Behind Every Good Man
By
Amanda
Posted at 10:47 pm
Adam Dunn reported to spring training camp a little early and a little lighter this year. While people will debate whether Dunn really needed to trim down, there aren't too many people out there saying it's going to be a bad thing.
Especially, I bet, his doctor. Looking at this photo, you can tell he's looking good, but even so, Dunner is hardly dodging raindrops. His cholesterol had to be approaching the Crestor phase by the end of last season.
So what's changed? Did he get tired of getting short of breath from tying his shoes? Probably not: that wasn't enough to get his booty in gear last season. Did he get sick of people being down on him all the time? Doubtful: what does the Big Donkey care what people think? Did the bruises from Griffey constantly poking him in the belly to laugh like the Pillsbury doughboy start to bother him? Of course not: that's a good thing!
But there is one thing that comes immediately to mind when I think of things that are different in Mr. Dunn's life since last year: fatherhood. Maybe the desire to stay fit and healthy long enough to see his son grow up has had an impact or perhaps a lady-friend has had a positive impact. Maybe something else. Whatever it is, I think I'd be more interested to hear about it than hear Josh Hamilton's story again or listen to Yankee fans complain about Bubba Crosby.
One things for sure: if there is a good woman back there, she's going to have a tough time staying hidden behind him if he keeps losing weight.
Personally, I think fellow Houstonian Bubba Crosby whipped him into shape. 😉
Seriously…from what both he and Bubba have said, he was really bothered by his “poor” performance last year. Both [url=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/wires/02/20/2010.ap.bbn.reds.dunn.0459/]SI[/url] and the [url=http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070220/SPT05/702200310/1027]Post[/url] have had articles about it. He says he was determined to make sure it didn’t happen again, and that included improving his diet.
[quote]”I spent all offseason thinking about how hard the last two months of the season were for me,” Dunn said. “I was terrible. I don’t want that to happen to me again.”
The main thing he would like to accomplish this season is to improve his fielding.
Dunn had 13 errors in left field last season, two shy of his career high. He had 15 in his first full season in the majors in 2002.
Dunn lost a little weight in the offseason – he’s not sure exactly how much – and reported for spring training with two new outfield gloves and a new resolve to become a better defensive player.[/quote]
He may never be GG material, but I’m sure he can improve. Jorge Posada, who makes Sean Casey look speedy, was determined to improve his defense last year. He showed up 12 lbs. lighter than he had been the previous year, and worked really hard on his footwork. It paid off. He was gunning them down all over the place. He was 35 last year, so it’s never too late.
Maybe this is the year he hits one into the River on a fly…
for you newbies to Dunn lore, he has hit one into the Ohio River on a solid bounce, but we are looking for a spash down… that would be worthy of a shrine.
How far would that be? Has anyone done it before?
No one’s ever done it before, it would be the longest home run in history… and he already has the longest home run in modern recorded history at something like 535 feet… I am guessing this would have to be 560+. I don’t know, that is a good question for the mailbag at Reds.com I might submit it.
[quote]and he already has the longest home run in modern recorded history at something like 535 feet[/quote]
Wow, really? Is it on HitTrackerOnline?
Hey they have the home run listed at Reds.com and you can even watch the video. He crushed it off of Jose Lima of the Dodgers.
Here’s the link:
[url=http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ballpark/longest_hr.jsp]Dunn reaches the river on a bounce[/url]
They list it as the longest HR at GABP but I am pretty sure its the longest in recorded history, anywhere, since they began recording the distances officially. I sent an email to Mark Sheldon’t mailbag to find out the distance to the river on a fly, and to find out if indeed 535 is the longest ever.
Hmm. 2004 is probably too old to be on HitTrackerOnline, unless it was a truly historic homer. (They have a special section for those.)
HitTrackerOnline is a site set up by some nerdy engineers, who have a special formula that takes into account atmospherics, wind, elevation, etc. According to them, most of the “record” homers did not go as far as claimed. Basically, the “official” distance is given by someone in the stadium office, who looks at a chart and estimates the distance. They try to do it more scientifically, measuring the angle off the bat, apex, weather effects, etc., to see how far it really went (or how far it would have gone if it didn’t hit something in the way).
HTO does list Adam Dunn in the top five hitters of 2006 for distance. Behind only Reggie Abercrombie, Richie Sexson, A-Rod, and Lance Berkman.
Well, if the longest home run in modern history isn’t historic, then I don’t know what is! It bounced into the river andlanded on a piece of drift wood. It was recovered by the team and I believe it is on display in the Reds museum. They were able to come up with a good estimate because of where it bounced and where it wound up in the river, so I think it is pretty darn accurate. The man is a monster.
I haven’t been able to watch the video. MLB.com is clogged tonight.
I’m not sure MLB keeps track of home run distance. There doesn’t seem to be any consensus on what the longest one was. Some claim distances of over 600′ for some of Mantle’s, but I think most modern researchers agree that that is near impossible, physics-wise, and likely a result of generous measuring.
A-Rod is credited with a 535′ home run, in 2005.
BAH, A-Rod didn’t hit no 535 shot… No way, now how. They picked that distance arbitrairily to tie him with Dunn for highest all time, IMO. Damn Yankees! They truly are the Evil Empire.
LOL!
