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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Thursday, July 03, 2008
Webb is as laid-back as a seventh-inning stretch in spring training. Failure, which is inevitable in baseball, does not threaten his confidence. His drive home from Chase Field takes about 25 minutes, and by the time he turns off his car, Webb has managed to put the game in his rear-view mirror—even after a loss. “There’s nothing you can do after a start to change the outcome of what you did,” he says. “So why sit there and sulk and pity yourself for five days? Forget about it, then just go work in the bullpen on what you need to work on.”
Roy Halladay, with his bat-breaking sinker, is similar to Webb in stuff and style, but the Blue Jays ace pores over videotape of opposing hitters, dissecting their swings. Webb rarely watches video, and he doesn’t study scouting reports. His preparation is in the maintenance of his pitches.
When Haren takes the mound tonight, Webb plants himself on a bench at the front of the dugout, next to lefthander Doug Davis, and they watch a ball game. It’s great work if you can get it.
Here’s a long article by the blogosphere darling Buster Olney, who spent a week hanging around the Dbacks’ clubhouse.
Webb is almost always happy to allow others to do the heavy mental lifting. One time this season, when Snyder called for a fastball, Webb stuck with his instincts and struck out the hitter on a changeup. Snyder was waiting in the dugout. “That makes hitters now 5-for-6 when you shake me off,” the catcher said. Mostly, if you see Webb shake off a sign, it’s because Snyder is telling him to shake it off to confuse the batter. Snyder is a natural-born extrovert; when asked how great it is to catch Webb, he responds, “You should ask him how great it is that he can throw to me.”
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Eh, no big deal, Snyder was just breakin' his balls.
As a Mets fan I'm getting my laughs when I can. I'll probably stay amused until Heilman gives up the inevitable game losing homerun tonight. But it's something.
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