Lombo was a gritty player, I really dug him
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Excellent description for a ‘jack of all trades’ Not quite good enough to be a super star but having the heart, being teachable and talented enough to play 3 positions ‘good’ and maybe 3 adequately, can be around for a long time...
My grandson is a decent ball player but no power hitter and - like me - probably will never be. His father and older brother are ‘sluggers’ and I keep trying to get him to tighten his stance, choke up, excel at bunting, and be a ‘banjo hitter’...like I tell him and his ‘like’ friends...get up there and concentrate on singles, once the balls start dropping and you get a little bat control, the doubles will come and occasionally one will hit the ‘sweet spot’ and you may get a ‘tater.
He is a Junior in HS and getting better bat control and wants to go ‘further’....I think he has a shot as long as he keeps thinking ‘small’...good attitude, smart base running, talk it up and be versatile...he was a pretty fair C a few years ago (if I may say) and last year the C went down and ‘BEFORE I could get to him - he volunteered to catch. The coaches hadn’t seen him catch and he (GS) came over to me and asked me to ‘talk to them’ and the lad finished out the season Catching. (funny- we know how coaches ‘treat’ the ‘helpful’ parents but I get along with the JV and V coaches...probably more out of ‘respect’ for my age (HA) but I am somewhat knowledgeable and will ‘get on my GS’ case when he is wrong...AND he seeks me out for advice on occasion....(shocking isn’t it...)
It probably cost him a V promotion in mid season but I would have rather have him playing JV as a Soph than sitting on the V...
He will return to his 3B/SS duties but at least now they know he can catch...has good ‘follow the ball instincts’ so he may get a little further up the line....
He also a fair P, (going back to run the lineup), but he rightfully doesn’t want to get into the ‘I am a Pitcher’ and hardly ever get to see the field other than pitching.
Well it won’t be long now, HS starts March 12 or so and Nats in April....
Wow good luck to you and yours with all that! I think contact guys are almost sure to make a comeback eventually. Guys like Lombo are pretty rare now, at least on a team like the Nats. Almost nobody chokes up after 2 strikes nowadays, strike outs are WAAAAY up in MLB over the last 10 years, as is average fast ball velocity.
Freegards