Dave The Dastardly Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Olympic Trials The Little Woman (she’s got all of two inches on the 4’8” Simone Biles) and I enjoy watching the Olympics; especially women’s gymnastics and all swimming events. So you can imagine our disappointment when Biles got the “twisties”, which is apparently a real thing that causes gymnasts to temporarily lose their spatial awareness, and had to withdraw from most of the Olympic competition after displaying symptoms during warm-ups. So it occurred to me, professional baseball players don’t deliberately chose to go into a slump, loose control of their fastball, forget to hit the cut-off man or how to play a hot grounder. It just happens, and sometimes it’s a mental thing. Not a wandering mind, a harbinger of mental illness or a lazy attitude, not that kind of mental thing, just a temporary disconnect between body and mind that throws of their hand-eye coordination, their balance, their athleticism, whatever makes them the athlete they are. Should they be faulted for being "human"? Simone Biles wasn’t. Her team and fans instead rallied around her and other Olympic athletes from different sports spoke up, saying they too have suffered similar lapses. And yet we as baseball fans (I’m guilty) jump all over a struggling ballplayer as if our boos, snide remarks and constant haranguing is going to fix the problem. How dumb is that? But I suppose some of us feel that since our tax dollars paid for the stadiums they play in, our ticket and souvenir purchases and the outrageously over priced concessions we purchase in “our” stadiums and what we fork out to the cable companies for the privilege of watching games on TV indirectly pays for the players' multi-million dollar salaries we have the right to get on the players’ cases when they fail to perform up to our expectations. But then again maybe gymnastics fans are more sophisticated than baseball fans. Maybe they better understand that these incredible athletes are merely human and they’re just as human when they fail to perform at the highest levels as they are when they win the gold. Anyway, I'm going to try to be a more understanding, more forgiving Twins fan. As least as far as it applies to the players and their athletic “body and mind” performances. Managers and coaches, who only have to use their brains, I’ll hold to a higher standard. You know, since they're only half there. Cincinnati 56-50 Twins 44-62 Pitching Tonight Kenta Maeda. 4-4 ERA 4.40. K 90 Tyler Mahle 8-3. ERA 3.71. K 133 Line-ups Twins - Late as Usual Reds Jonathon India 2B .277 Jesse Winkler LF .302 Kyle Farmer SS .262 Joey Votto 1B .276 Max Shrock RF .333 Tyler Naquin CF .247 Eugenio Suarez 3B .174 Tucker Barnhart C .264 Tyler Mahle P .059
Danchat Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Donaldson hasn’t played in 6 days... another trip to the IL for him?
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Tyler Mahle. They guy that broke Buxton's hand. He has to bat...... that is, if he makes it to the 9th spot in the order and he is still pitching. But chances are, he will have to be in the batter's box while pitches are being thrown, tonight. https://www.mlb.com/news/byron-buxton-left-hand-injury-twins
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 And don't forget about Lucas Sims. Beaned Buxton just before the playoffs (Sept 25) in 2019 and gave him a super concussion. Cincy pitchers have been very bad for Buxton, and have made him suffer greatly.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Might want to walk Votto a couple times tonight, too. https://www.mlb.com/news/shohei-ohtani-joey-votto-are-july-players-of-the-month
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 I believe, in baseball, that "mental illness" (really, mental illness?) or the "twisties" is called the "yips". The disconnect. Rick Ankiel and Chuck Knoblauch (throwing from second to first while with the Yankees.....) come to mind as famous cases.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Austin Martin batting leadoff for Wichita tonight.
Squirrel Community Moderator Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Just now, Cap'n Piranha said: Austin Martin batting leadoff for Wichita tonight. Keep us posted ... might be the more interesting game
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 There goes the perfect game and the no-hitter......
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 There goes the perfect game and the no-hitter..... again.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 7 minutes ago, h2oface said: There goes the perfect game and the no-hitter..... again. Boy, both pitchers just having mental struggles tonight, giving up all these baserunners.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Smalley, talking about Votto, opines that when you get on a hot streak where your mechanics are just right, it makes hitting a homer just as easy as hitting a single. Which suggests that almost every hitter has broken mechanics more often than not.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 22 minutes ago, Squirrel said: Keep us posted ... might be the more interesting game Ok! Stay tuned, game hasn't started yet.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 3, 2021 Posted August 3, 2021 Total mental breakdown there by Kenta, giving up that homer.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 First pitch meat. There goes the shutout.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Boy, Kenta just clearly is not there mentally. He should probably pull himself out of this game so he doesn't keep hurting the team.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Wow. 2 pitches. Two right down the middle. Two homers.... and Mahle comes to the plate........
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 With our defensive outfield, best to pitch no hitters.
Cap'n Piranha Verified Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Hmmm. Maybe Kenta's 5 game resurgence had more to do with facing the Royals once and the Tigers thrice. If so, punting on 2022 by trading Berrios looks to have been a very prudent move.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 This is where you walk Votto.....
LaBombo Verified Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 "You guys 'member that time when the Twins had that one pitcher, who could get outs an' stuff? 'Member that? That was awesome."
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Good for Madea. Gives up two first pitch homers and doesn't even get close to Mahle. He is a nice guy.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Good chance to practice for extra innings. Runner on second and no outs.....
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Time for a 3 run dinger from Polanco!
Nine of twelve Verified Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Just now, h2oface said: Still time, right, Garver! I bow to the greatness of your foresight.
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 THAT'S WHAT I AM TALKIN' (apparently to myself) ABOUT!!!!!
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 Just now, Nine of twelve said: I bow to the greatness of your foresight. And I thought I was talkin' to myself!
h2oface Old-Timey Member Posted August 4, 2021 Posted August 4, 2021 And Tyler Mahle - Breaker of Buxton's Hand - on deck, coming to the plate again........
Marek Houston Wichita Wind Surge - AA SS On Saturday, Houston went 3-for-5 and scored two runs. After a short slump, he is now back over .290 on the season. Explore Marek Houston News >
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