Thursday, July 29, 2010

Give the Old Mind Grapes a Quick Memory Squeeze


Travis Snider is coming back and, sad as it is that we all need reminding from time to time, Travis Snider is fucking amazing.

Looking at the Jays Hit Tracker page for more fuel for the towering inferno of Jose Bautista traDebate, I came across one tidy tidbit of information. Whose home run had the greatest speed off the bat this year? Front Foot Down Jose? Vernon "Rope the High Fastabll that Nobody Else Can Touch" Wells? Adam Lind - the Lower Middleclass Man's John Olerud? Aaron "Bat Speed is all I Got" Hill? Nope - it was the Great Big Pasty White Hope.

Not only is it the hardest contact on a team that prides itself on hard contact, it is the fourth highest number (119.7 mph) in baseball this year. Interestingly, it is ranked as a "just enough" tater by the HTO gurus. Which, to me, suggests a laser beam sent out force enough to knock the wall down had the ball not cleared it.

Please ignore the clueless pundits (there are many) opining that trading the 8th youngest player in the American League is a good idea. The man can and will rake. If that comes at the expense of some of Fred Lewis' playing time (or all of Edwin Encarnacion's), fine. So be it. Tomorrow starts today.

Daylife!

14 comments:

  1. That home run was ridiculous, Buck and Tabby (or Rance?) were losing their shit. I don't know if there's video of it anywhere but I've never seen a ball leave the park that quickly, it was just a line drive that stayed on the same plane the entire time until it cleared the fence.

    When I think of Travis Snider I think of the last game he played in, when the Jays were losing like 8-0 and he battled Rich Harden for a dozen or so pitches and then absolutely crushed a no-doubter out to right. And this team was already stupid fun to watch without him. The rest of the season is going to be awesome. When's the last time we've said that in late July?

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  2. In a word, boners.

    Clarence better not fuck this up.

    (oh, and I happened to watch video of that Harden AB last night. See first sentence of this comment.)

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  3. I watched that game, and that homerun was ridiculous. Most impressive one I have seen since Jose Canseco juiced one to heaven in SkyDome. RF didn't even have a chance to move!

    Hopefully Snider doesn't bat 9th, or lose PT to Edwin and/or F.Lew!

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  4. That home run was in Cleveland, if I recall. It was only a "just enough" because it hit the first row. Almost blew a hole in the empty seat.

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  5. Boner vid: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8020531

    That game was the last one I attended live because it's embarrassing with even a semi in public.

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  6. I got that home run ball from Cleveland. Left a nice mark on the seat!

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  7. Found it! Snider's ridiculous line-drive homer from Cleveland:

    http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7807407

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  8. You know what it is to have Snider back? It's a fucking delight.

    I can't wait...to watch The Manager leave him on the bench.

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  9. I do believe this is the laser beam of which you speak:

    http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=7807407

    Also, AA is on PTS tonight... can't wait for Shannon to ask him what he thinks he can get for Snider.

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  10. Watched a few more Snider home run videos. Are we sure he's using a wood bat?

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  11. That 11 pitch AB against Harden made it especially awesome. The fastest HR I think I've ever seen was Sandy Alomar Jr's in an ASG. I think it was the one where he was MVP of the game. I think it took like 2.5 seconds to leave the yard or something.

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  12. If you watch the one against Cleveland closely, you can see the fan trying to catch it gets owned by the ball.

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  13. I was at that game where he hit the homer off Harden. I was riding Harden all night with the heckles because he's from my home town and I got to make fun of his high school and his real name. Good times.

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