The Power of Pittsburgh Pirates 1B Lyle Overbay

Lyle Overbay hit twenty homers in 2010.  We were thinking could he reach the Allegheny?

But more importantly we wondered about Overbay playing in the AL East and the fact that he surely faced some tough pitchers last season.  So we wanted to look deeper into the distance of these home runs.  All the Overbay haters say he is old, worn down, costs too much money.

He’s a clean guy.  Takes care of the body.  Prays.  Probably reads the Bible too.  I like that.  This isn’t Aki.  Will he be able to keep it up for the Bucs?  Hell, I got no clue.  If I had to bet, I wouldn’t bet against it.

So back to the facts, what pitchers gave up those homeruns and how far did they go?

We break it down by month and then list the pitcher who gave up the home run with some stats for you to enjoy.

Lyle Overbay Homers in September:

LHP Mark Hendrickson of the Orioles [5.26ERA/81ERA+]

RHP Wade Davis [4.07ERA/97ERA+] of the Rays  Video of the estimated true distance 435 feet

RHP Colby Lewis of the Rangers [3.72ERA/116ERA+]

RHP Javier Vazquez of the Bronx Bombers [5.32ERA/80ERA+]

Homers in August:

RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka  Red Sox [4.69ERA/93ERA+]

LHP Jon Lester (2).  Bomb at Fenway follow the path of the 392′ blast here.   And the second 331′ homer here.  Lester is a badass in many ways.  [134ERA+]

Chad Quals.   Angels

Homers in July:

LHP Will Ohman, Orioles  [3.00ERA/144ERA+]  It went 393 feet.

RHP Jose Valverde, Tigers [3.00ERA/ 140ERA+]  He got just enough of this one at Comerica Park.  362′

RHP Alex Burnett, Twins [5.29ERA/79ERA+]  He got just enough of this one 398′

RHP Carl Pavano, Twins  [3.75ERA/111ERA+] Another of Overbay’s homers to left field.  This one was 364′

RHP Phil Hughes, Yankees [4.19ERA/102ERA+] A 433′ blast to center field at Yankee Stadium. 

Overbay didn’t hit any homers in June

Homers in May

RHP Jeremy Guthrie, Orioles [3.83ERA/111ERA+]

RHP Chris Tillman, Orioles  [5.87ERA/72ERA+]  A blast that went 416 feet to dead center.

LHP Alberto Castillo, Orioles [10.13ERA/43ERA+]

RHP Jesse Crain, Twins [3.04ERA/137ERA+]  Plenty of distance.  376′ bomb.

RHP Rich Harden, Rangers [5.58ERA/78ERA+]

Homers in April:

LHP Scott Schoewneweis, Red Sox [7.90ERA/56ERA+]  A 403 foot blast at Toronto

RHP Jeff Neiman, Rays [4.39ERA/90ERA+]

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According to hittrackeronline, two of the homeruns Overbay hit in 2010 were bombs–no doubt about it.  The interesting fact for me was all but one of the homeruns that Overbay hit went 350 feet. 

Overbay pulled ten of the homers to right field.  Six of the homers were hit to left.  Two were hit to center field and two in the right center field.

Clipped from: www.hittrackeronline.com (share this clip)

Details on the memorable Daryle Ward blast into the Allegheny are right here.  We will estimate that this blast in the video posted below would have been damn close, but come up just short. 

But how about this…since Overbay is a Christian man, maybe he would get a little help from the big guy upstairs with a “blessed breeze?”  We would love to see another shot in the river.

Overbay can do it.  Don’t miss it.  When does baseball start….God we can’t wait.

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Clipped from: mlb.mlb.com (share this clip)