By Mark Halpern
Baseball is kind of like a game of chess. First, you move your pawns to set up your front and out-think your opponent to win the game. In Baseball, it is crucial to have this plan of attack, but, in today’s game, lately, more players than not try to think they are more significant than the game and try to be the all mighty piece the “Queen” (the most valueable piece in the game) and try and control the game themselves.
A friend of mine sent me a video of Anthony Siegler of the Hudson Valley Renegades; he hit a long fly ball to left field and he thought it was out of the park and started his home run trot. When he realized the ball had hit the wall and bounced off it, he turned on the jets only to be thrown out at second and ended the game. I know where he ranks in the Yankee organization, but this Primadonna attitude of thinking, I’m a big man, look what I did, and now he made the Renegades coaching staff look dumb.
Brandon Nimmo is the starting centerfielder for the New York Mets, and he has the biggest smile, whether he is in the field or at the plate. Whether it is a hit, a double, a triple, or even better, a home run or just a plain-out, Brandon Nimmo is running full speed. He has cemented himself into the Mets lineup not just by being a good ballplayer but, his intensity on the field and at the plate is the best in MLB.
If coaches would teach Nimmo’s mentality (I am not saying other players don’t do the same), I think they will be more prepared for the major leagues. Yes, we see Major Leaguers when they hit a no doubter and throw the bat, and trot around the bases. However, these no doubters are 450ft or longer. Today’s minor leaguers need to be taught the Nimmo effect; I believe that runs will increase and more games will be won. That is how the old man sees it.
The Sports Insanity Network 