and so it begins. my long road of becoming more than just an apprentice to t and bban, but perhaps a journeyman and perhaps even master of the mighty r.b.i guild. last night we sat down and had lesson one in the game. we rocked it straight pitch for a while, just until i got my feet wet. i was getting the hang of it...and then just to make sure i didnt get too cocky, t brought out the nuclear weaponry...the curves.
the ball would flow from the mound over home plate with the consistency of a babbling brook. to and fro, hither and yon it would move. i was humbled, nay, humiliated by t's pitching. i still have a lot to learn, but i will not think of it as work so much as bettering myself and preparing for the long, tough road that lies ahead in game and in life. i eargerly anticipate the next lesson.
i envision you will be a force to be reckoned with in a few weeks. determination is the key. ask yourself, "how good do i want to be?"
i saw great promise in your early efforts yesterday. study hard, and you will graduate with honors.
let be known, that my homerun through the wall last night was completely intentional. no glitches here.
t - im not sure if i can ball tonight. im feeling a bit ill. however, i will take you on in some rbi if youre up for it when you get home. let me know, slugger.
as we stated last night...messsa is quite possibly the best raw rbi talent we've seen in a long time...hes a manchild....using instinct and brute force alone to make great strides...much like akeem olijuawan back in the 80's...its just a matter of molding this beast into a unrelentless rbi machine...and i, and i know t, are willing to go into the fray.....
make sure you show this guy the ropes and make him earn his stripes... t, it is important that he doesnt follow you down the same path and insist on using the pathetic cardinals or astros.
biscuits, use the sox, twins, or angels...
It must be very difficult to jump right into curve pitch when you have to face veterans like t and bban but good luck....
Be sure and harness that raw RBI talent, and stay away from the drugs. Be sure and post a synopsis of your first RBI victory...
it is probably easier to start with straight pitch however, buscuits' talent level merits his ascendance to the big leagues ala dave winfield who skipped the minor leagues.
When you mention straight-to-the majors, you have to srart with the great Pete Incaviglia...
I heard that Pete Incaviglia is going to make his return to the majors. Is this true? Is Rob Deer making his return also, so they can both hit .215 with 19 HRs each?
hell yes inky is back... he is on the padres 25 man roster and will break with the club as a pinch hitter/ outfielder?. i dont see him getting to many starts in the field but he has hit the shit out of the ball all spring... we'll see if that carries over.
Inky couldn't field when he was 22, I'd hate to see him out there at 38...
Rob Deer would be a killer RBI player - all power, no intangibles. Still very impressed with his ability to muster up 64 RBIs in 1992, even though he hit 32 homers. That and Chris Hoiles' 20HR 40RBI season awhile back....
as a pads fan, i am pulling for inky to stick with the team... i know they are going to give him a chance in april, whether he is around after that depends on how productive he is.
GO FRYARS!
status report:
messabiscuits and i went head to head for three games of non-straight pitch hardball. although i saw some good things from biscuits - he is much more aware of the RBI quirks - he often lost focus, and from a pitching standpoint left too many balls over the plate. he also accomplished the "run the thirdbaseman to first turn and throw back to third where nobody is covering" play more times than i wanted to see.
biscuits appears to be advancing slower than we (bban and i) first anticipated, and he is rattled easily. for instance, finding himself down early in our last game, he threw his controller against the television, stood up, walked over to the NES and shut it off. it is this kind of immaturity that bban and i must work with him to overcome. i am a patient man.
if he can overcome the mental stuff and mix his pitches more, i think we're still looking at one hell of a prospect.
i agree with t....the big problem is experience and mental toughness with messa...the kid has the timing down at the plate....and he has the fire...but he needs some more practice in the field....getting to know who to send after the balland such....but more noticably...he needs to get his head in the game and realize taht true rbi talent is gained by having the mental edge over your opponent...me and t like to look at it like a chess match more than just a sports game...the pitching....the baserunning....all subtle, yet effective mindgames....me and t often look at eachother after each pitch...and utter "chessmatch"...this will come with time...
we have started messa on strict training to get a feel for the game...much like luke and obiwan....he has to play with the helmet and blinders on so he can hear and smell the game...he will come along...
and rob deers 35 hr, 39 rbi and 352 strike out season will live forever with sox fans.....
I think a young player chucking the controller shows that he's got the fire to keep on going. One must remember that it's tough to come in and play nobody but seasoned veterans. Losing all the time gets to everyone...
And defense really does take time to master. Christ, Lips took over 2 years to learn how to throw! Ditto for me and using the pitcher to field pitcher-hits (as opposed to the 3b). Just make sure he's improving the fielding and doesn't get set in his ways. Mold the technique now, the rest will come...
the boy is good...he will get the feeling....he just needs to channel it....we've got him watching games now...we would like to see him watch at least 6-10 games a day...getting the nuiances of each player down...seeing how the fielders react...hitting the cutoff man...but also seeing the mistakes that the computer makes and correcting that in his own game....
on a completely off note, has anyone realized that bases loaded stole the theme song from rbi and put it in thier game??....thats shit....
Watching 6-10 games a day? That is quite an RBI intake...
we figure he needs to dive in deep.....get immersed in the competition.....in reality however, he watches no games and gets mad at us when we win...but he will get it.....
bases loaded... that game is the anti christ when it comes to rbi... nothing will scramble your brain like swithching between those two games... the angle behind the pitcher is not conducive to good game playing... and the jelico is not even close to the same league as tengen.
bases loaded should be sent to the sun....period...along with bases loaded II and III....all crap....burn baby burn
damn skippy... send 'em all to the crapper... take all the new ones for ps2 and xbox with them... i dont even need to see them.
Only things I remember about bases loaded (did I already write this on another thread?) are that guy Paste who has stats of like.467 & 60 dingers. Also remembered that if your outfielder held onto a ball after a base hit, the computer would eventually start running to the next base and you could throw him out. That meant all singles & doubles ended up being outs...
growing up, the kids that enjoyed bases loaded were always bashing rbi but never understood what they were missing... they never saw the "light".
Bases loaded had a novel approach to batting, but the fun quickly wore out. Didn't have the staying power of RBI...
they also had the worst camera angles... i couldnt stand it.
i hated the swinging...and the slow running to the bases...and the way that they threw the ball...and the general suckiness of the entire mickey mouse production....
Bases Loaded: other than having everything wrong with it is was a decent game... never the longevity of rbi though.