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- O’s DH Luke Scott is determined to make the Anti-Nerd All-Stars.
MLB.com recently published an article about Scott, who has been tinkering with his swing of late to try to mimic the motion of his axe-swing, and successfully too:
Luke Scott, Baltimore’s free-spirited designated hitter, recently stood at his locker mimicking an axe stroke and comparing it to his new batting stance. Scott, who has hit four home runs in his last 14 Spring Training at-bats, said Sunday that he’s patterned his new approach around the same motion he’d use to chop down a tree… Scott spent most of his winter chopping fire wood to work on his arm-strength and came to camp sporting a bushy mountain man beard.
Somewhat paradoxically, though, the same article might give you the impression that “Lumberjack Luke” (my invention) may be one of us after all. The author suggests that in making his transition from regular outfielder to DH, Scott is going to have to slow down and get used to sitting quietly in the dugout between at-bats, and that to do this succesfully, “[Scott] has to stifle his overly analytical nature.” According to the article, “Scott is one of the team’s more devoted hitters when it comes to studying video.”
That sounds nerdy, alright. But don’t let him fool you. According to a Baltimore Sun article referenced on a totally random blog I found, Scott is about as nerdy as Chuck Norris. Apparently, Scott takes his second amendment rights seriously enough to carry a concealed handgun, which around Baltimore almost makes sense. Nonetheless, there’s nothing even remotely nerdy about that.
Luke Scott, for your axe-swinging, gun-toting activities, you are the new O’s Anti-Nerd.
Tags: Anti-nerd, axe, chopping wood, concealed weapon, luke scott, O's
(4.89 out of 5)
I’ve only swung a few axes in my time (all very dangerously), but I would think that the axe motion would be the opposite of a good baseball swing. A chopping motion is at a sharp downward angle with zero follow-through. I predict that Mr. Scott will hit 97% ground balls this year, and will revive the art of the cheapo hit that bares his team’s name, the Baltimore Chop.
Dr. Nerd: I agree about Scott’s official Anti-Nerd(TM) designation for the 2009 O’s squad. His concealed weapon and tree chopping experience definitely overshadows the anti-nerd tendencies of his teammate Ty Wigginton, which you wrote about previously.