail to get a hit 7 times out of 10 AB,get sawed off, pop up, foul off or miss ompletely 5 out of 6 swings... because they have weaknesses, make mistakes, need to improve, just like every other person on this planet regardless of the endeavor..


George,

Ya, we know about Franco and Sheffields short comings and we know that if you were to show them there short comings they would get a hit 10 out of 10. I don't think so!!! No matter how hard they work or how much new information they process or no matter who coaches them, they will still only get 3 hits out of 10 ABs. You always discount the fact that they hit the ball hard even though they get out.

Graylon