Happy Birthday Bo

[I_M4_AU 7,865]

Some college highlights:

 

I didnt realize he hit .401 one season.  A great athlete.

 

As many times that I have seen this play I didn’t realize Bo put so much into that throw that he had to re-adjust himself afterwards.

[LPTiger 5,167]

I had the pleasure of playing with him the year he lost his eligibility because of Culverhouse.   We used green labeled Easton bats back then.   I think they were drop 2s if memory serves.   Him swinging that old, outdated bat was something to see and hear.   

[WillMunny 1,380]

22 hours ago, LPTiger said:

I had the pleasure of playing with him the year he lost his eligibility because of Culverhouse.   We used green labeled Easton bats back then.   I think they were drop 2s if memory serves.   Him swinging that old, outdated bat was something to see and hear.   

Many years ago (1980s), during the MLB all start break, I saw an interview with an old-timer MLB player.  A real old timer.  He remembered watching Babe Ruth play.

Anyway, this old timer said he was near the field when the all star players were taking batting practice, and heard someone start hitting the ball in a "different" way.  He said it sounded like when Babe Ruth hit a baseball - a very distinctive, authoritarian sound unlike other players made.

He then made his way over to the batting area to see who was hitting the ball like that.  It was Bo.

Edited December 1, 2023 by WillMunny

[LPTiger 5,167]

5 minutes ago, WillMunny said:

Many years ago (1980s), during the MLB all start break, I saw an interview with an old-timer MLB player.  A real old timer.  He remembered watching Babe Ruth play.

Anyway, this old timer said he was near the field when the all star players were taking batting practice, and heard someone start hitting the ball in a "different" way.  He said it sounded like when Babe Ruth hit a baseball - a very distinctive, authoritarian sound unlike other players made.

He then made his way over to the batting area to see who was hitting the ball like that.  It was Bo.

Very similar story.   George Brett says there was only one guy he ever cared to watch take BP -- Bo.  Brett said the ball just sounded different coming off his bat.   And, he was correct.

[Mikey 16,638]

The world is lucky that neither Bo nor Frank Thomas killed a pitcher when using those "hot" aluminum bats. It could easily have happened.

On 12/1/2023 at 2:37 PM, LPTiger said:

heard someone start hitting the ball in a "different" way.  He said it sounded like when Babe Ruth hit a baseball - a very distinctive, authoritarian sound unlike other players made.

The late Negro League player Buck O' Neil told this story in Ken Burns's documentary "Baseball": "When I was a youngster I heard Josh Gibson hit a baseball. It sounded different. Then I saw Babe Ruth take batting practice and heard that same sound. The decades passed and I was in a meeting with others in the Kansas City meeting room while the team took batting practice up on the field. They must have thought I was crazy. I heard that same sound again! I jumped up from the meeting table and ran up the stairs to see what was going on and it was Bo Jackson taking batting practice"."

[LPTiger 5,167]

24 minutes ago, Mikey said:

The world is lucky that neither Bo nor Frank Thomas killed a pitcher when using those "hot" aluminum bats. It could easily have happened.

The late Negro League player Buck O' Neil told this story in Ken Burns's documentary "Baseball": "When I was a youngster I heard Josh Gibson hit a baseball. It sounded different. Then I saw Babe Ruth take batting practice and heard that same sound. The decades passed and I was in a meeting with others in the Kansas City meeting room while the team took batting practice up on the field. They must have thought I was crazy. I heard that same sound again! I jumped up from the meeting table and ran up the stairs to see what was going on and it was Bo Jackson taking batting practice"."

Legends all.

[SaltyTiger 7,816]

Some rainy or lazy days pull up the highlights. Still amazed after all these years.