Baseball

[talshill]

I don't have an outgoing personality; hence, I don't talk too much.  Forgive me if ramble a little bit in what I have to say below:

I love baseball.  The youngest of five kids (4 boys), all my older brothers played, and played well.  I did too.  All played college baseball.  One of my brothers was a farmhand (shortstop) in the Reds' system just after the Big Red Machine days.  I was heartbroken when I couldn't play anymore.  I was heartbroken that I wasn't good enough.  I could hit for average and for power, but my arm and glove were average, speed below average.  But hey, I was a catcher.  Good baseball players are a dime a dozen; the better ones move on until they run into even better players.  Then they're done, too.  The games winnows out those with flaws.

It's a game that cannot be mastered.  It can only be temporarily played well.  It favors the young and agile and mercilessly punishes even the slightest loss of hand/eye coordination, zip on the ball or loss of a step.  That's why it amazes me to see guys like Ryan who played the hardest game into their 40's.  It's also why my father once told me something I've never forgotten:  "You're only as good as the day you play."  There is something almost spiritual about the game, which is why someone dogging it on the field is tantamount to sacrilege.  Hope rises in the Spring, gets tried during the Summer and mostly dashed in the Fall, if not sooner.  It can make you elated, make you pissed off, make you melancholy.  It can fill you with pride and it can break your heart (it's a lot like a woman in that way).  I love baseball.

[Saint]

It will always haunt me a little that I didn't try harder to pursue more with baseball. After a very good high school "career" I was all set to play in college and then see what happens. I started having some shoulder problems my senior year of high school after a couple shoulder dislocations. Rather than missing out on my senior year, I kept playing through the injury and didn't go see a doctor. The team trainers checked my range of motion frequently and would ice it down everyday after games or practices, and I just lived on Excedrin. I got through my final year and it was a good one. I was named to the greater Houston area all-star team and received some other distinctions, etc.

When it was time to go start with the college team (after taking a full summer off to rest my shoulder) I found that I could no longer swing a bat without dropping it from the pain in my shoulder. I finally went to a doctor and found out that I had basically torn all kinds of stuff (I can't even remember it all now. Labrum was one thing, I believe.) and I was looking at surgery and several months of rehab.

I had the surgery, did the rehab, started practicing again, and then started having more pain again. Went back to the doctor, and found out that I had more stuff wrong. I had another surgery, did more rehab, and joined an amateur men's league to try and get back into form. But, I was just never the same and I still kept having pain when I would try to swing.

I made the decision to move on and that my body was telling me that I just wasn't cut out for baseball any longer. I finished school and moved on. While I don't regret the decision, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am, I still always wonder a little what could have been. I was a catcher too, and when I see some of these catchers making careers for themselves with what appears to me as limited skill sets, I get frustrated sometimes. But what are you going to do?

Baseball is an amazing game even with the changes we've seen over the last decade or so. Our mutual appreciation of it (and the Astros in particular) brought my wife and I together. This in turn got me my daughter, and now, God-willing, we have another child on the way. It might sound dumb, but I owe baseball a lot.

[Deleted]

Both you guys were pretty lucky. My skills were limited to (1) little league to age 12 (2) a 10 year hiatus and (3) 20 years of mens slow pitch "D" Beer League.

I was envious of you guys who made it look easy.

[Saint]

I was very lucky to have supportive parents as well. My dad would spend an exorbitant amount of time and money for me to pursue my baseball dreams. Even when it got to a point where he could no longer physically keep up with me, he would coach from the side, research all of the trends, and make sure I wasn't letting my schoolwork falter.

[unionstation82]

May 16, 2019 12:05:07 GMT -6 Saint said:

It will always haunt me a little that I didn't try harder to pursue more with baseball. After a very good high school "career" I was all set to play in college and then see what happens. I started having some shoulder problems my senior year of high school after a couple shoulder dislocations. Rather than missing out on my senior year, I kept playing through the injury and didn't go see a doctor. The team trainers checked my range of motion frequently and would ice it down everyday after games or practices, and I just lived on Excedrin. I got through my final year and it was a good one. I was named to the greater Houston area all-star team and received some other distinctions, etc.

