Competition Breeds Success
A certain baseball club has just won three games recently The locker-room of this team has at least two guys that seem to be posturing themselves to having the label of top dog on a dominating staff of twirlers. Full of live arms the pitching staff --in its entirety-- has been filthy. Is it any wonder why this group of mates has been afloat like cream at the top for quite some time?
Now I know you regulars here at http://www.pghsportsforum.com/forum/forum.php know exactly which team I’m talking about! This is a team that sports a locker-room competition at a very high level. It resides in the games’ most important sector –pitching! It is obvious to those who have followed this team; competition to be THE MAN , on this staff, is fierce.
AJ Burnett seems like he wants to lead the team while having a rebel –with-- a cause attitude. While his fellow teammate goes about it with a simple W on his mind.
Burnett loves to be the show. The –old school-- show. He wears his passion on his sleeve. No question, this guy is a throwback to baseball’s rich pastime lore. While on the slab he’d sooner die than give in to anybody or anything. But, his best attribute is leading by example.
How could he make a statement after watching Francisco Liriano continue to be the most consistently dominating stallion on any staff in the game? Simply put here’s how.
“I actually felt good for nine innings," Burnett told a gaggle of reporters before the lights and filming ilk. "I noticed that the pitch count was low about halfway through, and you take pride in finishing what you started. Strike one was huge today."
Ahead on the count all day, he was superb. Whenever a savvy, wile character like Burnett has command, forg-ged about it!!!
But who can forget the performance of that certain MLB Comeback Player of the Year in 2010? Named MLB Player of the Week, this week, Liriano is enjoying a second MLB Comeback Player of the Year bid right now. What’s more, his words tell of something different that motivates him. "We got the 'W.' That was the most important thing for me," Liriano told reporters. "I felt great out there but, no, I wasn't thinking about any no-hitter. I was thinking about winning the game."
That was his quote after his first W this week.
After his second W here is what told the throng in front before the Root Sports Camera..."Things have been going the way I wanted to," Liriano, explained. "So far so good for me. Hopefully, we can continue playing the way we are and everything goes the way we want it to."
He used the word --we-- !
Like Steve Blass says, winning is contagious.