Cross-Training, Tony Zych Style
Zych takes a left turn into clubhouse dominance

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There are two articles up today on the M's new pool hustler, Tony "Chicago Sea" Zych.  Chicago Sea might have taken it easy on his boss Scott Servais, according to the articles.  But Abraham Lincoln warned about how the real hustlers end up winning everything that isn't locked down:

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle. — Abraham Lincoln, a self-described "billiard addict"

Maybe a razor-sharp billiards game doesn't automatically translate to 30 saves, but the cross-training adds an interesting dimension for me as a fanboy.  Steven Hauschka lines up his field goals as if he were weighing a 3-iron across the river 210 down.  Does Zych line up his pitch sequences like he had 5 balls left to clean the table?

Max Eberle gives us 4 things that an aiki-pool hustler brings to the, um, table:

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POOL CHAMPS LIVE IN A WORLD OF SPECIFIC INTENTIONS

Champions have clear intentions of their outcome.  They know where they want to make the ball, where they want the cue ball to land, and how they plan to get it there.  Champion pool players live in a universe of specificity when it come to what they are doing on the table.  the more specific, the higher their success will tend to be.  Also they know what they want to accomplish in a event… instead of saying “Oh I want to do pretty good,” they will say something like “How big is my first place check going to be?”   Instead of saying “I want the cue ball to be somewhere over there,” they say “I want the cue ball to land right there.”

Ah-HAH.  So now Dr. D can enjoy a Zych 4-pitch sequence, secure in his conceit that Zych had the final pitch crisply in mind when the batter first stepped in.  Hey, pool training for everybody all around, Barkeep.  When the M's start the season 52-and-5 we'll know exactly which piece of training equipment to glorify.

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THEY DON'T GET DISTRACTED, EVEN BY 440-FOOT FOUL BALLS

Champions stay focused on what they want.  Instead of allowing their mind to wander into the bad things that could happen, they become good at deciding and then staying focused on their desired outcome.

Sports IS life, isn't it?  

:- ) And it's kind of suggestive that Zych landed in the bigs with a splash.  Dr. D fancies that the seeds of Zych's 3-strikeout, 22-of-30 strike major league debut were sown on the billiard table, that one time when an ace opponent left him on the rail behind an 8 ball.  No worries, mate.

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THEY LOVE TO WORK ON RECOVERY SHOTS

Champions continually put in the work to develop or maintain the skills necessary to tackle all situations.  If and if there is something they don’t know, they are eager to learn a new technique or shot.

Any golfer will tell you that "rescue" strokes save the average golfer more than do --- > an extra 10 yards down the fairway from a perfect lie.  So, obviously Zych can bear down in a 3-1 count.

Wait, check me on that ... sure enough, Tony Zych gets better results when behind in the count (.235/.350/.412) than when even in the count (.348/.400/.522).  See how easy cross-sports analysis can be?!

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THEY'VE GOT SHORT MEMORIES

If something goes wrong, champions do not dwell on it, instead they get focused back into their goals and into a positive solution to fix the situation from that moment.  So if they miss a shot, they might get mad, but they know they better be ready soon to respond with the good stuff in their next opportunity.

So, we know without checking that when Zych had a bad outing in '15, the next day along was peachy-keen ..  wait, what.  He didn't have any bad outings in 2015.  He detonated the first hitter he saw, and the last one he faced, and most of 'em in between.

Dr. D doesn't know whether Zych is headed for stardom in 2016, but he can tell ya this much:  it would be fun to watch.

Enjoy,

Jeff

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Comments

1

There's pool sharks and there's pool players. One eats their prey, the other enjoy a good game with their friends. I'm the latter. Haven't played in many, MANY years. But some of the most enjoyable times of my life were around a pool table with friends.

I imagine there's a twofold thought in DiPoto's mind about the pool table, competition and brotherhood (i.e., social bonding). Those two thoughts can coalesce. No doubt pool sharks will emerge in the club house. But so will pool players. And there's nothing quite as social as a game of pool when it's not a game between sharks. The watchers congregate. The players have plenty of chance to talk between shots. Also, nothing lowers the blood pressure like a relaxed, solo game of pool.

If you bring together competition and brotherhood you get...a team. In the truest sense of the word. My guess is that's DiPoto's thinking.

Re: Zych, I hope he fully realizes his potential and becomes everything we want him to be. The M's are gonna need it start happening this year, 'cause if it doesn't, weakness in the bullpen could offset a lot of other good things.

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On top of being a pool shark / hustler, Chicago Sea also brings a bit of Daniel Boone.

Zych loves to hunt deer... with a bow and arrow. He likes geting dirty, sneaking through the bush to get closer to his prey, and artfully getting into position to take his kill shot. That one and only shot to get it right.

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