JoeRudi26

As i've stated earlier in the thread, I don't personally see it from right handed batters. Don't know why, and again, it may be just a preference thing -- how I see it. That said, Palmiero had a sweet swing too. I guess for me it's the way the body reacts through the zone when hitting the pitch. Hips square, back leg stays planted, head and eyes meet the pitch, and the upper half of the body follows through. Interesting how we all see things a bit different.

This concludes my top 3. Great analysis by the narrator (whomever he is) with the swing mechanics. Not a highlight vid of Junior's swing, just his mechanics. Young guys still playing could obtain some good info from this video.

Daryl Strawberry. Sweet swing, but much better bat speed than Clark. Wow, he could hit.

I've got them all, not sure if you can actually find them anymore.

Good Lord. Been watching the Will Clark Tribute vid. You only have about .08 of a second to see the pitch. Watch how he keeps his legs square, feet planted, but from the waist up, and his head (eyes) are able to zone in on the pitch. He lowers the upper half of his body to meet the pitch. Just crazy. One of the best follow through swings I've ever seen.

A must see. Clark was gritty.

Will Clark. Good grief, what a beautiful swing. Smooth and effortless, and a gritty player all the way around. One of my all time favorites. He didn't quite have the power that Junior or Strawberry had, but he was so fun to watch.

I only hit 6 homeruns when I played, but here is my longest, lol. Can't believe I found that the field still exists on Google Earth. Apparently it does. It was a 12-13 year old All-Star Game, I had an 0-2 count, and was dumbfounded how I missed the first two pitches. I stepped out of the box on the third pitch, and then got one a bit high and inside... And BAM! I got it all. I'll never forget the sound of that "tink", the ball coming off the aluminum bat, and seeing that ball so high over the left field fence. I'm not trying to toot my own horn here, it was just pure contact. As I said, I was never a power hitter. This was in deep Southwest Texas, and none of the guys on the other team could speak English, they were of Hispanic decent. But I got handshakes from them at every base. I will never forget that moment.

Like I said, I pitched too. Never really liked it, but I suppose they threw me in there because I had decent control. Never a power pitcher, but I could get it over the plate. I will NEVER forget getting slaughtered on a fastball down the middle by a guy named Danny Swan. I was 14 and was playing in Pony League. There was a lake about 50 yards behind the homerun fence, and I'll never forget seeing the ball make the splash. Bastard.

Great post, Ken. Love reading this stuff.

lol, here is he. I went to school in Lawrenceville (Indians), Illinois. He was a superstar in every sport. Even though I couldn't get around on the pitch, I got lucky and put it deep in the right field corner. Luckily, I had some speed. Best night of my young life. He now coaches the Evansville Aces in Div 1 basketball.

I hit an inside the park homerun off a guy that eventually went on to play for IU basketball. That bastard was big and threw 80 mph hour at the time. Lasered it down the right field line (was batting right handed), and eventually scored. AHA!

Awesome post, Sean.

I actually caught one game. Borrowed a glove from another player in the league. I was lost.

I played up until I was 15 years old, when I discovered the guitar, I got stupid and left the game. What position? Since I'm left handed, I played 1B, outfield, and pitched. 1B was by far my favorite position. I didn't have a strong arm, but very accurate. Were you a power hitter? Somewhat. I once homered from both sides of the plate when I was 14, but only hit 6 HR's in my young "career". More of a contact hitter. Contact hitter? Yes. Decent Glove? Especially in the outfield. I could run anything down and wasn't afraid to get dirty. How many HR's did you hit? 6 Did you make the All-Star team? Every year I played

What position? Were you a power hitter? Contact hitter? Decent Glove? How many HR's did you hit? Did you make the All-Star team?

Dayum. Absolute S I L K. Thanks for sharing KC. Hear that sound??? wow

I think I've been here since March of 2005. Still hard to believe. Even though I don't have MVP installed any longer, it's still the best baseball site on the planet. And I promise, no matter how old I get, I'm gonna throw around a baseball with Trues one of these days. If the old fart still has an arm.

Rockin with the banner.

Congrats Mike, for creating an unbelievable baseball atmosphere, to all of the old staff and the new, to the modders and the good people on the forum. I need a balloon smiley.

Very nice, fellas.

Here's with a couple of filters and some edits. Let me know what you think.

KC's gotta step it up now, the Pedroia is kicking some butt.

and just when i type that, Sean blows my mind.

Sean, that Profar pic is nails. But I just wanted to jump back in here and give KC some props. Obviously, pictures don't speak. In order to make them "speak", you have to be subtle. You have to get into the mind of who's looking at it. It makes sense to me, but may not make sense to other people. I've been to a lot of sites, deviant art, etc., but KC has a talent beyond belief. It starts with the foundation -- what do you want to convey? The fact that Harper is "getting ready to bat in the on deck circle" speaks volumes to me. The quality is superb. After you get the foundation, it's just eye candy from there on out. Like I said, you guys are kicking some tail with these covers, but having that "eye" for so long, it's hard not to give Ari the credit he deserves. He is one talented individual. This is not a knock on anyone else, but may a lesson. Be subtle. Let the pic "speak" for itself. That all being said, you guys have done fantastic jobs with all of these and I love checking them out.