"It seemed like a fastball," he said. "It was something like 80 mph. Maybe it was change-up. It was right there."I know he was hurt (and is now on the DL), and that's probably not something I should make fun of. But doesn't that pretty much sum up Borowski's entire existence right there? And because it's Manny, you know he wasn't trying to be humorous or anything, just 100% honest. Fantastic stuff.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
"Maybe it was a change-up"
Big thanks to Kinsey for relaying this in the comments last night, because it is one of the funniest quotes I've ever read. Manny Ramirez, on the one pitch Joe Borowski threw him last night:
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7 comments:
manny wasn't alone in this confusion
http://i25.tinypic.com/4tvn0x.jpg
ok so, borowski's pitches were all between 81 and 83 mph with a break between 5''-6'', though mlb.com's pitch tracker has the pitch types all confused. they have the three pitches to ortiz all at 83 mph (5'',6'',5'', respectively) as changeups but they list the 82 mph (5'') hr ball to manny as a fastball, so who knows what they were. the ONLY pitch that was not between 81 and 83 mph was a 75 mph "changeup", also the break was 10'' (in quotes because the 81 mph, 6'' break pitch before it was also a "changeup" according to the mlb gameday pitch tracking feature). this pitch could be the only changeup that worked (only insofar as it differed from his other pitches) or it could be that the tricep strain acted up and he just stopped putting force behind the ball halfway thru, possibly increasing the downward movement, or it could just be the only changeup he tried to throw. again, i don't know how i'd begin to figure that out though.
ok, so going back to last year on the 22nd of august, borowski (again according to mlb gameday) was throwing an 88-89 mph fastball with a break between 4'' and 5'' and a 79 mph changeup with a break between 8'' and 9''. so it does look like the injury had a big effect on his ability to throw the ball, and possibly by compensating for this tricep strain he lost his ability to throw a changeup (or fastball). also, i would find it hard to believe that he threw 13 straight fastballs to the heart of the order, so i think that his changeup was actually almost the same as his changeup.
THE POINT of this whole thing: manny's comment is actually much more insightful than it might seem on the face of it, at least if you buy my argument that borowski's injury actually hindered his ability to make his change and fb different pitches. that being said, any indians fan has gotta be happy that borowski wont be pitching in close games for at least 15 days.
to be fair, mlb.com's pitch classification is new, and it has had issues distinguishing between the changeup and fastball.
http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/real-time-pitch-identification/
who knows how much impact this injury has had on his velocity. other indians pitchers have seen decreases in velocity (lewis and carmona come to mind), so the weather may have had an affect or just rustiness
Professional athletes never cease to amaze me.
When I stand in a batters box and see a pitch coming, I have enough time to think, "Baseball!" before swinging the bat. The result is often a poor swing and sore hands.
When Manny Ramirez stands in the batters box and sees a pitch coming, he has enough time to think, "Alright, here's the pitch. Oooh, fastba--wait a minute. That's not a fastball. Looks like one, but it's not. Changeup, maybe? Must be a changeup. Oh well, it's right there - I'll hit it," before swinging the bat. The result is often a homerun.
This is why it drives me crazy when people make the easy joke about how dumb Manny is and how he doesn't know what the hell is going on.
The fact that your brother and hood are the only ones who are responding here should tell you how much your readers care about the indians.
Check both the comments on the previous post and the comment immediately before yours. Thanks for chiming in though, always so insightful.
I read often and comment infrequently, but never think that I don't care.
Hug?
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