Stephen Drew thread

Subject: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 2:48 pm

By popular demand here's a thread devoted to Stephen Drew.
_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:03 pm

A natural righty, Drew bats from left side
D-backs' shortstop gave up switch-hitting to hone stroke

PHOENIX -- Not long after he joined the D-backs last summer, Jeff Cirillo found himself in the batting cage with shortstop Stephen Drew.

Cirillo watched Drew take some swings from the right side and then the left. The next time the D-backs faced a left-hander, Cirillo was surprised to see Drew swinging from the left side.

"I thought you were a switch-hitter," he said to Drew.

Those who watch Drew are amazed at how well he swings the bat from the right side, but if they knew how he grew up, they'd be even more surprised with how well he hits from the left side.

Drew, you see, was born right-handed.

So if you watch him hold silverware, sign autographs or do almost anything else, you'll notice he does it right-handed. Everything, that is, except hitting Major League pitching. That he does left-handed.

"I hit right-handed until I was 9 or 10," he said.

With older brother and current big leaguer J.D. a left-handed hitter, Drew decided to give switch-hitting a try. So to practice his left-handed hitting, he would throw a tennis ball up on his garage roof and let it hit the ground once before swinging from the left side.

"It bounced up to the perfect height," he said. "J.D. helped me out a little bit, too."

Drew also worked on his swing with a batting tee and started switch-hitting before he abandoned it in the 10th grade.

"It was kind of tough, because there were not a lot of left-handed pitchers that we faced," Drew said. "And my dad was right-handed, so I didn't really have any lefties to practice against, either. So I decided halfway through 10th grade to just go left and see how it went against lefties. It became just as easy, so I stuck with it."

And with good reason. Drew's hitting prowess got him a scholarship to Florida State University and made him a first-round selection in the 2004 First-Year Player Draft.

Hitting from the left side of the plate forced Drew to use the whole field, and he says it made him a better hitter.

"The biggest thing for me hitting right-handed was that I seemed to pull a lot of balls," he said. "Whereas left-handed, it was kind of natural to go the other way. So I stuck with left-handed and it's gotten me here."

As a rookie in 2006, Drew hit .316 before slumping to .238 last season. This year, he's off to a better start, with a .294 mark through the first 15 games.

There are times that Drew will swing right-handed, but he saves it for the batting cage where only teammates or hitting coach Rick Schu can see.

"We try to keep it loose in the cages at times, so he'll take some swings from the right side," Schu said. "He's got a real nice stroke from there. He's just a real gifted athlete."
_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:07 pm

How about more photos than anyone knows what to do with?

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:09 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:15 pm

Ignore the rail here:

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:19 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:22 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:24 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:25 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:27 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Mon May 19, 2008 3:29 pm

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Tue May 20, 2008 10:15 am

Biography:

Stephen O. Drew...Married to Laura...Graduated in 2001 from Lowndes County High School in Valdosta, Ga...Attended Florida State University, where as a junior he batted .353 with 71 hits, 14 doubles, 6 triples, 14 home runs and 52 RBI in 51 games...Named 2002 ACC Rookie of the Year as well as Freshman of the Year by Baseball America, and second team All-America by Collegiate Baseball in 2004...selected to the All-ACC Team and the All-Tournament Team at the 2004 ACC Tournament...Is the brother of J.D. Drew (Boston Red Sox) and Tim Drew, all 3 of whom were first round selections...J.D. and Tim the only set of brothers ever to be selected in the first round of the First Year Player Draft in the same year.

================

That O stands for Oris LMAO

What the hell kind of name is that LMAO

(no offense to anyone who is named Oris).
_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed May 21, 2008 7:15 pm

He got a HR tonight. It was the only run the snakies got Stunned

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed May 21, 2008 9:36 pm

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu May 22, 2008 1:42 am

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu May 22, 2008 6:49 am

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu May 22, 2008 7:06 am

Poor Brandon... yeah... he had to lose sometime. He pitched well too, the fishies were just too good HAHA

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Tue May 27, 2008 7:08 am

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Tue May 27, 2008 7:09 am

That first picture isn't even focused all that well Rolling Eyes

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Tue May 27, 2008 7:11 am

_________________
Charlie Manuel on Durbin's pitching performance on July 4th:
"Durbin was fantastic," Manuel said. "The role he plays in our bullpen is a big one."

Durbin said he learned a valuable lesson from veteran teammate Tom Gordon:

"Whenever you come in, consider it a 2-0 count," Durbin said. "Like you need a strike."

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed May 28, 2008 12:15 pm

Drew hasn't been doing so great since I started this thread. He was hitting very close to (or above) .300 when I was in Arizona. Now, not so much Sad

_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed May 28, 2008 2:04 pm

My poor darling!
lol.

That ole Oris better start hitting!
_________________
Charlie Manuel on Durbin's pitching performance on July 4th:
"Durbin was fantastic," Manuel said. "The role he plays in our bullpen is a big one."

Durbin said he learned a valuable lesson from veteran teammate Tom Gordon:

"Whenever you come in, consider it a 2-0 count," Durbin said. "Like you need a strike."

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed May 28, 2008 3:51 pm

Go Oris!!!
_________________
Miner

back and better than ever. Starting, baby! YAY!

Guest

Go Drew!

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu May 29, 2008 7:56 am

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Wed Jun 18, 2008 12:19 pm

Drew is hitting .262 and slugging .460 this year. He has an OPS+ of 93 Neutral

5 triples though!

Since I last saw him he's batting just .235. He was at .295 before I got there.
_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:39 pm

He extended his hitting streak to 16 games today. 50 shy of Dimaggio...
_________________

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:55 pm

Subject: Re: Stephen Drew thread Thu Aug 14, 2008 6:17 pm

Yeah, they can carry over although some people want an * when they do. Jimmy Rollins had a streak a few years back that carried over.
_________________