Posted by: george stanley (saint_george13@yahoo.com) on Sat Dec 29 07:50:46 2007

> > > You state...""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""
> > >
> > > George,
> > >
> > > Pitchers work very hard on repeating their delivery for a reason. Trying to locate any pitch while trying to change the rythm and normal delivery is very very difficult. They are better off locating the pitch where they would like with a repeatable delivery.
> > >
> > > According to you, pitchers are doing just fine against Sheffield, he stinks so why change it right.
> > >
> > > Jimmy
> >
> > hi jimmy,
> > gary sheffield is like every other hitter a pitcher faces...as a pitcher, you must be able to spot the individual weaknesses of each, whether it be in their stance or their swing... & then attack them in their weakness..kthat is the difference between the winners & losers..
> > specifically:
> > sheffield is constantly pumping his bat, flexing his wrists.. ideally, he wants to be pointing the bat head at the pitcher at the moment of the pitch release, then he wants to draw back the bat & cock his wrists so he can get the greatest bat acceleration possible on his way forward... he is very big on using his wrists & arms to the exclusion of his lower body..because of this tactic, he is always dialled up for a fastball... aa a pitcher, the one thing you do not want to do is what he is looking for... make sense? so any little thing you can do throw off his timing for a dead-red-straight-as-a-nail fastball, is going to get him out in front of the pitch.. the only time you want to throw him a fb is on th efirst pitch, but you have to get it up/in.. where he will foul it off... follow up with off speed breaking balls... he has no discipline, & you are hoping he will lose patience & swing at your pitch, down/away out of the zone..
> > only when you get 2 strikes would you try another fb... changing the tempo of the delivery or release will throw off his timing just enough so he will not hit the ball solidly.. that is how a good (smart) pitcher attack sheffield..
> > the day he quits waving the bat prior to the release will make him a much better hitter, & a bigger problem for pitchers... then it will be upon the pitchers to make another adjustment... baseball is a game of adjustment.. you should be constantly adjusting... that is how you improve... SMART PITCHERS are doing fine vs sheffield..the others should be looking to adjust...you should ALWAYS BE LOOKING TO CHANGE, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE BEAR IS EATING YOU ON A REGULAR BASIS.
>
> George,
> I do not know what kind of students you have because your theories are ridiculous. If Sheffield stopped waving his bat he would be a better hitter. That is what he does for timing and whatever you throw him he will hit. You do not do enough research because all the things you say are all opinion. In my opinion gary is still one of the most dominant hitters in the game. Answer this George explain to me a little about muscle memory which you never answer. Thjat is why I say you are what you are. @ weeks in jacks cage could help a bit for sheffiled because he already does these rotational mechanics. A 23 year old kid it's a bit to late to change him because of muscle memory. Stop teaching because you will ruin these kids they are better off trying to mimic these great hitters.

happy new year & many more, mike!
do yourself & all of us a favor & get rid of your ridiculous all inclusive statements about ANYTHING, but specifically "whatever you throw him he will hit."
FACT: sheffield hit a very average .260 last year with a higher-than-average K RATE OF 1K/7AB.. THE NUMBERS REVEAL HE IS ON THE DECLINE... THE BEAR IS EATING HIM AT AN EVER INCREASING RATE... HELLO?!?!? "WHATEVER YOU THROW HIM HE WILL HIT"... NOT!!!
THIS IS NOT NEGOTIABLE, NOT AN OPINION... SEE THE REALITY!!
YOURS IS THE LOST-IN-SPACE OPINION.. YOU ARE TELLING ME IT'S DARK OUT, BUT I LOOK UP & SEE THE SUN...please, figure it out.
the question i would have for sheffield would be "now that your numbers are declining, & the handwriting is on the wall that you are starting your slide out of the league, what kind of adjustments are you going to make in order to improve, & hang around a little longer?"
my humble opinion is that he is too dumb to figure out what he needs to do to improve, & combined with the inevitable injuries he will sustain due in part to his previously using steroids, in addition to his advancing age(39)..he will be declining even more this year.

muscle memory is a contradiction in terms... MUSCLES HAVE NO BRAIN CELLS!!! HELLO?!?!?!? MUSCLES DO NOT THINK!!(here's some LOGIC for all you baseball players who THINK they are immune to the medical facts..."muscle memory" is simply a reflex action that your brain governs.. therefore, BY THINKING!!!... it is possible to change the actions of the muscles.. to think otherwise is to admit you can NOT change, which you all actually do change to some extent... otherwise you would neither improve or worsen your performance.) your muscles do what you tell them to do... according to your logic, if you don't achieve the greatest & most accelerated success thru every level of competition you play, your muscle memory will never change, therefore you will never advance to the next level... so every player who stalls out at whatever level they are at, SHOULD JUST QUIT BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT GOING TO GET ANY BETTER!?!?!?
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the monkey-see-monkey-do attitude is what kills more young hitters than anything... everything is about style & WHAT THAT GUY IS DOING, OR HOW BIG & HEAVY HIS BAT IS(translation: weenie. that's the penis-envy factor that governs many hitters using a heavier bat than they can handle, thus shooting themselves in the foot & sabotaging their performance.. but that's another topic for another day..)..

RATHER, EVERYTHING SHOULD BE ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THAT NO MATTER WHAT ANYONE (you, me, jack mankin, ted williams, gary sheffield,)SAYS OR DOES EVERYTHING SHOULD BE ABOUT UNDERSTANDING THAT THE OVERWHELMING LANDSLIDE MAJORITY OF THE TIME (5 out of 6 swings, or 83.3%), HITTERS ARE LATE TO THE BALL, RESULTING IN FLYOUTS,POPUPS, FOULOFFS, & COMPLETE MISSES..YOUR MENTALITY SHOULD BE TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT IT IS IN BOTH YOUR STANCE & YOUR SWING WHICH IS MAKING YOU LATE TO THE BALL... THEN ELIMINATE THEM!!once you embrace that mindset, you will improve!!! to do otherwise is to remain the same, & that will result in your inevitably sliding out of the league...
everyone, make that change!!

i wish everyone the most wonderful new year & many many many more!

george. who don't know nothing