OneSadHoopty

Mostly harmless. Mostly. Habitual backmarker: old, slow, and in the way. DM = block unless I know you IRL (which I don't).

Shalom aleichem, pax vobiscum.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

Remember in November:

Brave Sergeant Timmy ran away
He bravely ran away, away
The WARNO said 'Troops we require'
He took swift action to retire
With stroke of pen and flash of blue
This Falcon spread his wings and flew
Bravest of the brave, Sergeant Timmy

[Mario Nawfal @MarioNawfal]

🚨🇺🇸MEGYN KELLY INTERVIEWS NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS THAT SERVED WITH TIM WALZ

"He basically said, 'I got better things to do, go pick someone else to go on a mission.'"

https://t.co/XgMkFj4MgG

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@jCarterinvests @mattvanswol Oh shit, you're a loser and an NPC.

And blocked.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@MarieleRedclaw @ShamashAran @WoodFenton I'm partial to this one....

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@RealSoCalBadger @VoicesofWW2 To the "hangars" comment, yes: apparently there was a lot of loose ordnance in the hangar spaces too, because of the order to rearm the B5Ns with torpedoes after the Tone float plane reported a carrier sighting (they were being armed with bombs for a second strike at Midway).

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@RealSoCalBadger @VoicesofWW2 Correct. Shattered Sword (Parshall and Tully) has the accurate dope. Can't recommend that book highly enough.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@RandyGoat Possessed by the unquiet ghost of some master sergeant....

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@MonroeBlade @PburgAthletics Perrysburg looked like a pretty nice place when I took my older son to Fort Meigs about 15 years ago....

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@thatdudereed_ Keep fighting, my dude. 👍

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@JermaineCurtis Excellent explanation. Reposted, bookmarked, followed. (Just an elderly baseball fan, but I study the game.)

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

Great read on a hitting approach with two strikes. Partial spoiler alert: keep it simple.

[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.)

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@DataRepublican Add: "Spoiled Brahmin who is increasingly big mad that everyone isn't bowing and scraping to his evident brilliance."

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@Gormogons Sounds like it runs in the family in this particular case.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@alexthechick @Gormogons

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

Yanks using their LH relievers to keep DeLauter & Manzardo on the bench?

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@Gormogons I'll pray for you.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@4thOfJuly365 3. I got a Kindle so I can do without 6 if it gets me a beach. Always time for pizza and beer.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@FreedomCat14 @physicsgeek @CallMeK1123 Mr. Taco Salad Inventor!

"If anyone asks whether it's good for you, just say: 'Of course it is. It's salad isn't it?'" #IDontSeeNoLettuce

One year at Christmas Miz Hoopty got me a 3-CD collection of those ads. Pretty sure I still have it. 😁

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@Tony_DAmico @OleTimeHardball Seconded.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@PolitiBunny I was just this minute old when I learned about Tony Timpa, and yes heads should roll/should have rolled.

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@physicsgeek @CallMeK1123 The "Real Men of Genius" ad series described the phenomenon as "...a woolly mammoth wearing a rubber band...."

[OneSadHoopty @OHoopty]

@johnkonrad Somebody did a Graf Spee that way a few years back (see image). The late boat designer & writer George Buehler mentioned someone who used to sail a 14' ship-rigged three-master (square rig). Said it was inefficient as heck, but he wasn't gonna tell someone else how to have fun.😁