Rudy Jaramillo (2010 Cubs' hitting coach) and Ernie Harwell

Sporting News magazine, the 11/23/2009 edition had several good articles. About Quarterbacks and how they approach certain situations. The best broadcasters and analysts going in sports today. And the gurus of the coaching world.

One of these coaches, a hitting coach who gets rave reviews wherever he goes is Rudy Jaramillo.
Here are some tidbits about the hitting coach guru...

Best advice I ever got: "Be patient." That says a lot in everything you do. (He aint kidding. In my approach at the plate I too need to be more patient. Not so eager to swing. Let the ball reach my kill zone.)

Best book about hitting: The Science of Hitting by Ted Williams.

If I could get the people I work with to remember one thing, it would be: Believe in yourself.
(This too hits home. In my most important at-bat, in summer league ball, I made the last out of the championship game. I didn't think I could do, so I didn't do it. I have vowed to never again let that happen and so far, so good.)

Best hitter I ever saw: Barry Bonds. He did the most damage of anyone.

The one training aide I can't do without: A one-hand short bat. Best tool I've ever used. It trains you to get in the power slot. It helps you learn how to unfold with your top hand or bottom hand, the proper approach. Also, it helps you get in an athletic position. The big key when you're using both hands, you have to let the ball get deep.

Favorite training technique: Get in an athletic position. You've got to have balance to be able to strike the ball.

Words to succeed by: Don't be scared. Be fearless.

Things I believe in:

Attitude. You've got to believe in yourself. You've got to compete. I think you have that competitiveness naturally, but some have it more than others. (in the words of George Carlin, on his 7 Dirty Words album...'You have to want it!')

Aptitude: What makes a good hitter is someone who can repeat his swing and make adjustments.
You've got to have a lot of discipline. The more mentally strong you are, the shorter those slumps are.

Ernie Harwell

Things about the game of baseball I love...
- The game's simplicity. The team with the most runs wins.
- the game's complexity. Signs, the double-switch, the squeeze play and the hit and run.
- Bob Gibson's determined intimidation.
- Willie Mays' basket catch. And his losing his cap while rounding the bases.
- the grace in a Ted Williams home run swing.
- the dedicated hustle of Pete Rose.
- the national anthem by Jose Feliciano (1968 World Series).
- the class of Al Kaline.
- a no-hitter by Nolan Ryan.
- Mark Fidrych's charisma.
- box scores and coffee/breakfast with the morning newspaper.
- the smell of a new baseball.
- the green symmetry of the diamond. (When I'm on the bus, and the bus passes all the lonely downtrodden people and you are just about gasping for breath, hoping something happens to change the way you are feeling and then you come upon a ball field. It just makes all that you saw so much more acceptable. Seeing the freshly dragged infield, even if your mind is playing tricks, makes everything a whole lot better.)

- the thrill of an 8-year-old seeing his first game.
- baseball's generation-to-generation appeal.
- animated chat around the batting cage.
- the give-and-take repartee in the clubhouse.
- the passion of hometown fans.

Ernie's personal favorites...

*Interviewing Ty Cobb, Connie Mack and Babe Ruth.
*Broadcasting the debuts of Willie Mays and Brooks Robinson and other superstars.
* Broadcasting at Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds
*Listening to Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Ted Williams discuss hitting techniques at veterans committee dinners in Tampa.
*The hope and optimism of spring training.
* Working the NBC telecast when Bob Thomson hit his "Shot Heard 'Round the World."
*And Ernie's true claim to fame: When I left the Brooklyn Dodgers, after the 1949 season to go to the Giants, Vin Scully took my place.


(thanks to the Sporting News for their well-thought out articles)

Kevin Marquez

Worst Attendances in Major League Baseball

When I first saw these games and the number of people that attended the game I was shocked.
That so few people saw the need to go a game. It just doesn't seem possible that so few would attend a game. It must have been like "The game is starting and there's nobody in the stands."

April 9, 1997: Toronto Blue Jays @ Chicago White Sox 746 fans
September 8, 1975: Houston Astros @ Atlanta Braves 737 fans
September 21, 1970: Kansas City Royals @ Chicago White Sox 672 fans
September 12, 2007: Washington Nationals @ Florida Marlins 375 fans.

