Batting Practice Show

[Jeffreauxdawg]

Watching the HR derby and it got me thinking about watching guys put on shows in BP. Want to see what everyone else has to say on the best BP shows you have ever seen.

I was lucky to have season tickets to the Rangers in 2010 and get to watch some beasts. There may be a few individual guys that could put on better shows, but the collection of donkeys on that team were crazy. Here's the list in order of BP blast dominance.

Josh Hamilton
Chris Davis
Nelson Cruz
Vladimir Guerrero (imagine him being 4th)
Justin Smoak (So pretty in BP)
Ian Kinsler
Mitch Moreland
Jorge Cantu
Jeff Francouer
David Murphy
Michael Young


I can't imagine what Josh Hamilton would have been if he had taken care of his body. His bat sounded like artillery.

Anyone see any of those roid era teams or the late 90's Mariners? Surely some of you saw the Cards bp back then.

 

[57stratdawg]

Arkansas put on a show in BP this year. They knew what they were doing.

 

[PineGroveBully]

Saw McGwire and Frank Thomas in StL in ‘99. If memory serves Fernando Tatis Sr. was as impressive as those two were.

 

[Jeffreauxdawg]

I bet he was. Tatis hit two Grand Slams in an inning that year.

 

[Dawg1979]

when i was younger we went to a Rangers/A's game. McGuire and Canseco BP was pretty awesome. Nolan Ryan pitched that night. but the best part?? it was free Fanny Pack night. got me that sweet Texas Rangers Fanny Pack. BAM!

 

[Drebin]

I saw McGwire take BP a number of times and it was always impressive.

I went to a Cards/Cubs game the year McGwire and Sosa were chasing each other. I didn't get to watch McGwire because the home team is usually done with BP by the time the gates open, but I watched Sosa take BP and that was also very impressive.

 

[Xenomorph]

2007 in Omaha.. Louisville taking BP..

Winds at sustained 20 mph blowing straight out. Chris Dominguez for the Cards hit 5 in a row completely out of the stadium.

I figured then we were 2 and Q.

 

[Bulldog Bruce]

As a kid we always went early to see BP. Dave Kingman with the Mets was a show. He hit pop ups that happened to travel 400 feet.

 

[Shmuley]

Kingman bombs into the pines beyond the fence at Smith-Wills.

 

[Bill Shankly]

Palmerio, Clark, and Barry Larkin from Michigan in the 85 regional.

 

[missouridawg]

I was a teen in the 90s. I go to watch McGwire take BP a few dozen times. And it was always a show.

As an adult, in the early 2010s, I went and watched the Angels take BP in Houston. I was trying to get Pujols to sign my 2011 game 3 world series ticket (no luck). Pujols, Trout, Trumbo, Josh Hamilton. Pujols/Trout assaulted the train tracks above LF at Minute Maid. Trumbo/Hamilton hit multiple upper deck shots in RF. Vernon Wells also hit some bombs.

 

[Junction John]

I came here to post Dave Kingman as well, although I saw him in Wrigley when he was with the Cubs. Incredible.

The most impressive I've ever seen though was McGwire in '98. I went to the last weekend series. He was down to Sosa in the HR chase prior to the Friday game 66-65, but that didn't last long. Anyway, the BP on Saturday was like a fireworks show, complete with the "oohs" and "ahhs".

 

[msudawg12]

watched a cubs/cards game during "The Chase" with Sosa and McGwire.

Also watched the HR derby in 2000 in ATL. Sosa was crushing MOONSHOTS

 

[Junction John]

Damn, was Kingman on the Jackson Mets? I don't remember that. Must have been way back. I need to check and see if he signed one of my baseballs.

 

[patdog]

Nope. He came up in the Giants organization and had already been in the majors for 4 years when the Mets moved to Jackson. But damn, did we have some good players come through back then.

 

[josebrown]

I’m gonna skip all the big names and bp shows to mention one single home run. In 89 or 90 we were at the Superdome playing in a MS vs LA college Winn-Dixie Showdown. Lyle Mouton hit one out for LSU that hit halfway up in the upper deck while still climbing. I saw Bobby Abreu tear up fences from Jackson to Philadelphia and hit some of the hardest balls I’ve ever seen, but I think Mouton beat him against us in the Superdome.

 

[Crazy Cotton]

My brother and I were baseball crazy kids who lived on Lelia Drive by Mayes lake. We could walk across Lakeland drive and be at Smith Wills. Lots of talent came through there in the late 70s early 80s. Strawberry, Kevin Mitchell, Aguilera, Mookie Wilson, Hubie Brooks. We'd work our way around the stadium and collect buckets of baseballs. Still have a soft spot for the Mets.

 

[G-Dawg]

Palmerio, Clark, and Barry Larkin from Michigan in the 85 regional.

I was up in a cedar tree in RF for that one!

 

[G-Dawg]

Nope. He came up in the Giants organization and had already been in the majors for 4 years when the Mets moved to Jackson. But damn, did we have some good players come through back then.

But the Giants AA club was the Shreveport Captains, right, so it is possible Kingman played at Smith-Wills. Did he play AA with the Captains? Maybe that's what Shmuley was mentioning.

 

[G-Dawg]

You forgot Lenny Dykstra, Howard Johnson, Jody Davis (Cubs), Calvin Shiraldi, and the best minor league player who never made it big....Gregg Jeffries.