Austin Davis

Texan! Big-tyne sports Fan! Love Rangers' baseball, Stars, Mavs, Cowboys & FSU

F3 Birmingham - “Figure 8”

[Austin Davis @ADStone23]

@ADStone23 https://t.co/AJf2JUyCWz

[Keith Flemming @KeithFlemming]

With the success of USMNT, combined with Matt Olsen hitting this moon shot, Country Roads by John Denver could become the song of the summer, or at a minimum, played at a lot of sporting events lol.

[Breaux Mart @BreauxMart]

As we celebrate 250 years of our country, we also celebrate that 4th of July when Terry did NOT put it in reverse!!! 🇺🇸😂

#legend #4thofJuly

[Hurrdat Sports @HurrdatSports]

The umpires found the Branch parents to give them the official lineup cards with their boys, Kolby (UGA) and Kyle (Oklahoma), on them.

They are the first brothers to be starters/opponents in a MCWS game, and this was the final time the two faced off in college. 🥹

[Everything Ole Miss @EverythingRebs]

You will not see a better sports video today:

Kolby Branch hits a HR for Georgia in his last ever college AB. His brother, on the other team, gets to celebrate with him as he rounds the bases with parents in attendance

What a moment for this family

[Lia Assimakopoulos @Lassimak]

Fifteen months after Dallas traded him way, Logan Stankoven is a Stanley Cup champion.

[NCAA Baseball @NCAABaseball]

“He’s got more juice than we thought.” 💪

@OleMissBSB watches retro footage of Mike Bianco at the 1989 Men's College World Series 🎞️

#MCWS

[Bruce LeVine @BruceLeVinePuck]

Logan Stankoven 5-year resume:
2021: World U-18-Gold
2022: World Juniors-Gold
2023: World Juniors-Gold
2024: Western Conference Finals
2025: Eastern Conference Finals
2026: Stanley Cup Champion

Lots of “experts” thought Stank was too small. All he does is win.

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

One of the biggest mistakes I see with young hitters is stepping away from the baseball.

The result?

-Weak ground balls.
-Rollovers.
-And a lot of frustration.

This player was doing exactly that.

Every swing, his front foot would step away from the pitcher.

As soon as that happened, everything else followed.

-His hips pulled off.
-His barrel pulled off.
-And the baseball followed.

So here's what we did.

First, we evened out his stance.

A lot of young hitters start with their front foot closer to the plate than their back foot.

When they do that, their first move is often stepping away from the baseball.

By simply evening out his feet, we gave him a better starting position.

Then we added what I call "the gutters."

Just like bowling.

When someone is learning to bowl, they put the rails up so the ball can't fall into the gutter.

We did the same thing.

We placed a bat about 8-12 inches behind his back leg.

Now he had instant feedback.

If he stepped out, he'd run into the gutter.

If he stayed through the baseball, he'd stay inside the lane.

Within a few swings, everything started changing.

Instead of pulling off...

His knees started moving toward the pitcher.

Instead of rollovers...

He started driving line drives back through the middle.

Instead of weak contact...

The ball started jumping into the right-center gap.

Because there’s one thing I've learned coaching baseball:

Sometimes the fastest way to help a young hitter isn't giving them more information.

It's creating an environment that helps them make the right move naturally.

Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis

P.S. - If you enjoyed this, and thought it was helpful please share it.

(This tells me you want more content like this)

[Austin Davis @ADStone23]

@RealCJ10 how many coaches growing up tried to give you the same amount of cuts as the single side hitters? Ie 10 cuts guys, 5 from each side for you?

I learned early you have to treat it as two different hitters to really get the work in and see success.

[Chipper Jones @RealCJ10]

Switch hitters….listen up! Two things….twice as many swings daily from your weak side than your strong side. It’s the only way to eventually get them equal. Secondly, try to do a lot of the same things from each side, i.e. setup, stance and hand position, so that there aren’t a bunch of swing thoughts clouding ur mind. Love what this young fella is doing….similar setups. Love that the bat starts on the shoulder and snaps up to hitting position. Soft front stride, back knee bent…excellent. More swings lefty for him….not as free and easy throughout the swing as he is righty, but you are well on your way….nice job!

[Chipper Jones @RealCJ10]

Switch hitters….listen up! Two things….twice as many swings daily from your weak side than your strong side. It’s the only way to eventually get them equal. Secondly, try to do a lot of the same things from each side, i.e. setup, stance and hand position, so that there aren’t a bunch of swing thoughts clouding ur mind. Love what this young fella is doing….similar setups. Love that the bat starts on the shoulder and snaps up to hitting position. Soft front stride, back knee bent…excellent. More swings lefty for him….not as free and easy throughout the swing as he is righty, but you are well on your way….nice job!