When it was time to go start with the college team (after taking a full summer off to rest my shoulder) I found that I could no longer swing a bat without dropping it from the pain in my shoulder. I finally went to a doctor and found out that I had basically torn all kinds of stuff (I can't even remember it all now. Labrum was one thing, I believe.) and I was looking at surgery and several months of rehab.

I had the surgery, did the rehab, started practicing again, and then started having more pain again. Went back to the doctor, and found out that I had more stuff wrong. I had another surgery, did more rehab, and joined an amateur men's league to try and get back into form. But, I was just never the same and I still kept having pain when I would try to swing.

I made the decision to move on and that my body was telling me that I just wasn't cut out for baseball any longer. I finished school and moved on. While I don't regret the decision, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am, I still always wonder a little what could have been. I was a catcher too, and when I see some of these catchers making careers for themselves with what appears to me as limited skill sets, I get frustrated sometimes. But what are you going to do?

Baseball is an amazing game even with the changes we've seen over the last decade or so. Our mutual appreciation of it (and the Astros in particular) brought my wife and I together. This in turn got me my daughter, and now, God-willing, we have another child on the way. It might sound dumb, but I owe baseball a lot.

I’m sure when you look at Yessi and your little kid, you realize that it all ended up pretty good.

[Deleted]

May 16, 2019 12:15:15 GMT -6 Saint said:

I was very lucky to have supportive parents as well. My dad would spend an exorbitant amount of time and money for me to pursue my baseball dreams. Even when it got to a point where he could no longer physically keep up with me, he would coach from the side, research all of the trends, and make sure I wasn't letting my schoolwork falter.

Supportive as well..   What is funny about my story is my father played semi-pro, and his father (my grandfather) was offered a contract as a pticher with the Cardinals back in the Gas House Gang era.

I can now picture my grandfather at my little league games thinking ....   WTH happened to my genetic contributions.  

[unionstation82]

May 16, 2019 12:10:57 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

Both you guys were pretty lucky. My skills were limited to (1) little league to age 12 (2) a 10 year hiatus and (3) 20 years of mens slow pitch "D" Beer League.

I was envious of you guys who made it look easy.

My best swing looked something like this.

[Deleted]

May 16, 2019 12:22:54 GMT -6 unionstation82 said:

May 16, 2019 12:10:57 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

Both you guys were pretty lucky. My skills were limited to (1) little league to age 12 (2) a 10 year hiatus and (3) 20 years of mens slow pitch "D" Beer League.

I was envious of you guys who made it look easy.

My best swing looked something like this.

Same here.  I mean i wasn't the kid out in RF picking his nose, I was more a 50%..tile  who wasn't good enough to make the HS team.

[Saint]

May 16, 2019 12:19:06 GMT -6 unionstation82 said:

May 16, 2019 12:05:07 GMT -6 Saint said:

It will always haunt me a little that I didn't try harder to pursue more with baseball. After a very good high school "career" I was all set to play in college and then see what happens. I started having some shoulder problems my senior year of high school after a couple shoulder dislocations. Rather than missing out on my senior year, I kept playing through the injury and didn't go see a doctor. The team trainers checked my range of motion frequently and would ice it down everyday after games or practices, and I just lived on Excedrin. I got through my final year and it was a good one. I was named to the greater Houston area all-star team and received some other distinctions, etc.

When it was time to go start with the college team (after taking a full summer off to rest my shoulder) I found that I could no longer swing a bat without dropping it from the pain in my shoulder. I finally went to a doctor and found out that I had basically torn all kinds of stuff (I can't even remember it all now. Labrum was one thing, I believe.) and I was looking at surgery and several months of rehab.

I had the surgery, did the rehab, started practicing again, and then started having more pain again. Went back to the doctor, and found out that I had more stuff wrong. I had another surgery, did more rehab, and joined an amateur men's league to try and get back into form. But, I was just never the same and I still kept having pain when I would try to swing.

I made the decision to move on and that my body was telling me that I just wasn't cut out for baseball any longer. I finished school and moved on. While I don't regret the decision, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am, I still always wonder a little what could have been. I was a catcher too, and when I see some of these catchers making careers for themselves with what appears to me as limited skill sets, I get frustrated sometimes. But what are you going to do?

