The Savannah Bananas Need To Sign This Double Amputee RHP To A Lifetime Contract
This video is going viral because it's a RHP with no legs commanding decent arm side run from the mound. A lot of people are calling him uplifting and I agree that it's incredible to watch. If I had no legs, I can guarantee you I would have never found the courage to command 92 mph with plus movement to both sides of the plate under immense pressure. So speaking from personal experience as a Big Ten division 1 athlete, I also find this impressive. Jacob Brown, RHP, you have good arm action.
My only problem is the height and trajectory. That thing's coming in like a fuckin meatball pizza pie moonball in the sky. It's a dinner plate. That's why pitching coaches are so emphatic about pitching with angle and creating tilt on your fastball.
And admittedly, that's hard to do without legs. Some would even say impossible but I don't know if that word applies right now. The fact Jacob Brown is already up to 70 and feeling a curveball has me leaning away from any categorizations based on odds, which I think is fairly obvious.
Here's another obvious insight: Jacob Brown has no choice but to develop a knuckleball. Not right now and not overnight. But at some point in this journey, when the velocity is in the upper 70's and it's obvious he can throw strikes... when that time comes, a knuckleball can pay for college and a couple decent hookers.
More importantly, there's a 100% chance of playing 15+ yeas with the Savannah Bananas if you can throw strikes without legs. That's such a guarantee that I'm struggling to find the right amount of emphasis without appearing crass to disabled people. I'm sure it sucks right now but there's sellout crowds across the world waiting for this guy to cartwheel off the mound into a bowl of cotton candy. Or something like that.
Nice thing about that is the Bananas pay better than any North American professional baseball league other than MLB, which is a fancy way of saying they make more than AAA players. My guess is in the $100-200,000 range but I'll have to double check with glassdoor. Dollars and cents aside, the bigger picture is that I would argue Jacob Brown is as much of a Bananas top prospect as any other peer within affiliated ball. Provided he can throw strikes, I don't know if another amateur can claim a more obvious path to professional baseball.
And to be clear, I'm not saying nice stuff just because he's got no legs. You don't overcome adversity to this extent because people have been nice. You overcome adversity because you want to, and in this case I think it's pretty remarkable he wants to pitch.
That's why I'm calling on the Savannah Bananas now to begin the recruiting process. You don't want to be in a bidding war with LSU when the time comes. Trust me from experience on that one. The time is now.
Only thing left for me to decide (selfishly) is if I actually enjoy a Bananas game. I haven't been but a trip to Savannah to see them on their home turf is quickly becoming a bucket list experience in baseball. Whether that's your speed or not, it's obvious the kids want more of it and that's awesome.
Now somebody get Jacob Brown a contract and a uniform.