Jim Bunning on Strasburg

[Mr.Whipple]

I figured no one would post this, The almighty being put in his place. Say all what you want about saving him blah blah and the nationals position blah blah... Picthers rotation back in the day was depending on who they were playing and who was pitching for the other team. Maybe two days of rest sometimes.

"Five-hundred twenty starts, I never refused the ball," Bunning said. "What a joke!"

"He was in the top one percentile," Bunning said, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. Now, Bunning said, he's closer to the 50th percentile.

 

[Jaypers]

You and Bunning have something in common, then.

Anyway, back to sanity.

From MLB.com.

Nationals manager Jim Riggleman shrugged off the somewhat-disparaging remarks from Sen. Jim Bunning, a former Major League pitcher, about Strasburg's not starting on Tuesday night. Bunning said he always took the ball, no matter how he felt.

But Riggleman said because Strasburg is still very young, the team will be more cautious with him. If he were a veteran whose arm and shoulder often felt stiff and sore when warming up, that would be a different story.

"When [Bunning] was pitching at 30 years old, no question he's going to do that," Riggleman said. "When he was pitching, if he pitched at 21 or 22, they may not have let him pitch at that point, because you just don't have any history to go by. It's just a whole different dynamic when it's a young guy as opposed to a veteran guy."

My job is done here. :mrgreen:

 

[schmidtfan20]

Dude should be wearing a dress.

 

[Topnotchsy]

I figured no one would post this, The almighty being put in his place. Say all what you want about saving him blah blah and the nationals position blah blah... Picthers rotation back in the day was depending on who they were playing and who was pitching for the other team. Maybe two days of rest sometimes.

"Five-hundred twenty starts, I never refused the ball," Bunning said. "What a joke!"

"He was in the top one percentile," Bunning said, pinching his thumb and forefinger together. Now, Bunning said, he's closer to the 50th percentile.

Hard working with that quote out of context, but it seems pretty ignorant on the surface. For starters, we have not clue if Strasburg himself wanted to sit out; more likely it was the teams decision. More importantly, the fact that when Bunning played the did not have the medical attention they have today does not mean one should not follow the doctor's advice. We are used to older players saying things like that, but think about that concept. The player is basically saying to ignore the medical advice that is current, because 30 years ago they did not have such advice. And of course there is no way for Bunning to know how many potential greats had their careers destroyed because of the lack of medical attention.

 

[Mr.Whipple]

You and Bunning have something in common, then.

Anyway, back to sanity.

From MLB.com.

Nationals manager Jim Riggleman shrugged off the somewhat-disparaging remarks from Sen. Jim Bunning, a former Major League pitcher, about Strasburg's not starting on Tuesday night. Bunning said he always took the ball, no matter how he felt.

But Riggleman said because Strasburg is still very young, the team will be more cautious with him. If he were a veteran whose arm and shoulder often felt stiff and sore when warming up, that would be a different story.

"When [Bunning] was pitching at 30 years old, no question he's going to do that," Riggleman said. "When he was pitching, if he pitched at 21 or 22, they may not have let him pitch at that point, because you just don't have any history to go by. It's just a whole different dynamic when it's a young guy as opposed to a veteran guy."

You should post a quote from Starsburg's grandmom next. I would imagine Bob Fellers comments to be the same as Bunning, He started to pitch at a younger age.

 

[JoshHamilton]

Dear Sen. Bunning, I am not impressed by your inability to complete 368 of your 519 starts. Ouch, my arm! Yrs, Hoss (488 CG, 502 S).
-The ghost of Charles Radbourn, via Twitter    

 

[Topnotchsy]

Dear Sen. Bunning, I am not impressed by your inability to complete 368 of your 519 starts. Ouch, my arm! Yrs, Hoss (488 CG, 502 S).
-The ghost of Charles Radbourn, via Twitter    

 

[rsmath]

I love the statements these old farts make about baseball. Baseball is a very different game nowdays than when they pitched.

When Bunning pitched, he was probably paid a 5 cent signing bonus and a 10 cent a year contract. If he blew out his arm, who cares.

The Nats have a lot riding on Strasburg. They paid a shatload of money in signing bonus so they have tons invested in him. They are hoping to build around him to make the Nats a perennial .500 club, and they are using him to get publicity towards the team - try to sell tickets and try to keep interest in the team (his starts are not the lead on BBTN or SportsCenter anymore, but it's not too long into the show before you see the game highlights when he starts).

When Strasburg is not right, you have to baby him because of the investment and importance the Nats have in him. If Strasburg goes Kerry Wood or Mark Prior, the Nats will be lucky to have their game highlights on BBTN or SportsCenter on a regular basis.

 

[200lbhockeyplayer]

Bunning is turning into one surly dude.

Walk away Senator...oh...you're already doing that.

