Jeff Samardzija is a serious competitor, and is also a big strong dude.
You combine those things in a hot moment, even when he’s not on the mound, and you can get a fiery explosion. For example, when Samardzija struck out in ugly fashion last night:
Shark strength. https://t.co/Ow1QlJtVrK
— MLB (@MLB) May 4, 2016
I always cringe a little when a guy does that, especially a pitcher. Even if I have to admit: sometimes the broken bat thing is a lot of fun. Especially if you break it over your own head.
But it looks like Samardzija got through that one cleanly and without any risk of injury.
The incident made me think of some old Cubs memories, and similarly competitive, big, strong dude Carlos Zambrano, who broke bats over his knee on more than one occasion.
Perhaps Samardzija learned from his former teammate in 2011, when Zambrano took a couple tries to break his bat, which just looks painful:
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You really have to commit to that first motion. Because if you don’t get through the bat, I don’t care how big and strong you are, it’s going to really hurt.