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Did you play baseball? What kind of player were you?


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#21 Dupin

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 05:31 PM

I played one season and got stuck in the outfield, not getting any action, and absolutely hated it.  I could hit the hell out of the ball though.


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#22 Markus

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 05:56 PM

Played from the age 6 up through senior year of HS.

 

Could always hit, run the bases, steal.  In tee-ball and the younger years of little league I had a bit of power but as I got older I turned more into doubles/gap hitter.  Usually hit 2nd in the line-up.  Was also master of the delayed steal.  Hitting was definitely my favorite part of the game.  Nothing compares to barreling up ball.

 

In the field it was 3B in tee-ball, 2B and catcher in little league and then 2B and CF in the latter years.  Always had a pretty good arm and usually gunned down fools if they tried to steal on me when I caught.  Also always loved all the little intricacies that go with playing the field (positioning, mouth open/closed to indicate who's covering 2nd on a steal, backing up 1st, cut-offs, relays, etc., etc.)  And loved catching because you were involved in every single pitch.  Made sure to always have a glove for every position.  Smaller glove for middle infield, bigger glove for outfield, catchers mitt and catchers gear and even a 1B glove for those rare instances I had to play there.

 

Still remember getting a lot of my gear from that Eastbay magazine and trips to batting cages in the offseason (when there was one) and breaking in gloves and hitting off the tee into the net in my side-yard.  Still remember stopping at 7-11 for gum and sunflower seeds on the way to practice and/or games.

 

Was always on the All-Star teams and my teams usually finished 1st or 2nd in the league (our little league team was legit.  we had warm up jackets with our name stitched on the front and our sponsor on the back.  Team pictures were usually with the sponsor/owners stockcar).  Was also on the middle school and high school teams, as well as any fall-ball/travel-league teams.  Senior year of high school my school's team won our conference and made it to the State semi-finals (still have the watch they gave us for winning our conference) where we finished 3rd.  .

 

Baseball was almost a year-round thing for a good amount of years and one year I remember being on 4 teams at the same time.  And if I wasn't practicing/playing then it was playing with the kids in the neighborhood or playing wiffleball in the side-yard.  Was definitely one of those "baseball is life everything else is just details" kid.  Every Xmas break myself and a friend would go down to Sarasota to my grandmothers and go to a baseball camp (at Ed Smith Stadium/Complex though it was the White Sox facility at the time) there for a week.  Nothing beat playing baseball in the warmth every day and then going to Siesta Key for a week while all your friends froze their butt off back up in MD.

 

Parents were always encouraging/supportive and sacrificed a lot of their time (something you don't realize as a kid) to let me play baseball.

 

By junior year of HS though I was totally burned out from all the baseball and didn't even bother going out for the HS team.  Think I only played on one rec-league team.  At this point I was more interested in being a regular teenager and chasing girls, hanging out with friends and doing jazz like that.  Remember at one point my friend and I asked our head coach if we could miss a game to go the the HFStival and he said, "I make the commitment to be here for you guys every week and I expect the same from you."  I remember both of us being typical 15/16 year olds and thinking that was a crock of shit and how going to rock out at some concert was cooler than playing baseball.  Looking back on that now, what a jackass thought process.

 

Senior year the love was back and I was back on the HS team and also still playing rec-league.  Figured I could maybe walk-on when I got to UMD but I was enjoying other aspects of college-life by the time for that came around and that was all she wrote.

 

Love the game more than ever and still eat seeds at every game I go watch and love pointing out subtle points of the game to my wife while we're in the stands.  Still have most of my stuff and a good amount of times when I go to games will be that guy playing catch in the parking lot or empty field by the stadium.

 

 

 

Oh, and one time I scored 4 touchdowns hit 4 homers in 1 game.


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Lemme get two claps and a Ric Flair


#23 bnickle

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 07:43 PM


Sure... he showed up, said he was fed up with OH and would be posting here from now on... but then he got a good taste of what bnick and pedro did to the game threads, expressed his disgust, but saw no improvements... so he just vanished... went back to posting at OH... hasn't been here since... (good job, guys...)

