If you are an avid baseball fan you know that there are differing opinions and controversies regarding baseball’s greatest players and all-time personal achievements. When I was growing up baseball historians argued that Babe Ruth and Ty Cobb were the greatest of all time. Throughout the past seventy years names like Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Ted Williams, Pete Rose, Mickey Mantle, and a multitude of others, have been added to the mix.
Each season the next great phenom is crowned before he sees, or makes, his first pitch. Names like Mike Trout, Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge come to mind.
Statisticians provide reams of evidence regarding their personal picks. The web is alive with lists of personal bests: top 50 hitters of all time, top 50 pitchers of all time, most home runs of all time, most strikeouts of all time, etc., etc.. You get the picture. The statisticians gain their insight from record sheets assembled by others. They sit at a desk, read data, and determine opinions based upon the observations that they have not been a part of. They have no personal skin in the game. They lack the personal experience of witnessing the greatest as it plays out before them.
Technological advances have provided baseball fans with the opportunity to search historical video. These visual treasure hunts can be thought-provoking and entertaining, but their can’t replace personal, in the flesh, observational experience. I know because I have witnessed greatness.
Take it from me, most of you have never heard of baseball’s greatest player (maybe) of all time, my grandson, Brady Tebo.
Some critics may say that I am bias. Perhaps a bit. Let me offer some background to support my contention.
Brady’s grandfather, AKA TGO, (me) was a player in his own right. He was an above average fielder but couldn’t hit. He made up for his lack speed by having a weak throwing arm. This deadly combination of skills lead to him being chosen near the end of the line in local, neighborhood, pickup games.
Brady’s grandmother, AKA Nana, doesn’t like any game where a ball travels towards her.
Brady’s father, David, is a good athlete. He always has been. In high school he lettered in basketball, baseball, golf, and track. He played basketball and ran track in college. If you ask him, he’ll probably attribute his success to “good genes” and hard work. (mostly hard work)
Lindsay, his mom, was a high school athlete too. She lettered in softball and would have excelled in other sports if she hadn’t blown out her ACL. Opportunities were lost to injury. More recently she discovered during a DNA study that “elite athleticism” is a part of her gene pool.
Brady’s genealogy and hard work are paying off. He plays basketball, baseball, football, golf and runs track. He’s good at everything. The sport of the season is his favorite. No getting picked near the end of the draft for him. If he could only participate in one, I expect that he would opt for basketball. But that’s just a guess.
He’s a lefty which is a great asset on the court (basketball) and on the diamond (baseball). My selection of him being Baseball’s Great Player (Maybe) is based upon two personal observations.
Brady is a three position player: pitcher, first base, and center field.. He is an outstanding pitcher and a great fielder. He is sure handed and focused. He is a presence on the field with a rocket launcher arm.
Enough accolades. Here’s the proof of my contention. Ten year old Brady was a pitcher from the start. (I hope you’re sitting down as you read this because you aren’t going to believe what I write next.) During one key game on the mound he personally accounted for the first seven outs in the game. Sceptics to my assertion may say, “so what?” They may point to the fact that Jim Deshaies struck out the first eight batters he faced on September 23, 1986 while pitching for the Houston Astros. To them I say, “big deal”.
Brady’s accomplishment far exceeds that of Mr. Deshaies. Brady stuck out five of the first seven batters he faced and pulled off an unassisted double play. Scout’s honor. Cross my heart. It’s true. He struck out the side in the first inning. He struck out the first batter in the second and then walked the second batter. The third batter hit a lazy looper over the pitcher’s mound which Brady caught. He ran down the runner who had ventured too far off the bag to complete his unassisted double play. Pure alert, heads up, genius. After the first batter he faced in the third struck out, Brady had pulled off something that no one in the history of baseball had ever accomplished. While strikeouts and unassisted double plays have occurred before, no one has accomplished both while facing only seven opposing players. No one. Check the record books, review all of the tapes, it’s never been done before; and I venture to say that such an accomplishment will never be repeated at any level of the sport.
Last year, Brady pulled off the greatest fielding play that I have ever witnessed. At one time I would have ranked Derek Jeter’s one-handed catch and throw to home as the greatest fielding play. (see the link below) Not anymore.
While pitching another superb game, a batter hit a line shot at Brady. When I say hot, I mean HOT!!!!! He knocked it down and it jumped off to his left. He picked in up and with the runner barreling towards first, he fired a no look, back hand, under hand rocket to the first baseman. The crowd was stunned. (So was the first baseman.) People gasped in amazement. Both sides applauded the accomplishment and babies cried. (OK, babies didn’t cry, but it was an OUTSTANDING play.) Derek Jeter’s play now ranks second best in my all time memories of outstanding fielding plays.
And he’s just getting started. Brady will become a teenager a month from today. He’s a special young man. I see great things in his future.
When I was a kid, the captains of the two teams tossed a bat to see who got first pick for our pickup baseball games. Sometimes we went to “flat tops”, or “eagle claws”, to finish the toss. Most of the time it was “full hand or nothing”. You had to call it while the bat was in the air.
If I ever get the chance to be “captain pick first” again, I’m picking Brady.
https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video?fr=yfp-t-s&p=derek+jeter+great+play+video#id=5&vid=0a9ee8f442b4a8c4a850df7f1938d5b0&action=view