This has to be the last one of these, right? Games are being played. Pitchers are going more than two innings. Clearly we’re past the point where feature articles are being written about ballplayers rededicating themselves and all of that, right?
Oh well, for now at least, here’s the last one: Nick Swisher:Yet few think of Swisher in that company, and he knows he’s running out of time to change outside perceptions. After a generally down year in 2011, he rededicated himself to his offseason workouts. He showed up ripped, and said he’s quicker, stronger, and faster than ever before—something manager Joe Girardi couldn’t help but notice.
“He’s all three of those—quicker, stronger, and faster. I think he gets around the bases better, I watch him in the outfield, I watched him play first base the other day—he’s swung the bat well,” Girardi said.
That “outside perceptions” stuff is about how, despite being a pretty darn productive player overall, people tend to think of him as more of a goofball than as a solid, dedicated ballplayer.
Gee, if only people stopped making such unwarranted assumptions.
