And, The Difference Between A Two Bit Carney Hypnotist And This Is….?

Via Bats –

What do rolling up a metal frying pan like a streudel or breaking a soda can in half have to do with baseball? Probably nothing, but they provided the Yankees with some entertainment and maybe even some motivational thought on Wednesday.

Before their game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Yankees heard from Donnie Moore, a motivational speaker who uses unusual feats of strength to convey his message of positive thought.

Moore, a barrel-chested man who is also the Oakland Athletics team chaplain, broke a bat using only his hands, tore a phone book in half, and somehow rolled a metal frying pan up like a burrito, Manager Joe Girardi said.

Asked what that had to do with sending a motivational message, Girardi said it got the players’ attention. “It’s not every day you see a guy roll a frying pan,” he said.

Robinson Cano was amazed by Moore’s feats and said the message he got from watching him tear a full soda can in two was, “You can do what you want to do.”

Girardi, who noted that there were a lot of items that had to be thrown out in Moore’s wake, said Moore’s message was to have a vision of something desired, and then attain it.

Most of all, Girardi said, he wanted to break up camp from time to time with unusual speakers.

“I like our players having to think,” Girardi said. “Instead of just going out every day, I like them getting different people’s opinions. I think it helps you see where you are in your life. It makes me think about things that I do, and I want players to think about what they do, and what it takes and the importance of having a vision. We have great leadership in that room, we really do. But it’s good to break spring training up a little bit.”

Now word on whether or not the visit helped Michael Pineda regain some MPH on his fastball.