I haven't watched baseball in years, this video just got recommended to me because I was watching baseball videos, and I don't understand this joke. What does it mean? I know who Kate Upton is, but I don't know anything about her.
Well, the reason it was a throwaway joke is simply because she was wearing a Yankees hat in the picture and she gets a lot of shit for being a "Tigers fan" (which she legitimately WAS when she met Verlander - that's HOW she met him) and then being an "Astros fan" when...he got traded to the team. She's a fan of her man. Not really worthy of shit-giving in my opinion. So it was like a baseball in-joke, kinda poking fun at people that poke fun at Kate Upton.
lol how is a verbal joke in a video underrated!?! how can you possibly know who laughed or not. Im pretty sure most people probably appreciated it, he put it in the script there for a reason
As a Tigers fan this hurts me. He threw so hard and was so young and was one of my favorites. Him carrying those boxes for his dad really hurt him too.
This dude was a SUPERSTAR as far as my childhood was concerned. I started watching baseball near the end of the 2005 season, and when I was getting up early before school to watch Sportscenter for the baseball highlights, Zumaya and the 102+mph fastball were king.
“He threw a 104.8 mph pitch, which at the time was a major league record.” “He was 21 years old.” “He never pitched more than 40 innings in a year, after pitching 83 his rookie year.” Huh, it’s almost like cranking out all those missiles at such a young age was a bigger problem than a video game.
He literally missed out on the 2006 World Series for the *explicit* reason of shredding too much Guitar Hero, would it really be a leap to say that it may have contributed to his demise as well?
@@wateriswet0510 I’m sure Guitar Hero didn’t help, at least regarding that World Series, but knowing what we know about the way young pitchers are used(and we knew this back in 2006 too), a 21 year old throwing 105 mph rockets for that many damn innings as a rookie raises some serious red flags. For me at least. But I’m just some guy commenting on TH-cam.
I'm sure guitar hero didn't help, but his delivery was far more to blame for his constant injuries. That's a lot of torque on your body when you throw that hard and if you don't have a sound delivery, you leave yourself wide open for elbow and shoulder problems.
Just goes to show how good some of the MLB hitters are. And that was, I believe, a 36-year old Griffey, turning on a 104-mph fastball. If you know what is coming, you can crush it, no matter what.
@@kleshreen Not if it's a knuckleball. When Wakefield pitched, everyone knew what was coming every time. Same thing for a guy like Troy Percival, only replace knuckleball with 102mph fastball.
Joel Zumaya...now there’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time...a long time.... I always thought the Guitar Hero injury was an urban legend or some kind of joke. Honestly, a twenty-one year old flame baller, throwing 80 plus high-leverage innings, often breaking 100 mph and even breaking the record for fastest pitch? It was only a matter of time before the baseball gods saw fit to smite him with a career-ending arm injury. Such is the way it has been since the days of Smoky Joe Wood and Jeff Tesreau. RIP
Joel “zoom zoom” zumaya!!! I saw this dude hit 103 mph against the Twins that year. Up to that point it was considered borderline impossible to throw past 101 mph. He was amazing!
I remember watching this series with my Yankees back in 2006. As Zumaya was coming into the game from the bullpen, he tossed the water bottle like HHH does when he comes into the ring!
I remember joel zumaya, him and Justin verlander on a team soon joined by scherzer. These guys hit 100 mph when it was still pretty damn rare and incredible to see
How they used him was great. They always had him follow Kenny Rogers, so batters were hitting against a lefty who maxed out at 90 to a guy who had a 100+ consistent fastball. It was brilliant!
I was at that Tigers v Athletics playoff game as a kid. I remembered this guys name at 8 years old cause of that 104 mph pitch. Loved to get an update on him and what happened to his career
8:00 .. what a great and strong attitude to have and experiencing the accceptance of it all. I am sure it sucks to think about and there is a lot of "what ifs" we can play but at the end of the day, it is what it is. I never heard this story somehow, great stuff. I keep replaying those strikes though...ooof
At 7:30 you have a pic of Rod Allen and Mario Impemba interviewing Zumaya. Those two would get into a fight a couple years ago. Both were fired by the Tigers after their fight. They had worked together close to 20 years.