 

[muchuckwagon]

I think Bunning's comments reflect the change in society as a whole. Today, everyone is told they are special and there is little tolerance for critical feedback. We refuse to teach our kids how to handle adversity or defeat. We continue to water-down society and life to the point that nobody is offended at the expense of the silent majority.

In life, everyone is not equal...but that is not a reality many young adults are willing or know how to accept. As a result, they feel cheated since they have not been handed what they feel is their right or entitlement. The idea of putting your head down and working hard has been replaced with hand-outs.

We continue to create a culture that raises wave after wave of young adults that are "softer" and lazier than the group before them. We don't even keep score in little league games...simply participating earns high praise. We have parents of college graduates who attend job interviews with their son or daughter.

You can argue if Bunning really walked to school in eight feet of snow as he recalls today. Perhaps, the snow was only two or three feet high. However, you can't debate the fact we simply cancel school today at the sight of the first snowflake or even simply the threat of snow.

Today, there are fewer and fewer men....our school system and society are creating a generation of metrosexual panzies who cry for their mommy and wet their pants if you simply give them a nasty look.

Maybe Bunning is right in the larger context. Sack up and be a man...a lesson that is lost on society today.

 

[phillyfan0417]

Yeah, sack up and be a man.

What does that even mean?

Should women be sacking up too or should they return to the days of yesteryear when men would sack up and tell them the what for?


Who cares if being brave then causes you to miss a year or ruins your career or any number of thing. You want to take the time to make some social commentary, great, in this case, you completely missed the mark and so did good old jimbo.

I have an image of him angrily shaking his arm as the reporter walked away.

Your comment on how children arent taught how to lose is spot on, I agree 100%.

 

[Nate Colbert 17]

As a GENERAL rule, athletes are in better shape today than in years past.

As with other "machines", the more complex they are, the more issues there are when something goes wrong.

EXAMPLE: Rolling up a window

"Back in the day", rolling up a window involved turning a crank. Today, it is alll electric. Which is easier to fix?

I think they Nationals may have pulled the plug a bit early, but with all the money they have invested in their pitcher, I can see their position.


RE: Kids "losing"

"You didn't lose the race, Billy. You're the 17th place winner!"

Life is not "everybody gets a trophy". I use this example in parental meetings with my 2nd graders. I want their best effort, which sometimes may not be enough. If they give me the best of what they have, they will be successful.

 

[Labratt21]

As a GENERAL rule, athletes are in better shape today than in years past.

As with other "machines", the more complex they are, the more issues there are when something goes wrong.

EXAMPLE: Rolling up a window

"Back in the day", rolling up a window involved turning a crank. Today, it is alll electric. Which is easier to fix?

I think they Nationals may have pulled the plug a bit early, but with all the money they have invested in their pitcher, I can see their position.


RE: Kids "losing"

"You didn't lose the race, Billy. You're the 17th place winner!"

Life is not "everybody gets a trophy". I use this example in parental meetings with my 2nd graders. I want their best effort, which sometimes may not be enough. If they give me the best of what they have, they will be successful.

 

[Labratt21]

I think Bunning's comments reflect the change in society as a whole. Today, everyone is told they are special and there is little tolerance for critical feedback. We refuse to teach our kids how to handle adversity or defeat. We continue to water-down society and life to the point that nobody is offended at the expense of the silent majority.

In life, everyone is not equal...but that is not a reality many young adults are willing or know how to accept. As a result, they feel cheated since they have not been handed what they feel is their right or entitlement. The idea of putting your head down and working hard has been replaced with hand-outs.

We continue to create a culture that raises wave after wave of young adults that are "softer" and lazier than the group before them. We don't even keep score in little league games...simply participating earns high praise. We have parents of college graduates who attend job interviews with their son or daughter.

You can argue if Bunning really walked to school in eight feet of snow as he recalls today. Perhaps, the snow was only two or three feet high. However, you can't debate the fact we simply cancel school today at the sight of the first snowflake or even simply the threat of snow.

Today, there are fewer and fewer men....our school system and society are creating a generation of metrosexual panzies who cry for their mommy and wet their pants if you simply give them a nasty look.

Maybe Bunning is right in the larger context. Sack up and be a man...a lesson that is lost on society today.

Thanked

 

[bowmanchromeandorr]

I think Bunning's comments reflect the change in society as a whole. Today, everyone is told they are special and there is little tolerance for critical feedback. We refuse to teach our kids how to handle adversity or defeat. We continue to water-down society and life to the point that nobody is offended at the expense of the silent majority.

In life, everyone is not equal...but that is not a reality many young adults are willing or know how to accept. As a result, they feel cheated since they have not been handed what they feel is their right or entitlement. The idea of putting your head down and working hard has been replaced with hand-outs.