Baseball is an amazing game even with the changes we've seen over the last decade or so. Our mutual appreciation of it (and the Astros in particular) brought my wife and I together. This in turn got me my daughter, and now, God-willing, we have another child on the way. It might sound dumb, but I owe baseball a lot.

I’m sure when you look at Yessi and your little kid, you realize that it all ended up pretty good.

All the time.  

[Saint]

May 16, 2019 12:22:30 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

May 16, 2019 12:15:15 GMT -6 Saint said:

I was very lucky to have supportive parents as well. My dad would spend an exorbitant amount of time and money for me to pursue my baseball dreams. Even when it got to a point where he could no longer physically keep up with me, he would coach from the side, research all of the trends, and make sure I wasn't letting my schoolwork falter.

Supportive as well..   What is funny about my story is my father played semi-pro, and his father (my grandfather) was offered a contract as a pticher with the Cardinals back in the Gas House Gang era.

I can now picture my grandfather at my little league games thinking ....   WTH happened to my genetic contributions.  

My family was the opposite.  My family is all kind of small fairly uncoordinated intellectual types with very limited physical skills.  I came out as a 6ft dummy that was really good with a bat. 

[Saint]

May 16, 2019 12:22:54 GMT -6 unionstation82 said:

May 16, 2019 12:10:57 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

Both you guys were pretty lucky. My skills were limited to (1) little league to age 12 (2) a 10 year hiatus and (3) 20 years of mens slow pitch "D" Beer League.

I was envious of you guys who made it look easy.

My best swing looked something like this.

Ahahaha.  Every team growing up has a guy or two like that.  As long as their good-humored about it people like having them on the team.

[talshill]

After a game once I noticed my left hip/upper thigh was killing me. Some Motrin/Tylenol and it seemed to dissipate. It began happening frequently. Discovered I had hip dysplasia. No bueno for a catcher.

[talshill]

May 16, 2019 12:05:07 GMT -6 Saint said:

It will always haunt me a little that I didn't try harder to pursue more with baseball. After a very good high school "career" I was all set to play in college and then see what happens. I started having some shoulder problems my senior year of high school after a couple shoulder dislocations. Rather than missing out on my senior year, I kept playing through the injury and didn't go see a doctor. The team trainers checked my range of motion frequently and would ice it down everyday after games or practices, and I just lived on Excedrin. I got through my final year and it was a good one. I was named to the greater Houston area all-star team and received some other distinctions, etc.

When it was time to go start with the college team (after taking a full summer off to rest my shoulder) I found that I could no longer swing a bat without dropping it from the pain in my shoulder. I finally went to a doctor and found out that I had basically torn all kinds of stuff (I can't even remember it all now. Labrum was one thing, I believe.) and I was looking at surgery and several months of rehab.

I had the surgery, did the rehab, started practicing again, and then started having more pain again. Went back to the doctor, and found out that I had more stuff wrong. I had another surgery, did more rehab, and joined an amateur men's league to try and get back into form. But, I was just never the same and I still kept having pain when I would try to swing.

I made the decision to move on and that my body was telling me that I just wasn't cut out for baseball any longer. I finished school and moved on. While I don't regret the decision, and I feel very fortunate to be where I am, I still always wonder a little what could have been. I was a catcher too, and when I see some of these catchers making careers for themselves with what appears to me as limited skill sets, I get frustrated sometimes. But what are you going to do?

Baseball is an amazing game even with the changes we've seen over the last decade or so. Our mutual appreciation of it (and the Astros in particular) brought my wife and I together. This in turn got me my daughter, and now, God-willing, we have another child on the way. It might sound dumb, but I owe baseball a lot.

I can tell you this: for every guy who makes it all the way to the majors, there's 100 more just as good who never made it.  Drugs, booze, injury and all sorts of things crash careers.  Ron Luciano, a former AL umpire in the 70's, stated the hardest thrower he ever saw was a kid in the minors who never made it to AAA.  Said the kid could stand at home plate and throw the ball over the center field wall.  Never learned control.