First time I went to a Tiger game as a kid I ended up with an autographed baseball from him while we were hanging out on the third base line during pregame. Never getting rid of that thing.
@@ryanh1013 that wasn't the angle I was thinking about but ur hella right, I've definitely had that choice quite a few times and I think I picked wrong
@@lukewancewicz488 It’s the reason I gave up playing videogames. They’re stimulating enough to where I don’t want to stop playing them but I’m never actually having a good time while playing them. Then I end up being a lazy piece of shit that doesn’t do anything except play videogames, and I’m not even happy while playing them.
Zumaya popped a tendon in his right index finger. That's how hard he squeezed the ball. It was probably that and not Guitar Center or whatever it's called that ruined him. Between him and Mark Fidrych, Detroit really struck it rich in the legendary here today-gone tomorrow pitchers.
Wow, in the elbow fracture clip you can really see the tragic process he goes through. When he first feels the pain he makes an expression as if to say “of course” then he goes to move his arm and feels that the pain is intense and this is a worse injury than he’s ever had. Not only has he been injured, he’s badly injured his elbow, the single most important part of a pitchers body, he then collapses to the ground when he comes to the realization that this injury will end his career. Very sad clip to watch.
14 years ago I beat Joel Zumaya at guitar hero in the parking lot of my orthodontist’s office during a meet and greet lol. The video is still on my channel. Really funny to see this pop up in my recommended videos
This reminds me of a kid I knew in College. Top student, only 6 weeks from graduation, ran into Guitar Hero and ended up flunking out. When we finally ran into him we found out he'd been in his basement for 2 months, trying to beat Guitar Hero on expert level.
I remember reading on a sports biometrics site that 104 mph is the theoretical maximum a baseball can be thrown by a human due to the physical limits of arm ligaments. I believe Joel proved that correct.
Been a lifelong Tiger fan, and still am. Don't anyone say "oh, I'm sorry to hear that". Stark Raving, thank you for making this video about Zoomie. Appreciate that. Man oh man do I miss those days of winning baseball. The Tigers will return to greatness just as soon as Al Avila, the worst baseball GM in the history of forever, is fired. Good God is Avila awful.
I actually went to high school with him at Bonita Vista High in Chula Vista CA ( San Diego county).. we both had math class together. Mr. Rylanders math class..and he sat right next to me. We weren't the best of friends or anything but we did talk during class. Cool guy. The school knew who he was because he got drafted his senior year. Got him to sign a ball for me.
@@3lite_Pxlarized Even if Guitar Hero gave him a sore wrist late in 2006.. a separated shoulder and major surgery a few months later was probably the main reason for his decline. With or without video games involved, it's not exactly rare for hard throwers to develop arm problems... or to have a hard time getting back into form after a major surgery.
I’m a Tiger fan a remember this. He was so good that year! Funny thing just a few years prior to that we had a reliever and 1st round pick Matt Anderson hurt his shoulder throwing an octopus after a Red Wing game.
As an adult he is the reason his career was "ruined". I wouldn't call making it to the big leagues "ruined" or a failure first off. He made it farther than most. Lastly, good video! I appreciate the story.
@@augustgreig9420 Good line, bad sentiment. People cry all the time in every sport. Sports are very emotional. You get people's adrenaline flowing and emotions happen.
