Tag: major league baseball

Boys host the State Liners

The Greenville Flyboys host the Bristol State Liners for a two game set at Pioneer Park on the campus of Historic Tusculum University. Bristol is an hour Northeast of G’ville. The city is home of the Bristol Motor Speedway. This track is one of the most popular on the NASCAR schedule mostly due of it’s distinct features. The popular track includes extraordinarily steep banking, an all concrete surface, two pit roads. The track is billed as “The world’s fastest half mile”. Thunder Valley, as it is sometimes called, highlights the city of Bristol, Tn. Not to be confused with Bristol, Va- a sister city across the state line. Oh, State Liners, now I get it.

We have good weather for the first time in a week. The Flyboys staff strikes out 15 but we drop this game to Bristol. We need to split the series Wednesday and we will send Greenville’s opening night starter, Bryce Mayer, to the hill. On this night Bryce dazzles through four innings. He strikes out a season high 9 batters. On the night the FlyBoyz pitching staff strikes out a season high 20 Bristol hitters in a one run nail biting victory . The art of pitching could be debated for days, especially in this age of social media pitching circles. But, the fact is, the pitcher needs to get ahead in the count, expand the strike zone and make the batter swing at his or her pitch. The act of getting ahead becomes more refined as the competition improves. Expand the zone doesn’t mean doing so in 0-1 and 1-1 counts but refers to when the pitcher is in favorable counts. The ability to measure ball spin and pitched ball movements has made it simpler for the pitcher to discover who he is as a pitcher. The pitchers and coaches here utilize Rapsodo and Trakman to enhance player development. These tools aid the catchers in calling the correct pitch in the correct location,as well.

Hitting philosophies have also changed in recent years. First pitch of the at bat swings have soared over the last view years. With that data also comes with chases of pitches out of the strike zone on the initial pitch. Remember how important getting ahead in the count is to the pitcher? First pitch of the at bat swings amd misses has also increased substantially. Hitters are trying to “do damage” but honestly the group is going about it the wrong way. This isn’t my opinion, look at the rising batter strikeouts and the descending batting averages.

Well, the Boys are off to begin a two game set at Elizabethton. Let’s see if they fixed the scoreboard. The team sits in first place currently but it is early in the season.

Flyboys at work
No Hitter Lineup Card #LG

Road Trip to Bluefield

The Flyboys made their first overnight road trip of the season. The 1-1 club loaded the team bus Saturday morning for the 146 mile trek from Greenville to Bluefield, Va. We will play a two game set against the Ridge Runners. The city of Bluefield sits along the Bluestone River and is home to Bluefield State College as well. The town has a population of about 5,000 and I think all of them were at a carnival that was snuggled up to the baseball stadium. The stadium is called Bowen Field. The park was originally built in 1939 during the Great Depression. It was renovated in 1975. It holds 3000 and the seats were once those of the Anaheim Angels. The backdrop here is rather unique, surrounded by trees.

I mentioned the carnival earlier and it was kind of nice to smell the delicious aroma of funnel cakes from the bullpen. The aroma of corn dogs and carnies was not that impressive, however. One could see the towering rides in the short distance and hear the screams of those who ventured on the carnival rides. Oh yea, the games. The Boys fell in the first game as the Bluefield team simply outslugged us. Over the course of a season one third of the games you out slug your opponent and one third they out slug your team. The difference is those remaining one third of games where the team who defends better and executes situational baseball wins. This is what championship teams do – they win a high percentage of close games. Game two of the series the Flyboys adjust on the fly, get it? Our scheduled started is suspended shortly before the first pitch. Readers, he did nothing evil but it is what it is. The the remainder of the pitching staff step it up and we shake hands and have a happy flight home. Wait, I mean bus ride. Home opener on Tuesday after a needed off day on Monday. LG Flyboys.