[unionstation82]

May 16, 2019 12:37:19 GMT -6 Saint said:

May 16, 2019 12:22:54 GMT -6 unionstation82 said:

My best swing looked something like this.

Ahahaha.  Every team growing up has a guy or two like that.  As long as their good-humored about it people like having them on the team.

I used to act like I was trying to climb up the backstop to escape before my AB’s.

[unionstation82]

May 16, 2019 12:25:44 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

May 16, 2019 12:22:54 GMT -6 unionstation82 said:

My best swing looked something like this.

Same here.  I mean i wasn't the kid out in RF picking his nose, I was more a 50%..tile  who wasn't good enough to make the HS team.

I was the rec league catcher who airmailed it to first base when the batter was only halfway to the bag. I was also the only guy who cared enough to dive to first base on offense (and sometimes defense). I was happy with my clown role on the team.

[talshill]

Same brother who played in the Reds' system is just a freak of nature. Any sport with a ball and he excels. Threw for gobs of TDs/yards as a HS QB, All-State SS, averaged around 30 PPG as a guard in basketball. He plays around 8-10 rounds of golf a year. He played last week for the first time in two months. Shot a 74. I hate him.

[unionstation82]

May 16, 2019 12:52:58 GMT -6 talshill said:

After a game once I noticed my left hip/upper thigh was killing me. Some Motrin/Tylenol and it seemed to dissipate. It began happening frequently. Discovered I had hip dysplasia. No bueno for a catcher.

I popped my left hamstring trying to run to first while swinging the bat. You can get away with it as a lefty hitter but not as a righty like me. That’s too many twists and opposite forces on your body. The leg swelled up and was hard as a rock for a week or so. I had to heat it up and get a masseuse to pressure it away. Plus, when I was more athletic, I tore a meniscus playing basketball on the same leg. Maybe one day, I’ll fix those things.

[bearbryant]

I peaked at 12 when I led my little league team in RBI

[bearbryant]

May 16, 2019 12:22:30 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

May 16, 2019 12:15:15 GMT -6 Saint said:

..  and his father (my grandfather) was offered a contract as a pticher with the Cardinals back in the Gas House Gang era.

chatting up with Dizzy and Daffy about pitching could've hurt a pro's career as much as help it in all likelihood

[Deleted]

May 16, 2019 15:25:37 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

May 16, 2019 12:22:30 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

..  and his father (my grandfather) was offered a contract as a pticher with the Cardinals back in the Gas House Gang era.

chatting up with Dizzy and Daffy about pitching could've hurt a pro's career as much as help it in all likelihood

Believe it or not, he decided not to take the contract and keep his good paying depression era job.  Guess BB wasn't as lucrative back then.

[Hunter McCormick]

May 15, 2019 21:42:00 GMT -6 talshill said:

That's why it amazes me to see guys like Ryan who played the hardest game into their 40's.

Rare indeed. Rivera was still effective, well after 40 and that was amazing. But one-inning relieving doesn't come close to the demands on a starting pitcher.




I love to watch baseball but I wasn't very good at it. I was pretty good with a glove and was fast enough to cover a lot of ground in the outfield but didn't have much of an arm. I couldn't hit for power to save my soul. Tried the pull hitting thing and the results were dismal. I did alright enough when I concentrated on opposite field hitting.

Our little league coach had me don the tools of ignorance once. Once was enough. F that shit.

[bearbryant]

May 16, 2019 15:27:03 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

May 16, 2019 15:25:37 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

chatting up with Dizzy and Daffy about pitching could've hurt a pro's career as much as help it in all likelihood

Believe it or not, he decided not to take the contract and keep his good paying depression era job.  Guess BB wasn't as lucrative back then.

I cringe at what pros were probably paid during the Depression knowing the leagues started night games at that time just to get the turnstiles clicking

[ɮօʀȶǟʐ]

I played little league where everyone was under 5' tall. I wasn't tall enough to play in HS or higher, because I'm just a couple of inches taller than Altuve.

