He gave up too easily
It was his first year in A ball. All rookies have their up and downs their first year in pro ball. I guess that was the point of the movie.
sharei agree. no player in his first year a ball would quit like that. also, no pitcher would suddenly start losing speed on his fast ball a few months into his first season.
they should have shown pitching coaches working with him who speak spanish or have translators, which is what would have happened.
a 20 year old pitcher has so much to learn and they know they do.
a dominican coming from poverty never would have given up
and in any case, he could have tried out for any of the other 29 team's minors systems
We don't actually know how much his velocity decreased. But it happens to pitchers all the time. I have to imagine the foot injury had a part in that.
shareno, losing speed on a fastball does NOT happen to 20 year old pitchers. not unless there is an injury to the shoulder or something, or the pitcher has been forced to radically change his delivery (like overhand to three quarters)
share"losing speed on a fastball does NOT happen to 20 year old pitchers."
Actually it does.
Just look at Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson.
Both around 19-21 and went through single A this year.. Both have been reported to have lost some velocity on their fastballs.
However it hasn't hurt their success, as they still throw lots of strikes and have good stats.
"When you look like me, it's hard to get a table for one at Chuck-E-Cheese."
I think he quit abruptly, and I was like WTF just happened. Was that realistic? Sad if so. Guess that was the point.
shareI thought his quitting was realistic and realistically done. Not everyone would quit that easily, of course, but if you look at his particular circumstance: He leaves the island as a dominant pitcher. Everyone back home says he is a "sure thing". The first thing he says about Bridgetown is that "everyone is really good here". That right there probably came as a large blow to his ego. He is not a special player in Iowa. He's just one of many good players. And soon he isn't even one of those. He starts getting knocked around a lot. The final straw was when the coach tells him that he is going to replace him in the rotation and try him out in the bullpen. As he tells his friend in New York, he quit before they could get rid of him.
Realistic implies that it would happen in REAL LIFE. In real life, these kids from poverty hang onto every last paycheck they can. I'm sure the isolation sucks, but just quitting a job where you get fed and payed to play the game they starved to play back home is something no player without a fallback plan does. First year struggles are a huge part of the game for young Latin players in transition to American life, and you see those guys suck it up in the Rookie league and EST for years before they are thrown asunder from pro ball. Like someone said, we don't know how much velocity he lost, but he didn't have an arm injury or any problems outside of his ankle, so I don't that's very likely. The mental fortitude is a huge part of pitching, and some guys just don't have it, but even those mental midgets stick around as long as a team will have them. whether their heart is in it or not. Sugar was just a puss. Still a great movie, but not very realistic, IMHO.
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I don't think it was sad at all. He was much happier after he quit and could start doing his carpentry and only playing baseball casually. He wasn't happy playing ball. I think the point of the movie was just because you can do something well doesn't mean you should do it if your not happy doing it.
I think viewing his leaving his team as a disappointment or a failure as the wrong way to look at it
"I think the point of the movie was just because you can do something well doesn't mean you should do it if your not happy doing it"
that's what i got from the movie as well. for me, the point is that to love the game doesn't mean you have to play it professionally to make money.
I love that this movie shows a different story than the usual rags-to-riches tale hollywood so prefers
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"I quit before they could cut me" is not realistic at all, the director should injure sugars throwing arm and he needs surgery with his own money, then he quit would be more realistic.
share"I think the point of the movie was just because you can do something well doesn't mean you should do it if your not happy doing it"
Exactly
When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...share
He just gave up too easily. Every player has up and down in his career. That's what separates a winner from a loser. A winner hangs in there, works hard, wait for his form to come back, while a loser quits. He was not strong to start with. He was cocky and thought he was the best. But when he saw there were better people, he lost his confidence. Nothing to do with being happy or lonely.
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