@@katherineberger6329 could have been adrenaline, could have been emotion.... could have been old fashioned intense physical pain... That pitch did break a bone in his arm.
ok seriously stop w/ the trend of showing the analytics to beg for subs, everyone and their mom is doing it and it actively turns off non-endemic viewers who found you through the algorithm
It wasnt guitar hero. I'm reminded of a line from Blade Runner. "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long and you have burned so very brightly"
Someone needs to make a video or series of videos on how the Tigers between 2006 and 2015 managed to somehow avoid becoming one of the greatest dynasties in Major League Baseball history (and why that dynasty could've easily still be going on today!)... We had it all in our grasps, Tigers fans, yet somehow it all slipped away from us... We had it ALL! We could've EASILY been right up there with the Atlanta Braves of 1991 to 2005... AND WE SOMEHOW BLEW IT!
Today was the *4* year anniversary of when "The MLB Pitcher Whose Career Was Ruined by Guitar Hero" was uploaded! I had never heard of Joel Zumaya until tonight. Now I know why! 🤓➡️😅
He was supposed to be the closer of the future for the Detroit tigers. He threw 101 and sometimes even 102 and hitters were just up there praying to hit the ball, the fact that he ruined his career playing too much guitar hero is honestly both infuriating and hilarious at the same time.
I think he just killed his arm throwing that hard. Just because your body can do it, doesn’t mean you should. The human body is not supposed to absorb that much torque.
No he didn't. He admitted a long time ago that the Guitar hero was made up. No doctors could figure out what was causing his wrist problems and it was a joke in the clubhouse that it was due to guitar hero. The GM heard the joke and thought it was true and told some reporter who printed it. It's not true.
He seems like a very respectable guy. He's not angry at the way his career ended and just appreciates the time he had. Nice.
He is. Met him and got a signed ball. Very chill dude
Cool.
@@standardyeepz that's badass! What a great story to have
@@standardyeepz same lol got it at Tigerfest
Imagine a video game company clowns you for getting injured playing their game
Skip the first 5 minutes everyone.
"Married former New York Yankee Kate Upton" most underrated throwaway joke ever.
I haven't watched baseball in years, this video just got recommended to me because I was watching baseball videos, and I don't understand this joke. What does it mean? I know who Kate Upton is, but I don't know anything about her.
Well, the reason it was a throwaway joke is simply because she was wearing a Yankees hat in the picture and she gets a lot of shit for being a "Tigers fan" (which she legitimately WAS when she met Verlander - that's HOW she met him) and then being an "Astros fan" when...he got traded to the team. She's a fan of her man. Not really worthy of shit-giving in my opinion. So it was like a baseball in-joke, kinda poking fun at people that poke fun at Kate Upton.
the joke seems to removed or something. i didnt hear it
@@wilhelmroentgen7987 is still there, when he first talks about verlander
lol how is a verbal joke in a video underrated!?! how can you possibly know who laughed or not. Im pretty sure most people probably appreciated it, he put it in the script there for a reason
As a Tigers fan this hurts me. He threw so hard and was so young and was one of my favorites. Him carrying those boxes for his dad really hurt him too.
Go tigahs
@@willmessner2731 yes go tigers
Agreed, I have a signed Zumaya ball somewhere
@Nathan Reaney same
@Nathan Reaney yeah 14-15u
Joel Zumaya is my baseball coach. I didnt realize until now that he was in the major leagues.
This dude was a SUPERSTAR as far as my childhood was concerned. I started watching baseball near the end of the 2005 season, and when I was getting up early before school to watch Sportscenter for the baseball highlights, Zumaya and the 102+mph fastball were king.
“He threw a 104.8 mph pitch, which at the time was a major league record.”
“He was 21 years old.”
“He never pitched more than 40 innings in a year, after pitching 83 his rookie year.”
Huh, it’s almost like cranking out all those missiles at such a young age was a bigger problem than a video game.
He literally missed out on the 2006 World Series for the *explicit* reason of shredding too much Guitar Hero, would it really be a leap to say that it may have contributed to his demise as well?
@@wateriswet0510 I’m sure Guitar Hero didn’t help, at least regarding that World Series, but knowing what we know about the way young pitchers are used(and we knew this back in 2006 too), a 21 year old throwing 105 mph rockets for that many damn innings as a rookie raises some serious red flags.
