i dont think we will have as many guys hitting over the fences routinely, and it may take more favorable conditions for some, because of the new bats. but it is nice to know we have one guy that the new bats dont seem to faze.:thumb:
Maineri said that he thought the power hitters will continue to hit well with the bats, but the fellows lower in the batting order may not hit too many over the fence.
When Mahtook signed with LSU, I remember that he felt he could improve his diamond skills significantly with only one sport to focus on. I think he played QB in high school and had offers to play football at numerous D1 schools. I loved having that football "presence" on the baseball team with Jared Mitchell & Chad Jones and almost consider Mahtook to bring that dimension also. During his true freshman (nat'l championship) year, he wasn't playing much early in the season and then got his first start during a mid-week (probably in-state) opponent. If I recall correctly, he hit a HR in his first at-bat (as a starter) and then took off from there. The article that I read talked about how his mom (and one or two of his uncles - ex-LSU and UL? football players) attended that game at the last minute when they heard Mahtook would start. His dad passed away in his early 30's while playing tennis in the Lafayette area when Mikie was only about 3 yrs old. I don't know anyone in his family but have heard they are very well respected and good people.
I was sitting a couple of rows up, in line with 3B when he hit his jack on Saturday. It wasn't a cheapie; that thing cleared the leftfield bleachers.
Evidently, he didn't get the memo about the new bats. I haven't checked the stats, but did anyone else in the country have a more dominant, or even similar, opening weekend than Mahtook? Four in 3 games is reminiscent of the 90's.