On the Oakland Athletics' worst attendance night it at least reaches a couple thousand. That seems bad until you see the aforementioned numbers. And those chilly nights at Candlestick never drew so poorly which goes to show how loyal Giants' fans are to the black and orange.

(thanks to ESPN mag for the listing)

Kevin Marquez

More on Lincecum and Matt Cain

On September 28, 2009 there was an article by the Sporting News on Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, entitled I Just Love Watching Him Pitch.

After learning that Lincecum won his second Cy Young in-a-row, and was the first to do so during his first 2 complete seasons as a major leaguer, the big focus now is if the San Francisco Giants will sign Tim Lincecum before his case reaches arbitration.

Here are some snipets of that article that delve into the personalities of both Lincecum and Matt Cain.

The Franchise and The Freak. Big Daddy and Big Sugar. Does anybody actually call you these things?
Lincecum: I hear them all the time. I get them from fans every place we go. ( Former Giants reliever) Steve Kline tagged me with the Franchise or French Fries, whatever you want to call it. It's just funny names. You just roll with it.

Cain: I've had the Big Daddy one ever since my high school coach gave it to me. The Big Sugar one, I'm not too fond of; it makes me feel like I'm just eating too much candy. I don't know if I approve of that one.

On a friendship level, what about the other guy's personality appeals to you most?
Lincecum: I think it's both our competitiveness. That's why we mesh well. It's taken, like, a couple years for us to get closer, though. Our first year was a little different, but the last couple years we've become pretty good friends and we've gotten closer and just gotten to know each other. We play catch together all the time. Before, it was almost like a competition between us, like we didn't even know each other, like we were on different teams. But now it's just fun stuff, giving each other a hard time just like two good guys will do.

Cain: We come from kind of total opposite upbringings, and baseball definitely connects us in a lot of ways. He's definitely open-minded about things. I'm open-minded about things. We started to share a lot more things in common than we probably felt we would have at first.

Out of high school, Matt was drafted in the first round. Tim was drafted in the 48th round. At that point, what were your personal expectations about having big league careers?
Cain: I think mine might have been different than his coming out of high school. I got drafted in the first round , so they kind of put that "He's going to try to be the guy" tag on me. I thought, 'All right, I'm going to have to get better and better as fast as possible to get to the big leagues real quick.' Whereas Timmy came out his junior and senior years in college. (After his junior season at Washington, in 2006, Lincecum was selected 10th overall by the Giants-his third time going through the draft.)

Lincecum: He just had more of a plan. College prepares us in a different fashion than his preparation, which was in the minors. You take what you can from that. Cain, you can just look at this guy-ever since the first day I met him, he was that old young guy, just beyond his years. He was a grown man before most other guys.

What roles have your physical sizes played in your athletic lives?
Lincecum: I've always dealt with the lack-of-size issue. Going into college, I was like 135 pounds. That's pretty small for anybody. I met girls in their freshman year that were bigger than me.
Cain: (Laughing) That's awesome.

On your best day, is one of you a more dominant pitcher than the other?
Lincecum: I just love watching him pitch. Cain's that guy who doesn't give up any hits. You're looking at the board, your like, "They've only got two hits?" He just sneaky-dominates you. It's awesome to watch.

Cain: For me, it's the same way. Suddenly, it's the sixth inning and Timmy has punched out eight guys already. He does it sneaky, too. I think we do different things different . He's definitely going to be a guy who strikes out guys no matter what, where I probably won't strike out as many guys. I think I could, but I don't think it's effective for me. I can't effectively strike out that many guys.

A lack of run support has been an issue on this team. Matt has had tougher luck in that regard than perhaps anyone in baseball the past couple of years. How have you dealt with that?

Lincecum: Just watching him (Matt Cain) the last couple years, the way he battles through the run support issues that he's had to deal with... he deals with it better than anybody. You can get so frustrated, take it badly, get (ticked) off, but he just takes the ball and doesn't worry about that. He's going to pitch his game. Whether he wins or loses by one run, Cain just lets it go. I've learned from that.

