4 clueless dudes
4 old dudes talking about sports and everyday things that we can think of.
4 clueless dudes
Baseball talk
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Talk recent baseball
Another episode of Four Clueless Bat Dudes. We changed the name of it. That's because my cousin Bobby said he was gonna start working out and take his shirt off so we can make money on uh podcasting. No, nobody's gonna watch that either. Nobody's gonna want to watch that shit, so that's hilarious. So we're sitting out at Target. Figure we'd do a podcast. Some very interesting people walking by and just generally here tonight, but that's not what we're gonna talk about. But uh we're gonna talk a little bit about high school baseball tonight. Uh my co-host here has had the uh chance to go to uh several uh baseball games that team I coach, and uh let's just say the last three to four games have been challenging to say the least. What do you think? Swing the bat.
SPEAKER_02You can't run it, you can't score if you don't swing the bat. Yeah. You got a kid throwing 60 miles an hour, he should be knocking the daylights out of it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they just can't hit it. Then you got guys that a couple of them that swing it pitches up in their eyes, and I've constantly told them you ain't hitting that pitch. You're not hitting anything up, anything above the letters on your jersey, you're not hitting it. You're not. If you do make contact, it's either going straight up or it's gonna be a weak ground ball to the pitcher. So swinging at that stuff.
SPEAKER_02When the umpire comes off the field and says you gotta swing the bat, you gotta swing the bat. No problem.
SPEAKER_00We've committed uh just a guesstimate. I'd haven't looked on game changer, but I bet in the last six or seven games we probably committed at least 30 to 35 errors. You can't win ball games doing that. When you have more errors in a game than you do runs, yeah, it just doesn't work out, and then the game uh Well the one game you had more errors and you had hits. Yeah. The game uh Thursday night that you went to, uh we left 14 men on base and couldn't get them in. I mean, in uh fifth inning, first and second no outs, couldn't score. The uh sixth and seventh inning, bases loaded, no outs, couldn't get no runs in. I mean, like, Jesus Christ. I was you know mad, but you know, you try and try to stay positive, but when you got guys lining into double plays and they don't know how to run the bases, and you're supposed to be this big bad travel team player, and you know, some of them ain't very good travel team players, you know, it's just it's getting getting ridiculous, so uh yeah, I don't know.
SPEAKER_02It's just all the errors we've been committing, and it's just yeah, and the errors are not and and again, not seeing the bat, not you know, you're not I they're patient, they have no patience to play. It's and then you know you had a couple kids that were trying to knock the cover off the ball, and you know, it's just I don't know, you know, you you're you I mean look, I I I get it been the last three or four games I've been to, you don't have your A starter, you don't have your shortstop that's been moved up. Yeah one of your better starting pitches is no longer, you know, has been sick and out for the years. Catcher's out for the year. Catcher's been out for the year, so you you're 12 and five.
SPEAKER_00Um I'm happy. 12 and 5. We've got one more game left, and then uh that'll be it for the year. And you know, a lot of those sophomores that we have now, you know, there's been uh several of them have been playing up at the varsity level, and then we've had a freshman that actually two freshmen that have been one all year has been playing up, you know, bound up and down, and you know, and you know, another one here in the last half a year has been going up and you know, bullpen catching, and he might get in a game here and there. So uh, yeah, so it's been uh there's a curb there, dude. Dumb shit. Uh sorry about that. A guy that ran over a curb, made a hellish noise, and the girl walking in front of us, and they kind of scared the shit out of her. Uh so yeah, I mean, it's just the the airs and you know, kind of asking.
SPEAKER_02And the and the not timely hitting.
SPEAKER_00Well, I mean, you know, one and two hitters count, you know, it's probably gonna be something off speed. You know, 90% of the time it's gonna be off-speed, and then we get three and two, and unless the guy's really got a nasty off-speed change curve, you know they're throwing you a fastball, and you sit there and fucking take it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, swing the bat. If it's anywhere close, if you got one and two, three and two, you if it's close, you gotta swing.
SPEAKER_00Well, kids nowadays, and I was talking to one of the dads and that we grew up with, and uh, I mean, he's a little younger than us, but you know, nowadays, you know, they don't you know kids don't choke up anymore and shorten their swing, and then three-two try to go the other way. They don't do that. You know, everything is dead pool and they try to kill it, and uh, you know, they don't know how to do it. So I've got one, a left-handed hitter, and God, I've constantly all year long told him, don't swing at the ball, and the letters are up. You're not hitting it. You will not hit that pitch. And you'll swing and you'll look stupid when you swing and miss and about fall down because you swing so hard.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I'm a left-handed batter. And us left-handed batters, we like the ball middle in and low, lower than our waist. And that's what you know, that's where our natural swing is, and that's where his is. And I've told him when you barrel a ball up, and you know, you hit a screaming line drive to the fence, or you hit one, I said that's where your your pitch is. And then you start got to start adjusting to uh take the ball the other way because if you're a dead red pull hitter and you get older, they're gonna pitch you outside, and all you're gonna do is hit a weak ass ground ball, or you're gonna pop out. And so, and they just don't listen. I mean, they don't listen, the kids don't, and they just because they're a travel team and they just travel ball player and they think they're good and they know everything and they don't know shit.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so it's just I I I think travel ball is hurt baseball as a whole. Yeah, because you got kids, that's all they want to do, and and and they're not playing other sports, they're just I'm gonna be a major leaguer, and that's all I want to do is play baseball.
