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Around SBN: The Gift Of The 2003 Tigers

A Conversation With Trevor Crowe

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When the Clippers come to Scranton to play the Little Evil Empire, it always rains. As sure as the pizza is white and the word "you" magically requires an "s" to become plural, it will rain. Tonight, of course, was no different. Sure it wasn't raining real hard, but this is AAA. Shelly Duncan's grand return to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area aside, not too many people were going to show.

Fortunately for myself, I had found a few other Tribe fans in the seats and we talked Carlos Santana as the rain drops fell idly. We milled about, occasionally peeking inside the visitors dugout to see if anyone was coming out to check the weather. And then, what to our wondering eyes should appear - oh, Trevor Crowe. I wasn't even going over, knowing I'd end up with his autograph (which I did) and then not know what I'd do with it (which I don't). But it turned out to be worth it.

Though not only 5 minutes prior, my new found friend said, "Now if there is one person I could care less about, it is definitely Trevor Crowe," it wasn't long before we were buttering him up. We "love his speed" and think he could have a "great bat". Not to mention, we "love the way he hustles." There it was, properly buttered up, ready to reveal the Tribe secrets.

 

Now, I've built this up enough, you're probably going to be extremely let down by what is revealed, but here it is anyway. First, he loves Nunnally. Not sure why, it isn't like he has magically learned to hit. But there it is, loves him. Second, he likes Acta's new approach in Spring Training. When asked about Wedge, he didn't bite at first, but after a few moments the truth came out. He said you could go one or two weeks at a time without seeing or hearing from Wedge, aside from game time. As he put it, "That can be nice, but as a young player you're sort of looking for some guidance and advice." Interesting insight.

Those first two nuggets were nice, and he also talked about how he thinks the big league team's offense will heat up and how they're not real sure why Rondon appears to have lost a few mph on the heater, but when asked about Sizemore's slump, he paused. He looked casually down the end of the bench, making sure nobody was coming out from the locker before he spoke. And not in a hokey, I'm gonna trick these guys, but in a legitimate way. Maybe he fooled me, but it seemed genuine. According to the late, great Trevor Crowe, Grady Sizemore is going through swing adjustments. Apparently not as a result of the struggles, but the reverse. He talked about how there is a lot of pressure on him to be a leader, which he feels isn't a good fit because of his nature, and that this is simply amplifying the struggle. The claim laid forth by Trevor is that the slight adjustment in Grady's swing is an attempt to create more contact and minimize the strikeouts. He also said that a year or two ago he adjusted in a similar fashion and that few people noticed simply because his production at the plate wasn't really affected in a negative manner.

 

So there you have it, as sure as the Crowe flies, he has spoken. Tomorrow, hopefully I'll actually get to see part of the now double header. Until then, I must figure out what to do with the Trevor Crowe autographed baseball. Any takers? It even comes with a photo of the live signing.

 

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Comments

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Did he tell you what Acta’s new approach was? Maybe he should try it out during the regular season… (I want to believe in Acta, but I look at the improvement in the Nationals since he left).

I like Crowe. Really.

If you believe it's just a game, you're also probably wondering why Santa keeps skipping your house every year.

by LeftyCatcher on May 11, 2010 11:57 PM EDT reply actions  

Didn’t go into a lot of detail, just that it was different and a little more hands on.

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 6:32 AM EDT up reply actions  

Sounds like about as good a time as you’re gonna have at a postponement.

by westbrook on May 12, 2010 12:46 AM EDT reply actions  

USSChoo,

Thanks for the info. – I think it was interesting.

Yet another Indians’ pitcher who has lost a few MPH on his heater?! What is that, like the 4th or 5th pitcher in the last 2-3 years? I mean, seriously, are we the only organization, whose top prospects who keep losing MPH on their fastballs? I can think of Jensen Lewis, David Huff, Fausto Carmona, Chuck Lofgren, Kelvin De La Cruz (now, though his likely is due to coming back from injury, whereas I can’t say that for the others); now, we can add Rondon to the list as well. Perhaps the Indians’ working with Rondon on the offspeed pitch is affecting his fastball (i.e. he’s throwing too many offspeed pitches to work on those pitches and not using his fastball enough to maintain its velocity – not sure; just a thought).

