Thursday, June 21, 2012

HE'S CLOSE

## In an interview Joel Sherman, of the NY Post, had with Kevin Long, the Yankee hitting coach says he likes A-Rod's swing. He's getting "...good looks and could go on a two-month tear."  A-Rod has 11 home runs and is on a pace for 26 or so, but what bothers Kevin is the fact that he has only 6 doubles.  According to Long, he still hits the ball hard, but he's not elevating it. You'll notice that we aren't hearing  any solutions. 
Most hitters have an "arc" to their swing. The bat starts high, comes down level in the middle of the swing and finishes high. Hit the ball as the bat starts up and the ball goes up. Hit the ball as the bat comes down and you hit those Derek Jeter type double-play grounders. I think A-Rod's reaction time has slowed to the point that he's hitting down on the ball. I must be wrong, however, because no one is paying me hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell anyone these things.
One sure way to get more homers out of A-Rod would be to trade Phil Hughes so Alex could bat against him a few times. That seems to be working for everyone else.

## Kevin Youkilis is definitely on the trading block. The Cleveland Indians are extremely interested and Boston seems willing to cover some of Youkilis' contract.
Here's one I don't understand. Detroit is looking for a corner infielder. With Cabrera at third and Fielder at first, why are they looking for a corner infielder? 

## Second place is a big surprise this year. Baltimore, the White Sox, the Mets and Pittsburgh are all within striking distance of first place. Back in March, they were all supposed to fight to get out of last place. Instead, the Phillies are holding up the rest of the NL East and Boston just fought their way up to 4th place in the AL East.

***THEY SAID IT***
" Usain Bolt is OK after being in a minor accident. He was going 35. No word if he was inside a vehicle or on foot."  -- Brad Dickson
"A planet four times the size of Earth may have been found just beyond Pluto. It was  discovered by  accident when one of Josh Hamilton's home run balls landed there."   -- Brad Dickson
"A judge denied Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s request to be released from jail for health reasons. Among other things, Mayweather claimed he wasn't drinking enough because he wasn't allowed bottled water and doesn't enjoy tap water. Gosh, this is practically a violation of the Geneva Convention."  -- Janice Hough
"Maria Sharapova finally won the French Open. Thus she completes the career Grunt Slam."  -- RJ Currie
"Troy Aikman pays his ex-wife $1.75 million as part of their divorce settlement / Unfortunately, Troy retains custody of Joe Buck."  -- Falk.com

CP-

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