What a great shot! The Dude looks like a medieval warrior about to inflict the killing blow.

He should put this shot up on his own bedroom wall so that The Stance settles into his subconscious and never goes away.

You wouldn't happen to have a picture of the old stance would you?

Here's an image I found from, I believe, 2003. Go to the bottom of the page:

http://tsn.tsnmax.ca/magazine/feature2.asp?bg=baseball1&story=020314_youngjays&col=heatherington&length=2&page=1

It might be 2002 actually. But the difference is dramatic.

There's a difference, but you have to remember that in the pic at the top of this thread, Hinske is waiting for the pitch. In the link you provided, he's already into his swing.

Ack! Luke Prokopec!

NOOOOoooo! The Mojo is gone now!

The difference between last year's stance and the current one was far greater than the difference between the 2002 picture (from the link) and the current one.

Here's another shot from the same year. It shows the stance from a different angle. He's definitely not in swing mode.

http://mlb-online-store.shoppinganimal.com/1787678.html

I'm checking my negs from last year for an unused Hinske image. I probably have one, just have to find it.

This particular shot is just as the pitcher is about to throw -- Hinske moves his weight back and his right foot starts to come up a bit. I have some where he is ready but at rest, and he doesn't look half as dangerous.

Here's a September, 2003 shot. It looks to me like the effect of his front foot positioning this year is to force him to keep his weight back.

Great picture, as usual, Aaron.

Another great shot, Aaron. Here's another shot of Hinske in the Jays new alternate uniform: http://www.fanaticus.org/DBA/images/samurai.jpg

Another great shot, Aaron. Here's another shot of Hinske in the Jays new alternate uniform:

He's adopted Ty Cobb's hands-apart grip, I see.

Yeah, and Barry Bond's protective gear. I just hope Mr. Bonds hasn't tricked him and attatched Roidderm patches to the inside of the pads.

Here's another one from 2002 I think.

http://www.geocities.com/erichinskefans/pics02/ehinske2.jpg

I really like the new stance -- seems like it's working so far.

With his hands higher, he should be able to be quicker to the ball (since his hands don't have to come up to go down) and have a larger margin for error in timing and coordinating the swing. But at the end of the day, whatever works!

I heard JP on the FAN 590 this morning and he said one of the things Hinske was working on was keeping his hands out away from his body. He was keeping them tucked in close before and not getting enough extension.

You can compare Hinske's new stance to his 2004 one using the MLB.com videos here.

The Dude's new stance is reminscient of Nick Johnson's. I hope this coincidence isn't a harbinger of an injury plagued season for the new and improved Dude.

I hereby nominate the above first-time poster, Brock Landers, as a candidate for Handle Of The Year*. Unless there is a Chest Rockwell here somewhere, Landers will be at worst a 2-1 favourite to take home the honours.

*Should we ever actually decide to invent such an award.

Thanks for the warm welcome
Unfortunately, Leigh, ,<i>Angels <i> don't <i> Live in My Town <i> and I am still looking for Ringo. :)

Humm, i must have missed this one yesterday.

Great shot Aaron. It ooooze's Penatx.lol

He really looks like he's ready for a battle.

Dave

Just thought I'd mention that this thread is linked from Aaron Gleeman's current Channel Surfing column at Rotoworld.