Quote:
Originally Posted by SentToStud
I'm convinced having a mix of young players as well as veterans is the right formula these days. The White Sox and RedSox got away with having veteran-filled rosters, but they went nowhere this year nor did the NYY. Who's to say the Yanks wouldn't have given Detroit a tougher series if Cabrera had gotten Sheffield's ABs? Tigers remind me a lot of the Marlins a few years ago. Good young pitching along with a mix of veteran and younger players. And you cannot overstate the importance of the manager and pitching coach. And while he won't be in the top 10 in MVP voting, it's arguable that no player was more important to his team's success this year than Pudge Rodriguez. One of my all-time favorite players.
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Yo Bruce, I met Pudge when he was a rookie with the Rangers and I was at the Rangers spring training camp, at the time, the local newspaper were calling him the next Johnny Bench. Matter of fact, Tom House was the pitching coach at the time and my dad went up to him, House taught me what is called the 'karate chop' curve ball, no stress on the elbow for youngsters, and while I was practicing the pitch, none other the Ivan Rodriguez was catching, I was 11 years old at the time.