Chris

Former Combat Medic/US Army, Disabled Veteran/Cyber Security Engineer/High School Football & Basketball Coach/STL/MIZZOU Sports/Notre Dame/Army/Packers Fan

[Chris @bsting54]

I need this video, so QT to pin haha

[Josiah Johnson @KingJosiah54]

Ice Cube: “I got $12 million for you for next Friday”

Chris Tucker: “I ain’t tryna cuss in movies no more”

Rush Hour 2: “We got $20 million for you!”

Chris Tucker:

[Benjamin Hochman @hochman]

Seven years ago.

[Chris @bsting54]

@MissouriRevenue Why can I not speak to a real human about my tax refund? I filed on April 7th. I call the number it says go to https://t.co/pA99PofEDl and hangs up on me. I go to the chat and it says no live agents available

[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.)

[SpaceX @SpaceX]

Watch Starship's twelfth flight test https://t.co/caRB1thMlg

[Secretary of War Pete Hegseth @SecWar]

I was honored to reenlist my friend, Staff Sergeant @Johnny_Joey, into the United States Marine Corps.

Joey has always been the kind of man who puts his country, his fellow Marines, and something greater than himself first—proud to have him back in uniform.

[Cardinals Alumni @CardinalsAlumni]

One inning, eight RBI!

On this day in 1999, Fernando Tatis became this first and only player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in the same inning!

[Military Support @MilitaryCooI]

God bless this Brave Vietnam Vet and May He Rest In Peace...

[Military Support @MilitaryCooI]

Billy Waugh.

The Marines rejected him at 15 so he waited 3 years and enlisted in the Army at 18. That tells you everything you need to know about the man. Korea. Vietnam. The first ever combat HALO jump in military history. Command Sergeant Major of MACV-SOG, the most secretive special operations unit of the entire Vietnam War.

In 1965 he was shot through both legs, an arm, a foot, and the head, and left between enemy and friendly lines. Captain Paris Davis ran through the fire and dragged him out. Davis received the MOH for that night. Waugh received his eighth Purple Heart and went back to Vietnam. He retired in 1972 with a Silver Star. Then became a mailman. It didn't last.

The CIA recruited him in 1977. He tracked Carlos the Jackal in Sudan. He surveilled Osama bin Laden in Khartoum years before the world knew that name. Weeks after September 11, 2001, a 71 year old Billy Waugh was on the ground in Afghanistan as part of the CIA's first team into the country. Hunting bin Laden in Tora Bora at an age when most men have been retired for a decade.

He finally stopped in 2005 at 75. Three wars. 64 countries. Countless classified missions. Billy Waugh passed away on April 4, 2023.

[Arizona Cardinals @AZCardinals]

We remember Pat Tillman today and every day, honoring the life he lived and the legacy he left behind.

His sacrifice will never be forgotten.

[Chris @bsting54]

@Walter_Sobchak0 @JABsMusic F**k You by @CeeLoGreen on the organ and I Hate Everything About You by @threedaysgrace on the speakers LOL. It was awesome

[Chris @bsting54]

Great choice of music after the 2nd disallowed #STLBlues goal haha @JABsMusic

[Jeremy A. Boyer 🎹 @JABsMusic]

😅 #stlblues #mnwild

[Science girl @sciencegirl]

Phenomenal view of Artemis II from a plane https://t.co/uSSvfuLOun

[Baseball’s Greatest Moments @BBGreatMoments]

The odds of someone hitting two grand slams in the same inning is basically 1 in 75869695847. In ‘99 Fernando Tatis Sr. did it. He’s the only one in baseball history to ever accomplish this feat.

[Chris @bsting54]

The Blues are down 3-2 and get a power play with like 2:50ish left. They pull the goalie to have a 6-on-4 advantage, and in typical Blues fashion, they don’t even attempt a shot at the net…down by a goal, with a 2-man advantage and time running out #STLBlues

[Max Evans @_MaxQ_]

@NASA has just released some EXTRAORDINARY tracking footage from Artemis II's launch just one week ago.

Mesmerizing exhaust flow interaction between all four RS-25's & twin SRB's.

[NASA @NASA]

A new milestone for humankind: The crew of Artemis II are now the farthest any human has ever travelled, reaching a maximum distance of 252,752 miles from Earth.

This surpasses the previous record set by Apollo 13 in 1970 by about 4,102 miles.

[NASA Artemis @NASAArtemis]

Approaching the near side of the Moon.

The Artemis II astronauts have surpassed the record for the distance from Earth at 1:56 ET (1756 UTC). This record was previously set during the Apollo 13 mission when the astronauts traveled 248,655 miles from Earth. The Moon continues to grow larger and larger in the windows of the Orion spacecraft as the Artemis II mission gears up to observe the far side. The astronauts are predicted to make their closest approach of the Moon around 7:02pm ET (2302 UTC).

[Latest in space @latestinspace]

🚨 Launch of the Artemis II rocket seen from a passing commercial plane

(via @radddd44)

[NASA @NASA]

We're going around the Moon. Come watch with us. Artemis II's four-astronaut crew is lifting off from @NASAKennedy on an approximately 10-day mission that will bring us closer to living on the Moon and Mars. The launch window opens at 6:24pm ET (2224 UTC). https://t.co/X27QJejNDt