On Saturday, April 13th at noon, the Lithuanian National Baseball Team will be competing with a select team from the Central North Carolina Men’s Senior Baseball League (CNCMSBL).
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Author: Phil Buckley
Baseball Hall of Fame in Fayetteville
Starting on Friday, March 22, and running through May 11, Picturing America’s Pastime will feature 51 framed photographs representing the Baseball Hall of Fame’s collection of approximately a quarter million images at the Fayetteville Art Council located at 301 Hay Street [map]. As an extension of the Museum’s exhibit in Cooperstown, the touring version of Picturing America’s Pastime captures the essence of an exhibit designed to show the historic link between the two American passions – baseball and photography.
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Should Your Team Be Shifting More?
Baseball teams have been shifting defensively forever. Most of us think of the modern idea of a defensive infield shift started with Lou Boudreau and what became known as the “William’s Shift” in 1946.
The first time Williams came up against this shift, he hit the ball right to Boudreau himself, standing directly between first and second base.
From that moment on, teams shifted on Williams for the rest of his career. The shift was so common that Williams once estimated it lopped about 15 points off of his lifetime batting average, and he wasn’t far off: his career splits before and after that season showed a difference of 16 points.
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Baseball Gloves
Your baseball glove is an extension of your baseball-self, you want to love it.
The gloves we use today have evolved from no gloves at all in the 19th century. Some of the best defensive stars of their generation (or all-time) have become legends while using what we would now consider unusable.
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Launch Angle for Dummies
Even a casual fan has heard all the talk about launch angle over the past few years. I wondered about how it could impact a normal men’s league player.
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Pine Tar, Grip Sticks & Rosin
Anyone who plays baseball knows that a better grip is always helpful. Batting gloves have become more grippier, the lizard skin tape that now adorns many bats adds some gripiness to bats, but what about good old-fashioned pine tar?
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Ash vs Maple vs Birch Wood Baseball Bats
Back in 1965, your choice for baseball bats was fairly straight-forward. Did you prefer the Louisville Slugger like Mickey Mantle used or the Adirondack like Willie Mays. Both were made from select ash.
At the turn of the 21st century, Barry Bonds home run exploits put the spotlight on the bat he was using, and it was made out of maple.
Birch, which is more flexible like ash and dense like maple, is starting to be picked up by a growing number of big leaguers. It recently passed ash as the number two type of bat in the MLB.
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Does Eye Black Work?
Have you ever wondered if you should be using eye black on those bright, sunny North Carolina afternoons? The short answer, according to Dr. Brian M. DeBroff, the lead author of a Yale study on the subject, it doesn’t hurt.
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I worked out like Tom Brady at the TB12 Center
I have a butt problem.
Specifically, I sit on it too much and I don’t use the muscles packed into it as much as I should.
That’s one of the revelations I discovered during a visit to the TB12 Sports Therapy Center, the gym/treatment facility opened by Tom Brady and his body coach Alex Guerrero to give both future Hall of Famers and those who don’t play football for a living a chance to embrace what everyone around there calls “The Method.”
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Avoiding Hamstring Injuries
One of the most common injuries in baseball occurs when a player running the bases suddenly pulls up short and starts limping. The cause: a pulled hamstring. It seems like they come out of nowhere, but they are caused by factors hidden beneath the skin.
The hamstrings play a critical role in sprinting, throwing and hitting. They are most frequently injured when athletes decelerate or try to control movement. Pitchers usually injure the hamstring on their plant leg, because it absorbs the explosive force from the throw.
Hamstring injuries are preventable if you take the correct action. You need to train your hamstrings eccentrically (i.e., during the lowering part of a movement), build glute strength and develop a strong core before the season starts.
Try incorporating two or three of the following exercises into your lower-body program. Switch them up each workout to continue challenging your hamstrings so you will be ready for the long baseball season.
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