SPEAKER_00Well, you're not gonna be a major league, you know.
SPEAKER_02You know, I you know, I heard a couple guys talking about you know travel ball, and uh they said something to the football coach and said, hey, play baseball. I want you playing everything. I don't want you just playing one sport, I want you to do as much as you can. If it's baseball season, play baseball.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02So, you know, he has it, he has a good, he has a good plan, a good you know, outlook on it. He's not telling kids, hey, don't play this, don't play that, because you're so I don't know.
SPEAKER_00Man, yeah, you just need to play more than one sport, you know. It kind of keeps you. I don't know. I don't know the word I'm looking for, but you just you know it's it's it's a different sport, you use different skills, different muscles.
SPEAKER_02You get better your coordination's better when you're playing more than one sport. Yeah. Because you, you know, you gotta use different parts of your body for different sports. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01You're just a better athlete when you do it both ways.
SPEAKER_00So you know, there's really nobody. You know, there might be two guys two guys on the team right now that could probably play minor league baseball. You know, I think our pitcher that signed with Western Kentucky, I think he could, you know, I think he'll I think right now he could probably sign with uh the minor league team and play, you know, maybe rookie ball low A right now because he throws hard enough and he he knows how to pitch. And I think our third baseman that broke his foot, I think he's uh definitely got the potential. You know, his dad was a uh damn it, major league player, and I really never knew what happened to him, and then uh I asked him another day, you know, what happened to his dad, why did he he, you know that, and I guess he had a wrist injury. Yeah. And then that just, you know, he came home to let it rehab, and he just didn't really want to go back, feel like going back. So and he was in the Atlanta Braves organization, and he was playing behind Chipper. Playing behind Chipper Jones, and you know, you gotta be all-world to play against, you know, take Chipper's spot. Uh so kind of what it is. And and this kid's, you know, bigger than his dad. He's really good, and you know, I just think I would it'd been awesome to see what happened this year if he'd have been healthy and uh just to see how well they would have played with him, but unf unfortunately it didn't happen, and shit like that happens. I think our catcher would have been a lot better if he'd have had somebody like that hitting behind him or in front of him, because you know, now they I can see where he presses and uh just doesn't do it. Yeah, not just playing very well and uh see some of the issues with these kids, like varsity guys that you know they're they're the way they try to hit, which some of it's good, some of it's not so good, but then you know a lot of them they they give you lip service, yeah, yeah, I know what you're doing, but then they go out there and just do the same shit and don't hit shit. I posted a video the other day, Kyle Schorber. It was uh spring training, and he was talking with uh uh I can't think of the guy's name, one of the he was a former ball player, but one of the people on there, and then how he changed his approach in 2021. And then look what he's done since 2021. I mean he's hit what 300 something home runs. Yeah, yeah, yeah. You know, and then it's it was just one simple change, and I put that out there and told these kids, I said, check that out, just see what his change was. I mean, it's it's not gonna happen overnight, it's something you're guys gonna have to work on. You know, and you know, a couple of said they watched it, and I could see where they changed their approach at the plate in this last game. And uh especially we were talking about that kid, I'll just say his last name, Stone. And I think he watched it and he said he did, and it's changed him because the last two games he's gone like five for seven. Yeah, and he's swinging up the middle. Everything is swinging towards the middle, and you know, he's hitting it really well, so but it's not hard. I'm 61 years old, and the other night before our game, those guys were in the cage, and they were swinging, they were popping up, and they were swinging through it, and I said, It's baseball's a simple game. If you just watch the ball, sit here, watch this. I'm 61 years old. I'm gonna get in there and I'm gonna take about 10 pitches, and I said, I'll bet I'll hit half of them. And I hit nine out of ten. I swung and missed it one. That's because you know I tried to go the other way, but I said it's it's it's an easy game. I said, that's the first time I swung a bat 10-12 years. Yeah. As far as taking seeing live pitching, I know he wasn't throwing hard, but uh, yeah, I mean it's easy. So what's this dude looking for?
SPEAKER_01I don't know.
