Wow, you just made my day! Hey, I can’t stand those snarky, know-it-all bloggers either. Thanks again for the kudos. It’s nice to get feedback that affirms my intentions with these pieces.

I’ve worn the journalist hat as well, albeit for a local community newspaper. However, one of the great freedoms of this blog is I get to write about things *I* care about. Sure, there’s no editorial oversight; that’s why I try to offer cited/referenced opinions. On the other hand, I don’t have to worry about subscription numbers, advertising revenues or whether my story is marketable. Best of all, I get to interact with people who’ve got the credentials to back up their comments, which always increases my own understanding of the game I love!

There are times for those warm-fuzzy, triumph-over-tragedy stories. I’ve got a few here. However, I believe the hazard of going for the underdog plotline is it does a disservice to the athletes. I don’t know Shane except for what I see on the field, but I can’t imagine he would want to be the poster boy for the “Comeback Tale of the Year.” Somehow, that seems to devalue his hard-earned athletic achievements, as well as his accomplishments in the bigger picture.

Thanks for the tip on Mike Anton. I’ll keep an eye out for him. Thanks again for your input!

When it comes to pitchers trusting their stuff, I group them roughly into two kinds of beliefs:
1) you hope you don’t wake up one morning to find the thunderbolt gods have rescinded their gift.
2) you know that even on the days you’ve got less than your best, you’ll figure out how to win.

Although I obviously haven’t the benefit of your professional expertise, I would say Shane falls into category #2. There is indeed something very special (and overt) about this young man’s competitive makeup—a nice balance of other-awareness and deep focus. He pitched at home the day he hurt his hip, July 6th. In the 2nd inning, he called the catcher out to quietly give his backstop the heads up. Then Shane pitched through the 5th, until he felt the pain was affecting his mechanics, and took himself out. Now that takes cool and guts.

I’m lousy at the armchair GM prediction thing. Nonetheless, it would be hard to imagine he won’t get a September call-up, providing he keeps generating those ground-ball outs. In the short time he’s been here, he’s been a real bright spot at the ballpark—in many ways apart from his BB:SO ratio. I think role model is a spot-on description.

And lastly, I’m appreciative of you taking the time to share your insights with my readers. In case anyone is wondering. . .Rich Barker, 37th round, Chicago Cubs. (See also, Kragthorpe’s article.)

My favorite Ziegler quote. . .“I’ve learned that you never know what will happen in baseball.”