I appreciated VATech and would like to see him back but the game thread posting style isn't changing.

#24 Pedro Cerrano

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:07 PM

I appreciated VATech and would like to see him back but the game thread posting style isn't changing.


x2

There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note

"Now OPS sucks.  Got it."

"Making his own olive brine is peak Mackus."

"I'm too hungover to watch a loss." - McNulty

@bopper33


#25 Pedro Cerrano

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:19 PM

I just sorta go with the flow.

It's baseball talk on the internet ya know?

There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note

"Now OPS sucks.  Got it."

"Making his own olive brine is peak Mackus."

"I'm too hungover to watch a loss." - McNulty

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#26 RShack

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:20 PM

I appreciated VATech and would like to see him back but the game thread posting style isn't changing.

 

 

x2

 

I was just saying what happened, that's all...

 

I'm sure Stoner likes running this board so his childhood friends plus another dozen people have a place to post... gotta be sure to keep the number of participants low, and you 2 certainly do your part to ensure that...

 

I know some people are proud of odd things... but you two are proud of being destructive.... which is actually kind of sick...

 

But if Stoner likes it, well, it's his place... maybe he really does wanna keep other posters away... in which case I'm sure he endorses your commitment to making sure that happens...


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#27 Pedro Cerrano

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:22 PM

Stoner is the man. He's almost as awesome as Trumbo

There is baseball, and occasionally there are other things of note

"Now OPS sucks.  Got it."

"Making his own olive brine is peak Mackus."

"I'm too hungover to watch a loss." - McNulty

@bopper33


#28 Icterus galbula

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:33 PM

 Hitting was definitely my favorite part of the game.  Nothing compares to barreling up ball.

 

Tough for me to truly say. The times when I nailed someone with a nice throw were very satisfying too. You didn't score because of me and you're done, son. Its over and a fist pump is in order. When I  squared up on the ball I think, okay, whats next. Please don't embarrass yourself after this. 



#29 bnickle

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:34 PM

I was just saying what happened, that's all...

I'm sure Stoner likes running this board so his childhood friends plus another dozen people have a place to post... gotta be sure to keep the number of participants low, and you 2 certainly do your part to ensure that...

I know some people are proud of odd things... but you two are proud of being destructive.... which is actually kind of sick...

But if Stoner likes it, well, it's his place... maybe he really does wanna keep other posters away... in which case I'm sure he endorses your commitment to making sure that happens...

Stoner loves us and we love you Shackypoo

#30 bnickle

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:37 PM


Tough for me to truly say. The times when I nailed someone with a nice throw were very satisfying too. You didn't score because of me and you're done, son. Its over and a fist pump is in order. When I squared up on the ball I think, okay, whats next. Please don't embarrass yourself after this.

Making a great defensive play is every bit as fun as crushing a ball. Wish more kids would enjoy playing defense
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#31 bnickle

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 08:54 PM

I was a decent ball player through HS at a small town level . Left handed. Played 1b and OF. Eventually I ran into the guys who had legit fastballs combined with legit offspeed stuff and that was all she wrote. You realize pretty quickly in baseball when you're overmatched.
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#32 Icterus galbula

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 09:03 PM

Much like Jesus, I could not hit a curveball. 

 

Two seamer, four seamer, okay. Shit, I can even sit on the knuckleball. Curveballs and sliders? I couldn't adjust



#33 Bmore Irish

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 09:24 PM

Played little league for a few years, but wasn't very good. Got hit a few times when I started fast pitch, became scared and stood too far from the plate out of fear. Think that was my last year.

Started playing football and lacrosse after that, which I was actually good at.

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#34 SportsGuy

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 09:33 PM

Did Shack just accuse others of keeping people from posting here?

#35 RShack

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Posted 03 April 2017 - 11:36 PM

Did Shack just accuse others of keeping people from posting here?

