BA video of Lopez, Parker and Ryan at 79 all-star game

[gunnarthor]

http://www.baseballamerica.com/majors/say-happy-birthday-dave-parker-crazy-relic-video/#RMrP1srHuFqKRff7.97

 

Lot of fun stuff to see in this old video but the main one is how big Parker's bat was. That was a freaking boomstick.

[cjj td]

I kind of like the cattle shelter... I mean dugout.

 

[nicksaviking]

Watching old videos really emphasizes how baseball is marching toward one-size-fits all playing styles. Lopes and Parker's stance and swing and Ryan's overhead windup and drop and drive delivery would get picked apart and criticized if they were prospects today.

[jimbo92107]

It's easy to forget how hard Nolan Ryan threw a baseball. All those pitches looked 98 mph or better, at least a couple cracked 100 mph... and he would do that all game long, sometimes more than 160 pitches.

 

Notice there is no evidence of an inverted W.

 

I miss pitchers like that, and bats like Parker's. Baseball has lost some of its glory. Bring back the huge fastball ace, the big lumber, the stolen base kings. The stuff of heroes makes baseball fun to watch.

[Willihammer]

Could drive a forklift through that strike zone.