Baseball - Easton Typhoon Adult Batting Gloves

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Brandon Lyon's spring training problems have now carried over into the regular season. Did anyone see this coming? Yes. Brandon Lyon had an ERA of 13.50 during spring training, allowing 19 hits and striking out only three in a little over eight innings of relief.

Since coming into the league in 2001, Brandon Lyon has never pitched more than 75 innings in any given season. He has an overall record of 18 wins and 24 losses and has only 35 saves in 6 seasons. He was given an opportunity to be the closer after having a relatively good season last year and with the departure of Jose Valverde to the Houston Astros. The closer role was handed to him before spring training even started, why?

Brandon Lyon is an unproven closer and will not be ousted from one bad outing. We can expect to see Lyon get more save opportunities, but I presume he will be on a short leash since Tony Pena is breathing down his neck. Granted, Tony Pena is not a much better option in the closer role. Pena also does not have a good track record.

We may see a closer by committee at some point during the season. The Diamondbacks may have to follow the hot hand. In short, they may be in trouble unless Lyon turns things around, or Pena steps up and fills the role. It is possible that the Diamondbacks may need to go out and trade for someone before the deadline if this situation is not fixed by then.

Steven Farnsworth
Burnersports.com - President

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Chapter 2 of 14
Making sure the Celebrity will be the right fit for your audience.

One of the biggest mistakes made when contemplating the use of a celebrity endorser is choosing a celebrity that does not complement your business or product well. For example, sticking a retired baseball player into a kids video about baseball could be a sure failure. Kids dont recognize players from the past. If, however, the target market audience of the video was the kids father (who would be considered a baby boomer) then using a retired player might make a lot of sense. Using a retired player offers a very distinct advantage when it comes to the financial side of the equation. However, while choosing a player from yesterday can cost a lot less money there is also the significantly higher risk of the kid not knowing who the player is and not caring about the video. Along with the reward comes the risk of this type of endorser not being able to make inroads because of lack of a name brand or little current recognition.

When making your final selection, always weigh in heavily on the specific demographic of the end user. While the buyer may seem like the initial target, the end user might ultimately decide the fate of the product. Make sure you do your homework and know who your market is.

Currently, we are working on a major pain relief spray project with a public company on the East Coast. They had originally decided that they were going to use a one year retired NASCAR driver. Initially, it seemed a good decision. Once we looked at the market a little closer it became apparent that this product was aimed at people 55 and older (although it has applications for all ages). After much thought we have decided to use a retired HOF baseball player for a number of reasons. First, he is very recognizable, believable, squeaky clean, attractive, provides his own brand awareness, and most importantly, can relate to getting older and experiencing pain. He is a satisfied user of the product and therefore can tell his story on a very sincere level, one that the over 55 group can relate to, as they remember him being one of the top players in the 70s and 80s. We have a perfect fit for a product that is very targeted. By choosing the baseball player over the NASCAR driver, we have a broader audience. A lot of over 55 individuals do not follow NASCAR but most have followed baseball.

NASCAR is a relatively new sport and thus its following tends to be of a younger age. In this particular deal we also did something very compelling for both the athlete and the company. Most of his compensation is tied to the actual sales of the product. With this arrangement, we insure that we have the undivided attention of the athlete throughout the contract. A proactive athlete helps to sell himself and the product and is extremely motivated to go the extra mile to make sure they become a household name. In fact, we have already seen huge dividends in the form of athlete contacts. This would not happen if we had not signed him to a performance based royalty payment schedule.

copyright 2006 Ron Tyler

Ron Tyler has been in the creative marketing business for the past 20 plus years. He has consulted with small companies all the way up to public companies. He has extensive experience in the strategy and benefit arena and actual implementation of laser targeted marketing plans. He can be reached via email at rtyler51@comcast.net

Field A Ground Ball - How To Field A Ground Ball In Youth Baseball

Fielding a ground ball hit to you

Hands down facing the batter, knees bent so the glove gets down (butt down..gets the hands down and provides good balance). This is perfect if the ball is right to you. But what if the ball is not hit to you? You have to move your feet!

Get in front of the ball, and you have to move your feet quickly to do that.

As coaches we want our players to be in front of the ball because if there is not a clean catch the body still gives protection of keeping the ball from escaping the infield. I like to emphasize in boys youth baseball to use their eyes also. You cant catch what you cant see. If you move your feet to get in front of the ball have your glove in front where you can see the ball come into the glove, the youth player has a better chance of a good catch and making the play.

Fielding a ground ball to the right or left

There are two methods two catch this ball. One is the Shuffle step. This is used when the ball is hit just a little to either side and you can quickly get to the ball still in ready position. If the ball is hit to the left you shuffle step with left foot and the right foot moves quickly after to stay in the ready position.It's the opposite if the ball is hit to the right. 2 or 3 quick shuffle steps can be done by any youth baseball player in the ready position to field a close ground ball.

The second method is the Crossover. When the ball is a little farther away to the left..to move quickly to the ball the right foot will crossover in front of and past the left foot. The opposite is done for a ball hit to the right. Left over Right or Right over left is used when you need to get to the ball quickly and is far enough away you cant shuffle to it. A key point in doing the crossover is not to stand up. A good youth baseball tip is to remain bent at the waist during the crossover to keep from wasting time.

Author- Brian McClure

http://www.coaching-youth-baseball.com/

Parents and Coaches - Get Free Youth Baseball Drills and Tips Here!

See our complete list of Topics and articles on youth baseball here;
http://www.coaching-youth-baseball.com/topics.html

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