For me at least. But I’m just some guy commenting on TH-cam.
I played way too much Guitar Hero when i was young and i never had any had problems, im talking that i used to play for like 8 hour daily.
I'm sure guitar hero didn't help, but his delivery was far more to blame for his constant injuries. That's a lot of torque on your body when you throw that hard and if you don't have a sound delivery, you leave yourself wide open for elbow and shoulder problems.
Blaming guitar hero was probably a legal move, keep the burden on him to prove his injuries were baseball based.
That Ken Griffey Jr home run was off of a 104 mile-per hour fastball 😳
Just goes to show how good some of the MLB hitters are. And that was, I believe, a 36-year old Griffey, turning on a 104-mph fastball. If you know what is coming, you can crush it, no matter what.
@@kleshreen Not if it's a knuckleball. When Wakefield pitched, everyone knew what was coming every time. Same thing for a guy like Troy Percival, only replace knuckleball with 102mph fastball.
Jr. Was on a whole other level...
104 mph Gone-Dee!!!
@@augustgreig9420 Wakefield has an ERA of almost 5 for his career lol everybody hit that knuckleball
Joel is a pitching coach for my travel team and I always wondered why they never talked about his injury
You should ask him uf he wants to play guitar hero after practice sometime
Cap
@@josephtaylor2085 big cap like the pope
@@NolmDirtyDan They separated the coaches this season, and my team doesn't have him unfortunately. Unfortunate cuz hes an amazing person
@@josephtaylor2085 what does cap mean?
Joel Zumaya was an absolute beast. It’s a shame his career didn’t last longer.
Joel Zumaya...now there’s a name I’ve not heard in a long time...a long time....
I always thought the Guitar Hero injury was an urban legend or some kind of joke.
Honestly, a twenty-one year old flame baller, throwing 80 plus high-leverage innings, often breaking 100 mph and even breaking the record for fastest pitch?
It was only a matter of time before the baseball gods saw fit to smite him with a career-ending arm injury. Such is the way it has been since the days of Smoky Joe Wood and Jeff Tesreau.
RIP
I mean it's still essentially an urban legend. This video hasn't proved anything .
I’m digging your subtle Star Wars reference there. Nicely done.
He was never going to last long with that kimd of power. He also hurt his arm later evacuating from a wildfire in California.
Zumaya came out and said t wasn't true a long ass time ago.
Thanks for not just hammering him. He was good and gave us all something to look forward to.
“...and the Kenny Rodgers that DIDN’T make country music.” 😂😂😂😂
Joel “zoom zoom” zumaya!!! I saw this dude hit 103 mph against the Twins that year. Up to that point it was considered borderline impossible to throw past 101 mph. He was amazing!
Yeah but he never surpassed Nolan Ryan
@@mW-yp9gn Did you watch the video?
Imagine the Nerves
acaiPray
OF FC’ING PAST THAT
Thank you for commenting an amazing meme.
LMAOOO
When a video starts out with how many people aren't subbed its an immediate back click from me.
I remember watching this series with my Yankees back in 2006. As Zumaya was coming into the game from the bullpen, he tossed the water bottle like HHH does when he comes into the ring!
I’m from Detroit and I loved this kid. As a Tigers fan watching this video hurt.
3:43 I literally lol'd at the Arod cut after showing the other players yakking on pitches 🤣
“And Kenny Rogers abandoned country music” such an underrated quip...great video!
I remember joel zumaya, him and Justin verlander on a team soon joined by scherzer. These guys hit 100 mph when it was still pretty damn rare and incredible to see
Yep as a jays fan I was like fml!!
He helped change the mlb, he's worth respect
the announcer: "101!! Changeup" haha
2:56 damn, that was a BOMB by Griffey. The harder you throw the harder they are hit
How they used him was great. They always had him follow Kenny Rogers, so batters were hitting against a lefty who maxed out at 90 to a guy who had a 100+ consistent fastball. It was brilliant!
