SWAGGER

Yes, it often adds to the drama of the game.

I have to admit that I liked the team with Whammer!

gotwood

That ain't swagger

TR I think it all depends on how one defines swagger on the baseball field. I like a team that is confident. I like a team that hustles all the time in everything they do. I like a team that respects their opponents and opponents coaches. I like a team that gets after it hard all the time. I like a team that has everyone into the game at all times. The bench up and cheering for the guy at the plate or the defense and pitcher when they are in th field. I love a team that just goes about its business of playing the game hard and doing whatever it takes to win. I love a confident player who understands that he will get out and he will get another chance.

If swagger is defined as confidence and then it is displayed with the aforementioned attributes then the answer is yes. But if swagger means "Cocky" and strutting around like your Gods gift to the game then NO! Those teams make me sick and I want to beat them down to the dirt! And they are a direct reflection of the coaching staff.

Wham!! You said it best Coach May!

Coach


I am talking confidence bordering on cocky---knowing what and who you are

I played that way I like my teams to play that way---

Then Im with you TR. I love confident players that when they walk up to the field you can see they expect to win. I can see it in a kid when he walks up to the plate to hit. You can tell he believes he is going to mash. There is a big difference in being confident and being cocky imo. Confident players carry themselves in a manner that exudes that confidence. Cocky players are trying to look confident but are actually clowns.

Kinda' like all of John Wooden's great basketball teams at UCLA. They knew they were winners and they absolutely reflected the demeanor of Coach Wooden. He is the greatest in my book!

The line between confidence and cocky is pretty fine and can be one of those "irregular verbs";; the same attitude described as: we're confident, you're cocky, those blankety-blanks make Ricky Henderson look like Mother Theresa.

Just takes one or two guys to step over the line to become the kind of team Coach May describes as the ones he wants to beat into the dirt.

Confidence with respect for the game is my idea of a ball team.

I was lucky enough to coach a team once that had a lot of guys under 6 foot tall but had that "swagger." We were ranked #1 in the St. Louis area. We went to play the #2 ranked team in St. Louis. Mike Shannon even announced during a Cardinal broadcast that this was going to be "The High School game of the year." When we got off of the bus, they were waiting on us and tried to intimidate us as we walked to our dugout. Pure BS! One D-I recruit announced that the JV Team plays "over there." Our guys kept walking with that "swagger." WE SHORT GAMED THEM. That team I was fortunate enough to coach went on to win a State Championship.

An example of swagger vs cocky:

We were in a tournament a few years back playing a team from Texas who was supposedly one of the top ten teams in the event---we win the pregame toss and I chose to be home---their coach looks at me and says "Well I guess we get to score first"---I passed it along to our kids and told them just button your lips and play tour game---the Texas kids mouthed all game trying to upset us---well at games end not only had they not scored AT ALL, they were No Hit ----LOL---Guess who got the last laugh

"I am talking confidence bordering on cocky---knowing what and who you are"

Great definition, TR. Personally, I love to see players and teams with swagger - it adds another dimension (or level of excitement) to how they play the game. Son has had team coaches say they expect it and college coaches say they won't take players without it.

In summer ball the cocky/unsportsmanlike teams get a reputation real fast. It doesnt matter what state you are from, everybody in the country gets the scoop. It is amazing how small the baseball world is when it comes to stuff like that. Those teams also wear a big target on their back.

IMHO, a good example for this topic is Andrew Carignan for North Carolina and I realize he played for TRhit in the past.

I have heard announcers say that his teammates consider him to be supremely confident, whereas the same announcers said that opponents often consider him to be cocky. I guess it is all in your perspective. If that type of body language gets to your opponents then maybe it is a good thing. He seems to pitch with the attitude that "Here is my stuff, see if you can beat me."

Another one that swaggers on the mound is Wes Roemer for Cal State Fullerton imho.

Reggie Jackson certainly had the swagger.

One cannot walk a fine line with swagger. Swagger is bold, arrogant, or showing off in a superior manner. Cocky is conceited and aggressive in behavior. Neither have any place on an American baseball field.
Quiet self-confidence gives one the ability to perform at the highest level while allowing one to do all the things that do show up in a box score...superior control of ones "self" is the ultimate game winner, and ultimately the greatest most effective way to quiet the flapping, sneering lips of the swaggerer!

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Quiet self-confidence gives one the ability to perform at the highest level while allowing one to do all the things that do show up in a box score...superior control of ones "self" is the ultimate game winner, and ultimately the greatest most effective way to quiet the flapping, sneering lips of the swaggerer!

Agree 100%. Reminds me of Tim Duncan with the Spurs. Quiet, unsassuming, but deadly on the court. My son is like Tim on the baseball field and is very put off by cocky players, who trash-talk and think it's all about them rather than the team.

Pride goes before the fall.

"....Here is my stuff, see if you can beat me."

Many prefer Tim Duncan’s game because he carries himself with a quiet self-confidence, which I consider a very admirable trait. Unfortunately, players such as Duncan’s are often labeled by the media and the press as “dull and boring.”

On the opposite end of the spectrum, take Muhammad Ali, "the greatest" media sensation of them all, who carried "the greatest" swagger of them all. Many loved him, and many hated him, but the bottom line is, he could back it up.

As much as we want to beat into submission, opposing players and/or teams with a swagger, myself included, there’s not a whole lot you can do if they can back it up.

CD mentioned Reggie Jackson having a swagger, and he definitely did; especially in October.

Ali was way beyond swagger. More like showmanship.

How about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, would you call those guys swagger or quiet self confidence?

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How about Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, would you call those guys swagger or quiet self confidence?

eddie - good observations.

Triple Dad - Sometimes it depends on your perspective but this is a good question you ask. Flying through the air with your tounge hanging out and dunking the ball over someone seven inches taller is swagger imho.

When Tiger pumps his fist or wears red on Sunday, that seems to be swagger to me. Most do not consider him cocky however - at least I don't.

Derick Jeter has it but most consider him a classy ball player so it seems acceptable.

I love Tim Duncan but he does seem boring at times. I definitely appreciate athletes like him.

I never cared for Ali but loved Sugar Ray Leonard who could swagger with the best of them. Many considered Ray cocky and it would be hard for me to disagree with them. It seems when there is a certain amount of charm about someone, the public looks the other way somewhat when the swagger merges into cockiness.

Babe Ruth had the swagger imho and from what I have read and observed from old footage Lou Gehrig did not. Both styles were wildly successful however.

Some modern ones like Deon Sanders seemd to more on the cocky side but Deon could back things up.

Sometimes we see our adversaries as cocky and our hometown boys as having swagger. Interesting topic nonetheless.