.45s

It appears we got him.

RIP Mr. Jones. Great actor.

That is quite a distance between airports. Luckily it was very early to beat that Houston traffic. I once had to take a last minute flight from Philadelphia to Houston to attend a funeral on the south side of town and due to timing issues could only book a flight to Bush Airport (Houston Intercontinental). To help me out so that I wouldn't miss the funeral the airline put me immediately on a puddle jumper from Bush to Hobby Airport across town and that flight was about 15 minutes.

Great coach. I just found out that he was a Longhorn. RIP Coach.

So true, and Ruth might not even approach the 50 or 60 homerun mark if he were playing today and in his prime; however, the main point was really how far ahead he was of everybody else at that time.

A lot of great players listed above. To put Babe Ruth's homerun numbers in to perspective when he hit 54 homeruns in 1920, think of this quote in the initial post- "He became the first player to glamorize the home run, hitting 54 that season, more than the next three home run hitters in the American League combined. Also, the most startling statistic is that Ruth’s 54 homers in 1920 was more than the team totals for every other team in the American League. Ruth’s old team, the Boston Red Sox, hit only 20 homers. In fact, the only MLB team to hit more homers than Ruth was the Philadelphia Phillies with 64." By today's standards and comparing the 1920 and 2023 seasons to see how the Babe outhit whole teams, last years team homerun leader was Atlanta with 307, followed by Minnesota with 249. This means that the Babe would have hit the equivalent of 250 homeruns. Perhaps not the best analogy, but he was way ahead of everyone at the time.

This morning's Coffee and Football happened to mention Shohei Ohtani's incredible season this year followed by a brief discussion about greatest players. I am old enough to see guys like Hank Aaron and Willie Mays play, and have some recollection of Mickey Mantle and Sandy Koufax. I always remember some incredible statistics about Babe Ruth's career and that he was an incredible pitcher and then paved the way for homerun hitters. I did a quick search and found something that Tim Kirkjian wrote about his career and am providing some of that (edited) below. The fact that he was hitting more homeruns than most teams is amazing. "The game was reeling in 1920, but Ruth brought it back with tape-measure homers and overwhelming charisma. He became the first player to glamorize the home run, hitting 54 that season, more than the next three home run hitters in the American League combined. Also, the most startling statistic is that Ruth’s 54 homers in 1920 was more than the team totals for every other team in the American League. Ruth’s old team, the Boston Red Sox, hit only 20 homers. In fact, the only MLB team to hit more homers than Ruth was the Philadelphia Phillies with 64. Ruth was the first to hit 30, 40, 50 and 60 homers in a season. In 1921, he hit his 137th home run, passing Roger Connor as the all-time home run king: the next 577 only added to his record. When he retired with 714 home runs, no one in the game had half that many. In certain seasons, he hit more home runs than complete teams, from 1926 to 1932, he out-homered the Washington Senators, 343-327. Ruth finished with a career slugging percentage of .690. No active player has ever had a single-season slugging percentage of .690. But Ruth was more than a slugger even though movies made about him depict him as a non-athletic clown; they turned the greatest player of all time into a cartoon character. Ruth was a great athlete. He was a great basketball player, quick and agile for a big man, He could run; he had 136 triples, more than any active player, and 130 more than Mark McGwire. Plus, Ruth was the best left-handed pitcher in the AL when he decided to become only a hitter. Ruth's record for scoreless innings (29⅔) in World Series play lasted nearly 42 years. Ruth still has as many career shutouts as Pedro Martinez (17). The final homer of his career that day in Pittsburgh was the first one ever to clear the right-field roof in the 26-year-old history of Forbes Field, a fitting finale to an amazing career. In 1982, I asked Burt Hawkins, a baseball writer who covered the game starting in the 1920s, to name the best player ever."

He has gotten roasted over on their forums.

Thanks for the quick reply. I am glad to hear that. I guess I need to pay more attention.

He was listed as a starter on the new depth chart but I don't see that he had a single reception and don't recall seeing him do anything in the game. Odd because so many players had receptions, particularly in the first half.

He pitched 5 inning last night and didn't do too bad.