Still one of my all time favorite tigers. Loved the rookie trio we had that year with JV, Zumaya, and Granderson
I can tell you as a cleveland fan, I hated the run you guys had through those coming years with miggy in the mix too.
I was at that Tigers v Athletics playoff game as a kid. I remembered this guys name at 8 years old cause of that 104 mph pitch. Loved to get an update on him and what happened to his career
I am a simple man: I see a baseball video related to guitar hero, I click
Zumaya was warming up and hit my mom in the chest with a fastball over the dugout had a purple chest and he signed stuff for me..what a guy
That’s sad to see. He had too much talent and at a very young age. Thanks for shedding light on his story.
This guy was insane as a twins fan The tigers of this era were nuts Ordonez Miggy and Verlander my lord were they stacked!
Verlander, Zumaya, Rodney, throwing 100 mph in that game 2 against the Yankees.
Here because Luzardo is on the IL because he injured his pink while gaming 😂
I remember hearing a story about him getting injured moving his valuables from his house during a wild fire evacuation in SD
Thought it was his dad's house, but yeah that was a story as well.
that happened as well, but was the following season. Apparently a heavy box fell on him and separated his throwing shoulder.
8:00 .. what a great and strong attitude to have and experiencing the accceptance of it all. I am sure it sucks to think about and there is a lot of "what ifs" we can play but at the end of the day, it is what it is. I never heard this story somehow, great stuff. I keep replaying those strikes though...ooof
I always thought SRS had over 100k subs and after looking at it idk why they don’t
Zack Wheeler required fingernail resection surgery after a pants zipper mishap.
He also won the "most honest athlete of the year" award.
At 7:30 you have a pic of Rod Allen and Mario Impemba interviewing Zumaya. Those two would get into a fight a couple years ago. Both were fired by the Tigers after their fight. They had worked together close to 20 years.
First time I went to a Tiger game as a kid I ended up with an autographed baseball from him while we were hanging out on the third base line during pregame. Never getting rid of that thing.
Imagine someone ruining their athletic career because of Call of Duty.
Far more potential careers have been ended by Call of Duty than Guitar Hero. Why get up and train when you could just smoke weed and play CoD?
Let's be real if someone ruined their athletic career because of CoD it would be due to in-game voice chat.
@@ryanh1013 and listen to really bad, and cringy rappers
@@ryanh1013 that wasn't the angle I was thinking about but ur hella right, I've definitely had that choice quite a few times and I think I picked wrong
@@lukewancewicz488 It’s the reason I gave up playing videogames. They’re stimulating enough to where I don’t want to stop playing them but I’m never actually having a good time while playing them. Then I end up being a lazy piece of shit that doesn’t do anything except play videogames, and I’m not even happy while playing them.
Zumaya popped a tendon in his right index finger. That's how hard he squeezed the ball. It was probably that and not Guitar Center or whatever it's called that ruined him. Between him and Mark Fidrych, Detroit really struck it rich in the legendary here today-gone tomorrow pitchers.
Wow, in the elbow fracture clip you can really see the tragic process he goes through. When he first feels the pain he makes an expression as if to say “of course” then he goes to move his arm and feels that the pain is intense and this is a worse injury than he’s ever had. Not only has he been injured, he’s badly injured his elbow, the single most important part of a pitchers body, he then collapses to the ground when he comes to the realization that this injury will end his career. Very sad clip to watch.
14 years ago I beat Joel Zumaya at guitar hero in the parking lot of my orthodontist’s office during a meet and greet lol. The video is still on my channel. Really funny to see this pop up in my recommended videos
You blew it! You had it all and you blew it!
Quality comment
This reminds me of a kid I knew in College. Top student, only 6 weeks from graduation, ran into Guitar Hero and ended up flunking out. When we finally ran into him we found out he'd been in his basement for 2 months, trying to beat Guitar Hero on expert level.
THE DISRESPECT AT JOSH TOMLIN😂😂 that man gets strike outs only by accident.