Yes, I know velocity is not everything (check out the Jamie Moyer article on Yahoo Sports – you’ll see how velocity is much more important than it was around 20-25 years ago when Moyer was drafted when it comes to pitching prospects), but it certainly does not help when some of your best prospects keep losing their above-average or plus fastballs. What gives?

I too get the impression that Sizemore, despite his physical gifts, doesn’t seem to fit the leadership role, much like we’ve complained with Hafner, Peralta, and even toward Martinez to an extent (although his emotion and passion, combined with his physical skills, might have made him more of a leader than the others mentioned in my opinion).

I think it was discussed in another thread how Sizemore seems to be adjusting his swing. If he made a similar adjustment a year or two ago and it didn’t affect his production (although I don’t think Sizemore was as productive the past few seasons as compared to earlier seasons), then why is it affecting his production now? By now, he should be used to the swing, which is why I wonder whether Crowe’s assessment of Grady adjusting his swing the past season or two is correct or not. Personally, it seems to me that Grady has just made the adjustment now and is not comfortable with the new swing, which is a major reason why he is so inconsistent and disappears for games at a time.

As for Wedge, I don’t know if he was the most personable, especially with younger players (see Marte, Phillips, etc.). I don’t think he was the type that would give continuous support to younger players. Additionally, Wedge seemed to be comfortable with “his guys” (such as Blake), even though Wedge could never seem to settle on a set lineup for too long a period throughout much of his career here, which almost seems like a contradiction. Certainly, a change was needed at the managerial position (Wedge was there for 7 seasons, which is almost an eternity in baseball nowadays outside of large markets like Boston and New York, and we haven’t had the same success those two clubs have had over the same time period, though not the same revenue streams and resources either), and hopefully, Acta can employ positive changes that will benefit the Indians as more younger players come up to Cleveland in the coming seasons.

The "cream of the crop" doesn't always rise to the top.

by indiansfan on May 12, 2010 7:53 AM EDT reply actions  

I think it’s far more likely that those guys never had the extra MPH then it is that they all lost them. Through IPI, a lot of Indians prospects get constantly oversold-we see this in talking about a guy like Donnie Webb as well as supposedly frontline pitchers. Once guys reach higher levels and the guns become more accurate, it becomes impossible to claim that everybody “works up to 94 mph.”

by afh4 on May 12, 2010 9:31 AM EDT up reply actions  

At which point their stuff “plays up better” in the bullpen, since it can’t, you know, speed up.

by Deep South Ken on May 12, 2010 9:59 AM EDT up reply actions  

Hmm, I read that part and had a different reaction. Yeah, guys lose their mechanics or have a slight injury and lose speed (for a month/year/career) all the time. I think it does happen in all organizations.

You’re right that prospect reports about speed are always sketchy, but plenty of pitchers do clearly get worse, and I think there are enough reports at documented upper levels of guys losing speed.

by dgcambridge on May 12, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions  

Or that “loose and lanky” becomes less so as young TINSTAPPS fill out?

by stuart dean on May 12, 2010 1:32 PM EDT up reply actions  

I’d like to add that a lot of times, a lot of these prospects get hyped up based around an upper end reading on a radar gun. Keith Law has discussed this many times and I agree with him totally.

LGT's resident moderate Yankee hating fan.

by Joe. on May 12, 2010 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions  

And who ever claimed Martinez isn’t a leader?

by afh4 on May 12, 2010 9:32 AM EDT up reply actions  

There were general complaints, I guess from Wedge, that there wasn’t enough leadership in the clubhouse, that the core players hadn’t stepped up to replace veteran influence.

by Jay on May 12, 2010 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions  

Castrovince has talked about Grady trying to change his swing to generate more backspin on the ball, given that his old, longer, topspin-inducing swing put so much pressure on his elbow. The end result would in fact be fewer strikeouts (and less power), but the implication is that the strikeouts are a secondary effect of a change made to reduce injury risk. I hope so – I wouldn’t voluntarily trade power for fewer strikeouts, but I don’t want Grady to hurt himself again.