I somehow missed it but the Statesman reported yesterday that Ty is being called up to the Tigers from AAA. He is the fourth Longhorn to be called up for the first time this year. 🤘

I lost my train of thought when writing my initial response, but I think after enrolling there is still some kind of trigger that is required to start the 3 year MLB draft restriction and it has something to do with either starting practice with the team or playing in a game. Somebody here probably knows the exact rule governing MLB draft rules for college baseball players/students.

I think that the only thing that matters is if he enrolls and starts school. Then he can't be drafted until 3 years after his high school graduating class date or when he reaches age 21 (within a certain window relative to the MLB draft). The latter is how Jared Thomas and Jalin Flores were draft eligible after their sophomore years at UT, while most guys who play college have to wait to be drafted until after their junior year.

Where is the Ignore Button?

Is there money coming from another source too?

Admins- please edit or delete the Presley Courville link I posted above. It was only supposed to be his tweet about committing to UT, not his whole X/twitter history. Sorry about that.

That is not a real common torque and injury.

Yes. If he comes here and plays baseball, he can't go in the mlb draft for three years unless he is the rare person old for his class, then possibly after his sophomore year. Sounds like somebody the baseball team could use.

Good for him. Hope he does well.

Peet's is sold in the Austin area at some HEBs, Whole Foods, and Target. They have several dark roasts that might be available, including their number one overall seller Major Dickason's Blend. I prefer some of the other dark roasts, but it is good too. Their coffee does not have that burnt taste like a lot of coffees these days tend to have. I haven't gotten it at Whole Foods for a while but I think they had several roasts that HEB may not have. By the way, I rarely drink decaf, but Peet's decafs taste like regular coffee. I have only had Black Rifle at their Brick and Mortar locations. We go to Boerne occasionally and I usually get some while in town. Better than Starbucks, that's for sure.

I prefer aficionado or connoisseur over snob (which my wife calls me). Can't stand bad coffee. I don't like Starbucks either, although the original founders spent some time at Peet's when they were about to start the company. Maybe Peet didn't tell all of his secrets. I have been drinking Peet's since the mid 80s when I worked with several people who spent time in the Bay Area, where Peet's started, and where they began drinking Peet's. Back then there were no brick and mortar Peet's other than the original and it was not even sold in stores. I mail-ordered it for years. Anderson's coffee roasters in Austin isn't bad. By the way, he trained with Peet. Hook'em. 🤘

No bad or cheap coffee ever. Peet's french roast this morning. Hook'em🤘

At one point Perfect Game had him as the 18th best lefthander in the country. His curve is supposed to be really top flight. This is a headline from the Ventura County Star newspaper- "Jul 14, 2024 — Dylan Volantis, who committed to USC, went 8-1 with a 0.33 ERA. " He also played waterpolo. The following is taken from the MLB draft rankings- "Scouting grades: Fastball: 50 | Curveball: 60 | Changeup: 50 | Control: 45 | Overall: 45 Westlake High School near Thousand Oaks, Calif., has produced some pretty big bats in the past, most notably catcher Mike Lieberthal and outfielder Christian Yelich. The school has had just one pitcher come from its hallowed halls and reach the big leagues, John Snyder, a 1992 draftee who spent time in the Majors with the White Sox and Brewers. Volantis hopes to join Snyder on that very short list, though he’s more about projection than anything else at this point. The first two things that jump out for Volantis is that he’s 6-foot-6 and he’s left-handed. He’s mostly ceiling rather than now stuff, though there are some solid starting ingredients. The fastball has started to tick up a bit this spring and has been seen up to 94 mph with some running life. He’s more consistently in the 89-91 mph range, though, and he sometimes struggles commanding his fastball coming from a high slot that wanders a little. His go-to pitch is his curve, which could be a plus offering in time. He throws it 76-80 mph with 1-to-7 shape, and he can land it in the zone and miss bats with it. He does have a changeup he’ll fold in every once in a while, and it could get to average in the future. If Volantis can continue to add strength to his large frame, he could add some more power to both the fastball and the breaking ball, and the changeup will come if he can keep to his arm slot and throw it more frequently. The team that likes his feel for spin and can dream on the fastball getting bigger could take a chance on the upside in the top five rounds and sign him away from his Southern California commitment. "