We continue to create a culture that raises wave after wave of young adults that are "softer" and lazier than the group before them. We don't even keep score in little league games...simply participating earns high praise. We have parents of college graduates who attend job interviews with their son or daughter.

You can argue if Bunning really walked to school in eight feet of snow as he recalls today. Perhaps, the snow was only two or three feet high. However, you can't debate the fact we simply cancel school today at the sight of the first snowflake or even simply the threat of snow.

Today, there are fewer and fewer men....our school system and society are creating a generation of metrosexual panzies who cry for their mommy and wet their pants if you simply give them a nasty look.

Maybe Bunning is right in the larger context. Sack up and be a man...a lesson that is lost on society today.

i couldn't agree more. today's society is so watered down with political correctness and fear of telling someone "no" or worse yet, making someone EARN their money, that everyone is afraid to speak up. keep on truckin'

 

[uniquebaseballcards]

+1

I'd also add this will definitely hurt, and not help player legacies in the long run. The game used to be so much less selfish if you will.

I think Bunning's comments reflect the change in society as a whole. Today, everyone is told they are special and there is little tolerance for critical feedback. We refuse to teach our kids how to handle adversity or defeat. We continue to water-down society and life to the point that nobody is offended at the expense of the silent majority.

In life, everyone is not equal...but that is not a reality many young adults are willing or know how to accept. As a result, they feel cheated since they have not been handed what they feel is their right or entitlement. The idea of putting your head down and working hard has been replaced with hand-outs.

We continue to create a culture that raises wave after wave of young adults that are "softer" and lazier than the group before them. We don't even keep score in little league games...simply participating earns high praise. We have parents of college graduates who attend job interviews with their son or daughter.

You can argue if Bunning really walked to school in eight feet of snow as he recalls today. Perhaps, the snow was only two or three feet high. However, you can't debate the fact we simply cancel school today at the sight of the first snowflake or even simply the threat of snow.

Today, there are fewer and fewer men....our school system and society are creating a generation of metrosexual panzies who cry for their mommy and wet their pants if you simply give them a nasty look.

Maybe Bunning is right in the larger context. Sack up and be a man...a lesson that is lost on society today.

Thanked

 

[schmidtfan20]

please! Do you all actually think that athletes back then had it easier? Cmon. Today there are all types of drugs
to keep you healthy and to recover faster, athletes today have it MUCH easier. Pitching on 3 days rest is
saved for only dire emergencies, while back in Bunnings time it was the norm. Pitchers were expected to
pitch 9 innings and not have to be pulled if their pitch count gets too high. What a freaking joke people.
Stras would die if he had to pitch in the 60's with no so much as an ice wrap after the game. Bunning
has every right to squash this pansy. When the big man gives you the ball (and you have had 4+ days
rest), take it and do your best. What good is spending all that money when the pitcher you spent it
on can't go when you need him too?

or did they just not want to see him get killed by the Braves? Maybe save him for that Pirates series huh?

What a sissy. Check Bunning's stats, dude pitched 14 complete games in 1957 and lead the league in innings
pitched. Has Sisburg even lasted one game into the 9th?

 

[1st4040]

I think Bunning's comments reflect the change in society as a whole. Today, everyone is told they are special and there is little tolerance for critical feedback. We refuse to teach our kids how to handle adversity or defeat. We continue to water-down society and life to the point that nobody is offended at the expense of the silent majority.

In life, everyone is not equal...but that is not a reality many young adults are willing or know how to accept. As a result, they feel cheated since they have not been handed what they feel is their right or entitlement. The idea of putting your head down and working hard has been replaced with hand-outs.

We continue to create a culture that raises wave after wave of young adults that are "softer" and lazier than the group before them. We don't even keep score in little league games...simply participating earns high praise. We have parents of college graduates who attend job interviews with their son or daughter.

You can argue if Bunning really walked to school in eight feet of snow as he recalls today. Perhaps, the snow was only two or three feet high. However, you can't debate the fact we simply cancel school today at the sight of the first snowflake or even simply the threat of snow.

Today, there are fewer and fewer men....our school system and society are creating a generation of metrosexual panzies who cry for their mommy and wet their pants if you simply give them a nasty look.

Maybe Bunning is right in the larger context. Sack up and be a man...a lesson that is lost on society today.

Not only does this post reflect how I feel about many things today.. your sig cracked me up too!

 

[hawkfandan]

Bunning is like Izzy Mandelbaum from Seinfeld. 'Its go time!'

 

[muchuckwagon]

Not only does this post reflect how I feel about many things today.. your sig cracked me up too!

I have no idea who either of those chicks are in my signature. I just laughed when I saw the photograph because I thought to myself, that is what the Pontiac Silverdome would look like if it was a Transformer and came to life.