Well, I wouldn’t be surprised if Dunn hits a record-setter this year. He’s watching his fitness, and he’s 27 years old – generally believed to be the physical peak for a baseball player.
BubbaFan, did you see the Reds most recent depth chart at reds.com? It shows Bubba [b]Crosby[/b] as the #2 centerfielder behind Griffey. Hamilton is way down on the depth chart as is Hopper. What’s interesting about this is it puts Crosby ahead of Denorfia… maybe because Denorfia also has minor league options. Interesting. I wish Crosby the best of luck this spring, I think its his job to lose!’
Really? That’s interesting…
Wow, you’re right. Bubba is listed above Hamilton, Hopper, and Denorfia. Thanks for the tip.
The Reds outfield looks awfully crowded compared to the Yankees’. They have only one backup OFer for all three positions: Melky Cabrera.
And back to the original subject of this thread…the [url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/nl/reds/notes.htm?csp=34]McPaper[/url] also has some coverage of Dunn’s new interest in fitness. From the same interview as the others, but with some info that didn’t make it to the other articles.
[quote] Dunn spent the winter eating better and running more to forget about last year, “to clear my head. I’m here with a clear head.”
Dunn spent the last two months of last season on a downward swirl — .188 in August, .157 in September. Even though he hit 40 homers and drove in 92 runs, he considers 2006 a gully-wash of a season.
“I’m trying to get last year out of my head,” he said. “I spent all offseason thinking about how terrible the last two months were on me, and I want to do everything I can not to let that happen again.
“I did a lot more running than I usually do just to clear my mind and start over. The season, as a whole, was very disappointing to me. But it is out of my head now.”[/quote]
I did finally see the video of that home run, BTW. Wow. (His swing does remind me a bit of A-Rod, actually, in that it looks so effortless, you can’t believe the ball goes so far.)
I’m disappointed that they ddin’t show the ball in the water, though. I happened to be watching a Pirates game when the first homer landed in the river, and they showed it in the water. (It floated, at least for awhile, until boaters trying to net it sank it.)
Yea, would have been nice if they had shown it in the river…had to read about that in the paper the next day. Hopefully they learned their lesson and have a camera trained on the street/river at all times now, because it would be a shame if someone hit a splash down and they didn’t capture it on camera.
I was at that game. It was truly an unbelievable homerun. My son was out in the moon deck and watched it go over. I believe it bounced on the street and then rolled down the hill to the edge of the river.
Wow, Mark Sheldon responded to my mailbag question.
We were having a discussion about Dunn on a blog, and I mentioned that I am hopeful this is the year he hits a splash-down shot in the Ohio River. The question is: What kind of distance would it take to land a ball in the river on the fly? Also, what was the distance on that mammoth shot he hit back in 2004 that landed in the river on a bounce? Is that the longest home run in recorded history? He may strike out a ton, but Dunner can sure wallop the ball, can’t he?
— Aaron B., Newport, Ky.
Dunn is big. Dunn is strong. Dunn is big and strong, but can he reach the river on the fly? Highly unlikely. The estimated distance from home plate to the river is over 600 feet.
On Aug. 10, 2004, against the Dodgers, Dunn hit an estimated 535-foot blast that sailed over the center-field batter’s eye. It bounced onto Mehring Way and eventually landed on a piece of driftwood on the banks of the mighty Ohio River and technically, into the state of Kentucky. According to baseball historian Bill Jenkinson, the dinger was estimated to be the longest home run since at least 1976. It’s hard to determine if it was the longest all-time since the estimates, especially in earlier years, were far from scientific and not always accurate.
Unfortunately he didn’t mention red-hot-mama.com specifically, and replaced the name of the site with “a blog” when he re-printed my question. So much for free publicity. Nontheless a good anwer.
Only thing is, I think Mark is wrong. They have a home run distance calculator at [url=http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ballpark/longest_hr.jsp]http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ballpark/longest_hr.jsp[/url] and when I click the river, parallel to section 141 in right field it is showing 560 feet to reach the river, which btw is my original guesstimate that I posted on this thread. So I am waiting to hear back from Mark on this.
I too was there when he hit that one, it was impressive to say the least. I also was in the Moon Deck, only place I like to sit at GABP.
I got this response from Mark, but I still think he is wrong:
The 600 foot estimate came from Rob Butcher in Reds media relations dept. I trust his information.
Thanks again,
MLS.
I think Rob was referring to the 535 foot home run and how much longer it would have to have been to reach the river on the fly. Since that was out to centerfield it required more distance. A shot down the 1st base line would only require 560 feet, even at high trajectory to reach the River for a splash down, according to the home run distance calculator. I guess we’ll find out for certain when it happens.
Wow! Congratulations on getting your question published in the Mailbag.
And at least he knows RHM is a blog, and not a pr0n site. 😀
THis is actually like the 3rd or 4th time my question has gotten published. Another benefit of a small market team 😉
Mark Sheldon has always known the RHM isn’t a porn site; [url=http://www.red-hot-mama.com/comments.php?id=275_0_1_0_C]this[/url] was the highlight of my day when it happened back in December 2005:
[quote]Speaking of MLB writers, I’m very excited to say that Mark Sheldon, our new MLB writer at the official site, says that someone mentioned my blog to him before I sent a link-whoring email message. It was probably just Castrovince, and probably in the context of “watch out for that link-whoring, Bat-Girl wannabe,” but I’ll take it![/quote]