 

The only guy I keep away is Tony, The Great All-American War Hero  :-)


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#36 glenn__davis

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Posted 04 April 2017 - 01:28 AM

I was and still am a really good fielder.  Played 1B during the early years because I could actually catch the ball.  Got moved to SS as I grew.  Pitched as well.  My velocity was average but even as a kid I was very successful as a pitcher because I had great control.  We didn't have full season travel but I usually made the post-season "all star team" which was like a summer travel league.

 

When I got to HS, as I like to say, everyone else got taller and thicker and I just got taller.  And never really did get thicker.  I know you can be thin and be a good baseball player, but I was about 6' 135 lbs. as as freshman.  Went to a big HS and we had about 50 kids try out for the JV team, and I got cut.  I was a better baseball player than a lot that made it, but they were better overall athletes who played other sports, so the coach was probably right to take them.

 

Gave it up after that.  I loved playing, though.  Some of my best childhood memories.  Had the same coach for 4 years in LL who had some land and we'd have practice at his house.  Tuesdays and Thursdays were my favorite days, I'd sit in school all day waiting for practice.  Now I get to watch my kids play on the same fields I did as a kid.  


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#37 RShack

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Posted 04 April 2017 - 06:34 AM

I was and still am a really good fielder.  Played 1B during the early years because I could actually catch the ball.  Got moved to SS as I grew.  Pitched as well.  My velocity was average but even as a kid I was very successful as a pitcher because I had great control.  We didn't have full season travel but I usually made the post-season "all star team" which was like a summer travel league.

 

When I got to HS, as I like to say, everyone else got taller and thicker and I just got taller.  And never really did get thicker.  I know you can be thin and be a good baseball player, but I was about 6' 135 lbs. as as freshman.  Went to a big HS and we had about 50 kids try out for the JV team, and I got cut.  I was a better baseball player than a lot that made it, but they were better overall athletes who played other sports, so the coach was probably right to take them.

 

Gave it up after that.  I loved playing, though.  Some of my best childhood memories.  Had the same coach for 4 years in LL who had some land and we'd have practice at his house.  Tuesdays and Thursdays were my favorite days, I'd sit in school all day waiting for practice.  Now I get to watch my kids play on the same fields I did as a kid.  

 

That's very cool... and special....


 "The only change is that baseball has turned Paige from a second-class citizen to a second-class immortal." - Satchel Paige


#38 The Epic

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Posted 04 April 2017 - 07:29 AM

Played third, first and catcher when I was a kid. Very good fielder with power, but slow as molasses.


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#39 Mike in STL

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Posted 04 April 2017 - 08:29 AM

I was and still am a really good fielder.  Played 1B during the early years because I could actually catch the ball.  Got moved to SS as I grew.  Pitched as well.  My velocity was average but even as a kid I was very successful as a pitcher because I had great control.  We didn't have full season travel but I usually made the post-season "all star team" which was like a summer travel league.
 
When I got to HS, as I like to say, everyone else got taller and thicker and I just got taller.  And never really did get thicker.  I know you can be thin and be a good baseball player, but I was about 6' 135 lbs. as as freshman.  Went to a big HS and we had about 50 kids try out for the JV team, and I got cut.  I was a better baseball player than a lot that made it, but they were better overall athletes who played other sports, so the coach was probably right to take them.
 
Gave it up after that.  I loved playing, though.  Some of my best childhood memories.  Had the same coach for 4 years in LL who had some land and we'd have practice at his house.  Tuesdays and Thursdays were my favorite days, I'd sit in school all day waiting for practice.  Now I get to watch my kids play on the same fields I did as a kid.  



You left out the part where you were an NL All-Star for the Astros before getting traded to the Orioles. :)
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#40 mweb08

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Posted 04 April 2017 - 09:10 AM

Played SS in little league and occasionally pitched. Moved over to 2B for travel league.

 

I was a pretty good defender with speed, but not the best hitter as I lacked power and was a mediocre contact hitter. I was patient though so my OBP was probably solid and I would steal bases at will. 

 

As a pitcher, I had very good control, but didn't throw hard. I did throw a 1 hitter side armed once and had a similarly effective game when I was quite young and had a natural sinker going.

 

I still play softball where I now play LF and get on base a lot as a contact hitter that is willing to take a walk.






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