Barry, are you out there?

This surprises me since McGwire is a very private person and has been totally incognito in recent years, as is the case with Barry. Of course, Barry was a much superior hitter. We can only dream...

3 months ago baseballjunkie 22 comments 0 recs |

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BLB has said that he doesn;t want to be a hitting coach. He said something along the lines of “it effects a guys pay check, I don’t want to be responsible for that”

plus Greatest Hitter ever =/= to great (or even decent) hitting coach

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 26, 2009 1:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

As St. Louis I think is about to find out.

“Just swing really hard at it. Make sure your bat does this nice uppercut thing.

NO, YOU AREN’T DOING IT RIGHT! IT’S SUPPOSED TO GO OVER THE FENCE, NONE OF THIS “SPLIT THE DEFENDERS SHIT”!"

"Being a McCoven is like being a member of the Green party. It’s powerlessness is part of the appeal." - oldjacket

by scout6 on Oct 26, 2009 1:19 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

McGuire has actually help MLB players correct their swings already so he might be able to do it

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 26, 2009 1:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yes, just look at what a great job McGuire did with Holliday.

by Keith0909 on Oct 26, 2009 1:46 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wonder if a struggling player might go to him and ask him where he can get steroids and how does he go about getting away with it.

No Edgar, it's not your fault, it's the fault of the idiot that plays you

by rxmeister on Oct 26, 2009 6:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t think McGwire is the proper person to ask about “getting away with it”…?

by Missing Barry on Oct 26, 2009 7:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just ask Jose to inject it. He would never rat on you.

"Being a McCoven is like being a member of the Green party. It’s powerlessness is part of the appeal." - oldjacket

by scout6 on Oct 27, 2009 1:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

If you read Moneyball, there’s an interesting part where Hatteburg talks about his time on the Red Sox with Jim Rice as his hitting coach. He basically said Rice was a terrible hitting coach because he tells guys to approach the game the same way he did…but the truth is none of those guys had Jim Rice’s talent and so they failed if they tried to hit that way.

Bonds and McGwire could work as hitting coaches, though. Unlike Rice, who was just a free swinger with more natural talent than everyone, Bonds and McGwire both honed their swings through a lot of hard work and developed a great approach at the plate. Patience, waiting for their pitch, driving it when they got it. I could see them working out in that kind of a position (not that Bonds would enjoy being a coach and having to go to all 162 games or anything). Then again, they get a guy like Sandoval and try to teach him patience and maybe it’s just like the Rice/Hatteburg situation, only the reverse – the free swinger just can’t make patience work for him and only succeeds by swinging…

I’d be more confident in Bonds/McGwire though because overall their approach was far superior to Rice’s….

by Missing Barry on Oct 26, 2009 1:42 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Wasn’t Ted Williams a good hitting instructor or something? Also, Ricky Henderson taught Jose Reyes to be patient.

HA HA HA LOOK AT ME I'M ALL HAPPY AND STUFF NO REALLY CAN WE STOP WITH THE COOKYMAN IS SAD JOKES?

:-) :-) :-)

by Cookyman on Oct 26, 2009 1:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree, it can turn out that way.

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 26, 2009 1:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

But he fixed Dan Ortmeier’s swing!!

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by Natto on Oct 26, 2009 2:03 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Who?

"All I know is right now, you comeback and do you dwell on that? I think you're man enough to take it, you're man enough to chew on it, to spit it out and you learn from it. ... I think winners let it go. I think losers dwell on it and talk about it all week and that screws you up for the next opportunity going forward." - Mike Singletary after the 49ers loss to the Vikings

by SFGuy on Oct 26, 2009 5:02 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Didn’t he also fix Rajai Davis’ swing?

Context, people. More context is good. Less context is bad. If you're willing to be reductive, then you're willing to be wrong.

by howtheyscored on Oct 26, 2009 6:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I wouldn't automatically write off Barry's ability to coach

just because he was a great hitter. I have no doubt that with his understanding of hitting, his patient approach, his knowledge of pitchers and his intellect he could potentially be a very good teacher. With Barry it would be more an issue of his desire to do so as well as whether he would ever be given the opportunity. But if anyone could command the attention of our hacktastic hitters and make them improve their approach, it would be BLB. As I said before, we can only dream…

by baseballjunkie on Oct 26, 2009 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I am not saying that. He could be a great coach but it doesn’t mean shit that he was a great hitter

I R 5

by say hey nation on Oct 26, 2009 5:12 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

it doesn’t mean shit that he was a great hitter

I’ll agree with that, but I do think it’s very meaningful that he had a great approach to hitting.

by Missing Barry on Oct 26, 2009 5:23 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Bonds wouldn't want to work with this sorry group anyway

but he has legal issues that will have to be resolved before doing anything official with the team again, so it’s moot. Plus, he’d probably be a big distraction due to the media assholes.

But Bonds would make a great hitting coach if he wanted to. He knows hitting mechanics, etc like no one else. I bet he could watch some guys in the cage and figure out what mechanical adjustments are necessary. Whether he could communicate that is another story.

Bonds stands alone.

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by nostocksjustbonds on Oct 26, 2009 2:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Agreed, of course.

“Plus, he’d probably be a big distraction due to the media assholes.”

Meanwhile A-Roid is suddenly the new Mr. October (because of one good post season?), Manny mania continued (even those outside of Dodgertown) despite his 50-game layover and apparently the David Ortiz revelations didn’t matter. Wow! What a pass these people have gotten!

I know this has a lot to do with people not being surprised anymore and that Bond’s, Mac and others will always be the villains for PODs simply because they were the first faces. Also, Bonds was a bit of a prick.

But the hypocritical act of NOT even mentioning these guys as steroid users, or how their acc*mplishments should be astericked or whatever pisses me off. Most of us Barry supporters knew it was a matter of time when bigger names would begin to fall and we would be able to throw their irrational bullshit back at them when their players got busted. But it is as though A-Roid and others never admitted to it and got busted for it. Those questions are not even asked in wake of Roid’s great post-season; whereas, if Bonds were our hitting coach all we would ever hear about are how he’s flaxseeding our hitters.

~me

by vincerelli on Oct 26, 2009 4:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Honestly, I think a lot of it is simple time period. Bonds has been out of the spotlight for a while now, a lot of the PED craze is over – I think the “circus” would be a lot less dramatic these days for Bonds, too. Now that people have learned a lot more about the issue (even though a lot of the knowledge was out there already, people just didn’t go seek it out), they’ve gotten over it. Bonds was just around before they actually learned shit and got over it.

Example from my personal life – I attended all the Giants games in Philly this year, in my Bonds jersey. I was told that Philly fans are crazy and would strongly object to the jersey and what not….all of like 5 people over 3 games said anything about it. Many, many more people were actually respectful of Bonds accomplishments than offended by my support of Bonds. The anti-Bonds element has largely passed, I think….

by Missing Barry on Oct 26, 2009 5:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs