“Tsé the receiver of the Blue Jays, the little big one!”
This is a comment I have heard often over the past two years. We are talking about the Mexican Alejandro Kirk who is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 245 pounds. He has a belly and actually doesn’t have the typical physique for doing panty commercials.
If he was your banker, I don’t think you would dwell that much on the fact that he’s overweight. But on a baseball field, as a professional athlete, he clashes, that’s clear.
Jim Thome had a good belly. Jason Giambi too. Also David Ortiz. Bartolo Colon was the league’s top pitcher in 2005 while overweight. The late Tony Gwynn was one of the greatest hitters in history despite years with several pounds overweight.
Mo Vaughn, John Kruk, David Wells, Kirby Puckett, Babe Ruth… These are all players who were paunchy.
AFP
What do they also have in common, however? They were playing in another era.
The power hitter with a pot belly who can only play on first base could have hoped to make it to the big leagues before. But that time seems to be over.
The young players are so good that they put the odds in their favor and train like crazy. Anyone who does not train, even if he is very good, will be beaten. There are plenty of very good players.
That’s why we hardly see pot bellies anymore.
Fielder, Jones, Cabrera, Molina…
At the time, many of them were among the best players in the world.
This transition where pot-bellied players have ceased to have their place has materialized rather quickly in recent years.
Prince Fielder, one of the heaviest players under 6 feet in history, retired at just 32 years old in 2016. He was struggling with several injuries.
AFP
We remember the incredible talent of Andruw Jones. We remember less of those years after the Braves. From the age of 31, in 5 seasons, including two with the Yankees, he was not a shadow of himself, when he had gained a lot of weight. He notably posted an average of 0.158 precisely at the age of 31, in 2008.
Just to give an example, it’s the same age as Aaron Judge.
Miguel Cabrera started his career as a shortstop. He weighed 210 pounds. He’s a big hitter and this is his senior year. But if many adore him, others have strongly criticized him for his last difficult years in Detroit, when he has been under contract for $ 248 million and 8 years since 2016. During this contract, he only once hit more than 15 home runs or 20 doubles. True, he was already 33 when he started this contract, but several supporters also attribute his failures to the fact that he gained 30 pounds.
Yadier Molina, who retired in 2022, is one of the best receivers in history. At 5ft 11in and 230lbs at the start of his career, he ruled his career was not going to last forever despite his insane talent. In 2015, at age 32, instead of diving into retirement, he lost 20 pounds. It allowed him to play 8 more seasons in the major leagues and participate in 3 star games. It also allowed him to earn an additional $81.4 million.
Less and less
In short, over the past few years, it is evident that overweight players are no longer following. A bit like me in my garage league in hockey.
“There is none left. They all get mugged […] There are so many guys who throw 100 miles an hour, so a belly that throws 100 miles an hour, the teams no longer need it, ”explains Jean-Philippe Poulin, physiotherapist who worked for 8 years in professional baseball.
He explains that a 162-game season is very hard on the joints, and therefore even more so on the risk of injury when the athlete has pounds he does not need.
This all crossed my mind last week on vacation when I attended a Mets game in New York. Daniel Vogelbach struck at the heart of the New York line-up.
Those who don’t already know him, he is 6 feet tall and weighs 270 pounds. This year, he even plays in self-mockery on American networks in an advertisement where he faces his coach to steal a goal.
He has played in 6 teams since 2019 and he attracts attention wherever he goes. He has a very good belly.
In front of me, he hit an arrow into center field. A circuit. They showed his momentum in slow motion on the giant screen. It was magic.
I’m no Felipe Alou, but I can recognize good momentum and quick hands.
It was amazing. He tossed his wrists at that ball as if nothing had happened, and the ball shot up, not so high. And she didn’t even come close to jumping over the fence.
This guy is paunchy and a bit clumsy looking. When he started his momentum, it was anything but unathletic. It was so beautiful. Sorry if I’m too poetic with baseball, I like it a lot.
And I said to myself, at that moment: does this guy have to be strong!
You call that athletes? Yes! Certain
After all that I have just written, for this guy, with a good belly, to be able to keep his place, he has to be a machine.
It’s the same for Alejandro Kirk of the Jays. He’s small and he’s big. But he is there. No one is able to steal his place. He is the best in his position.
I sometimes hear that these guys are not athletes. It’s so wrong. These guys don’t have the athletic body you might imagine, but Daniel Vogelbach and Alejandro Kirik are incredible athletes.
Getty Images via AFP
I’m convinced that both would be too good at table tennis, volleyball, basketball, kin-ball… These guys have insane athletic fibers.
“Yes, they are athletes with incredible qualities, continues Jean-Philippe Poulin. It’s the law of the baseball jungle. You already have to be a star to get there. When you go there despite being overweight, you are a star twice.
A recruiter with the Blue Jays for six years, Jasmin Roy agrees.
Just because these two players don’t run fast doesn’t mean they aren’t athletes.
“To play in the majors, you have to have exceptional athleticism that others don’t have,” he explains, referring in particular to the fact that Kirk never gets retired at bat and power. amazing from Vogelbach.
Overweight players can be neglected according to him. But the results don’t lie. So in his opinion, Kirk and Vogelbach had to prove their worth through their lifelong results to get to the top.
I don’t congratulate them on being overweight, but I simply admire what they are able to do through others.
2023-09-05 20:59:30
#Respect #bellies #Journal #Quebec