[abregmanfan]

May 15, 2019 21:42:00 GMT -6 talshill said:

I don't have an outgoing personality; hence, I don't talk too much.  Forgive me if ramble a little bit in what I have to say below:

I love baseball.  The youngest of five kids (4 boys), all my older brothers played, and played well.  I did too.  All played college baseball.  One of my brothers was a farmhand (shortstop) in the Reds' system just after the Big Red Machine days.  I was heartbroken when I couldn't play anymore.  I was heartbroken that I wasn't good enough.  I could hit for average and for power, but my arm and glove were average, speed below average.  But hey, I was a catcher.  Good baseball players are a dime a dozen; the better ones move on until they run into even better players.  Then they're done, too.  The games winnows out those with flaws.

It's a game that cannot be mastered.  It can only be temporarily played well.  It favors the young and agile and mercilessly punishes even the slightest loss of hand/eye coordination, zip on the ball or loss of a step.  That's why it amazes me to see guys like Ryan who played the hardest game into their 40's.  It's also why my father once told me something I've never forgotten:  "You're only as good as the day you play."  There is something almost spiritual about the game, which is why someone dogging it on the field is tantamount to sacrilege.  Hope rises in the Spring, gets tried during the Summer and mostly dashed in the Fall, if not sooner.  It can make you elated, make you pissed off, make you melancholy.  It can fill you with pride and it can break your heart (it's a lot like a woman in that way).  I love baseball.

One of the best posts I have ever seen. I owe the game of baseball a ton. I was not very good but was blessed with a son who can at times hold his own. Little does my son know how proud he makes me.

[Hunter McCormick]

May 16, 2019 20:35:33 GMT -6 ɮօʀȶǟʐ said:

I played little league where everyone was under 5' tall. I wasn't tall enough to play in HS or higher, because I'm just a couple of inches taller than Altuve.

I would imagine being "vertically challenged" could be a drag sometimes.  But occasionally it would have some of advantages. I can think of two right now.

[Deleted]

May 16, 2019 20:52:15 GMT -6 Hunter McCormick said:

May 16, 2019 20:35:33 GMT -6 ɮօʀȶǟʐ said:

I played little league where everyone was under 5' tall. I wasn't tall enough to play in HS or higher, because I'm just a couple of inches taller than Altuve.

I would imagine being "vertically challenged" could be a drag sometimes.  But occasionally it would have some of advantages. I can think of two right now.

Yep, that would be what would be called an "ergonomically friendly" relationship. 

[Hunter McCormick]

May 16, 2019 21:10:54 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

Yep, that would be what would be called an "ergonomically friendly" relationship. 

You have a way with words.

[talshill]

May 16, 2019 15:25:37 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

May 16, 2019 12:22:30 GMT -6 @txheat10k said:

..  and his father (my grandfather) was offered a contract as a pticher with the Cardinals back in the Gas House Gang era.

chatting up with Dizzy and Daffy about pitching could've hurt a pro's career as much as help it in all likelihood

My mom knew the Dean brothers when she was young.  The guy she worked for owned a big plot of land near Lufkin.  The Dean brothers would hunt squirrels on his place.  My mother said they didn't take a gun; they took a pocket full of rocks and always came home with squirrels.

[abregmanfan]

May 17, 2019 20:31:15 GMT -6 talshill said:

May 16, 2019 15:25:37 GMT -6 bearbryant said:

chatting up with Dizzy and Daffy about pitching could've hurt a pro's career as much as help it in all likelihood

My mom knew the Dean brothers when she was young.  The guy she worked for owned a big plot of land near Lufkin.  The Dean brothers would hunt squirrels on his place.  My mother said they didn't take a gun; they took a pocket full of rocks and always came home with squirrels.

I live in Lufkin. 

[talshill]

May 17, 2019 20:33:54 GMT -6 abregmanfan said:

May 17, 2019 20:31:15 GMT -6 talshill said:

My mom knew the Dean brothers when she was young.  The guy she worked for owned a big plot of land near Lufkin.  The Dean brothers would hunt squirrels on his place.  My mother said they didn't take a gun; they took a pocket full of rocks and always came home with squirrels.

I live in Lufkin. 

I knew that, since your son played for the Lufkin LL team.  My mother is from there.  I still have family there (and lots of family buried there), though I rarely see them.