Reusse on Neil Allen

[JB_Iowa]

Reusse has a nice piece up on Neil Allen.  Very personal but there were a few nuggets about pitching.

 

“I wasn’t very old when he taught me how to grip a curveball,” Allen said. “That turned out to be my best pitch. My dad would sit in the dugout and help coach during games. He couldn’t see, but he could hear. If he wasn’t hearing the ball hit the catcher’s mitt on time, he would shout, ‘Tempo.’

 

“He thought it was very important for a pitcher to work at a good pace.”

 

We hope you have your dad's philosophy on that!

 

 

 

Neil Allen squinted into the sun. He looked at a few early arrivals for spring training on a nearby ballfield. He took a deep breath of cool morning air.

 

“So here I am,” he said. “Can’t wait to get started.”

 

 

Neither can we!

 

 

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/291166481.html?page=1&c=y

[Halsey Hall]

Really a good article.  Ruesse got alot of info while they were sitting there.  Neil does have a story, an interesting one.  He sounds like a good guy.

[ashbury]

From the article: “There was a six-pack of Falstaff in the refrigerator. We sat at the kitchen table, drank two beers apiece, and I haven’t had a drink since.”

 

Two Falstaffs in a row could cause me to swear off beer too.

 

[Seth Stohs]

Definitely seems like a good guy, and has a great story. More important to the Twins, he seems like someone who will be able to relate to the the pitchers well. And, he's got a terrific track record of getting guys to the big leagues ready to go. Hopefully he can help the Twins pitchers. 

[Jerr]

Great article by Ruesse and I think Allen will bring in a new and better approach.

 

Pace of pitching IS important, as pitchers get into that groove.

 

Still surprised that there was no face to face meeting with Allen

[brvama]

Yes, Ruesse hit one out with this article. Nice read.

 

Besides the comments above about Allen, I was intrigued by the lack of face to face contact before hiring him AND the comment that the Twins were looking to go a 'new' direction. That really does get me excited.