Hold on can we go back to Spider-Man telling dr strange in the mike Francesca show that his secret identity is Jason giambi
Yeah I want to hear more about that
Oh wow I remember watching that injury against the Twins. Never thought I'd see that again
What I remember about the Griffey Jr. Homerun is that the pitch clocked 104mph.
I might be wrong, but I remember hearing something about Zumaya always warming up with a weighted ball which is insane
I remember reading on a sports biometrics site that 104 mph is the theoretical maximum a baseball can be thrown by a human due to the physical limits of arm ligaments. I believe Joel proved that correct.
Great timing on this video with the clip of Griffey Jr. homering off of Zumaya's 104MPH FB going viral on the same day!
Pretty sure that tweet was inspired by our video actually. We’re friends with the account owner
Stark Raving Sports hope it brings you more traffic. Love the content
@@gregorycarrington2441
Been a lifelong Tiger fan, and still am. Don't anyone say "oh, I'm sorry to hear that". Stark Raving, thank you for making this video about Zoomie. Appreciate that. Man oh man do I miss those days of winning baseball. The Tigers will return to greatness just as soon as Al Avila, the worst baseball GM in the history of forever, is fired. Good God is Avila awful.
I actually went to high school with him at Bonita Vista High in Chula Vista CA ( San Diego county).. we both had math class together. Mr. Rylanders math class..and he sat right next to me. We weren't the best of friends or anything but we did talk during class. Cool guy. The school knew who he was because he got drafted his senior year. Got him to sign a ball for me.
Loved this guy and Verlander. they both helped bring excitement to Detroit.
Pitching is a position of confidence just like hitting. Once it happens it's hard to recover from
"That's the way the scene was wrote" What a guy
Zumaya has 100% denied the injury being caused by guitar hero. He said that it was a lie in 2016.
Hes my uncle and he did get hurt cause of guitar hero but i mean who wants to tell the world there career ended cause of a video game
@@3lite_Pxlarized Even if Guitar Hero gave him a sore wrist late in 2006.. a separated shoulder and major surgery a few months later was probably the main reason for his decline. With or without video games involved, it's not exactly rare for hard throwers to develop arm problems... or to have a hard time getting back into form after a major surgery.
Nothing sours me more than a segment of the video where people talk about analytics and how most viewers aren't subscribed.
Better fast forward through the free content before you turn into a lemon then 🙃
I’m a Tiger fan a remember this. He was so good that year! Funny thing just a few years prior to that we had a reliever and 1st round pick Matt Anderson hurt his shoulder throwing an octopus after a Red Wing game.
I remember seeing that final appearance of his. man, I was really sad for the guy :(
4:47, that's so satisfying. Idk why, but it is
When I went there I got an ad😭
Saw a couple of your videos in the past and I had to come back. Subscribed 👍🏽
As a Tiger’s fan that series with St. Louis was painful to watch
My brother is tackling the bag then he hurt his wrist but he’s playing Grandtheft auto all day oh he was an epic thug gaming
As an adult he is the reason his career was "ruined". I wouldn't call making it to the big leagues "ruined" or a failure first off. He made it farther than most. Lastly, good video! I appreciate the story.
Oh man imagine how many arcing stories you could make about how early wow outright destroyed peoples lives.
I have a zumaya signed baseball. Loved him
I have a signed baseball from him in my room. Dude used to throw HEAT
Watching video of any pitcher seriously hurting their throwing arm really breaks my heart, as a former pitcher I hate to see it
I had no idea Steve Avery was a Detroit tiger. Had to rewind a couple times to make sure it was him. Now I know.
I remember this guy well. I had no idea his injuries were Guitar Hero related!
Most of the crying was because he knew he wouldn’t be playing baseball again. I would be crying too.
He looked to be in pretty unbearable pain walking off the field
@@noahmcdaniel4920 As a lifelong Twins fan, it hurts to see a career end in my home park.
There's no crying in baseball.