SPEAKER_00But anyway, it's just yeah, some of them just yeah, I don't know. It's just frustrating. You start off the season 10 and 1, and uh after that they just start struggling, and you know, I don't know. I don't know if they got goddamn, if they got lazy and just thought they was gonna wax the shit out of everybody, or uh, you know what, so I don't know. No, they're kids, you know, yeah kids do silly things and yeah, yeah, they do silly things. So what the hell's this dude doing? Unless he's just gonna start panhandling for money. Sorry, folks. We just had a guy come up just out of nowhere and set on a light pole there where we're sitting at. So he may start asking people for money or something, who knows? Anyway, yeah, I just it's just been like that for the last four or five games. You know, we've won, you know, we've won, you know, yeah, we've only lost two of our last eight games, but it's just not look good doing it. It's just a just a lot of swing and miss and can't catch, you know, they throw somebody in there at those slow left-handers and they can't hit them, so yeah, I don't know. So uh it's just been a struggle. So uh just try to talk to them to your red face and they don't listen and uh they work on it at practice, and then they don't put they don't, you know, what they pract practice on, they don't, you know, do it in a game. They just revert back to the back to the old shit where they swing and miss and they look dumb. So yeah, I don't know. So well, maybe he's got somebody in there with him. He just came out to take a smoke. So who knows? But yeah, I just kind of wanted to get your thoughts there since you've seen a couple of them, and you know, somebody on the outside, you know, looking in.
SPEAKER_02So they said they're not patient to play that I've seen. They're not, you know, they're not they're just not swinging the bat, they're letting too many good pitches go by. I don't I don't know if they're but you know, again, like when the umpire says, hey, you gotta swing the bat, you know, yeah, you you know there's something going on.
SPEAKER_00You know, you you when you swing and miss, you're not putting the ball in play, and you're not giving yourself a chance to get on base because you're not giving you're not making them make a play. Right.
SPEAKER_02You know, and that second pitcher the other night was throwing 60 mile an hour, and they should have been absolutely pink. Yeah, they've been rocking it, should have been rocking himself. They just didn't swing the bat, they didn't know what they were not patient, they weren't waiting on the pitch. Yeah. Sit back in the battery's box a little bit and wait a little longer and then drive the ball wherever it's at.
SPEAKER_00You know, miss signs. I mean, you know, I'm giving signs out there and they're they're missing them, and you know, and uh got one player that I was going through signs and he just turned away when I was about halfway through. You know, then I had to holler at him and wipe the sign off. And I gave uh one uh gave him the same kid, gave him a bunt sign and he hit it, but you know, actually worked because he hit it the other way, and you know, uh it was a hit and run. No, it was a bunt sign, but he he did a hit and run and it worked. I mean it went through, but but you know, out of you know, how many out of ten times is that gonna happen, you know, once. You know, otherwise he'd have got his you know the runner hung up, but and then on a gave a steal and the guy stole, and then he, you know, you swing, you know, you protect your runner. And he didn't do that, he just stood there and watched it. And so, and another guy, you know, we were stealing their signs out there at a second base, you know, you would turn your head to the right for a fastball and left for a curveball, and then one of the guys was out there just uh saying it out loud, you know, he's gonna throw a fastball, he's gonna throw a curveball. You mean you don't do that shit? I mean that makes you makes your team look bad doing that. So I know our the varsity coach we talked about, he was pissed about that. So yeah, I mean it's just irritating they commit all those errors and you know we're struggling and uh just try to figure out why, and you know, it's you know they could be tired because you know we do practice a lot. We mean we if we're not playing, we're practicing. I mean, and we're practicing for three hours, two and a half, three hours. And I'm sure they're they're tired being younger kids, but but you're playing all these games, you know, all year long, and you know that's what wears you out. I asked them the other night, I said how many games you played this year, you know, travel ball and high school ball. And there's one kid said he's played 80 games. That's a 14-year-old. That's too much baseball.
SPEAKER_01You shouldn't be playing that much.
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's half the MLB season. Yeah, I mean, that's a lot of damn baseball.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. So I think travel ball, any any, I don't care if it's baseball or basketball. Yeah. It's screwing things up. It's greening it. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I don't know. And a coach has got a good system. Uh, yeah, okay. Excuse me, you know, a lot of the kids have bought into it, and it's just, you know, getting the young kids to you know buy into it and young kids are coming from travel ball and yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01That's all they know.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. You know, I don't know how much they practice, but it's just, yeah, it's just ridiculous. But we'll see how many uh freshmen we got coming in next year. So uh it'll be interesting to see. You know, they lose some players, but I mean you know, they don't they only lose they lose two pitchers, but you know, they gain a couple more, and then you know a lot of these sophomores will be going up if they can make the team. There's something there's some that I hate to say it, but we had to keep them because we didn't have no choice because we needed the bodies. So we'll see how the freshman class is next year. I mean, I know there's several coming in that are really good, so we'll see how they go. So, yeah, well that's uh it for this episode uh four clueless fat dudes. Uh we're actually going to see the Cardinals and the Royals tomorrow, three of us actually, and you know, hell. We might get froggy and just do a podcast on the way down there. You never know. While the women maybe are sleeping, something, I don't know, or maybe we're near the game. We actually we might go eat lunch at Ballpark Village, and hell, I can just sit out there and we can do one while we're waiting and just see the other dude of ours, Bobby, the other four, he he's the actually the the fourth, the idiot of the bunch. Uh he wants to talk about squirrels in their nuts, which I really didn't understand what that meant. So I don't know.
SPEAKER_02He can talk about them if he wants to. Yeah. Okay. Alright, we're gonna get out of here now.
SPEAKER_00We're gonna end on that. What the fuck is on the back of his leg? Peace out, everybody. Peace out, have a good night.
