Paige VanZant Signs Up For Slap Fight With Another Woman, Tim Tebow Landscaping & TX Highway Cow Delay
Are youth pitchers throwing harder or am I just imagining things?
Screencaps the III had a game last night, which meant I had plenty of time to walk around the ballpark to analyze the baseball being played, including a 9U contest and a 13U game that especially held my interest once I saw the starting pitchers.
The first thing I noticed out of the 13U pitchers: pitch speed and the effort used to throw that speed.
The local team's kid was coming out of his cleats to throw heat. I mean it was everything he had in the tank straight out of the gate. Full bore. I'm not sure there was any working the sides of the plate. To my eyes, it looked like pitching to a radar gun in a barn during the winter.
I might have my innings wrong, but it felt like by the top of the 2nd, he was gassed and got throttled. I don't know how many runs in the 13-6 loss he gave up, but it was a bunch. When the boy came to the bench after being pulled, it was like he'd been through a 10-round fight. Completely exhausted. He hit the bench and the relief was evident.
The opposing pitcher threw even more gas and I think he was chased after approximately 3 ⅓. He was done after six straight balls that never dropped below hitter's eyes. Everything was high. The boy couldn't bend over.
The good news from last night is that I didn't see the kids throwing many breaking balls. There might've been a couple mixed in, but that was it.
Am I to believe that this is all a direct correlation between what we're seeing from MLB pitchers, and it's all washing downstream through college baseball to youth baseball? Any concerns with youth elbows and shoulders? Or is this a race to Tommy John surgery earlier and earlier to get it out of the way?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
ESPN cannot be serious with this ‘deal’
For that price, you better be getting time in the batting practice cage, massages in the locker room before the game and a Mickey Mantle signed Miller Lite can. You're getting THREE baseball games, hotels and that's it for $7k.
But….you get to tour ESPN HQ!
This isn't 1998.
But you get to meet Michael Kay and Karl Ravech!
This is about as insulting as it gets. ESPN couldn't even come up with a former MLB player for the meet-and-greet.
Now I'm starting to think about what I'd put on a Screencaps Sports Tour. I'm thinking it would have to include college football, golf, guns, ATVs, booze AFTER the ATVs and maybe we could get Clay and/or Dakich to drink booze with us as your celebrity meet & greet.
What else should I add to the Screencaps Tour and what level of hotel chain are we staying at?
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com
The very first Johnson City, Tennessee Screencaps meeting has been held
- Galen in JCTN writes:
The Royal Order of the Smoky Mountains Screencaps Society, Johnson City Chapter (yes, of Wagon Wheel fame), held our first meeting at Voodoo Chicken in historic downtown Johnson City TN.
It was great to put a face with the Screencap handles and enjoy a two hour lunch together.
The conversation flowed easily and was fueled by getting to know each other, Screencaps content, and three guys that enjoyed good food, good topics, and good sports.
But, honestly, the fact that the Tennessee Vols baseball team had just won a Natty the night before was topic du jour. The timing was impeccable!
Thank you Joe for the simplicity of loving your country, your fellow man, and the platform on which we have a voice on the internet without the scum of social media.
We look forward to our next get together and hopefully grow the brand!
Go Vols!
L to R: Matt (The Pastor) from Elizabethton, Bryan H (The Umpire) from Blountville, and Galen (The Retiree) from Johnson City TN
(Not pictured Chris B (The Working Man) from Johnson City)
Kinsey:
I feel like this is the first of many JCTN chapter meetings. Look at the smile on these faces after the Vols got back into the national champion column. I think Bryan was the one who just told us about the Healing Waters in Elizabethton, TN. I'm losing track because of how many emails are coming in from that area of the country.
If you're in the Johnson City region, let me know and I'll put you in touch with the local Screencaps chapter. Go talk Vols sports, Hildeeeee's belly button or life in general.
Finding your very own Healing Waters
- Pete in Golden, Colorado emails:
I was hesitant to send this email since I’m not anxious for anyone to find my "healing waters" in Wyoming. But there is no trail to this lake and the last 90 minutes of hiking is through dense/fallen lodgepole pines and then boulders, so it is not an easy place to get to. Of course, it’s uphill the whole way in over uneven ground and under a 40 lb. pack for a 4-day trip. As much as I don’t want to see anyone while I’m here, I think I’m pretty safe to tell you about it.
My friend, Bill, and I have been making this trip for 25 straight Labor Day weekends. I thought somewhere down the line we’d miss a year from illness, injury, or family matters, but we continue to make the trip year after year. Our first trip was in 1999 at a particularly low point in my life and we will continue the adventure until one of us is no longer able. I am now 61 and Bill is 69 and we can accept the fact we’ve had some amazing trips but neither of us will make another 25 years to our healing waters. We have alternatives for other backcountry adventures but getting to this place under a full pack when we’re both 80 years old…not so much.
It is a powerful place, with no people, no cell service, no running water, no outhouse, no medical help if injured, no cold beer, and lots less oxygen. It does have an abundance of solitude, sunshine, peacefulness, pleasant temperatures, and rainbow trout. The area clearly has regenerative properties if two "old" guys continue to have no issues getting into the backcountry with their gimpy knees and hips. There is nothing quite like sitting on a rock outside of camp and watching the sunrise with a cup of coffee in hand. Similarly, a quiet evening spent with a flyrod and rising trout is something I’ll always come back for…as long as I’m able. This place recharges the soul and the solitude gives you opportunities to appreciate what’s truly important in this world.
Kinsey:
Wait until Indy Daryl reads this. He'll take the entire family.
The Texans take night mowing to the next level
- Texas Drew in Katy writes:
I don't spend any time on social media, so I haven't formally joined the
TNML. I've been mowing on weeknights for longer than I can recall - never
on weekends if I can avoid it.
I thought that you might enjoy a few photos of a real night mowing machine.
I bought the LD light kit at Tractor Supply several years back. I was going
to mount them up high on the ZTR's roll bar, but I noted some pre-existing
bolt holes at exactly the right place down low. These work fine. I mounted
a manual on/off switch at a location that was convenient for the wiring.
This was a cheap modification and easy to do myself.
I typically mow against the fences and around objects before dark. Then I
can run full speed after dark. I never have to worry about running out of
daylight before mowing a few acres. I do make sure that I wrap up the
mowing before any neighbors would complain.
It is a lot cooler to mow in the late evening or after dark than it is to
mow in the early evening right after work down here in Southeast Texas.
Screencaps readers who can grill better than Chuck Schumer
- Gary E. writes:
YAY! Tell Schumer he’s a sorry phony amateur.
A tasty meal even for these 100F days. Plus giving the house-building work crews nearby a nose-twitchin’ tease.
Thanks Joe! For the funs and the shapely ladies!
Who needs a new driver?
I'm buying it if the Perrysburg, OH store starts carrying these.
Mike T. says this is at the Meridian, Idaho store.
There are signs you've made it in life
This is one of them.
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That's it for this final Wednesday of June. I hate to write that line. We're now a week away from those July 4th eve parties. It's time to get focused on next week's plan. Get the landscaping stuff done. The weeds pulled. This is the last chance before you hunker down for party season.
FOCUS!
Go have a productive day.
Email: joekinsey@gmail.com