Since he returned home to Alexandria after being inducted last October into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, longtime Peabody basketball coach Charles Smith faced a new challenge.
“I was getting bombarded with so many calls and texts and emails, I couldn’t handle them all,” he said, explaining his hiring of local attorney Shane Williams as his agent. Williams, an Alexandria native and product of the Southern University Law Center, recently worked as city attorney but is now working as a Human Resources consultant for the Louisiana Municipal Association in Baton Rouge. He has been a sports agent for 18 years.
Smith, thankful for his many recent coaching accolades and the desire to “give back” to the community, started the inaugural Charles Smith Hall of Fame Golf Tournament last week at OakWing Golf Club with the goal of raising money for scholarships.
“It’s academic scholarships for high-achieving students in central Louisiana,” he said, noting a committee from his newly formed foundation will select winners each year and grant them scholarships to the college of their choice.”
In his inaugural four-man scramble tournament, Smith attracted 10 teams with players coming from Tennessee, Texas, the Lafayette area and central Louisiana. Curiously, one golfer who came from Houston was Antonio Cruz, the grandson of Houston Astros Hall of Famer Jose Cruz, who came after seeing it promoted on the internet, said Smith.
Coach Smith doesn’t know yet how much, if any, net revenue he brought in from the tourney, but he was grateful for many non-monetary donations for things such as food for both breakfast and lunch, trophies and door prizes. He was also thankful to all who helped him put on the tournament.
He is hopeful that the tournament will grow in future years and may attract some “big name” sports personalities, of whom he knows many. …
Pitching for power
Speaking of “big name” personalities, one major league pitcher who is drawing attention in the early part of this season is Cincinnati’s powerful right-handed pitcher Hunter Greene. Featured in a Wall Street Journal sports story this past weekend, Greene has a fastball averaging 99.4 mph, which is harder than any starter on record.
Former big league power pitcher Russ Springer of Pollock, who spent some time with the Reds at the end of his 18-year major league career, in 2010, said he loves watching today’s big, righthanded power-hitters like Greene and former LSU star Paul Skenes. Neither Greene nor Skenes, he said, has found success relying on only their fastball. They are both aces on their pitching staffs because they manage their secondary pitches so well.
Springer also cautions against getting too caught up in the speed count on a pitch, noting some research by Baseball America into the history of speed-measuring guns used in professional and college baseball.
Aroldis Chapman’s record-breaking 105.1 mph pitch on Sept. 24, 2020, is now registered as a 105.8 mph fastball, according to the story. That’s because the measurement of speed is more sophisticated.
“The Pitch/FX system that MLB used in 2010 measured pitches at roughly 50 feet from home plate, which is where the 105.1 mph of Chapman’s fastball was measured,” said Baseball America. “The current MLB Statcast system measures velocity as the pitch leaves the pitcher’s hand.” The greatest speed in a pitch is at the release because as soon as it leaves the pitcher’s hand, it starts to slow down because of drag.
In 1974 when career strikeouts king Nolan Ryan was with the California Angels, he got attention for pitches that clocked in at 100 mph or better. And that was when the Rockwell laser/radar instruments measured the speed of pitches as they crossed the plate. Considering what we know now, those Ryan fastballs in 1974 take on even more incredible wonder today.
“To me, hitters tell the tale of velocity,” Springer said, noting the reaction of hitters to fastballs they’ve had to deal with might be as good an indicator as a radar device. “I remember when I played, I’d ask guys who was the best power pitcher they ever faced. I heard Nolan (Ryan), Bret Saberhagen, Billy Wagner.” Saberhagen, a two-time Cy Young winner (1984-01) was just 6-foot-1, 200 pounds; Wagner was even smaller at 5-10, 180.
None topped Nolan Ryan, though. “I remember reading a great quote from Reggie Jackson when he was in his prime,” said Springer. “He said, ‘Hitting Nolan Ryan is like trying to eat soup with a fork.’”
Just as Nolan Ryan was able to play 27 seasons in the major leagues, the new flamethrower of the day, Hunter Greene, could pitch for two decades, Springer said. That’s not just because of more attention by modern pitchers to fitness and diets but because, like Ryan and now, like Skenes and other potential Cy Young winners, Greene manages his secondary pitches well.
“MLB hitters are hitting .054 against Hunter Greene’s slider so far this year,” Springer said. “The use and development of his secondary pitches is what is making him into an All-Star type, a true ace.”