[Evan Grant @Evan_P_Grant]

Elias Diaz: Hang it in the Louvre

[Carolina Hurricanes @Canes]

In case you missed this legendary game-winning goal

[Awful Announcing @awfulannouncing]

West Virginia advances to Omaha and the Men's College World Series for the first time in program history.

Here's how 'Country Roads' looked on the ESPN broadcast.

[Jermaine Curtis @JermaineCurtis]

When I was with the St. Louis Cardinals, we had a team meeting about hitting with two strikes.

Albert Pujols was leading it.

At the time, he was hitting something ridiculous with two strikes.

I want to say it was around .265.

Naturally, everyone wanted to know how.

So somebody asked:

"What's your two-strike approach?"

Albert's answer surprised me.

He said:

"I think fastball inside and hit it back through the middle."

That was it.

No complicated mechanics.

No secret formula.

Just:

Fastball inside.

Back through the middle.

I remember sitting there thinking:

"Why would you think fastball inside with two strikes?"

So somebody asked him.

And Albert said something I'll never forget.

He said:

"If I can hit a fastball inside back through the middle..."

"I can hit the fastball away."

"I can stay on the changeup."

"I can stay on the slider."

"I can stay on the curveball."

Then he paused.

And said:

"The ball gets deeper."

That's when it clicked for me.

He wasn't trying to pull the inside fastball.

He was using one thought to cover everything.

The more I thought about it...

The more it made sense.

So I started trying it.

And it changed the way I thought about hitting with two strikes.

Instead of worrying about every pitch...

I focused on one.

Fastball inside.

Back through the middle.

See it DEEP.

If you're struggling with two strikes, here's what I'd do tonight:

Round 1: Short Box

(Set the distance somewhere between front toss and batting practice.)

Have a coach throw only fastballs inside.

Your only thought:

"Fastball inside."

Drive the ball back through the middle.

10 swings.

Round 2: Mix Speeds

Now the coach mixes:

- Fastballs
- Changeups
- Breaking balls
- Sliders

But your thought never changes.

You're still looking:

"Fastball inside."

10 swings.

Round 3: Two-Strike BP

Every pitch starts 0-2.

Compete.

Battle.

Use the same approach.

"Fastball inside."

Back through the middle.

10 swings.

That's it.

30 focused swings.

One thought.

One approach.

One goal.

Drive the baseball back through the middle.

One thing I've learned:

Most hitters get worse with two strikes because they add thoughts.

Albert got better because he removed them.

With two strikes, simplicity is a weapon.

Thank you for reading,
Jermaine Curtis

P.S. - If you enjoyed this and thought it was helpful, please share it.

(When you share it, it tells me you want more content like this.)

[Sage Steele @sagesteele]

“Grieving the LOSS”??
My God. You two didn’t suffer a miscarriage or a stillbirth like millions of couples do every year. You CHOSE to abort your baby. And then you CHOSE to announce it publicly. YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM. This is narcissism at its finest. 💔

[Brittany Hughes @RealBrittHughes]

Just learned that the couple who aborted their baby for having Downs was a) documenting the story for weeks for clicks and b) has a disabled dog they've spent tons of $$ keeping alive. Anyone who pretends this is some morally gray issue rather that straight-up evil is either stupid or lying.

[Matt Walsh @MattWalshBlog]

You cannot claim that you’re aborting your Down syndrome child because you don’t want him to “suffer.” First of all, killing a child so they don’t suffer is psychopath serial killer logic. You’re on the same moral plane as Andrea Yates. Second, children with Down syndrome are famously some of the happiest people you’ll ever meet in your life. They are not in fact living in a state of perpetual torment. So what’s really happening is that you’re killing your child so that YOU won’t suffer the inconvenience of caring for him. This is about freeing yourself of your own perceived suffering. If you’re going to be a child killing sociopath, at least be honest about it.

[Sage Steele @sagesteele]

What kind of human being publicly announces his decision to kill his baby??? And then tries to rationalize it???? This is so deeply disturbing on every level. May God bless that sweet, innocent baby.

[Austin Davis @ADStone23]

😂

[peter @peet2]

BREAKING NEWS: After the announcements of the Mavs and Stars leaving downtown Dallas/Victory Park for the suburbs, in a shocking turn, the 3rd Floor JFK Muesum announced it is leaving Dealy Plaza & has a non-binding agreement to relocate to downtown Prosper.