I think kAzE nailed it, after watching the Ant video, Laettner came to mind.
Now if Scheyer can just find a Hurley or Amaker clone...😊
The similarities I see are in movement, high shot release, and such; a lot to read from one video compilation, I know, but that is what came to mind.
No one will ever match Christian; there can only be one Kentucky nemesis!
I haven't gotten over Casey Stengel mangling the Yankees rotation in the 1960 World Series. What kind of idiot doesn't have Ford slated to start games one, four and seven? Well, a soon-to-be-out-of work idiot, it turns out.
And don't get me started on Bill Bradley. Or Bob Verga getting strep throat in 1966. 1984 seems like last week.
Hecj, I'm still angry with Bill Murray for not letting Jurganson throw the ball more!
He was probably ahead of his time as an advanced stats guy (I jest). Art Ditmar did have a better W-L record, and a microscopically better ERA, so the choice wasn't insanely bad, just very very bad, hindsight being what it is. Plus who would know who Bill Mazeroski was had the Pirates not won?
Easy now. This fan was a 10-year old living in the Pittsburgh area and listening to games on my transistor. It was the year of "Beat 'em Bucs" and Bill Mazeroski was a young 2nd baseman known by Pirates broadcaster Bob Prince as the "kid with the golden hands" for his defensive magic. Mazeroski is a Hall of Fame player; that series winning HR didn't hurt his election there, but he was quite a slick infielder.
The Pirates were out-scored 55-27 in that series, but as Prince would say "We had 'em all the way".
Bill Mazeroski is generally regarded as the best defensive second baseman who ever lived. That's his calling card as much as going deep on Ralph Terry.
And Ford had established himself as a great clutch pitcher by 1960. Stengel famously held him back to pitch against opposing aces, sometimes having him go 6 or 7 games between starts. Why not give him the same consideration in the World Series?
Filipkowski is from Massachusetts, so I'm guessing he is a fan of neither the Yankees nor the Pirates.
Filipowski goes to boarding school in Mass. but actually lives in Orange County, NY (an exurb of NYC) so there is a decent chance he likes the Yankees. Derek Jeter actually owns a castle in the area that he has been trying to unload for a while.
But I do agree with your premise that we should return this thread to its intended topic.
On that point, Kyle has a twin who is a mid-major prospect. Are we talking to him as well? He is 6-11 so it never hurts to have a few guys that size around, assuming he is OK likely not getting a lot of PT.
I grew up listening to night games on my transistor radio,and Bob Prince always drove me nuts (I'm sure Pirate fans loved him) as he constantly belittled my Dodgers and their "flea bite attack." That was a weird series, the Yanks pummeled the Pirates in three games..they should have saved some more runs for game seven, which I absolutely loved.
I've even heard of this series used as an example to justify the electoral college. We award the victory to the side that won the most games (or states), not who scored the most runs (or got the most votes). I think it's a bad analogy, but it's an interesting idea.
Yeah, that would be a bad analogy because that’s not how the electoral college works. A better comparison would be to a three-point shooting contest where each ball is worth a different number of points, so you can have someone hit the most shots (votes) and win the most racks (states) vs. someone else, but not have the most points (electors). There are obviously other nuances like different state voting systems (like Iowa caucuses) - which I guess would be like you being required to shoot some balls normally but having to shoot some with your eyes closed - and different state rules for assigning electors (e.g. proportional vs. winner take all) and the theoretical possibility that chosen electors can ignore the results in their state and do whatever the heck they want, which quickly makes coming up with a comparison a migraine-inducing exercise. It also makes most of those living in CA and NY wonder why on earth we still do elections this way.