If that speculation is true, it shouldn’t be surprising at all that this adjustment is more difficult than whatever it was Grady did before.

by FredOx on May 12, 2010 9:58 AM EDT up reply actions  

I’m pretty sure more backspin creates more carry which translates to better, not worse, power numbers. I suppose the swing doesn’t matter if he keeps missing the ball though.

Come on, four billion!

by Joel D on May 12, 2010 11:03 AM EDT up reply actions   1 recs

I don’t know about the physics, and never played beyond Tallmadge Little League, but here’s Castro.

by FredOx on May 12, 2010 11:49 AM EDT up reply actions  

Backspin does actually increase the carry of the ball.

For a pure backspin with the spin axis parallel to the ground, the vertical component of this force increases the height of the trajectory throughout its flight by increasing the vertical velocity, as shown in Figure 3. However, until the ball reaches its maximum height, the horizontal component of the Magnus force decreases the horizontal velocity. After the ball reaches its maximum height the horizontal component of the Magnus force increases the horizontal velocity for the remainder of the flight, albeit with a reduced effect since the velocity and spin rate are less on the downward flight than on the upward flight. The net effect is to decrease the minimum energy by about 2%.

by Brad D on May 12, 2010 6:33 PM EDT up reply actions  

Well, I reserve the right to think this is stupid. I have little reason to think Grady can ever hit over .300 except in a fluke season, and that being the case, I’ll take the 30 HR, thank you very much.

by Jay on May 12, 2010 11:53 AM EDT up reply actions  

Yep. I guess I can sorta, kinda support the reduce strain on the elbow argument, but I have no idea if it makes sense medically.

by FredOx on May 12, 2010 12:46 PM EDT up reply actions  

Yeah, I heard that as well, and I’m pretty sure it wasn’t from Castro. The main reason I heard was to reduce strain on the elbow, as you said, not necessarily to increase his BA or whatever.

by Buckeye Brad on May 14, 2010 11:12 AM EDT up reply actions  

fun. thanks for sharing. boo shelly duncan for me.

by Brick. on May 12, 2010 9:53 AM EDT reply actions  

I missed Monday night’s game where he apparently homered, but I’m curious to see what kind of reception he gets in today’s double header.

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 2:29 PM EDT up reply actions  

I have an issue with tinkering a swing when you are already a really good hitter.

by Roger Dorn on May 12, 2010 11:14 AM EDT reply actions  

If FredOx is right, it’s a health thing.

Actively seeking inspiration for a new handle

by danvail on May 12, 2010 11:40 AM EDT up reply actions  

Crowe’s going to get stitches.

by dgcambridge on May 12, 2010 11:43 AM EDT reply actions   2 recs

Crowe’s walk rate has really collapsed so far this season. I’d say he’s in real danger of being DFA’ed in a roster crunch.

by Jay on May 12, 2010 11:59 AM EDT reply actions  

He was hitting 3rd in both games tonight. Found that interesting.

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 10:33 PM EDT up reply actions  

There goes Trevor’s hope of ever being invited over for tea

by KoolAidMan on May 12, 2010 12:10 PM EDT reply actions   1 recs

How much less could your new found friend care about Crowe? Sorry, had to!

LGT's resident moderate Yankee hating fan.

by Joe. on May 12, 2010 6:48 PM EDT reply actions  

At tonight’s game Rondon was consistently hitting between 91-94 on the fastball. Could be much to do about nothing.

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 9:05 PM EDT reply actions  

Also, in case anyone is interesting in browsing, here is the set of pictures I took at the game tonight. http://www.flickr.com/photos/49242784@N02/sets/72157623925998977/

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 10:47 PM EDT reply actions  

Interested. Apparently my fingers are still a little numb from the cold.

"Spring Training wins are good for the soul."

by USSChoo on May 12, 2010 10:49 PM EDT up reply actions  

Those were great. Thanks for sharing!

Anything in life is possible, except for skiing through revolving doors.

by MooneysRebellion on May 13, 2010 11:32 AM EDT up reply actions  

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