Still Learning 11 Years Later

Trip Somers • February 5, 2020 • News / Announcements

You wouldn't typically expect 11-year-old blog posts to change, but that's exactly what I've done. Two of my earliest blog posts have been updated. I wrote them when I was new both to blogging and to trying to understand what I was writing about. The combination made for awkward language and muddled concepts.

Updating the old posts seemed a far better idea than writing new posts and having to constantly wave my hands at people reading the old ones. At the same time, I do not want to give the impression that the posts as originally written in 2009, so each post contains a note indicating the January 2020 update.

The first post remains one of the most popular posts on the blog -- Biomechanics: Ulnar Collateral Ligament. It was primarily updated for clarity but also includes an expanded conclusion to address a logical oversight.

The second article was a long-winded description of the relationship between internal rotation and elbow extension in a typical arm action -- Delayed Internal Rotation: Performance Implications. It was also updated for clarity by simplifying the language used to discuss the topic and by removing some irrelevant material.

In addition to these updates, I have planned this as something of a relaunch of the blog. I will write occasionally on a variety of topics generally in the realm of player development and scouting. I don't advise you to expect a regular publishing schedule, but new stuff will definitely squeak out as my rather ambitious personal schedule permits it.

Welcome to TexasLeaguers.com

Trip Somers • December 14, 2008 • News / Announcements

My two big baseball interests are pitching and economics. This site intends to inspire discussion of these topics while also providing an avenue for education.

The first article on this site is meant to inspire personal education when it comes to pitching mechanics. There are so many different and contradictory opinions, personal education is the only way to sort through and make sense of them.

In the future, pitching articles will focus on biomechanics, mechanical analysis, and training methods.

The economics articles will be based on Vince Gennaro's work in Diamond Dollars: The Economics of Winning in Baseball and will include discussions of the win-curve and player valuations among other topics.

I have also prepared a reading list. It is not a complete list, and it will grow over time. A book's inclusion on this list is not necessarily an endorsement of its content or concepts, but instead, is an endorsement of the book as a resource for learning and evaluation - even if a given book may be somewhat dated.

Since I am a life-long Rangers fan, my focus, more often than not, will be on the Texas Rangers. Other Rangers fans should check out Baseball Time in Arlington.