Word: batting
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Everyone in baseball knows the main reason why the Pittsburgh Pirates are leading the National League's Eastern Division. Leftfielder Wilver Dornel Stargell is leading everyone in baseball in home runs and runs batted in. But why, exactly, is the lefthanded slugger hitting so well this season? Some say it's because the rightfield power alley in Pittsburgh's new Three Rivers Stadium is 23 ft. shorter than it was in Forbes Field, the Pirates' old home. Others explain that Willie is using a new bludgeon of a bat that is four ounces heavier...
Collins was one of the hardest workers on the team. He frequently warmed up in the bullpen in the late innings of games he wasn't pitching, and sometimes he even threw on the sidelines while his team was at bat in games he was pitching. Collins had relied on his sidearm delivery to surprise batters the year before, but he worked this season on his overhand delivery so that the sidearm became a more versatile weapon...
...only danger came in the seventh when Manley reached first on an error and advanced to third when a pick off threw hit his helmet. On the next pitch, Nickens pitched with the runner stealing home. Unable to reach the ball with his bat. UMass's Jack Conroy threw his body at Varney's legs, trying to knock over the 230-lb, catcher. Needless to say he failed, and Manley was out by several yards...
...only player to bat over .300 for the 1962 Mets...
...shutouts (4) and complete games (8). His approach is devastatingly simple: "I blow them down"-meaning he pitches fastballs 80% of the time. "I don't try to finesse a batter," he says. "I just try to hit the corners or jam a guy and break his bat. I enjoy breaking a guy's bat." He enjoys it so much that he runs to the mound every inning. Once there, he talks to himself constantly, rehashing each batter's weaknesses. "When I'm going good," he says matter-of-factly, "I don't believe there...