Comments on: Card Corner: Lance McCullers http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2010/03/12/30247/ Development site for Bronx Banter Blog's upcoming look and feel Wed, 22 May 2013 02:03:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 By: Cliff Corcoran http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2010/03/12/30247/#comment-96441 Cliff Corcoran Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:58:02 +0000 http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/?p=30247#comment-96441 I have a different McCullers card with him in a similar facing-away-from-the-plate, part of his delivery. I always think of him when I watch Hideki Okajima pitch. I have a different McCullers card with him in a similar facing-away-from-the-plate, part of his delivery. I always think of him when I watch Hideki Okajima pitch.

]]> By: Chyll Will http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/2010/03/12/30247/#comment-96440 Chyll Will Fri, 12 Mar 2010 17:41:48 +0000 http://www.bronxbanterblog.com/?p=30247#comment-96440 I had to wonder out loud about that question, and the first thing I thought of was the the pitching coach Mark Connor during those years. Connor has had mixed results as a major league pitching coach, but I believe by looking just at numbers (I have no idea what his methods were at the time) that he was only as good as the talent available to him. That makes me believe that there are many other factors working with or against a pitcher's success or failure in New York, and it begins in the clubhouse. That may include the prevailing talent on the field or the supporting staff (coaches, training and medical staff); players respond to human stimuli regardless of their potential. The overall effectiveness of "team chemistry" has been hotly debated for some time, but I do believe it has a place in the discussion of what helps and hurts a team. People point to the 1986 Mets and say, "well, those guys didn't get a long at all and still won", but what you may forget is that those guys were competitive and had the will to win, regardless of their differences; who's to say that fighting with each other didn't inspire them to compete with each other for the best play? Bringing it back to the Yanks, during that time there were quite a lot of factors playing against the Yanks at the time early 90's), including a drain of talent (having traded away their top talent throughout the eighties, the well ran dry and they were they were stuck for ready-made MLB talent. Their front office operations were a mess (right into when Steinbrenner was forced to abdicate his managing partnership), their scouting and field operations were reflective of the problems in the upper echelons of the Yankee hierarchy and their leadership was devoid of person at the MLB level. With Steinbrenner removed, Gene Michael and newly minted manager Buck Showalter were able to rebuild the system and allow their hidden gems to shine in an alternately supportive environment. I think Lance, like so many pitchers and players of promise during that time, simply fell through the cracks due to a dysfunctional system and the resulting pressures from within and around to acclimate to it, but I'm guessing... I had to wonder out loud about that question, and the first thing I thought of was the the pitching coach Mark Connor during those years. Connor has had mixed results as a major league pitching coach, but I believe by looking just at numbers (I have no idea what his methods were at the time) that he was only as good as the talent available to him. That makes me believe that there are many other factors working with or against a pitcher’s success or failure in New York, and it begins in the clubhouse. That may include the prevailing talent on the field or the supporting staff (coaches, training and medical staff); players respond to human stimuli regardless of their potential. The overall effectiveness of “team chemistry” has been hotly debated for some time, but I do believe it has a place in the discussion of what helps and hurts a team. People point to the 1986 Mets and say, “well, those guys didn’t get a long at all and still won”, but what you may forget is that those guys were competitive and had the will to win, regardless of their differences; who’s to say that fighting with each other didn’t inspire them to compete with each other for the best play?

Bringing it back to the Yanks, during that time there were quite a lot of factors playing against the Yanks at the time early 90′s), including a drain of talent (having traded away their top talent throughout the eighties, the well ran dry and they were they were stuck for ready-made MLB talent. Their front office operations were a mess (right into when Steinbrenner was forced to abdicate his managing partnership), their scouting and field operations were reflective of the problems in the upper echelons of the Yankee hierarchy and their leadership was devoid of person at the MLB level. With Steinbrenner removed, Gene Michael and newly minted manager Buck Showalter were able to rebuild the system and allow their hidden gems to shine in an alternately supportive environment.

I think Lance, like so many pitchers and players of promise during that time, simply fell through the cracks due to a dysfunctional system and the resulting pressures from within and around to acclimate to it, but I’m guessing…

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