Cain: It's got to be one of those situations that makes you better. I would get in situations where we were winning, 2-1 or whatever, and I'd think about it too much and give up a couple runs. Then I'd watch Timmy out there: he'd be winning, 2-0, getting the same runs but focusing more in some situations; he'd keep it 2-0. That's what I've tried to get better at this year.

Lincecum: I find it's good to somehow have that pressure on you. It's good to pitch in close games. It brings out a different side of you.

What have you learned from having Randy Johnson as a teammate? And is Jonathan Sanchez, who threw a no-hitter in July, as talented as you guys are?

Cain: I think Sanchez is what R.J. has helped with most, actually, in the past couple months. We know Sanchez is obviously very talented, but he's got his games where he goes out and deals and his games where he struggles. It's about focus. It comes at different times for different guys, but we know he has the ability to focus because there's no way you don't stay focused the whole time when you throw a no-hitter-there's no room to let down.

Lincecum: Just sitting down and talking to R.J. when were were at spring training, he said, "You never become content; you keep getting better." He said, "Look at the four Cy Youngs I won in a row (1999-2002) it wasn't like they got worse-they got better through the last one."

Who are your favorite pitchers, now and ever?

Lincecum: Sandy Koufax was definitely one of them. Nolan Ryan. Man, I just dig strikeouts.

Cain: I liked watching (Greg) Maddux and (John) Smoltz. Two different guys. Smoltz, when I was young, he was just a "Here it comes" fastball, slider, split guy. Maddux moved the ball and did different things. Those guys working together, I'll bet they helped each other a ton. It's kind of like how I feel I can try to do different things with the ball now from watching Timmy.

You'll both be 25 at the end of this season (2009). How important is it for you to be a 1-2 punch for a long time?

Lincecum: It's definitely important. Matty is going to be a workhorse for this organization for as long as he can be. I hope to do the same thing.

Cain: We both love being in the organization and hope that we can stay together and really be a Big Three with (Barry) Zito or even a Big Four with Sanchez.

It's up to the Giant's front office to see that this happens. That is, of course, if the San Diego Padres want Sanchez as part of a trade for Adrian Gonzalez. They may want Madison Bumgarner as well. Tough call.

We shall see what happens in the off-season. I was listen to my walkman and what sounded like Carlos Santana on guitar had the lyrics: Pain never makes me cry, but happiness does.
This must be the on-going sentiment for major league baseball's general managers and their associates.

(thanks to the Sporting News for their 9/28/09 article on Lincecum and Cain)

Kevin J. Marquez

Tim Lincecum is the First to Do It

Tim Lincecum is the first pitcher to win back-to-back Cy Young awards in his first two-full-major league seasons. Puff on that for a while, eh?

With all the hoopla over his recent arrest it must be nice to see the better man get the nod.
He had the burden of pitching with very few runs (as teammates Barry Zito, Matt Cain and Jonathan Sanchez can attest) and still managed to keep his team in the game, most every time he toed the slab.

Lincecum most definitely has to make his teammates feel like it's WIN NIGHT every time the skipper hands him the ball. And if the San Francisco Giants can go out an acquire a couple of players' whose plate approach can expand the strike zone and who have enough oomph in their swings to accumulate dozens of extra-base hits and some round-trippers then it would relieve some of the tension their pitchers would have to endure on a daily/nightly basis.

I'm sure the powers that be, in the Giants organization, realize that last year was an excellent year for the pitchers but that with an injury here and an injury there the Giants will need more help for their pitching.

Good offense and solid defense.

Easier said than done.

Anyway, kudos to the Freak, Franchise or just plain Timmy Lincecum. This is the kind of news Scotty Ostler was talking about. (see article by Scott Ostler, dated November 17 on the Cha Cha Bowl.)

Kevin J. Marquez

In the Playoffs

(Sorry for the delay but the information from Sporting News magazine is good so I decided to go ahead and share it with you.)

What doesn't matter? The better regular-season record. That goes for teams and players.
White Sox center fielder Scott Podsednik didn't hit a home run the entire 2005 regular season, but his walkoff blast in Game 2 was the turning point for Chicago's win.