@@augustgreig9420 Good line, bad sentiment. People cry all the time in every sport. Sports are very emotional. You get people's adrenaline flowing and emotions happen.
@@katherineberger6329 could have been adrenaline, could have been emotion.... could have been old fashioned intense physical pain... That pitch did break a bone in his arm.
He could have let "what if" taken him down a dark road like so many other failed proteges. Props to him for keeping a grateful attitude
I never knew, he is still a legend in Tiger lore and the 2006 season was certainly a fever pitch
I'm pretty sure a podcast from Detroit's 97.1 the ticket had Zumaya on and he confirmed it.
love the Mike Zaun cameo
Well, good to know he's not too broken up by the way his career wound up going after that injury.
ok seriously stop w/ the trend of showing the analytics to beg for subs, everyone and their mom is doing it and it actively turns off non-endemic viewers who found you through the algorithm
i always wondered what happened to zumaya, now i know
It wasnt guitar hero. I'm reminded of a line from Blade Runner. "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long and you have burned so very brightly"
Someone needs to make a video or series of videos on how the Tigers between 2006 and 2015 managed to somehow avoid becoming one of the greatest dynasties in Major League Baseball history (and why that dynasty could've easily still be going on today!)...
We had it all in our grasps, Tigers fans, yet somehow it all slipped away from us... We had it ALL! We could've EASILY been right up there with the Atlanta Braves of 1991 to 2005... AND WE SOMEHOW BLEW IT!
Lol, what are you smoking and can I have some?
Whatever I'm smoking is only found where I live: DETROIT, MICHIGAN.
It's called Hometown Pride.
You want some? Look in YOUR hometown.
Today was the *4* year anniversary of when "The MLB Pitcher Whose Career Was Ruined by Guitar Hero" was uploaded! I had never heard of Joel Zumaya until tonight. Now I know why! 🤓➡️😅
I've put countless hours into guitar hero- even when I was pitching in baseball. I don't remember ever seeing that message. Wish I had though
I’m excited to watch this one!
Me too
That clip of a-rod was disrespectful god damn
I lived in his apartment complex... it definitely wasn’t drugs... for sure was a video game. Not drugs and partying.
He was supposed to be the closer of the future for the Detroit tigers. He threw 101 and sometimes even 102 and hitters were just up there praying to hit the ball, the fact that he ruined his career playing too much guitar hero is honestly both infuriating and hilarious at the same time.
I don’t think his mechanics helped him in the long run but we can’t forget about Nolan Ryan. I thought he was the original velocity barrier breaker.
That guitar hero is no joke. I remember wrist pains after playing for a while.
For sure
Same with Matt Anderson. He could throw 100 and got injured throwing a octopus at a redwings game.
What hurts me is Verlander and Beltran ruined their storied careers in one fell swoop
Heartbreaking, but understandable. It was likely a combination of baseball practice and the gaming that did it.
I think he just killed his arm throwing that hard. Just because your body can do it, doesn’t mean you should. The human body is not supposed to absorb that much torque.
I guess if I want to make it to the mlb I need to stop playing “hot for teacher”
At 300% speed
I got it bad got it bad !
Pitching is an unnatural motion for the human body. It’s more likely that the long term injury problems were as a result of pitching, not Guitar Hero.
I had read somewhere years ago he had hurt himself moving some boxes.
Wow never realized this story, super unfortunate man. What an incredible start to his career was maybe just throwing so hard he couldn’t sustain it.
I'm not disagreeing but Nolan Ryan
threw 108mph fastball and I never saw him get injured
He actually did confirm this in a podcast interview in Detroit. I know Jeff Riger was the host. Can’t remember what it was called
No he didn't. He admitted a long time ago that the Guitar hero was made up. No doctors could figure out what was causing his wrist problems and it was a joke in the clubhouse that it was due to guitar hero. The GM heard the joke and thought it was true and told some reporter who printed it. It's not true.
Today you could go to a Tiger’s game and see multiple Zumaya shirts