OT: Congrats little Timmy!

[itjclarke]

Oh don't even get me started on Clark's swing!!! So so sweet. He had the most fluid hips, and yes, always seemed to get great extension, and sweet spot, even on inside pitches.

During the height of the roid era, announcers would always marvel at how Sosa or McGwire had "muscled" a ball out the other way, etc, or go on about pretty Pujols' swing was. I wasn't having that then, and I'm not now. Aestheitcally to me, there's still nothing like a regular human being looking guy who's able to generate his power and bat speed through the hips, wrists, etc, as opposed to "muscling" balls. It just looks so much better.

I'd also rate Clark and Griffey's swings one and two visually... giving Clark the slight edge because he had the bigger more dramatic upper cut and a classic follow through (though Griffey's was $$ too). I think Griffey wins out of effeciency though. I was heartbroken when Clark left, but was happy to see him continue to have success in the AL... then call it a day after that awesome late season run with the Cards. One guy who probably wasn't happy was Rafeal Palmeiro though. Clark seemed to just follow and outshine him everywhere... first at MSU, then he took his job in Texas and again in Baltimore. Great Clark quote when someone asked him how he felt about his old college teammate testing positive for PEDs- "ya got caught partner!". Something makes me think Will didn't think highly of Raffy.

Others from our era with swings that stood out to me- Shawn Green, David Justice, even Michael Tucker had a great stroke. Currently, I really like Braun's (we've talked about that) and Posey's, both from the right side.

[itjclarke]

Originally Posted by the 'stache

I always loved Will Clark...

Clark had one of the sweetest swings I've ever seen, too. That front leg of his would just kick out perfectly straight. Then his hips would start to rotate, and then he'd get that full extension of his arms, and the bat head would just whip through the strike zone. So fluid. It's as if God made him to play baseball....

Btw- if you ever want to make friends with a dude in the Bay Area, probably anywhere between the ages of 30-40, talk like this is a great start. Everyone kid I knew idolized Will when we were in little league... and my buddies still light up when his name comes up. He's our Mickey, or Duke, or George Brett. He'll never get a sniff at the hall of fame, but it doesn't diminish him at all, nor does it those memories.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

Oh don't even get me started on Clark's swing!!! So so sweet. He had the most fluid hips, and yes, always seemed to get great extension, and sweet spot, even on inside pitches.

During the height of the roid era, announcers would always marvel at how Sosa or McGwire had "muscled" a ball out the other way, etc, or go on about pretty Pujols' swing was. I wasn't having that then, and I'm not now. Aestheitcally to me, there's still nothing like a regular human being looking guy who's able to generate his power and bat speed through the hips, wrists, etc, as opposed to "muscling" balls. It just looks so much better.

I'd also rate Clark and Griffey's swings one and two visually... giving Clark the slight edge because he had the bigger more dramatic upper cut and a classic follow through (though Griffey's was $$ too). I think Griffey wins out of effeciency though. I was heartbroken when Clark left, but was happy to see him continue to have success in the AL... then call it a day after that awesome late season run with the Cards. One guy who probably wasn't happy was Rafeal Palmeiro though. Clark seemed to just follow and outshine him everywhere... first at MSU, then he took his job in Texas and again in Baltimore. Great Clark quote when someone asked him how he felt about his old college teammate testing positive for PEDs- "ya got caught partner!". Something makes me think Will didn't think highly of Raffy.

Others from our era with swings that stood out to me- Shawn Green, David Justice, even Michael Tucker had a great stroke. Currently, I really like Braun's (we've talked about that) and Posey's, both from the right side.

There was a snide little comment on Braun's ESPN page about how "all in all he's been conspicuously ordinary since returning from his Biogenesis suspension." Then in the next sentence, it mentions "he's struggled with some injuries." Exactly! He's had a thumb issue and a pulled abdominal muscle. That is cutting down on his power, because Braun is a guy that generates his power with his entire body. He's not some muscle bound guy, he has to generate bat speed to hit the ball deep, and he can't do that right now. Trying to generate torque when your abdominal muscles are not working correctly is next to impossible.

A month ago when Braun's OPS was .965, ESPN was gushing about how well he was playing. The guy's human. He's allowed to have an off month.

I seriously think the people at ESPN understand nothing about baseball. They certainly don't understand anything about hitting mechanics.

[the 'stache]

Originally Posted by itjclarke

Btw- if you ever want to make friends with a dude in the Bay Area, probably anywhere between the ages of 30-40, talk like this is a great start. Everyone kid I knew idolized Will when we were in little league... and my buddies still light up when his name comes up. He's our Mickey, or Duke, or George Brett. He'll never get a sniff at the hall of fame, but it doesn't diminish him at all, nor does it those memories.

I was just watching some video of him hitting on Youtube. It's funny, because Will has the same kind of build Braun does. They're almost the same size, too. Braun is 6'2" 200 lbs, Clark was 6'2" 190 lbs.

I've got a bunch of nice Will Clark cards. I got the 1986 Topps Traded set when I was a kid. So many rookie cards in there, it might just be the greatest extra set off a major release ever. Will Clark, Jose Canseco, Danny Tartabull, Wally Joyner, Bo Jackson, Barry Bonds, Bobby Bonilla, Andres Galarraga, Pete Incaviglia. Just a great set filled with power hitters. I still have the box for it, too. Too bad it's not worth anything, because stupid Topps printed 10 million sets.