Years later I was working at a TV station in Houston. For a while our sportscaster was Alan Ashby. One time I asked about him baseballs and the scuffing of such objects. He pretended that he had no idea what I was talking about. Not long after I tried again (with bright lights shining into his eyes) and I got him to admit it. We had quite a conversation. It all started when Don Sutton came over from the Dodgers and taught everyone who wanted to know how to do it. He grabbed a baseball and showed me exactly where they did it. If you didn’t know where and what to look for you would never find it. One season Dave Smith was pitching so well Ashby told him that he should have a game where he gives up a couple of runs on purpose so people won’t get suspicious. If you look at Nolan Ryan’s career stats you can see where he had gotten to the point where he was striking out about 8 batters per 9 innings. Then in 1986 he got injured. When he came back from the injury he started striking out about 12 batters per 9 innings. He kept that up until he retired at the age of 162, or whatever it was.

Frank Baker
(I’m kinda partial to the 92 and 93 postseason myself)

I just looked it up. It wasn’t 12 strikeouts per 9 innings, but there was a definite jump. He had just gone 7 seasons without leading the league in strikeouts, but starting in 1987 at the age of 40 he lead the league in strikeouts for four straight seasons, including striking out 301 batters in 1989 at the age of 42.

Yeah, but Nolan played with Sutton in 81 and 82. Was he a slow learner?

Paul Waner

Posted by ronthegenius on 2/25/2024 8:55:00 PM (view original):
Yeah, but Nolan played with Sutton in 81 and 82. Was he a slow learner?

I’m guessing he didn’t think he needed help until later. Maybe Ryan didn’t do anything at all, but other teams were accusing him when he was with the Rangers.

I think the top of the draft deserves kudos for really moving things along! (I’m not paying close attention to other sections to know there. But I’m getting two picks from the 7 slot every time)

Posted by Taxman2008 on 2/25/2024 9:37:00 PM (view original):
I think the top of the draft deserves kudos for really moving things along! (I’m not paying close attention to other sections to know there. But I’m getting two picks from the 7 slot every time)

Absolutely! Great job guys!

Lou Boudreau

Proxy for fatguyrd: John Smoltz

Proxy for annashalom: Tony Gwynn

Russ Ford

Ivan Rodriguez