"The bigger the moment, the more I'm relaxed," says John Smoltz, who is tied with Andy Pettitte for most postseason victories (15). Note: And I don't recall Smoltz being accused of taking performance enhancers. The only thing I'll never forget about Smoltz' off-field actions was that he burned himself while ironing. He ironed the shirt while still wearing it. This prompted some wise guy scribe to say 'How does he take a bath, in the washing machine?' or something of that ilk.

Former major league OF, Steve Finley, a member of the 2001 World Series champion Diamondbacks.

"Generally, a manager is a good people person who knows how to read people and put people in spots where they have the best chance for success.

Bob Brenly had his horses that year. Managers also have to play hunches. They have to know when to pull the trigger in certain areas, and Bob pulled all the right triggers in that postseason."

David Eckstein, World Series MVP for 2006 St. Louis Cardinals.
"We were able to get healthy when the playoffs arrived, and we weren't that way basically the last six (6) weeks of the season. It was like a breath of fresh air when we made the playoffs. For us, it was like, OK, now we can put the regular season behind us. It was an opportunity to be the same club we were at the beginning of the year. And we definitely gained momentum after beating the Padres in the first round. That gave us the feeling that, OK, we're back. One thing about the postseason is that it's whoever gets hot. (Getting) into the playoffs means you are a quality club no matter what your record was."

(thanks to The Sporting News for sharing these insights. This stuff is good to know.)

Kevin Marquez

Scott Ostler on Tim Lincecum (11/7/09 SF Chronicle)

I read Scott Osler's piece on Tim Linceum in which he posed the question: High crime? Nope, just irresponsible.

I underlined the key points.

Lincecum will get off easy in the Bay Area court of public opinion. In fact, his moment of reefer madness might even enhance his stature as a free-spirited goofball.

I do know that if you are a sports hero busted for pot, you should be thankful if you play for a Bay Area team. Remember how, not so many years ago, Warriors' fans would convene at halftime on the "dope ramp," turning the Oakland Arena into the world's largest bong?

Lincecum won't shrug off his crime. We've all gotten to know him well enough to realize that behind the garage-band hair and the cartwheels in the clubhouse is an intelligent young man who approaches his job in a professional manner and spares himself the self-importance and lack of accountability embraced by many ball stars.

Too bad when Timmy placed the pot and the pipe in his car, his events-memory didn't set off alarms. Michael Phelps! Michael Phelps!! Oooogah!

Lincecum will be properly embarrassed and he will make proper apologies, which will be immediately accepted - here and probably everywhere.

But even we zonked-out Bay Area hipsters hope the Franchise plays it smarter next time, because whether the media's reaction is frenzied or laidback, that isn't the kind of news we like to see him make.

(kudos to Scott Ostler)

Kevin Marquez

Meet the Prospect (Madison Bumgarner)

In the Sporting News edition, dated September 28, 2009 was an article entitled Meet the Prospect: Madison Bumgarner.

Who he is: The 10th overall pick in the 2007 draft. Bumgarner made his major league debut on 9/8/09, a month after his 20th birthday. Pitching this season at Advanced Class A and Class AA, Bumgarner went 12-2 with a 1.85 ERA, which puts his career minor league numbers at 27-5 and 1.65. Not too shabby.

Scouting Report: Bumgarne has ace stuff and throws in the mid-90s from a deceptive release point. He needs to tighten his slider and do a better job of hitting his spots down in the zone, but he has the potential to be a front-of-the-rotation starter. Expect him to win a permanent big league rotation spot by mid 2010, if not earlier.

Bumgarner says: The one thing I'm concentrating on improving is throwing breaking balls for strikes and having confidence in them.

His team won the Sally League championship last year and the one thing he cannot live without is his faith. He's a christian and that's a big part of his life.

With the Lord as Bumgarner's shepherd, hopefully the sky is the limit for the success he can attain while in the major leagues.

(thanks to the Sporting News for a little information on an up-and-coming player in the Giants organization.)

Kevin Marquez