Power Personified – With Massive ArmsWritten by Aron Wallad
Power Personified – With Massive ArmsRemember when you were in High School. So many characters and personalities. Here’s one I think you’ll relate to. Gillie was Paul Bunyon of my neighborhood. He had 20-22 biceps, and a neck almost as round. Weighing 220 pounds, he stood six feet one inch and had no fat on his body. I had never seen any one like him in my life. He ambled when he walked. The kind of walk someone has when they know they have nothing to fear. His nickname was Mr Clean. He looked a lot like cleaning icon. Except Gillie had no earring. On baseball diamond, Gillie was awesome. His fungo shots to outfielders in pre game warm-ups touched parts of sky usually reserved for small engine planes. He scared other team. He looked like Mickey Mantle, Harmon Killabrew and Ted Kluzewski all rolled into one.
| | Why I'd Rather Be A Slugger Written by Aron Wallad
Why I'd Rather Be A SluggerDuring last NLCS, I asked Brandon Backe of Astros what hardest thing was for him in making conversion from outfielder to pitcher in minors. He said it was "not playing every day." That is why I would rather be a slugger, to answer your question. I'd want my mind and body to be in every inning of every game. I wouldn't want to be one elbow injury away from a possible end of my career or a lost year. I listened to Nolan Ryan talk at last All-Star FanFest in Houston about how he would have to "rebuild" his body from one start to next, an incredibly arduous process that great pitchers know and few fans realize. Ryan would be on bike immediately after each start, and he said his physical strength would go down to about 50 percent a day or two after each start, and then his mission was to get it back up to 100 percent by next start. As slugger you mentioned, I'd love to be in that zone of hitting in cages every day and be able to "slow down" every pitch like Manny Ramirez and Albert Pujols do so incredibly well.
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