Im pretty sure it bothered him when everyone found out he cheated the game. You used to play ball, so im assuming you know how much of the game is mental. Thats probably why he sucked.
Wow, I didn't know pitches out of the zone were being called strikes now. When did they change the rules?
Yeah, it's usually impossible for a guy to enter a new phase of his career and be able to reverse his hitting misfortunes. David Ortiz wouldn't know anything about that, would he? :wink: He missed a lot of time over the past two seasons due to injuries. This season is the healthiest he's been in years. I would expect someone in that position to go from having a tough time at the plate to a resurgence. Again, look at Ortiz. Am I saying I know for a fact he's clean? Of course not. At the same time, I don't know who in the sport is clean at this point. I'm going solely based on the physical change I have perceived this year.
I haven't watched other teams' games, but I kind of assumed as much. Every crew that's done Yankees games this year has had at least one guy who just sucks. And it's not even that I think it's just the Yankees getting squeezed. The umpiring is consistently bad to both them and their opponents. It has to be going on everywhere.
The difference is Ortiz at the start of this year was in an ordinary slump, as guys like Jeter and others have been in at times. Those happen. He was also coming off knee surgery. And while most players are in a slump they still have at least close to their normal bat speed. But Giambi was different. He was hitting at an extremely high level, his steroid use was discovered and he dropped off DRASTICALLY, and then when he was another bad strikeout away from the minors he suddenly started hitting again. Because he's a proven and admitted steroid user and the decline coincided with the discovery of that fact, I tend to be more skeptical of his sudden "resurgence". As for the injury factors, again, I think it's a pretty large coincidence that he was healthy while on steroids and then when he stopped the injuries started coming in droves. And now he's healthy again? Again, because of his past, I look at that with a cynical eye.
Timing? Yes. Pitch recognition? Of course. But bat speed? No way. That's a purely physical skill/attribute. You don't lose the ability to swing hard because you're distracted by things that are your own fault.
agreed, but dont forget that he was very sick a few seasons ago with that intestinal parasite, which likely trained alot of his power. I dont know why his bat speed was down, maybe that was an explanation for it. Im certain he is clean now. You dont think hes tested now that he admitted he used some juice? Comon, your not giving the MLB drug policy and testing any credit.
I think (as I'm sure many others do) that "intestinal parasite" was code for "not taking steroids anymore". And there isn't a test for HGH.
